How the HD-DVD drive works with the 360 UI

And according to microsoft... the majority of xbox gamers have a HD-TV... What the hell are they smoking? Because honestly... I do not know a single person who has one.

Either way, I've gotta hand it to microsoft for not forcing every one with a 360 to also pay for the HD-DVD.

I've read somewhere that component/vga has less quality (as it's analog) than hdmi/dvi (digital).

I have my notebook hooked up to a HDTV LCD using DVI and my 360 using component. With the 360 I can notice that the image isn't as "clean" as the notebook.

"those of you wondering if the HD-DVD drive supports HDMI... the answer is no... it doesn't matter"

Translation from business speak:
We messed up and have no way to output the X360 to digital video. If the ICT does become implimented, you will not be able to watch HD content from your HD-DVD. Sorry about that...


aragorn, the majority of people I chat with playing GRAW online have HDTVs. I recently bought one, and wow... the difference is amazing.

LOL sorry to tell you this jc but thats not what he said... he said currently it doesn't matter so they aren't looking into it

HDMI vs component its a wash the quality is exactly the same and infact alot of audiophiles perfer component because its not one of those all in one cables that binds audio and video...

The fact is ICT has been delayed until 2012 well after the 360 will be changed out for a 720 or whatever...

They have said previously it isnt cost effective right now to release a hdmi cable because there is currently a real need for it... its more of a "we have it too" complex people have rather than a "we need it now" they never said they couldn't do a Digital output via the 360 av cables ... thats a speculation and one that has 0 facts behind it...

I also have an 37 inch 1080p HD-TV, specifically for playing XBox 360 Games

Aragorn - u must associate with only the technologically deprived, most people I know are running HD now - myself - 60"HD, and yea GRAW....Mmmmm!

I was a middle adopter of HDTV and have never looked back. Even when buying a small tv for the bedroom I found a sweet open-box deal on a 27" panasonic.

I can't wait for the HD-DVD add on to get priced.

And yes, the 360 being dvi/hdmi impotent sucks ass, and there's no way to fix it.

P.S.-Richard did you get my e-mail?

Yes, I also have an hdtv and no HDMI is not good. I would also like to mention that the 360's VGA cable is much better than the component because it upconverts the signal. DVD's will look much better with vga. When it first came out, the vga sucked, but after the last major 360 update that has completly changed.

Component VS HDMI... Component's max output is 1080i, HDMI is 1080p. This won't matter for games, but 1080p is the standard res for HDDVD, so there will have to be some sort of conversion for it to play over component.

I don't get it... how does this work?

Chris, I am just telling you what my 'business speak to regular english' dictionary says. ;)

What you said might be the case, but you have to admit it kind of goes against what they are doing right now...

Pop a DVD movie in your X360 and watch it through compnent, now watch the same scenes while the X360 is hooked up with the VGA cable. Do you see a difference?

If ICT wasn't an issue, why is the X360 not upscanning over component when it is over VGA?

I am sorry, I really like my X360 and all... but I will be damned if I don't have a decent supply of salt around when I listen to Microsoft talk about 'my interests'.

Razin; I in absolutely no place to deny that claim.

It's true. Deprived might be a harsh term, but it's more or less accurate.

so what of it?

@1 You dont know 1 person who has an hdtv for the 360? God everyone i know has one by now. I wouldnt have bought a 360 without a hdtv as that is first priority. Really the difference is huge and hdtvs arent that expensive anymore , so save up and see the difference.

I'm sorry but playing a 360 on a non hi-def set is like taking the homecoming queen to prom in a volkswagen rabbit. Sure it's cheaper than the limo, but the experience isn't quite the same.

#8 - FYI, current retail HD-DVD players only output at 1080i even though the movies are encoded at 1080p.

I guess that's a matter of perspective. From what exposure I've had to HD-Tvs (which all where in media labs) I could see the improvement... but it struck me as marginal, especially when you consider the price.

Of course I have a very hard time ever trying to justify a purchase that goes past the 1k mark. Hell, I had a hard time justifying getting a 360 in the first place... though thankfully that's been taken care of... probably bout the time that I logged in 100+ hours in oblivion, and god knows how much in geometry wars.

The only reason the subject came up in my mind recently is pretty much just because most xbox games have the 16 9 ratio in mind, and that's pretty much it. I think I may re-assess the whole HDtv thing soon, but unless I can get something less than $1k... seems unlikely.

In my town where I live is very hard to get any HDTV LCD. And I don't know anyone with HDTV. So don't be so aggressive

If you're in the US you can easily get an HDTV CRT for under $500. Smaller 27-30inch flat panels are just ducking under the 1K mark. Or if you have a basement or dark room you can go the route I did and get an HD projector. 140" screen for $900 is the shiznite.

Not to mention, who cares about 1080p for people that already own HDTV's. I mean I am a 360 owner with a HDTV, and I have GRAW as well :D

Considering that 1080p HDTV's are being released this year, and stores most likely wont have them in until the end of the year cause of all the old HDTV stock that they need to sell. So all the owners of HDTV's will miss out on 1080p signal. Not to mention that the HDTV's that are 1080p cheat, they cut the image in half and have their own video processing to size it up to 1080p. Was reading about that 3 months ago when I researched HDTV's from the manufactures site. Samsung or Mitsubishi I believe, but it was something you really need to read the specs on all chips that the TV comes with and what they do. Especially when they have video enhancing features, thats where I found it. I will look it up if people really want me to.

Not to mention, HDMI is something has been going through a lot of changes since it had some technical issues with it. So personally I want to wait till they have the whole HDMI issue solved before I go spending $100-150 for a 3-6 ft cable. And don't feed me the BS that the cable is digital that you can get a $20 POS, cause cables are cables.

Heh. thanks Office. Truth be told, i've been "this-close" to breaking out the "compensating for something" jokes.

I think its funny that people are bashing 360 owners for not having HDTV. My question is how many of you have HDTVs over 37"? How many over 50"? HDTVs that are small make no sense to me. A 32" HDTV is very small and hard to enjoy (since they are much smaller than their 4x3 screen ratio cousins). Unless you are 4-5 feet away you sit to far to enjoy HD.

Their is so much hoop-lah over HDTV that people go rushing into stores and grabbing the HDTV that the Circuit City salesman tells them to. If your HDTV is under 37" you wasted your money. My two cents. Sorry if this offends you but reality hurts.

You can just buy a $20 DVI/HDMI cable because it's digital and near impossible to be a POS. Digital cables provide a digital signal and digital is either there or it isn't. If you get really crappy DVI/HDMI you may just lose signal all the time, but paying $100 for a 6 foot length is just silliness. I've bought all my digital cables from monoprice.com and have compared them to our "Gold series" and Monster cables at work and seen no difference.

Now analog cables you totally get what you pay for, but DVI/HDMI either work or they don't.

I have a 63" HDTV Mitsubishi, and I WILL NEVER play a X360 on anything but a HDTV. In fact all of my friends that have X360s have HDTVs, yes they are all over 40", and that is more than 10 friends yes. Gaming on the X360 without HDTV, well you might as well be playing on a PS2 or OG Xbox when it comes to graphix. In fact my PS2 is hooked up using components, I have had component hook-ups since day one of PS2, the differance on that system is kia and bmw, and the differance on the X360 between HD and non-HD is again a major gap.

What I really want to know is.. does the VGA vs Component actually make a big differance or any differance?? ALSO, I got an old schol DVI input on my HDTV that I can use the VGA with a converter into my HDTV.. so I really want to know so I can use it if its better.

my two cents
find something that has all the outputs
Component, VGA, DVI, HDMI
buy similar quality cables
plug them into the same HDTV and tell me if you can tell the different

Well... I went through a lot of materials today, and my conclusion is this.

Either A) pay less than 1k via either second hand on craigslist, or some black market brand 32 inch LCD

or B) pay more money on a middle range plasma than I have paid for anything in my whole life. And frankly... gaming is pretty much my only digital pass-time, as I don't watch tv, and watch movies intermittently (and have absolutely no desire to see in HD… let alone 1080p). And thus, I just can’t justify this purchase.

And my conclusion?

All you people who went out and bought an hd-tv for upwards $1 are absolutely crazy. Crazy, as in borderline irresponsible consumers.

But hey… hdtv envy :)

Hey i have 2 under 37" HDTV's in the bedrooms of my apartment...because frankly anything bigger would just look...awkward. One room has a 27 inch HDTV and the other a 36inch.

Now the living room currently has a 55" sony HDTV and Soon to be a Projection screen once i save up the additional 900 but i keep spending it =p.

It all really depends on the size of the room MattB. If you're in an apartment bedroom like mine, its a nice size but not huge but the difference is still there by quite a bit.


The difference between standard def and 720p+ is quite stunning aragorn, you should definately invest in an HDTV. Trust me.. the difference will be much worth it.

Well aragorn you dont have to get the best of the best. Heck you can go out and get a 50 inch CRT for like 1400 or less sure its big but then i like ahving big tv's myself. not a fan of LCD's or Plasma's personally but who nows it may change... that 60" inch Sony SXRD looks nice...

I'm an apartment dweller. If my HDTV were any bigger than 27", it would be awkward and more than I need. I might go for 32", but I didn't see the need to spend the extra $500 for a few inches when I would be seated 5 feet away from the thing most of the time.

Later on, when they're cheaper, I might spring for a bigger HDTV. Right now, it would have been bad choice to fill my small apartment with more TV than I needed.

Also, when you consider that Comcast's HDTV offerings are WAY too expensive, and not very high quality, and that my HDTV is mostly used for gaming and upscaled movies, I'm getting all I need from the 27" at the moment.

You will be surprised with how many people still use SDTVs with their Xbox 360, because not everyone can afford a HDTV (since their still rather pricey for most), and some might not want to use a VGA monitor based setup. I personally still use a normal TV for my Xbox 360 for now. I would like to get a 16:9 LCD monitor to connect to my Xbox 360 to get a HD display without spending at least $600 for a HDTV just for my room. Especially since now you can get a 19 inch, 16:9 LCD monitor for $200 (or even abit less) online.

But the HDMI issue isn't a big one. Vast majority of movie content creators decided to NOT use HDCP because it FORCES people to use HDMI or it makes the resolution just below 720p. Not everyone has a HDTV or display that supports HDMI and they probably don't want to buy a completely new HDTV just to get it. In fact, it seems like it won't be a issue to be worried about in the 360's lifespan even, as this Wikipedia quote from their HDCP article says: "Movie studios are apparently in agreement to not include the ICT flag on any HD DVDs or Blu-ray Discs until at least 2010, or possibly even 2012."

Also, about 1080p, its just the MAXIMUM resolution a HD-DVD can play, and is NOT required to play a HD-DVD. Going back on PC, I doubt you need a monitor that supports 1920X1080 (what 1080i/p is) to play a HD-DVD on your PC, and I am sure the same goes on the Xbox 360. I am sure HD-DVDs will look excellent on 720p and 1080i.

Also, HDMI is under constant changes, so its currently too risky to implement anything into it. In fact, I consider it risky even for Sony to implement HDMI into the PS3, because the PS3 might eventually get stuck with a old, obsolete version of HDMI.

You know theres another point I want to make. 1080p is overrated.. Why, come one lets think about it a little. Movies are really playing back at 24 fps. 1080i is 60 fields or 30fps, and 1080p is 60 fps. Somehow the numbers dont match up, so there is the 3:2 conversion. But that aside there is a link that also proves my point.

http://blog.hometheatermag.com/geoffreymorrison/0807061080iv1080p/

Anyway, on the small interface change for the HD-DVD drive, its a rather simple yet smart idea for controlling both drives and seeing what's in them.

Also, I always wondered if DVD/CDs will be readable and if so, will you be able to read music and photos off of them? If so, it will allow people to use the HD-DVD drive to read music from a burnt DVD while playing a game, which will add on to the 360's media capabilities.