XBox 360 HD-DVD
 

First night review... Very impressive.

The HD-DVD player installed without problem from included CD-ROM in less
than 30 seconds including off-the-network update to 360 software.

Was worried about the potential for annoying XBOX 360 noise, not a problem
as the noise in the console is old DVD drive and fortunately the new HD-DVD
drive is quiet.

Video quality is awesome... the included King Kong is a beautiful choice.

Playing DVD (with Faroudja DCDi upconversion player) vs HD-DVD in 1080i is
revealing.

First, colors... deeper, richer in the HD. Seems to have substantially more
dynamic range. No color contouring seen in scenes with massive numbers of
similar colors - like sky or night scenes.

Second...resolution - wow!
1. on the ship scene filming with the sequined dress, in DVD, the sequins
disappear into a blur as the camera pulls back. In HD, each sequin is
visible always.

2. Jungle scenes - leaves on trees, bugs in air in pull back wide screen
shots, individual hairs at a distance - whoa. It seems that things visible
in the DVD in close-up are now visible at a distance. DVD seems fuzzy and
blurred by comparison.

3. The night scene NYC Empire State Building is incredible. In DVD, the city
has blobs of lights in the far buildings, in HD, each window is visible far,
far into the distance. In DVD, the streets below are smears of light, in HD,
individual cars with headlights are seen off in the distance.

Nice of MS to include the multi-media remote too - naturally my HD set was
the last on the remote code list (not included - only on the website) but
since I tried the last one after I tried the first one, it didn't matter.

All in all, not a bad deal for $199.

The hard part will be selecting which discs are worth re-buying in HD and
which are good enough.

XBox 360 HD-DVD
 

"R Sweeney" wrote in message
. ..
First night review... Very impressive.

The HD-DVD player installed without problem from included CD-ROM in less
than 30 seconds including off-the-network update to 360 software.

Was worried about the potential for annoying XBOX 360 noise, not a problem
as the noise in the console is old DVD drive and fortunately the new
HD-DVD drive is quiet.

Video quality is awesome... the included King Kong is a beautiful choice.

Playing DVD (with Faroudja DCDi upconversion player) vs HD-DVD in 1080i is
revealing.

First, colors... deeper, richer in the HD. Seems to have substantially
more dynamic range. No color contouring seen in scenes with massive
numbers of similar colors - like sky or night scenes.

Second...resolution - wow!
1. on the ship scene filming with the sequined dress, in DVD, the sequins
disappear into a blur as the camera pulls back. In HD, each sequin is
visible always.

2. Jungle scenes - leaves on trees, bugs in air in pull back wide screen
shots, individual hairs at a distance - whoa. It seems that things visible
in the DVD in close-up are now visible at a distance. DVD seems fuzzy and
blurred by comparison.

3. The night scene NYC Empire State Building is incredible. In DVD, the
city has blobs of lights in the far buildings, in HD, each window is
visible far, far into the distance. In DVD, the streets below are smears
of light, in HD, individual cars with headlights are seen off in the
distance.

Nice of MS to include the multi-media remote too - naturally my HD set was
the last on the remote code list (not included - only on the website) but
since I tried the last one after I tried the first one, it didn't matter.

All in all, not a bad deal for $199.

The hard part will be selecting which discs are worth re-buying in HD and
which are good enough.

yeah, this drive just obsoleted my Oppo...

XBox 360 HD-DVD
 

"Khee Mao" wrote in message

yeah, this drive just obsoleted my Oppo...


Hey, could be worse... I have two 400 disc changers full of DVD's.

But actually, it's not that bad. We just need to figure out which movies are
pretty enough to want in HD.

XBox 360 HD-DVD
 

"R Sweeney" wrote in message
. ..

"Khee Mao" wrote in message

yeah, this drive just obsoleted my Oppo...


Hey, could be worse... I have two 400 disc changers full of DVD's.

But actually, it's not that bad. We just need to figure out which movies
are pretty enough to want in HD.

not too many keepers at the moment, the freebie King Kong being one of them.
my rental movie queue, however, is now filled with HD-DVD titles. the only
Blur-Ray title at the moment that I wish were HD-DVD is House of Flying
Daggers...hopefully Conan (Barbarian) and Blade Runner will be HD-DVD...

XBox 360 HD-DVD
 

"khee mao" wrote in message

But actually, it's not that bad. We just need to figure out which movies
are pretty enough to want in HD.

not too many keepers at the moment, the freebie King Kong being one of
them. my rental movie queue, however, is now filled with HD-DVD titles.
the only Blur-Ray title at the moment that I wish were HD-DVD is House of
Flying Daggers...hopefully Conan (Barbarian) and Blade Runner will be
HD-DVD...

Conan, Starship Troopers, Blade Runner, 2001, and of course all the Pixar
movies would be nice.

But sadly, some of these are from the BD only camp.

XBox 360 HD-DVD
 

"R Sweeney" wrote in message
...

"khee mao" wrote in message

But actually, it's not that bad. We just need to figure out which movies
are pretty enough to want in HD.

not too many keepers at the moment, the freebie King Kong being one of
them. my rental movie queue, however, is now filled with HD-DVD titles.
the only Blur-Ray title at the moment that I wish were HD-DVD is House of
Flying Daggers...hopefully Conan (Barbarian) and Blade Runner will be
HD-DVD...

Conan, Starship Troopers, Blade Runner, 2001, and of course all the Pixar
movies would be nice.

But sadly, some of these are from the BD only camp.

if Sony keeps fumbling, and I have every reason to believe that they will,
all of these titles will eventually be available on HD-DVD.

XBox 360 HD-DVD
 

"khee mao" wrote in message

But sadly, some of these are from the BD only camp.

if Sony keeps fumbling, and I have every reason to believe that they will,
all of these titles will eventually be available on HD-DVD.

I don't know, Sony is offering a new version called Purple-Ray, 16 levels of
DRM on a 200 GB disc with no content whatsover except for 36 hours of
previews that can not be skipped and neither the player nor connnected HDMI
devices be turned off during the previews.

Disney is reported to be VERY interested.