XBOX 360 HDMI 120GB hard drive! (1 Viewer)

[JeffMuller]

Hey Paul,

Again, I don't know all of the technical details of the specs, but if you're dealing with 8 channels of 192kHz, 96 bit [ and it looks like most audio is 24-bit] uncompressed PCM audio, that's ~150Mbps out of USB's ~480Mbps bandwidth. Granted, that doesn't leave you a lot for video... but 330 Mbps is still a lot better thant the ~10Mbps (total) used by DVD. Avid's high-quality, frame-based HD compression maxes at 220 Mbps, so I have to imagine that the other IPB-type codecs like VC-1 use a much lower bit rate than that.

What are the bit-rate allocations for video vs audio?

Are there other issues with the encoding/encryption that can only be handled by HDMI hardware?

So please, I'd be grateful to learn more about the restrictions. Even if you could point me to a site that lists some of the details.

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Thanks Jeff, for having patience and sticking with this thread, giving me the opportunity for a greater understanding of the scope of possibilities.

As you already stated, I will now state too, that "I have no real knowledge about how the thing is implemented."

In searching for a site for details about "restrictions", I only found more questions and confusion.

Didn't realize that a USB interface had so much bandwidth potential and I only assumed that the HDMI 1.3 interface was the only approved transport, allowing the new audio codecs to be transmitted in their native bitstream.
The fact that the audio, which can't be passed alone over an HDMI signal, riding on top of the video and having HDCP involvement, caused me to dismiss other possible solutions.:rolleyes

Will keep looking for someone who knows who can give a concrete answer.

Paul

 

[Romier S]

Pushing the conversation away from the lossless audio topic for a moment, this site has a nice writeup on the internals of the Elite:

http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/news/i..._360_elite.htm

I'm not quite on board in believing the 65nm core being implemented in this hardware revision, but the report does put to rest any issues about the 360 having a clear direct digital path via the HDMI port. You can clearly see the updated HANA digital scaler chip in one of the pictures there.

 

[Jean D]

So what does that mean exactly? that it could do HDMI 1.3 if pushed with a firmware update?

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Yeah, I'm hoping 1.3 would be possible as well...still don't understand why they didn't 100% nail that one down...

Folks have reported seeing these in Wal-Mart's already...some have had success buying them, but most have not been able to because it won't ring up properly at the cash register...YMMV.

 

[Jean D]

Review comparisons are floating around the net now.

Here's one from Engadget

Here's another from Gizmodo

 

[JeffMuller]

SO has anyone gotten an Elite? I still don't have a 360, and was considering getting an Elite. They seem to be going quickly.

Also, with the rumors (that I'm propagating by mentionaing in this thread) that they'll be coming out with a 65nm-versios "some time" this year... I'm wondering if I should wait for the cooler-quieter version. The nice thing about the 360 is that it made original-Xbox games very inexpensive, so I've ben adding to my original collection and have plenty of stuff to play.

I do like the black though. Not sure if they're going to continue that as a color, even though Elites are "special edition".

Jeff

 

[Jean D]

IMO wait. do yourself a favor, pick up a Core unit on the cheap in a few weeks/months (I plan to pick up a spare Core unit for my bedroom mainly as a media server). then upgrade to the cooler one down the line. My premium in my livingroom is so loud, I want to smash it, but instead I may build a box to help silence it.