Xbox HD Pack (1 Viewer)

[Camp]

Ok...I found a HD pack. About time!
New audio and video options appear on the Xbox dashboard when the HD pack is connected.
New Audio Options: DTS (yes/no) and DD (yes/no)
New Video Options: 480p (yes/no), 720p (yes/no), & 1080i (yes/no).
I set mine to 480p 'yes', 1080i 'yes' and enabled both DTS and DD.
Then I booted up Halo...
There are no options for resolution or widescreen. Halo is a 4:3 game period. I have no way to confirm it's even running in 480p (as opposed to 480i). I can say, however, that it looks a hell of a lot better than it did before (which was already fantastic). I'm guessing it's 480p because I don't know if component cables alone could be responsible for the improvement.
Dolby Digital is going to be the best addition to gaming in a long time. I somehow walked past an enemy but I heard him from BEHIND me!!!. A quick spin and he was no more. The effect was very cool. Beyond that, the surrounds are rather subtle which made the sound of the enemy really stand out.
Good stuff...anyone know of a launch title that is supposed to be in 1080i? I'd like to see what this thing can do.

 

[Jeremy Illingworth]

What a huge let down. I knew something was up when they never made any official announcements about what games were going to be HD. Especially for Halo (I mean they could at least have WS) because it is currently the only reason I would buy an XBox next year. I doubt that any launch game is HD and think it'll probably be a while before there are any, if ever. And it makes me sad.
jeremy

 

[Troy LaMont]

Camp,
I'm drooling over here.
My TV (Mits) shows me the type of signal (480p/1080i) when I hit the 'info' button. It also lets me know that I can't do PIP with a 480p signal.
Does your set do this? This will let you know what the signal type is.
Troy
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:My teacher tells me beauty is on the inside.
:That's just something ugly people say.

 

[Camp]

I don't know if my Sony has a feature like that. If it does, I can't find it. Perhaps someone more familiar with Sony's XBR Wegas will read this thread.
That said, I'm fairly confident what I'm seeing is 480p. The improvement is very significant.

 

[Matty B]

The improvement from S-Video to component video is THAT signifigant. I dont think you will be able to tell the difference between 480p and 480i (The differences in DVDs are very slim). Once again, driving games are the ONLY games I can think of that benefit from being wide screen. and for that reason, Test Drive is a 1080i game, I don't know if it's a launch title or not. Maybe project gotham racing is

 

[Gary King]

I disagree entirely, Matty.
On my set (using Avia, I've got near-perfect hue and saturation on my S-Video inputs), the difference between S-Video and Component off of my Panasonic A120 is virtually nil.
On the other hand, the difference between component 480i off of my Panny A120 and 480p off of my PC on DVDs is *huge*.

 

[Michael Banks]

Camp,
What series XBR do you have? If it is a 450 then when a 480p signal is used it bypasses the 3 modes of the DRC, interlaced, progressive, and cinemotion. The mode button on the remote won't work, or you can check the video setting menu to see if the DRC mode is blacked out.
If you have a XBR400 then I believe you will have to enter service mode to see what the input source is. You can do this by entering the following on the remote: Display, 5, volume up, power. Once in service mode you should see the input type listed on screen. Just hit power again to exit.
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[Camp]

Mine is the 450. And yes, I can now confirm Halo is running progressive.
Thanks!

 

[Dave F]

Is there a similar method to determine the mode on a Toshiba 50HX81?
-Dave
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DVD List
"The page you are looking for is here no more. Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore.'"

 

[Rusty Ray]

Camp, Did you get the dvd remote for it? i was wondering what mode it ran dvds in..
EDIT:
This is the desription of the av pak from the site:
The High Definition AV Pack connects the Xbox video game system to high definition-ready televisions. Supports 480p, 720p and 1080i component video signals for game play (NTSC only for DVD playback), analog audio inputs and digital receivers.
What does this NTSC only for dvd playback mean? no progressive dvd?
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"As long as you are out there, I can never be number one...."
My DVD List
[Edited last by Rusty Ray on November 12, 2001 at 06:47 PM]

 

[BrianB]

no progressive dvd?

Where have you been, Ray! No progressive DVD playback on the XBox - that was made clear, to much annoyance on here, a few months back.
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Nothing In Particular

 

[Joel Mack]

No progressive DVD playback on the XBox - that was made clear, to much annoyance on here, a few months back.

Indeed. Forced a decision I'm somewhat regretting at the moment, but it'll pass...

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"The internet is a place where people from all over come together to
bitch about movies and share pornography."

 

[Troy LaMont]

Camp,
Thanks for verify what I already assumed (that most XBox) games will be 480P).
Dave,
Have you tried hitting the 'info' button to see what is displayed? Other than that, my experience with the Toshiba models is somewhat limited.
Troy
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:My teacher tells me beauty is on the inside.
:That's just something ugly people say.

 

[Rusty Ray]

Actually i had not done much research on the xbox because i had no intention of getting one, but i was checking for a friend who wanted to use it has a dvd player with hi-def out, but it looks like he'll have to go the home theater pc route for that...

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"As long as you are out there, I can never be number one...."
My DVD List

 

[Dave Falasco]

Well, that's just great. I am out of component inputs on my TV with a prog-scan DVD player and an Dish 6000 HD receiver, so I had just about convinced myself that I could get away with using an S-video connection for the Xbox. And now you tell me that Halo supports 480p. So NOW what do I do???
Yeah, I know, the difference between S-video and component video isn't that huge. But dammit, if a game supports 480p, I want to experience it in 480p! So now I either play the plug/unplug game with my DVD player every time, or find some sort of component video switching device. Any thoughts or suggestions for that?
(Gee, on second thought, maybe everyone should have our problems. Boo hoo, I have to unplug either a progressive-scan DVD player or a hi-def decoder to play my new Xbox in progressive scan. Poor me.)

 

[Scott O'Keeffe]

Dave,
How about a new receiver that supports component switching?

 

[David Proud]

if you have an Sony XBR see if you can enable DRC from the menu when playing the game. Drc should be disabled in 480P mode

 

[Dave Falasco]

Heh heh, Scott, I've been lusting after the B&K Ref 30 pre-amp for months now, but my wife just recently relented on a $300 Xbox...gunning for a $3000 preamp to take advantage of it seems a tad...I don't know...ungrateful?
(Yeah, I know it ain't 3 grand, but the sentence read better that way)
And David, no, I've got a Pioneer Pro-610. I see someone else just started a topic with the very same subject, and Carlo posted some links to a few component video switchers on Errol's site. But $250...again, I doubt I'd be able to convince my wife of the dire urgency of such a contraption. For some reason she thinks I should just be thankful that I'm getting an Xbox at all...she's funny that way...

Oh, well, I could always plug the DVD player in with an S-video cable and watch DVDs interlaced. I doubt the little woman would even notice, and when I want to demo something I can switch it back. Should be a good test for how robust those RCA jacks on the back of my TV are.

 

[StaceyS]

So NOW what do I do???

Call Key Digital and buy their component video switcher. It will switch audio and video.
You DO want 480p on the XBOX, it is better. It is most noticable on diagonals and pans. You also get full vertical resolution during motion, something you loose with interlaced.
Under the video settings you have the option to set your display type widrescreen, etc. You might have to scroll down as it only shows so many settings at a time.
Yes, halo is 4:3. This is up to the game developer. I believe Bungie chose this because there are so few widrescreens on the market today. or it could be that they wanted to keep a higher frame rate. Don't know.

 

[Wolf Jenkins]

Does ANY of the launch games support 1080i??? or does the xbox upconvert them to 10801 if they are 480p.
Reason: I've got an extra component input on my TV - but no spare HDTV input. I'll need to get a switcher if any of the games support 1080i that I'm getting.