360 hd-dvd player - anyone pick it up?

Joshua Stubbles

I bought mine last night. My first impression as soon as I popped it in, was "looks a little bit better". But then I did what I should have done to begin with - a comparison. I tossed in the included King Kong disc and froze it at one of the opening scenes (tons of cars driving on a bridge). I then switched the AV box and put a regular DVD on the same frame. I then switched back/forth.

The difference is absolutely astounding. I think I didn't notice at first, since I'm used to my old CRT/TUBE hdtv. I just bought a new Sony SXRD, which is a DLP of sorts. I think I was just spoiled by CRT's perfect image quality.

The HD-DVD has a seriously nice picture though. And for $199, it's the cheapest HD player by $250. Well worth it, if you want the best image quality for your home theatre.

Jarrod1937

what resolution are you running at?
i have heard the difference is nice though from a few places. i'll probably get the 360 hd-dvd player once i get my xbox 360 just don't have enough money right now.

Joshua Stubbles

Right now, there's an issue with my model of HDTV, and 1080p through VGA. Microsoft knows about it, and is working on a patch for it.
So, I'm running 1080i right now. Really looks stunning.

Jarrod1937

[ QUOTE ]
Right now, there's an issue with my model of HDTV, and 1080p through VGA. Microsoft knows about it, and is working on a patch for it.
So, I'm running 1080i right now. Really looks stunning.

[/ QUOTE ]
yeah i bet 1080i looks good, what size screen you have? when i searched google for Sony SXRD, it came up with an article about a 70 inch display, which is actually quite impressive for a projection tv.

Joshua Stubbles

I have the KDS-50A2000. It's a 50" model.

Previously, I had a 36" SonyWega tube HDTV.

Jarrod1937

[ QUOTE ]
I have the KDS-50A2000. It's a 50" model.

Previously, I had a 36" SonyWega tube HDTV.

[/ QUOTE ]
yeah, i used to have a 50 inch tv.. untill the darn thing started having serious convergence problems (in the processing side of the image, not the tubes)... which would have costed too much to fix. recently i bought myself a 200 inch max sony lcd projector that goes up to 1024x768 native and 1280x1024 max. with my throw distance i can get a 80-115 image (depending on what device i am using which varies its placement). however i am jealous of your tv though, 1080 would be nice to have.
although i will admit, its nice being able to take it into the living room and cast a 150 inch screen onto the wall to watch a movie.

sonic

HD-DVD looks nice for sure, but I don't think there's really that big of a difference between my regular Xbox upconverting DVDs to 1080i and HD-DVD. I have HD satellite though, and I think that looks amazing (on most channels and programs). Although 200 dollars is an amazing deal, so it's not like throwing a thousand bucks at a bluray player to get a mediocre boost. Have you tried hooking it up to your computer yet?

Motz

it can detect the drive but there is no way to play an HD-DVD on xp yet.

Jarrod1937

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it can detect the drive but there is no way to play an HD-DVD on xp yet.

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ah, that could be a slight problem then...
hopefully they get that fixed.

Joshua Stubbles

According to this guy, you don't need any special software or drivers, as long as you have a HDCP compliant video card:

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=325&type=expert&pid=3


My 7950GX2 is HDCP compliant, so I'll try the HD-DVD drive when I get home tonight.

Motz

fuck bluray then. 200 bucks for a player. I can already hook my pc up to my plasma.

Jarrod1937

[ QUOTE ]
fuck bluray then. 200 bucks for a player. I can already hook my pc up to my plasma.

[/ QUOTE ]
my exact thoughts.

Ryno

Plus they can press a regular DVD on one side, and an HD-DVD on the other. This is a really nice bonus. Oh, and HD-DVD burners should be much easier to get into production and be available for a reasonable price for the consumer.

nealb4me

The way I look at it is this: Blu Ray is the better format. It is. Are you honestly saying that you have to have the succesor to DVD RIGHT NOW, because like OMG it's NEW and normal DVD's just suck and should be thrown away like an unwanted litter of kittens?

Why not keep your pants on for the time being and wait till blu-ray comes down to "consumer friendly" prices? I mean the reason HD-DVD is interesting in the first place is because it's better than DVD. Therefore Bluray being better than HD-DVD should be even more interesting and worth holding out for. This is not directed at anyone in particular, it's just how I see this issue ;D

Joshua Stubbles

You can look at it that way if you like. I look at it like this:

Sony has tried to push three different formats already, and all of them have failed.

- Beta
- Mini Disk
- UMD

Should I REALLY wait to watch another Sony format fail?

HDDVD is attractive because it's cheaper to make and therefore buy. And it's far superior to regular DVD. Even the cheapest HDDVD player is $499. The cheapest BluRay player? $1000. The 360's HDDVD drive is $199. That's pretty damn good if you ask me. I don't want to wait 1-2yrs for the price of BluRay to come down. I bought a new HDTV - I like to use it. Watching standard DVDs just doesn't look as good.
The absolutely only advantage that BluRay has over HDDVD is storage capacity. And seriously, I don't see a movie utilizing 50GB+ of data.

Xenobond

Is an HD-DVD player backwards compatible with normal DVD's?

Joshua Stubbles

I don't know about regular HDDVD players, but the 360 player is. It also upscales regular DVD's.

ScoobyDoofus

Vassago is totally right on this one I feel.
It is my belief that Blue Ray + PS3 will be the nail in the coffin for Sony.

Tulkamir

Neal, look deeper into it. Blu ray is not "better". It can hold more than HD, but also has longer load times and some other downfalls.

Last comparison I saw I remember thinking that the HD-DVD looked better.

nealb4me

As a format, ignoring all cost, production and availibility issues, BluRay is better because it holds more data per disc. Therefore it is a more advanced technology than HD-DVD and my only reason for saying it's better.

So lets look at it this way:

BluRay

+ higher storage capacity
+ ability to playback while recording
- more expensive than HD-DVD in the short term

HD-DVD

+ availible now
+ consumer friendly price (and name lol)
- lower storage capacity
- inability to playback while recording

So I can see why you think HD-DVD is the better choice from the consumer's point of view even if it's not technically the better format.

Also Tulkamir by longer loading times you are referring to PS3 and not movie players?

hawken

HD-DVD burners are available to buy here, but as mentioned, winXP can't recognise them natively. They work on mac osx fine though