Official XBox 360 HD-DVD add-on Review Thread (1 Viewer)

[Andy Anderson]

JediFonger-

I haven't yet, but I've heard that it works. What software are you using to view the HD-DVD's on your PC?

Andy

 

[Gary Hensley]

Add one more 360 HD-DVD owner. For 183.00 shipped I couldn't resist

 

[Rhoq]

Has MS been able to fix the problem with the audio being downconverted to a very flat-sounding, compressed DD5.1? I read over on the AVS Forums that they expect to issue a firmware update to at least downconvert the audio stream to a high bit rate DTS if not allow for the full Dolby TrueHD and DD+ audio.

 

[JediFonger]

http://cyberlink.com.tw/multi/produc...n_112_ENU.html

 

[ChrisMatson]

Is this nothing more than a shameless plug?

 

[Romar Armas]

 

[JediFonger]

. i'm no corporate plug!

but afaik, there isn't any other solutions that play HD DVD/BluRay as effectively as PowerDVD. some of the windvd beta is supposed to play it but they don't advertise it. there also aren't any open source decoders at the moment. audio is a big problem on HD DVD/BluRay.

 

[Andy Anderson]

Whaaa? You mean I have to pay $99 for an application to use my HD-DVD player to display on my computer? Yowch!

For me it would simply be a novelty, or a way to watch HD-DVD's somewhere else than the living room, so I think I'll pass unless there's a free app that I can download. I'll probably just have to give it time...

 

[JediFonger]

yeah, come to think of it, $200+100=300.

if you know where to look, you can buy the first gen Toshiba HD DVD for $350. so... yeah it's stilll not a GREAT deal . the only saving grace i can see is that i can rip HD DVD's to my server and enjoy it from hard drive instead of using physical media =D.

 

[cosmo7]

I had to exchange mine after 2 weeks because the drive would become inaccessible to the 360 after about 20 minutes of play. It just disappeared from the console. The new one seems to work fine.

 

[Adam_R]

The Bad news: You will never get 1080p over component from the Xbox 360 HD-DVD add on. It flat out does not support it. 1080p is ONLY supported through VGA. You WILL, however, get 1080p from Xbox 360 games.

The Good news: Your TV happens to be one of the roughly 50% that de-interlaces correctly, therefore the 1080i signal coming from the HD-DVD add on is identical to 1080p. I know this because I have a Samsung HL-S 5687W and it too accepts 1080p over component. It's all good!




And....

My $0.02 on the 360 HD-DVD add on:

I have only watched King Kong so that is all I can comment on.

PQ: Simply stunning. Amazing blacks. Amazing colors. Amazing detail. Some grain present but it seems intentional.

AQ: DD 5.1 track is as nearly good as DD 5.1 gets in my book. Wonderful use of rear channel. Really great LFE. Very clear and lifelike. Lot's of separation and definition noticeable, which is a biggie for me.

Xbox 360 noise is annoying but not the add-ons fault. Only really bothersome when movies are watched at low volume. I hope the add-on proves to be more reliable that the 360 itself. I imagine it will since it's just a drive and all the HD-DVD decoding is handled by the 360.

 

[David Lindon]

I'm planning on getting the 360 add on to connect it to my PC setup and use analogue outs from my sound card to my receiver. If I have some HD DVD player software, will I still be receiving trueHD (in theory) through my receiver?

 

[Brian_cyberbri]

According to the Insiders thread on AVS, the update is apparently supposed to be included in the Spring system update.

Just in general to others:
Many people noticed DD+ sounding flat, not in the bass necessarily, but in the dynamics and other sounds. I just got my add-on this week, and haven't watched any movies through. But in a few scenes in King Kong, it did seem like the dynamics of the higher (than bass) frequencies were compressed. There was apparently a big thread on AVS about this, and it looks like the problem is just with DD+. They are working on a fix that should be out soon.

 

[Brian_cyberbri]

Here are benchmark reviews (hope they haven't been posted yet - sorry if they have) for the 360 and the add-on as players for standard DVDs. Apparently a full review of the HD-DVD add-on is coming.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-b...0%20(Component)

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-b...20DVD%20Add-On

 

[JediFonger]

if you use PC's soundcard's analog out, there's no reason why the software couldn't decode trueHD, DTS-HD, DTS-HD master and ANY codec you throw at it as long as the software can decode it. only problem is if you have spdif, you'll only get 640k DD and/or DTS 1.5Mbps at best.

 

[SimonMonty]

Does anyone know when MS will start manufacturing the 65 nm 360s? I don't care about the HDMI being included but i know that heat will be reduced.

 

[Matt^Brown]

I need some help with my HD add on. Last night I was going to watch Derailed the Unrated Version that I had rented from BB. The add on kept telling me that the parental controls would not allow me to play that disc. I went into the 360 dashboard and checked on the parental controls and I do not have anything locked. I than tried ( I can't think of the movie) but it was a standard DVD and it was unrated but the add on played it just fine. I went back and tried Derailed again with no luck. Any ideas?

 

[Eric Samonte]

Matt...I posted that same problem in this thead a few weeks ago..with that same DVD. You will need to just update ur 360....basically, have ur 360 hooked up to Live, put in the Derailed HD-DVD in the add on, attempt ot play it and it'll tell u that u have to update.

 

[Matt^Brown]

Eric, I don't have Live. Does that mean I am out of luck?

 

[Brian_cyberbri]

You don't have to have a Gold account. I think a silver (free) account is fine.

There are also updates on the Xbox.com website you can download and install.