Better DVD Player: Xbox or PS2? (1 Viewer)

[Camp]

The Xbox can output DTS for DVD movies. I'm pretty sure there is even an option for it(on or off) in the system menu once you have either the Advanced or HD AV Paks hooked up.

You are correct sir!
I wonder if it can do DTS in real time though? In games, that is. And I mean real DTS, not what EA is doing.

 

[StaceyS]

No DTS in real time, just DD. DTS requires way to much horse power to do anything with. It is not very efficient.

 

[Tim_Speicher]

I'm not too sure about the DVD capabilities of the Xbox. However, while some of there games look good, I'm a little concerned about MS track record with new OS. Hearing the the Xbox is running a modified version of NT does not help bolster confidence.
-Tim

 

[Michael St. Clair]

No DTS in real time, just DD. DTS requires way to much horse power to do anything with. It is not very efficient.

I remain unconvinced that a real-time DTS chip could not be done as easily as the real-time DD5.1 in the XBox. After all, EA is doing crappy DTS in real-time in software on the PS2, and nobody is doing real-time DD5.1 in software. This is likely because DTS is less compressed and/or something about the codec is simpler.
That said, I don't think it would be worth it. It's just game audio...

 

[Michael St. Clair]

I'm a little concerned about MS track record with new OS. Hearing the the Xbox is running a modified version of NT does not help bolster confidence.

At a previous job, I used to reboot our NT4 machines every 60 days or so whether they needed it or not....and some of our Linux machines DID need the same thing.

 

[Brad Grenz]

The MCP in the Xbox was designed to do DD in hardware, in real time. It doesn't sound like it's something that could be upgraded to DTS in hardware, in software (if you catch my drift). And I don't think the Pentium has anywhere near the amount of power needed to encode DTS in realtime in a game situation. On the PS2 they've probably got one of the vertex units dedicated to the DTS encoding (one VU in the PS2 has greater floting point capabilities then the entire PIII in the Xbox).
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Brad Grenz
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[Camp]

No, the EA DTS scheme is in software. It's not true DTS.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

quote: No, the EA DTS scheme is in software. It's not true DTS.[/quote]
In 10 years, any game machine or computer will be able to do better streams in software than are done in hardware now. In fact, some people make real DTS CDs on their computer right now. It is just not in realtime.

If a DTS reciever or processor recognizes the stream as DTS and decodes it, it is true DTS. That doesn't make the soundstage any good.
In other words, shitty DTS is still DTS. It's just shitty!
[Edited last by Michael St. Clair on November 15, 2001 at 06:38 AM]

 

[StaceyS]

quote: I remain unconvinced that a real-time DTS chip could not be done as easily as the real-time DD5.1[/quote]
In the end is comes down to quality. DD delivers, DTS does not.
[Edited last by StaceyS on November 15, 2001 at 10:52 AM]

 

[Michael St. Clair]

In the end is comes down to quality. DD delivers, DTS does not.

Ummmmmm, OK.

 

[Joe michaels]

Without going into huge detail just in a comparison of a few dvd's I feel the XBOX is the better DVD player. I wouldn't have it as the primary player in my home but it is better than the PS2. And the control for it is better since it requires a seperate remote.
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[Tony_I]

It blows away the PS/2 as a DVD player...
For example, you can zoom in on the screen from 2x to 10x with the Xbox...
No zoom feature on the PS/2 at all.
The new PS/2 remote MIGHT fix some stuttering/skipping problems on some discs, but it didn't for me. I continued to have all the same problems even after I upgraded my PS/2 DVD drivers to 2.1 ...
Also, I get some disc read errors from my PS/2 when trying to play some movies. (Akira Metal Box edition for example)
I tested a few of these movies on my Xbox, and they were recognized and played fine.
The DVD video playback has visually been improved as well on the Xbox... Too bad progressive scan was taken out due to patent issues...
So if you are basing your purchase on DVD playback (which should be second to the games anyway), you will enjoy your experience with the Xbox far more then with the PS/2..

 

[andrew steven wells]

How well does Xbox handle layer changes on DVDs?

 

[Tony_I]

Well, All Xbox game discs are actually DVD-9 .. So the Xbox is made to read dual-layered DVD's..

PS/2 DVD games are single-layered only...Some early PS/2 games were CD-Rom games.. I have had some problems with layer changes on some DVD movies with my PS/2. Just some FYI

 

[James D S]

Hearing the the Xbox is running a modified version of NT does not help bolster confidence.

I take it you don't use NT often. Great OS. Shitty driver support, but very solid. Solid is good.