Comments on: Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Review

By: Greg

Greg — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 06:13:02 +0000

Does the xbox 360 hd dvd player play xbox 360 games like the console?

By: Fisher

Fisher — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:04:42 +0000

Hi there, I found your article through google search, I know this article is almost 2 years old and the chance of you reading this comment is very slim.
I'm just wondering if you know how to open the Xbox HD DVD player while there is an HD DVD disc inside the tray using a “remote” ? When i try to do that It will open the Xbox 360 console tray, not the hd dvd player tray. I'm so frustrated (most of the times) havong to open the hd dvd tray player manually with my finger (get close to it from my sofa) it's just really not cool Maybe a third party remote/software will solve this problem ? Do you know anything about this ? Thanks.

By: Microsoft lowers the price of Xbox 360 HD DVD player to $129.99 | Krunker

Microsoft lowers the price of Xbox 360 HD DVD player to $129.99 | Krunker — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:18:36 +0000

[...] Paramount and Universal for some time (though Paramount could pull out any day now). Check out my original review of the HD DVD Player from Microsoft from way back in [...]

By: flung

flung — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 23:33:06 +0000

A VGA connection is technically an analog connection between your video source and your display device. Therefore, you’re going to go through a digital to analog conversion on the Xbox 360 side as data is sent to your display.

HDMI is a pure digital connection between your source and target device. It also has the benefit of being able to carry both audio and video signals in a single cable. HDMI is also compliant with HDCP which is technically needed for Blu-ray and HD DVD playback on your display.

Now onto the color problem. It appears that the color issues have largely been remedied (I did a little googling around).

As for why HDMI over VGA – simple really. HDMI requires no digital to analog conversion. You keep a pure digital connection between your source and target.

hope this helps!

By: Ken Cheung

Ken Cheung — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 23:13:14 +0000

flung,

Thanks for the quick reply. Thanks for also confirming that the VGA AV cable will work with my TV (Yes, the TV does do 1080p). I seem to have picked up some comments about VGA color issues as well. (But possibly only from the list of comments above). Are you techie enough to make a comment as to what is the technical difference between VGA signals vs. HDMI? Both are digital I presume? If so, why would the color of one be different than the other. In that case, there shouldn’t be a chance of any signal interference in the cables.

By: flung

flung — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:40:37 +0000

Hi Ken,
Yes you are correct that with a VGA connection, you can output at 1080p to your HDTV (assuming your HDTV set can handle and display 1080p).

A PC in (D-sub 15 pin) connector is indeed a VGA connector – they are one and the same. So all you need to do is get yourself a VGA AV cable from Best Buy or Circuit City etc and then try out the connection yourself. This is exactly the set up I have right now for my Xbox 360. The console is directly connected to my 1080p capable LCD display from Samsung while the optical audio output is connected to my receiver which then decodes the Dolby Digital content.

Some things to keep in mind though. People have complained that the VGA connection gives slightly washed out colors. I haven’t seen that in my output yet but then again – I haven’t tried an HDMI connection either since I have a first gen. Xbox 360 console.

Like you, I’ve been thinking about trading up to a newer Xbox 360 console simply to get the HDMI port. Basically, I want to simplify my cable connections here at home.

Hope this helps!

By: Ken Cheung

Ken Cheung — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:17:05 +0000

I would like some help with my connections and options. I have an Xbox 360 without an HDMI output. I also just added the Xbox HD-DVD drive and a rear projection HDTV.

Ever since I bought the new TV and the HD-DVD drive, I been thinking of way to output 1080p. Currently I am using component cables to my TV and the highest resolution I can achieve with this setup is 1080i.

One option is to trade in my Xbox 360 console for a newer unit. But can anyone tell me whether I can achieve 1080p using the VGA AV cable? If so, my other concern is that I am not familiar with the nomenclature to tell me if the VGA AV cable will work with my TV input. On the back of the TV, this input is labelled as “PC in (D-sub 15pin) (PC-RGB)”. No where does this say “VGA”. Is this input on my TV compatible?

Thanks

By: Sean Sweeney

Sean Sweeney — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 21:36:20 +0000

I have been watching some regular DVD’s on my HD DVD player and every once in a while, the screen goes black for a second (I still have audio) and the TV flashes “Component 2″ like it lost signal, and then it is back again.

It will does this three or four times in a row, and then not do it again. Anyone else experience this problem?

By: flung

flung — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:10:28 +0000

Michael,
There is no output whatsoever on the back of the HD DVD player add-on. The video outputs are on the Xbox 360 console itself. Newer Xbox 360’s will have HDMI outputs while the original consoles support composite, component, and VGA – depending on the cables you purchase.

By: flung

flung — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:09:16 +0000

Christina: sorry you’re getting that problem. I’ve yet to order the Planet Earth HD DVDs. You might want to see if you can delete any temporary files (cookies etc) that your HD DVD drive might have for the Planet Earth HD DVD.
To do this – do the following:
1. insert the Planet Earth HD DVD into the drive
2. Go into your system blade on the Xbox 360 dashboard (or whatever it is called.. it’s at the end on the right)
3. Click on memory
4. Select the HD DVD drive
5. Select the button that says “Delete content” or something like that.

Then attempt to play the disc again – see if that works. Sorry I cant be more descriptive – not in front of my machine right now

By: flung

flung — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:05:15 +0000

Chris – no the HD DVD drive will not play Xbox games.

By: flung

flung — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:03:19 +0000

Vijay Nair: There are definitely people who have reported washed out colors via the VGA connection. I haven’t seen this on my connection thus far but YMMV.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:51:21 +0000

Is that an HDMI input in the back of the player?? If so does it have better or worse resolution than the VGA cables. Thanks

By: Christina

Christina — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 19:49:06 +0000

I bought the xbox hd player for my husband who is in Iraq-I decided to try it out before he comes home and it works great! However, I oredered the Planet Earth HD set through Amazon and it will only play about 10 seconds and then I see nothing but a black screen. So I returned it to Amazon.com and they sent me a new one…..same thing. Each disc plays about ten seconds ( just the BBC logo ) and then shuts off before we even hit the menu or the movie….am I doing something wrong or have others had the same problem? And is this a problem that I can easily fix? Like I said before all of our other HD movies play wonderfully on the player. This is the only set I am having a problem with. Appreciate any feedback I can get!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 11:54:02 +0000

does the hd dvd player play xbox 360 games because the dvd rom in the xbox 360 sucks?

By: Vijay Nair

Vijay Nair — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:24:58 +0000

Someone please answer this Q.

Does using VGA to connect the Xbox 360 to the TV cause washout of colors. I remember someone somewhere vouching for this with sm logic saying through VGA the colors transmitted ae for PC and so will show washed out colors on TV…

By: Matt Bamber

Matt Bamber — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 07:04:25 +0000

I love my xbox 360 hd dvd player is awesome and highly recommended very high quality same as blu-ray and cheeper i had a blu-ray player and it was way to expensive till i saw the xbox 360 hd dvd player, the blu-ray player cost me 400 alone and the dvd’s are outrageous in prices 40 bucks a dvd for new releases most of the time for hd dvd i get new releases for 25 bucks, and its the same exact quality as blu-ray, you want hd movies go with hd dvd same thing cheeper, sony is way too expensive with all there products thats why i also got rid of my ps3 xbox 360 is so much better, trust me i regret everything i brought from sony

By: Latest propaganda is in - Page 2 - The Gaming Tavern - TGT Forums

Latest propaganda is in - Page 2 - The Gaming Tavern - TGT Forums — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:59:18 +0000

[...] A little Q&A: Here are some questions (and answers) about the Xbox 360 HD DVD player that people have asked on the Xbox.com forums. Q: Will the HD DVD player upconvert current DVD titles A: If you use component cables, the player will not upconvert DVD titles. If you connect a VGA cable between the 360 and the TV set, you can upconvert your DVD titles to 720p, 1080i, or 1080p – depending on what your TV supports Q: What resolutions can the HD DVD player play back HD DVD titles at? A: If your 360 player is connected via component cables, then you can play back at 720p or at 1080i. Update (11/25/2006) – If you have an HDTV which supports 1080p over component, then you can view 1080p from your 360 via the HD DVD player (but no upscaling of other content mind you). If you are connected via the VGA cable, then you have the option of displaying HD DVD titles at 1080p. AGAIN – this is assuming your television set supports the resolutions in question. Q: Will the HD DVD player play back regular DVD titles? A: Yes! Q: Is the HD DVD player noisy? A: Not at all. I don?t even think I can hear it when it?s on. Once the movie is going, I definitely don?t hear a thing! Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Review | Krunker [...]

By: flung

flung — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:30:58 +0000

SA – good question – i assume upconversion will occur via the HDMI connection but I’m not 100 percent sure. VGA connections are definitely upconverted to 1080p if you have a 1080p capable display.

By: flung

flung — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 00:29:30 +0000

Hey William – thanks for the comments. That’s awfully strange that Planet Earth won’t work for you. It should output just fine onto 720p/1080i settings. Have you ever gotten the HD DVDs to play? Is your Xbox 360 connected to the Internet? If not – it might need a software update patch from Microsoft in order to play the HD DVDs? Since you’re playing other HD DVD movies, I would assume you have all the necessary updates.

I have run into occasional hiccups with web-enabled HD DVDs where sometimes I need to clear out the file cache for the movie and then reinsert the movie back to the drive. That’s the only other thing I could think of.