HD DVD 4th Quarter Article and X Box 360 HD DVD Add On (1 Viewer)

[Aaron B]

Oh man! You sold it just before some real gems came out! You're missing out on Chromehounds and Dead Rising! Not to mention Gears of War is coming out on Nov. 17th. I would have at least waited to see how that one turned out before I sold my unit because it looks incredible!

I'm one of the people who will be buying the HD-DVD add on this holiday season if the price is within reason. I also hope there are a few early reviews of it in case there are some quirks with it, which almost seems certain. The way I look at it is it's a cheap HD-DVD player that I don't have to invest a ton of cash in right away. There are some decent titles out right now, but not anything that makes me have to have the format. In fact most of the titles that have come out I would be double dipping on and I'm really burned out on that after dealing with it for the last few years. Right now it looks like I would be getting Serenity, Land of the Dead, Goodfellas and possibly Slither. (when it's released and if it's any good.)

I read Ron's article on HD-DVD and I agree with him that there really should be some blockbuster titles out to kick the format into high gear. If I knew Lord of the Rings and a few others were going to be out by Christmas, I'd be buying sooner than later.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Not impressed with Chromehounds or Dead Rising.

It is true there needs to be a blockbuster title released soon for HD-DVD. Right now I have 4 discs but have only had time to watch 1 so far. The PQ and AQ just blow SD-DVD away.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

Cees,
Gorgeous shots!!!
However, there not moving. Dang statue!!! ;-)
Isn't 1080i at it's 'worst' with moving objects?
I believe Joe Kane preferred 720p over 1080i, for that reason.
Also, why ABC choose progressive, because it out preformed interlaced on sports programing.

 

[Cees Alons]

Ed,

If the original film frames are truly represented one after another, there's no problem with movements (no more than the original movie had).

It's only when the "real time axis" occurs during the (re-)creation of the frame that problems may arise. Like in TV- and videocamera movies (recordings). Not when existing films (on film) are scanned and transferred.

Thanks for the nice words about the pictures.


Cees

 

[Lew Crippen]

Ed, ABC for sure is discussing broadcast TV. Cees’ comments reference movies and their reproduction.

I’d need Ed Kane’s comments in context, but as I recall he too was considering the differences in broadcast TV. But he may have also had comments on 1080i compared to 1080p regarding HD movie reproduction.

 

[Ed St. Clair]

You think you know the "whole" story, then you come here and find out you only know "half"! :-0
Oh, well!
That's why I kept coming back!!! ;-)

 

[Lew Crippen]

Do you have a link Ed? I’m not doubting you, but I’d like to read what he has to say.

 

[Rob Lutter]

I'm going to be buying the 360 HD-DVD addon for the simple fact that it's going to be the cheapest HD-DVD player BY FAR when it is released (important for a college-age man that works for peanuts and gets to keep even less). I already use my 360 as my primary DVD player, so it's kind of a no brainer.

 

[Matt Leigh]

I'll probably pick up the HD-DVD add-on as well unless my dream of an all in one Media Center PC with HD cable card and all becomes a reality within the first few months of 07.

 

[Paul Pratt]

Quick Questions, please pardon the excess of ignorance on my part.

1. Doesn't HD-DVD need HDMI to output at HD resolution?

2. The Xbox 360 is supposed to do the processing for the HD-DVD drive, correct?. If thats true the Xbox 360 has no HDMI port, how will it get video out in HD? Will it send it back into the HD-DVD drive to output through an included HDMI port, or has microsoft "gotten around" the need for HDMI?

Thanks for the quick education, just wanted to ask. Don't hit me.

 

[jim.vaccaro]

Not necessarily. The discs themselves determine this. Only discs which use the Image Constraint Token (ICT) force "downrezzing" over component outputs. Currently no studio has announced plans to employ the ICT on discs in the near future, and all current discs will output full 1080i over component.

 

[Paul Pratt]

Ah! Now i get it. That's down right erotic. At least that is until the equipment is in place/ more widespread then BAM like a drunken hunter caught in a bear trap!

 

[ppltd]

If I heard correctly, the HDMI port will be part of the drive itself.

Also, you can best believe that Microsoft has working motherboards (360) with HDMI, and will probably release a 360 with an internal HD drive not long after the release of the external. With the new chip sets almost complete for the 360, that will reduce the cost of manufacturing a sizable amount, it is possible you will see internal HD DVD with little price increase over the existing XBox 360. Microsoft already has a year of production under its belt, and this is normally the time in the life of a video game system that manufacturing price reductions happen.

As far as the use of HD DVD for Video Games, this is much less likely to happen, as it would disenfranchise too many existing owners (I believe the current count is between 4.5 and 5 million owners). As far as I am concerned, filling the extra drive space with prerendered video is a waist of space. I find the games most aggravating that do not allow you to bypass these video spots, and get back into the game. The DVD data space has in no way hampered any currently released game, and I do not think added space will improve the gamming experience.

Of course all of this is conjecture, so your guess is as good as mine.

Thomas Eisenmann

 

[Chris Will]

From the pics I've seen and what I've read over at AVS it looks like there will be no HDMI port on the drive. The pics show 2 USB ports and 1 mini USB port on the drive itself.

 

[Cees Alons]

Nonsense, I have to agree with Chris here.

A vertical resolution of 1080 lines is the FULL potential of both formats. Your Xbox will give you that, so you won't be missing anything.

The sheer fact that the lines arrive inside the memory of your display in one order or another (one after another = progressive, odd lines of a frame followed by the even lines = interlaced) doesn't alter that in the very least.

All that's needed is: that both the sender (the XBox) and the receiver (the monitor) know which method is used (which is inherent in the data-stream). Then the display will properly show the full glorious 1080 vertical lines to you.

BTW: on graphics PC cards the difference between the two transmission methods is even further away from the monitor, because it's solved inside the GCA.

(Furthermore: there aren't many displays on the market yet, accepting full 1920x1080 through progressive transmission, although that may likely change in the future.)


Cees

 

[ppltd]

After looking at the pictures again, I think I agree with you. Doesn't look like there is any HDMI port on the drive.

 

[JackKay]

Here it is mid September and I thought we would hear by now the specifications, release date and price. Soon I hope.

 

[JackKay]

No word from CEDIA yet? I was hoping.