DVD Upscaling

[rowech]

Are these upscaling DVD players worth the price as a bridge until prices come down for the new HDDVD/Blue Ray players? If so, should they have HDMI cables or will component work okay?

Does the 360 or PS3 or both upscale DVDs?

[stevew]

I believe the 360 upscales, but I'm not 100% sure. The ps3 doesnt. You can only upscale with HDMI out, though i hear that some players can be hacked to do it via component, ymmv.

[Karim]

The best upscaling DVD player I've come across:

http://www.oppodigital.com/dv970hd/dv970hd.html

[sooner333]

Originally Posted by stevew

I believe the 360 upscales, but I'm not 100% sure. The ps3 doesnt. You can only upscale with HDMI out, though i hear that some players can be hacked to do it via component, ymmv.

If the 360 upconverts, it does it through component, as it has no HDMI out.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

PS3 has a upconverter in it, but they haven't enabled it yet. It's widely expected to have the firmware added to do it, most likely next month with the big firmware update that coincides with the European PS3 launch.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by sooner333

If the 360 upconverts, it does it through component, as it has no HDMI out.

Yeah, i should have been more clear. Commercial retail upscaling players only upscale through HDMI right now.

[rowech]

So would you guys say it's worth picking one of these up for $100-$150? My TV is only 720p and I have probably 100-150 DVDs and can't see rebuilding a library for them all in HD.

[14ers]

Originally Posted by rowech

So would you guys say it's worth picking one of these up for $100-$150? My TV is only 720p and I have probably 100-150 DVDs and can't see rebuilding a library for them all in HD.

Wouldn't you then be stuck with another DVD player that does not play any HD?

Why not wait for an all-in-one machine, that plays HD-Blue-ray and has the ability to upscale your current DVDs?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by 14ers

Why not wait for an all-in-one machine, that plays HD-Blue-ray and has the ability to upscale your current DVDs?

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Take that $150 and use it towards a PS3 purchase. End up with a gaming system to boot.

[rowech]

So then all new HDDVD/Blue Ray will upscale current DVDs?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by rowech

So then all new HDDVD/Blue Ray will upscale current DVDs?

Not sure about the players, but the 360 upconverts right now and the PS3 will be getting the firmware upgrade to allow upconverting at the end of March.

[rowech]

Is that the 360 straight out of the box or with the HDDVD player?

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by rowech

Is that the 360 straight out of the box or with the HDDVD player?

360 straight out of the box will upconvert to whatever resolution you tell it to talk to (the same as the Dashboard runs in). The HDDVD player is strictly needed to play HDDVDs (and it will again take care of scaling to the resolution you've told the Xbox to use for your TV).

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

360 straight out of the box will upconvert to whatever resolution you tell it to talk to (the same as the Dashboard runs in). The HDDVD player is strictly needed to play HDDVDs (and it will again take care of scaling to the resolution you've told the Xbox to use for your TV).

Hmmm. Glad I saw this thread. I had no idea that the 360 could play DVD's better than my regular DVD player (although my TV actually upscales so I'm not sure if I will notice a difference.)

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

Hmmm. Glad I saw this thread. I had no idea that the 360 could play DVD's better than my regular DVD player (although my TV actually upscales so I'm not sure if I will notice a difference.)

Me neither. Time to hook that 360 up to my LCD monitor and see what these DVDs look like on it.

[rowech]

Wow...didn't realize this about the 360 either. How is that possible though if it doesn't have HDMI? Are the component cables enough? That's a huge deal for me all of a sudden.

[Greyroofoo]

The 360 does NOT upscale out of the box. You need the HD-DVD drive and the VGA cable (sold seperately).

IMO upscaling is just a fancy term that really doesn't mean anything. There very little difference between an upscaled DVD and one that isn't upscaled.

Do yourself a favor and get yourself an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player.

[Greyroofoo]

dola,
I'd just like to add that the 360 HD-DVD is pretty damn good looking.

I haven't seen the PS3 Blu-Ray player in action so I won't comment on it.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hmmm. Who is right? The guy who works in the business or Greyroofoo? Greyroofoo, do you have any links or other data that shows that the 360 doesn't upscale?

[Greyroofoo]

I'll try to find a link, but whenever I put a DVD in my 360 or the HD-DVD add-on, my projector shows its getting a 480p signal, and it gets a 1080i signal from games or HD-DVD

[sooner333]

Has anyone downloaded any HD movies from Xbox Live??? How is that?

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by sooner333

Has anyone downloaded any HD movies from Xbox Live??? How is that?

I downloaded one and it looked great. Of course without the bigger HD, it took up a significant portion of the HD.

[rowech]

If 360 does come out with this 60+ GB Hard drive, will it be something you can add on later?

[sooner333]

Originally Posted by rowech

If 360 does come out with this 60+ GB Hard drive, will it be something you can add on later?

Just a guess, but since you can already detatch the hard drive even I would bet that you could add on the big hard drive by taking off your old one and putting the new one in its place.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Greyroofoo

The 360 does NOT upscale out of the box. You need the HD-DVD drive and the VGA cable (sold seperately).

IMO upscaling is just a fancy term that really doesn't mean anything. There very little difference between an upscaled DVD and one that isn't upscaled.

Do yourself a favor and get yourself an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player.

I think there is a pretty big difference between upscaling and non, but it could also be the fact that it the DVD was shown on an XBR2 sony set. So maybe a less impressive TV doesn't receive and fix up the image much better when it's getting it via HDMI.

Test was the movie Cars on DVD going from a sony dx375 HTIB into the 40" XBR2 LCD, with HDMI vs monster component. I'd much rather watch the HDMI picture.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by rowech

If 360 does come out with this 60+ GB Hard drive, will it be something you can add on later?

You may know this, but it's worth mentioning. The 360 has a specific type of hard drive that can only be purchased from Microsoft. The PS3 uses a PC hard drive which allows you to purchase from multiple manufacturers.

I only mention this because if you're planning on purchasing a 360 and a HD-DVD drive, the PS3 and the 360 are then the same price and the PS3 has wireless built into the system. Also, the January HD disc sales numbers are out and the Blu-ray has a 2-1 movie sales advantage right now and they expect that to only increase as more PS3's hit the market. HD-DVD isn't dead as a format, but it's really limping at this point.

[rowech]

I'm definitely torn with what to do. I've always been a PS2 guy over Xbox but I just get better vibes from Xbox right now. I think I'm going to wait until spring no matter what...there's definitely some impatience as I want one of them but I'm very aware that I don't want to make the wrong decision.

Part of me says to buy the 360 and if Blue Ray wins, prices will come down eventually a couple of years down the road.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by rowech

I'm definitely torn with what to do. I've always been a PS2 guy over Xbox but I just get better vibes from Xbox right now. I think I'm going to wait until spring no matter what...there's definitely some impatience as I want one of them but I'm very aware that I don't want to make the wrong decision.

Part of me says to buy the 360 and if Blue Ray wins, prices will come down eventually a couple of years down the road.

I guess I'm a bit confused. If you're shopping for video game console based on price, the 360 is your choice. If you're shopping for a hi-def player, the 360 and PS3 are the same price point, hence I'm not sure what the price coming down has to do with anything. The argument for buying the 360 is that some people can get a next gen system at a cheaper price without the hi-def DVD player. If your getting it to use as a DVD player, the PS3 would appear to be the better choice given current data. The PS3 also comes with wireless connection built in and a cheaper way to upgrade the hard drive because the multiple manufacturers create competition and lower prices.

Probably a good idea to wait in your case because if the hi-def DVD trend continues, it'll be pretty obvious which format is going to survive even 2-3 months from now. Given that you're not comfortable with the decision at this point, you'll probably feel better at that point knowing you're buying the right system with the best format available.

[rowech]

At this point, I know the PS3 is supposed to be better but I haven't seen it. It's almost as if the DS versus PSP is happening at the console level now too. I agree that if blue ray wins, and you want gaming and a DVD player than it'll be obvious to suck it up and spend the extra on PS3.

Just a situation where I know I want one of them, know I can't have both of them, so I want to make the right decision. Super hard to get any accurate information from anywhere because everyone has their favorite.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by rowech

At this point, I know the PS3 is supposed to be better but I haven't seen it. It's almost as if the DS versus PSP is happening at the console level now too. I agree that if blue ray wins, and you want gaming and a DVD player than it'll be obvious to suck it up and spend the extra on PS3.

Just a situation where I know I want one of them, know I can't have both of them, so I want to make the right decision. Super hard to get any accurate information from anywhere because everyone has their favorite.

It's a contrasting situation right now. 360 is generally favored in gaming right now because there are more games available. In the next 10 months, the PS3 will have 125 new titles, so there will be plenty of gaming to be had on both sides of the fence. By the end of the year, both systems will have plenty of games to choose from.

Hi-def DVD situation is getting pretty close to over at this point in all honesty. 96% of all hi-def DVD sales in Japan last month were Blu-ray. 70% of all hi-def DVD sales last month in North America were Blu-ray. If these percentages continue the same way or increase by the April/May timeframe, I would say it probably is an easy decision for you IF you truly want a system that plays games and is a hi-def DVD player.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Wanted to give you some accurate numbers. The Nielson numbers I cited in the previous post are actually from the first two weeks of the month, not the entire month.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/456

[rowech]

I get the impression Mizzou that you're just a bit of a PS3 fan and not a fan of 360.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I am an owner of the PS3. That's why I thought it was important to back up my points with those numbers. I also stated that if you want gaming only, 360 is the way to go if you are purchasing right now. End of the year may be a different situation, but that's hard to tell at this point. It just really depends on what you're looking for. This specific thread was about DVD's. In the case of movies, there's really not a lot going for the HD-DVD right now and the future doesn't look better judging from the most recent numbers.

[Travis]

Well, as a PS3 owner, I like those numbers, but won't the HD-DVD add on release for the 360 likely help HD-DVD sales? I have no idea what percentage of BR sales go to those using the PS3 as their BR player, but with a comparible product on the other side for a widespread system, there'll have to be a good enough period of time pass before those sales numbers can be used as a valid comparison, correct?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Travis

Well, as a PS3 owner, I like those numbers, but won't the HD-DVD add on release for the 360 likely help HD-DVD sales? I have no idea what percentage of BR sales go to those using the PS3 as their BR player, but with a comparible product on the other side for a widespread system, there'll have to be a good enough period of time pass before those sales numbers can be used as a valid comparison, correct?

The HD-DVD drive was actually released before the PS3. The purchase rate in regards to 360 owners who purchased the HD-DVD drives is pretty low (last I saw it was around 10% of the 10 million units). 360 owners in general don't want the disc add-on which makes the system cheaper, but really hurts one of Microsoft's goals of making HD-DVD THE format for hi-def movies. You'll note in the article that they mention that the HD-DVD total disc units sold is greater than the Blu-ray right now because of their head start, but the article notes that Blu-ray is expected to surpass the HD-DVD disc sold pretty quickly.

[rowech]

So you're saying if the HDDVD was built into the 360, there would be more competition between the formats? Are people buying blue ray or HDDVD players separate from the gaming machines or are all of these sales almost all gamers?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by rowech

So you're saying if the HDDVD was built into the 360, there would be more competition between the formats? Are people buying blue ray or HDDVD players separate from the gaming machines or are all of these sales almost all gamers?

Very few players stand-alone players are actually selling. The stand alone players cost more than the 360 w/ the HD-DVD or the PS3. You can get either for $600 which obviously includes a gaming system and a hi-def player. The stand-alone players rarely cost less than $700. I'm not sure why anyone would buy a stand-alone with the PS3 or 360 + HD-DVD as an alternative for $600.

If it was built into the 360, I wouldn't have been shocked to see the HD-DVD already being crowned the winner because of the jump start they would have had in the market. Microsoft decided they wanted to make a cheaper console by leaving out the hi-def player and got it out early and have sold a lot of consoles. They differentiated themselves in the market by doing that.

[Daimyo]

You can't really compare sales of the XBox HD-DVD addon to total PS3 sales. Every person who buys the HD-DVD addon is very likely to follow that purchase by actually buying HD-DVDs (probably several to justify the cost of the player). What percentage of PS3 owners have purchased blu-ray discs or plan to purchase more than a couple in the near future?

[rowech]

I actually just read something that might make this debate for me null and void......does the BR player only play in 1080p? I have a 720p TV so would I bet out of luck with a BR player but I could play HDDVD on the 360?

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm not positive but think the BR player can play in any resolution. I just think it looks best in 1080p.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by rowech

I actually just read something that might make this debate for me null and void......does the BR player only play in 1080p? I have a 720p TV so would I bet out of luck with a BR player but I could play HDDVD on the 360?

Totally false. It will play in 1080p, 1080i, 720p and 480p.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Daimyo

What percentage of PS3 owners have purchased blu-ray discs or plan to purchase more than a couple in the near future?

There was a recent poll of 100,000 PS3 owners asking that very question. 80% of them responded that they plan on using the system as a Blu-ray player. While that could be purchase or rental, either one is a big positive as both rentals and purchases are used to measure interest.