[Ryan-G]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppltd

I had not noticed this on the disks I looked at, but that is not to say that there wasn't a pause when the player switched layers. I wonder if the memory (512 in the xbox vrs. 1 gig in the Toshiba) does not allow enough buffer space to eliminate the transition? Maybe someone with more knowledge will now.

I would guess this could be a problem, especially if downconverting. Considering each frame is stored in the memory for at least 15-30 seconds of play, assuming 60fps for 1080p, that's a fair chunk of memory. Then downconverting each frame to say 720p, with a buffer of at least a few frames eating more memory, if the player had a slightly difficult time switching layers due to some manufacturing defect there could be a slight lag.

I mean, if my math's right, if each frame were just 256k in size, a 15 second buffer would chew up 225megs of memory. I'd guess each frame is bigger than that, and at 1meg a frame it'll chew 900megs of memory for a 15 second buffer. Before considering downconverting.

[Yumbo]

ok,

for anyone who has a panasonic L500 projector - do you get a darker picture?
It wasn't as stark a difference (darker) on the 50" plasma (Panasonic).

Resolution is 768 projected, and 1028 plasmaed.

Do I need to re-calibrate the projector?

Both tests were compared against SD disc of King Kong.

ps. where's the best online place to get a replacement bulb for L500?

thanks

[ppltd]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yumbo

ok,

for anyone who has a panasonic L500 projector - do you get a darker picture?

I have both a 900u and a 100u and have not had the problems you are. Wish I could help with it, sorry.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yumbo

ps. where's the best online place to get a replacement bulb for L500?

Try here. I have purchased two projectors and lamps from this reseller with very good results. Projector People L500 Lamp

thanks[/quote]

[Patrick Sun]

I recently got into the XBOX 360 HD DVD combo because the final price (after rebate and credit card bonus offerings at Microcenter) got down to $200 for the XBOX 360 premium system, and then I got a $40 coupon to work at Circuit City for the $200 HD DVD drive (came with King Kong and remote), so ironically enough the XBOX 360 HD DVD combo will be about $360 plus tax once the smoke clears in a few month.

Since I have an older HDTV RPTV with 1080i component inputs, the XBOX 360 is more my speed for now, and I'm hoping to squeeze another year or two of service from the RPTV if possible.

I directly connected the XBOX 360 to my 2nd component input and it works pretty well (but I had to fiddle with the video settings, mainly the color saturation had to be turn down lower than usual, and had to jacked up the brightness and picture settings a little, due to the age of my RPTV's guns, I suspect).

I was also to move one thin Philips DVP642 DVD player from one rack and sat it on top of my other Panasonic RP91 DVD player, and that left me with a space just tall enough to fit the XBOx 360 unit horizontally, and also the HD DVD drive lying on top of it. Whew! My tower of HT components is now finally all filled up.

I had to snag the TOSLINK cable from my neglected LD player input to get the audio from the XBOX 360 working (but I have another TOSLINK cable on order, and only use my LD player for playing CDs). The audio is a little low, so I pump up the volume a few dBs, but I can wait for my next pre/pro upgrade in order to sample TrueHD audio when I get a standalone HD DVD player with analog outputs later in a year or two.

So far I've only watched King Kong and the video is simply amazing to stare at (I typically skip about an hour and watch the rest of KK). Loved the KK/T-Rex battle.

The remote works well enough and I don't feel like I'm missing all that much from any other DVD player remote. I'm pretty impressed that the integration between the HD DVD drive and the XBOX 360 unit is pretty seamless. Besides loading up the drive's install CD, and getting an update from Microsoft, so far no problems, it just works. The bootup speed for the HD DVD is more than acceptable (I feared I would have gone nuts if I had to wait a minute per HD DVD to boot up if I were to get a Toshiba A1).

I've got 11 HD DVDs coming to me from taking advantage of the Google Checkout $20 off $50 order bonus from buy.com (multiple times), so I expect to watch a few HD DVDs over this upcoming holiday break.

[JGiampa]

Yea, KING KONG looks amazing! The best picture ive seen on my Sammy yet.

I have the XBOX set to 1080p and my tv supports 1080p through component but I am still only getting 1080i.

The only complaint I have so far is that the standard DVDs dont look any better in the HD DVD tray in comparison to the regular XBOX tray. Im annoyed that apparently I need a VGA to upconvert DVDs.

Overall tho I am VERY VERY impressed with KING KONG...Cant wait to get Superman Returns!

Joe

[Tim Glover]

Cool review Patrick.

[JGiampa]

I just purchases the VGA cord for 1080p capabilities and upconversion. Im not too impressed. It put small vertical bars on the side of the screen which is annoying, and I actually think the 1080i out of the components look better (they are actually gorgeous). If anyone else has any opinions on this id like to hear them.

Joe

[EricW]

alot of posters at the avsforum say the same thing - that component is better than vga on the 360. for me it's true too.

[Shawn Perron]

I recently received my Monster Cable component cables for the 360. If you are using the component cables that came with the 360, you are missing a LOT of resolution because of them. After using the monster cable components I can clearly see that the microsoft cables just didn't have the bandwidth for 720p video. It was night and day after changing the cables out. 720p requires about 40mhz of bandwidth, and whatever design compromises that were needed to make a component/composite cable seem to have prevented the cables from reaching this. If you are still using the cables that came with the 360, I highly recommend replacing them with something better.

[JGiampa]

Hmm strange, Im getting 1080i and it looks absolutely amazing....

I cant imagine the Monster cables being any better, but maybe I'll give it a shot.