xbox/HDTV/DVD ?

[sdunlop]

I got myself a new RCA 1080i widescreen HDTV (hdtv reciever built in) over x-mas and was really disappointed with how the xbox looked when it was hooked up.

I popped in the fellowship of the ring, widescreen addition and found that it was going to my 19:6 tv in 4:3 format. Went and bought the HDTV component hookup and saw no real difference.

the only technical specs I could read on the X-box hdtv hookup was that DVD movies play back in 480i. But what about games that support HDTV, what format are those?

Does anyone have any luck with how hdtv and x-box/dvd players work together? what is my optimal solution here?

I'm very impressed with hdtv broadcast channels. Looks amazing. But x-box... just looks like x-box.

[JJaX]

Originally posted by sdunlop
I got myself a new RCA 1080i widescreen HDTV (hdtv reciever built in) over x-mas and was really disappointed with how the xbox looked when it was hooked up.

I popped in the fellowship of the ring, widescreen addition and found that it was going to my 19:6 tv in 4:3 format. Went and bought the HDTV component hookup and saw no real difference.

the only technical specs I could read on the X-box hdtv hookup was that DVD movies play back in 480i. But what about games that support HDTV, what format are those?

Does anyone have any luck with how hdtv and x-box/dvd players work together? what is my optimal solution here?

I'm very impressed with hdtv broadcast channels. Looks amazing. But x-box... just looks like x-box.

A HDTV doesnt turn any Xbox game into a HD game. Only games that support it. I believe to only games were you will see a huge difference right now is Dragons lair 3d (1080i) and Dead or Alive 3 (720i). IM pretty sure games that support a higher interlace make note of it on the back of the box.

I also believe you have to change your settings in your xbox dashboard to HDTV.

[LynxFX]

JJax had it right on a few things.

First, congrats on your purchase. You can now experience gaming like no other.

Some background info. The xbox displays all xbox games in 480p. (There are 3 exceptions right now that are 480i and poor ports) 480p is a big upgrade from 480i, especially in gaming. You will notice everything is alot smoother, fewer jaggies (notice they do not disappear). To get 480p you need the xbox HD a/v pack or the monster 400x kit. I'm sure you got one of these hooked up now. Then check the dashboard settings to make sure that 480p and 1080i are selected. If your tv does 720p enable that as well. Enable widescreen as well, not letterbox. This will stretch 4x3 games to fill your widescreen tv. Most games look awesome stretched compared to tv where everything looks distorted and short.

The only games that do HD resolutions 720p and 1080i are:

Dragon's Lair 3D: 720p & 1080i
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 4: 720p
Street Hoops: 720p
NBA 2K3: 720p

DOA3 is only 480p but it is widescreen (16x9)


Now as for watching movies, ditch your xbox. You can only output 480i for movies and on an HDTV you are wasting half the dvd resolution and it will look like crap. Get yourself a good progressivescan dvd player and use that. Make sure you have the settings of that player set for 16x9 output and of course 480p enabled. Just refer to your manual.

Lastly, calibrate your tv. Get ahold of AVIA or Video Essentials dvd (after you get your progressivescan dvd player) and calibrate it. You will be amazed at what some tweaking can do, especially for movies. This also lowers your chance of burn in when playing games and watching tv. Contrast being the most important factor and that being lowered.

Hope this info helps you out.

Welcome to the HD club.

[BCan]

It is amazing how the defaults for most of the adjustments that are needed are usually way too high, not until you tune it in properly do you realise the incorrect colours you used to watch...

[LynxFX]

Yup, they are set so they look bright and stand out on the showroom floor.

[sdunlop]

Thanks for the info. It answers a lot of questions. Now i have two more.

Will only progressive scan DVD players support 16:9 format?

And secondly, if I buy a second DVD player I won't have enough digital optical inputs on my reciever (1 for x-box, and 1 for HDTV decoder). Is there any spliter device for optical cables (my guess would be no).

[LynxFX]

Non progressivescan dvd players support 16x9 as well. You just won't get the full resolution as you would with a progressivescan player.

Does your receiver have a digital coax connection? If so then use that with the dvd player. I don't think there is an optical splitter.

[Motley]

Hmm.. where can I get the AVIA or Video Essentials dvd to calibrate my color?

I have a Mitsubishi 48" HDTV & a prgressive scan DVD. if there is any way possible to reduce burn in using one of these calibration tools, I'd love to use it.

[LynxFX]

Go to www.dvdpricesearch.com and enter in AVIA. Cheapest is $28.98 shipped.

[Motley]

LynXfX, thanks for the link.

Have you used this, or a similiar tool, & find it to be worthwhile?

[sdunlop]

So does the x-box dvd with HD component connectors support 16:9 dvd formats?

My 38" RCA widescreen keeps telling me the picture is coming in 4:3 format.

I have selected widescreen on the x-box and the progressive settings

[MerimacHamwich]

ONLY CERTAIN GAMES SUPPORT A 16:9 RATIO. Dude, LynxFX told you this in an earlier post. All other games are in a 4:3 ratio and will be streatched to fit your screen.

-edit-
Well he kind of did.

[BCan]

Remember, even if you are watching supposed 16:9 DVD's, this is shown on the back as 1.78:1 or 1.77:1, most films shot are rarely in that perspective. They are 1.85:1, 2.35:1 (21:9), even 2.00:1, depending on the director and how he wants his picture to look..
So you will still get some slightly larger black lines on the top and bottom in these cases.


As said above, not all XBOX games will support 16:9 widescreen, just make sure to look at the back of the box to make sure to say it supports widscreen...

[sdunlop]

Alright, thanks everyone. It takes me a while but i think I got it.

- You need the HDTV component hookup to play games in HD formats (480p, 720p, and 1080i)
- Only a few x-box games support HDTV formats (Dragons Lair 3D being the only one that support the 1080i).
- The x-bob dvd kit only support 480i for movie playback
- Widescreen DVDs aren't recorded in 16:9 format (that's what was throwing me off, why the black lines were always there)

MerimacHamwich, I did follow Lnyfx comments on the games that support HDTV, but i was still confused on the 16:9 format for movie playback, which BCan straightened out for me.

Thanks again everyone.

[MidniteArrow]

Originally posted by Lynxfx-XBA
JJax had it right on a few things.
Now as for watching movies, ditch your xbox. You can only output 480i for movies and on an HDTV you are wasting half the dvd resolution and it will look like crap. Get yourself a good progressivescan dvd player and use that. Make sure you have the settings of that player set for 16x9 output and of course 480p enabled. Just refer to your manual.

One possible correction LynxFX. As it was explained to me, progressive scan DVD players do not "read" the entire frames from the DVD. DVD's are not encoded at 480p. I'm not sure what they're coded at, but I was informed that progressive scan DVD players take the video from the DVD and do signal processing on the video to turn it into 480p. They just usually do a good job at it. Some have even reported that their picture looks better if they bypass the progressive scan output of the DVD player and use their television's line doubler to convert to 480p (usually people with TVs with really good line doublers).

[BCan]

Progressive scan DVD players help a DVD player make an output like that which a Computer monitor receives. It enables full pages to be flipped, rather than be interlaced....
Progressive Scan shows two full screens in succession
Interlaced (most TV's) shows two half screens together

It depends on the quality of the DVD player, and that of the TV to which one is the better to give the higher quality picture. For those that have high end TV equipment, it will no doubt be the TV that has the higher quality components...
Also it can be said that some TV's would make progressive scan look better, and some make interlaced look better...

BTW, the standard for DVD is a picture that is able to be done at 480p...

Remember, the FPS depend on what format it is being played back at - NTSC has the higher framrate, but lower res pics...

[MidniteArrow]

Originally posted by BCan
Progressive scan DVD players help a DVD player make an output like that which a Computer monitor receives. It enables full pages to be flipped, rather than be interlaced....
Progressive Scan shows two full screens in succession
Interlaced (most TV's) shows two half screens together

It depends on the quality of the DVD player, and that of the TV to which one is the better to give the higher quality picture. For those that have high end TV equipment, it will no doubt be the TV that has the higher quality components...
Also it can be said that some TV's would make progressive scan look better, and some make interlaced look better...

BTW, the standard for DVD is a picture that is able to be done at 480p...

Yes, but you're oversimplifying it. The data is stored on the DVD as, I think, 24 fps (film). The DVD player then converts this to 480p (60 fps). A standard DVD player takes these 24 frames and converts them to 60 fields, or 30 frames. All of the frames exist in the data stream whether you are viewing it at 480i or 480p. The point I was trying to make is that a progressive scan DVD player does not do anything that a good TV won't do. As such, the Xbox can be used as a decent DVD player if you are using a TV with a good line doubler (big if - there aren't that many out there).