Copy HD-DVDs using Xbox 360, high-end PC

by Kyle Orland { Dec 5th 2006 at 1:55PM }

Want to make a digital copy of that new HD-DVD for "backup" purposes? No problem: all you need is an Xbox 360, the HD-DVD drive add-on, and a computer powerful enough to kill a small yak.

Apparently, the Xbox 360's HD-DVD drive is one of the only ones on the market that outputs 720p and 1080i signals through component cables, as opposed to HDMI. This analog hole lets you hook the output up a computer through an HD capture card and record the resulting stream to a hard drive.

Before you go running out to burn a high-def copy of King Kong for all your friends, though, you should be aware that you need a pretty pimped out system to make the process work. Besides the HD capture card, your computer needs to be fast enough to process an HD video signal in real time and record it to a redundant hard drive array to the tune of 6GB per minute -- no small task. Still, if you have the equipment and the will, you can copy your HD-DVDs to your hearts content. For archival purposes only, of course.

[Via Engadget]

Tags: 360, backup, copy, hd-dvd, movies, piracy

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

TopaZ @ Dec 5th 2006 2:02PM

Wow is this a silly article. Analog capture? Welcome to 1995.

Nij @ Dec 5th 2006 2:09PM

Well, 50% of the daily posts on Joystiq's sister site Engadget are either encouraging piracy or instructions on how to pirate more content, so it's not too surprising to see this here as well.

foodgoes @ Dec 5th 2006 2:13PM

Mah.. too much work, this is easier , http://ps3.ign.com/articles/748/748723p1.html

Draco @ Dec 5th 2006 2:15PM

I guess thats why PS3 has HDMI on the cheap version too eh?

this may force the movie industry to call for the xbox dvd player to be banned. or start with the ICP (is that it?) quicker.

all it takes are a couple pirates with good systems to upload every HDDVD to the general public, I mean there arent that many to begin with.

could this kill HD-DVD? maybe thats a little extreme, but I can definately see Sony usign this to their advantage when dealing with publishers.

Player1 @ Dec 5th 2006 2:33PM

Slightly off-topic, but isn't the 360 supposed to upscale regular DVDs to 720 and 1080? Can it do this over the component cables or do you need the VGA?

theefman @ Dec 5th 2006 2:37PM

Wouldnt the same would apply to the ps3 and standalone BR and HD DVD players which have component outputs as well?

Marty @ Dec 5th 2006 2:51PM

#4 - why would this kill the industry or have the movie industry call for a ban on the HD-DVD drive? You could hook it up to any kind of recording device to make a copy...VHS, DVD, etc. What's preventing you from just making a Standard Definition copy? Why would that hurt the industry less?

mykie @ Dec 5th 2006 2:56PM

I'd imagine if one could afford an Aja Lena LH Capture card, they'd probably be able to pony up the $25 to buy their damned movies.

Piracy only pays if the means to pirate are less financially burdensome than legitimate purchase.

...and you don't get caught...

...and your immortal soul is worthless to you anyways...

joe smith @ Dec 5th 2006 3:01PM

So you could spend thousands on a system to do an analog capture of a High-Def DVD -- OR you could pay $200 fora drive and rent form Netflix.

crono141 @ Dec 5th 2006 3:10PM

And just where do you find an HD capture card with component input that actually takes a progressive signal? I spend quite a long time when I built my HTPC trying to figure out which cards can do HD over component, as that is what all my HD capable devices use. The cheapest I found was 250 dollars, but it only went up to 480i (even over component).

The others I found were over 1000 dollars, and then those would only take up to 480p, I think.

So what card are they talking about?

jingwe @ Dec 5th 2006 3:17PM

Want to make a digital copy ?

Then just record it from an analog source - simple :)

Agent MOO @ Dec 5th 2006 3:18PM

Hold on, don't press play yet, wait until i start recording

Player1 @ Dec 5th 2006 3:33PM

I don't understand why the anti-pirating gods made it illegal to send an upscaled standard dvd signal over component cables while it's okay to send hd-dvds over component cables. I'm just not following the logic there. Is it just to make everyone's lives more difficult?

joe smith @ Dec 5th 2006 4:36PM

Innaccurate - most HD players support high def over component. As do most Blu Ray players. Kind of a non-story.

Andrew @ Dec 5th 2006 4:40PM

This is possible with any HD-DVD player and Blu-ray player as long as the disc is not using the Image Constraint Token, which currently isn't being used.

Anticrawl @ Dec 5th 2006 4:42PM

Or even better, you could skip this silly format war and save yourself a lot of time, money and cardboard boxes (you know, to hold your HD'DVD's and Blu-Ray's up in your attic so you can one day teach your children a lesson about what history is used for) while waiting for video digital distribution to become mainstream as did music and information before it. Why buy into a generation if you are going to pirate from it? You people make no damn sense. You support the evil and hurt the little man (i.e. store retailers/employees). Shit you might as well just get a media center pc and stream pirated movies to your source of video instead.

I think I'll look to the past and see the folly of the different entertainment mediums over the years and realize that this generation with cancel itself out and be followed by one that prospers.

Consider this, we know Sony owns nearly if not more than half of the Movie industry, and any left over is keen on that fact and surely plays their cards practically. The Blu-Ray's key advantage is greater storage and expansion for the future, but as of now it can only be logically used for movies, which makes all that space useless. Anyone who has ripped a DVD or knows how to use a burner can tell you the space on a DVD as of now is hardly used, even with high definition video, all the extra space is taken up is from poorly coded and compressed menus/special features. HD-DVD has the home field advantage when it comes to the movie industry, they have the name, DVD. Consumers(which are very poorly informed generally) know this and will flock to it over the oddly named Blu-Ray. As a whole the lack for love behind HD-DVD as a movie format is sad, a great deal of support was taken away from partners of Sony who wouldn't have their supporters playing for both teams. HD-DVD though is Toshiba and NEC, NEC being a name well known in the computer hardware business. HD-DVD is backed by Microsoft, who one could say owns the market. More often than not it is their software that burns your CD's and their associates software that creates your nifty DVD's. HD-DVD really can only be a hit in the computer world, for storage. Unfortunately it doesn't have a very bright future ahead of itself, and will never be able to hold as much as Sony's Blu-Ray(not considering compression, but consumers don't care about that). Microsoft and their support of HD-DVD along with the many confusing partnerships and conglomerates they as well as Toshiba/NEC have will keep Sony from being an acceptable competitor in the computer realm. Blu-Ray has the odds in it's favor because they make the movies that distributors profit from but with HD-DVD's little backing in the Movie industry it will be just enough for both formats to fail, miserably and taking a big blow at the industry.

People will be bitter over the wasted time and money and having to unbox their DVD collection, and this is when Digital Distribution will get them on the rebound. By that time holographic carts should be around the corner, drooling and howling like a madman. With it's traditional starting out drive price($1000-ish) and it's initial 1t size carts that cost consumer's a promised no more that ONE DOLLAR to buy, that is the cost we pay for a blank, at launch. They are paper thin, and the size of a credit card maybe and the capacity by today's standards for the average consumer is near limitless. Holographic storage will be a massive and I mean devastatingly massive hit in the storage business for network administrators and helpdesk types, and hopefully will drive the price down considerably faster than mere families could. It will be a glorious day for lazy coders and mediaphiles alike. Though broadband providers will cry and wet their pants knowing they can no longer screw the consumer like that man Bubba did to your uncle in prison and start feeding us a reasonable amount of fiber like the rest of the planet. They make a fortune off of us, you wouldn't even believe how fixed and inflated prices are in that area.

You people are fucking insane. For the price of a 40 dollar movie with 25gb of extra space on it, I could go buy a 250gb harddrive instead. Then I'll wait for someone to rip your silly little copy of Happy Gilmore 1080p and put it on my harddrive for a fraction of a cent, or go legit and spend 3-4 dollars from a site that sells the copy legally. After that well, it's pretty easy to get the magic moving pictures off the drive and into the glowing devil box.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm meeting Lewis Black for coffee at Starbucks and to rant about it while we are there.

Anticrawl

s7r1k3r @ Dec 5th 2006 5:24PM

Same thing is happening with the ps3 where games are being dumped onto the harddrive. What's stopping them from dumping movies on there and transferring them over to pc. DRM is a load of crap no matter what the product whether hddvd or bluray. Both can be cracked just as easily.

david @ Dec 5th 2006 7:06PM

too bad their solution includes a $2000 capture card

The ZeroCorpse @ Dec 5th 2006 11:19PM

@ #5

You need the VGA-HD. I've been doing this since the first big update, and it looks great. Of course, my TV's max res over VGA is 768p (weird, yes) but that's still a nice jump from 480i.

Only a few DVD players on the market will natively do upscaling over component. Some (like the Toshibas) will do it with some hacking. Some foreign models do it with no problems.