Hey guys, I was hoping some people here might have this info.. As some of you probably know, the latest Sunday ads included an ad for the 360's HD-DVD add-on for $179, and it includes the Heroes HD set ($99 value, they say). Anyway, that is a pretty tempting deal to me, but I have some questions about it. My setup with my 360 is this: I have the VGA adapter, and run a cable for video from the 360 directly into an HP 6320 overhead DLP projector. This projector is compatible with many different formats, including 1080p, which I use with my DISH HD receiver. I also run the optical audio out from the 360 output combo-cable into a Harmon-Kardon receiver, which gives me the Dolby Digital audio to go with the full HD video of the 360 through the VGA output. (the reason I used the VGA cable is because I happened to have an old 30' VGA cable handy, and my old 360 did not have HDMI out anyway - it finally went 'red-ring' on me, and Fry's gave me a new one - thank goodness for extended warranties! - and now I do have HDMI out, but I am already using that for the satellite anyway, so it's a moot point until I get a new receiver which has HDMI switching anyway) So, I can currently watch regular DVDs from my 360 if I want, and also get the digital audio output for the 5.1 surround. The question, though, is this: if I add the HD-DVD accessory to the 360 in my current setup, will I have problems? Specifically, will the 360 let me watch full HD DVD output even though I am using VGA (iow, analog) for my video output instead of digital, such as HDMI/DVI? Also, what about the audio output? Do you get the full digital audio output from the 360's HD-DVD accessory? I seem to recall seeing in the past that some people had complaints about this. Ultimately, I know that I will need to get a new receiver which has HDMI switching, and the video question should be solved anyway, since I am also seriously considering the PS3 after its price drops, but I still want to be more sure about the audio specs of the 360's HD-DVD accessory. Anyone have the solid info on this stuff?
I used VGA to my 42" Plasma with no issues. I am not using HDMI as my new 360 has a HDMI output. But I had full HD with VGA when using my HD-DVD player.
you can use the VGA for 1080p output but i heard two complaints from others which i dont know if it has been corrected or not: a)the colors seems a bit washed out--not as sharp as via component b) the picture comes through letterboxed...if you have a WS tv then there are black bars at the top, bottom and sides. I saw this on my friends tv it was the main reason i didnt go with the vga cables. but i dont know if MS fixed the problems with the new hdmi 360s or not.
Not sure I understand the second - I thought the letterboxing had to do with the ratio the film is in? - but I do know the first point was fixed with an update a few months back.
no it was something in the way the VGA cable outputted the picture it put in the black bars on its own. no hd-dvd is letterboxed...but i figure MS probably fixed it..this was about a year ago when my friend had this problem with the older model 360 w/o hdmi
That is not true. Matrix HD-DVD is definitely letterboxed. When asked about it, Warner said the Waschovski brothers wanted it to be the true theatrical ratio which is not 16:9, resulting in leterrbox. When I had VGA hook up I didn't have and letterboxing for movies that didn't have them. I think this was fixed in the 360 update during the spring.
Hey guys, one more question I forgot to ask: Are you able to use the 360's game remote to control an HD DVD movie, just like you can use it to control a regular DVD in the 360 itself? Or do you have to get an extra remote? Or what?
Any 360 remote should work. The remote is for the 360. The HD DVD drive doesn't receive any commands from the remote. However, the eject button on the remote is for the drive in the 360 itself and won't work for the HD DVD drive. You also need to make sure the 360 drive is empty before you try to watch a HD DVD. That's the only way the 360 will know the HD DVD drive is the primary drive. The 360 drive will take precedence over the HD DVD drive if discs are in both.
