I'm planning on getting the Xbox360 HD-DVD player but before I do I'd like to know if it will play regular DVDs. If it does will it upconvert them to 720 or 1080? So if anyone has Xbox360 HD-DVD player (any other HD-DVD) or just happens to be HD savoy please chime in.

 

HD DVD players are supposed to be backwards compatible devices, so you shouldn't have any problems playing regular DVD's in them. Plus I don't think the Xbox 360 HD DVD player takes the place of your regular drive, so you would be able to play DVD's through there as well.

 

I just read that it will play regular ones.. but it didnt mention anything on MS's site saying about upconverting to 1080i

 

Yes it plays regular DVDs as well as CDs. If you have the VGA cable it is supposed to upconvert DVDs to 1080. I don't have it yet. But that is the word.

 

Thanks for the info guys. Does anybody know for sure if it will upconvert regular DVD's to 720?

 

Found this for ya:

Quote:

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

http://www.krunker.com/2006/11/12/xb...player-review/

 

But remimber upconverting won't be as good as true HD

 

Tell Sony PS3 owners about Upscaling

 

Thanks Boomer. Although I think I just might buy a Panasonic upconverting DVD player CC is selling for $89 and a Xbox HD-DVD player. Crazy thing is it will still be cheaper than buying anyother HD-DVD player out right now.

 

I can't speak specifically for the XBOX 360, but my Toshiba XA-1 upconverts standard DVDs to 1080i. They look significantly better upconverted than in the standard format.

 

What else is cool is that XBox360 one will work with Windows Vista as well...

 

I think I might just get an upconverting DVD player for now. My reasoning for this is even though I buy alot of movies I mostly rent. Don't know if you guys have noticed but blockbuster and other major video stores don't carry HD-DVD or Blu-Ray yet. So if I bought an HD-DVD player the only HD movies I'd be watching are the ones I buy. So with that said I think I'll wait untill video stores start carry HD DVD's before splurging on a new player. Plus I'm sure the prices will continue to drop as production costs go down.

 

Yeah I'm sorta in the same boat..in that i want to wait.
Not for renting..but for buying and seeing what happens.

if there is infact going to continue to be 2 standards, might as well get a combo player in the future

 

Ditto.

 

Leo,
I live in the Boonies of Maine, so we don't have a lot of video rental options. We use Netflix and they have both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray disks. Just another option for you...

I must say though...watching a movie in HD-DVD is an amazing cinematic experience in your own house. If you have good A/V equipment, it easily beats the movie theater in price, sound and picture quality, and less idiots interrupting the movie.

 

Early news out of CES says that LG will show off a working dual format player that they plan to have on shelves by February at a suggested price of $1,199. source.

Warner Brothers is also working on a dual format disc, that would contain both HD-DVD and BluRay copies of the movie, though it's unclear if any of the other movie studios would consider it. Right now Warner and Paramount are the only studios supporting both formats. Goldwyn-Mayer, Fox, Disney, and Sony are still firmly BluRay only, while Universal is HD-DVD only.

I'm holding out for the dual format players myself. While the 360 addon seems cool, I would be annoyed by the fan noise of the system to want to use it.

I'm just really annoyed that the major tech companies allowed two standards to hit the market like this again. For some reason they ignored history showing that one format is always the clear winner in these situations in the end. Though this one is a little different, since the two formats share so much in common. Both require blue lasers, both are on shiny 12cm discs, and both use the same video compression technology. So at least a combo player is doable unlike the VHS/Betamax issue.