Xbox 360 HD-DVD Drive NOV 2006!! Figures!!

[Archmagination]

I don't know if this has been posted yet but I found out the HD-DVD drive is coming in Nov 2006. I find it interesting that its due to be released at the same time the PS3 is. I have a concern about it.. the fact that I am not sure if the USB connection will be fast enough to send and recieve the data without choking.. Does anybody know if this is a valid concern.. I would have to think the USB connection would be slower than a internal HD-DVD drive.

http://www.everythingusb.com/x-box_360_hd_dvd_player.html

[pdpfilms]

the fact that I am not sure if the USB connection will be fast enough to send and recieve the data without choking.. Does anybody know if this is a valid concern.. I would have to think the USB connection would be slower than a internal HD-DVD drive.

http://www.everythingusb.com/x-box_360_hd_dvd_player.html
I'm worried about this too. Anyone have anything to say about it?

[gco212]

External DVD's players are fine over USB, and a 12x DVD's minimum speed is almost identical to the constant speed of a 2x Blu-Ray, so I would say that USB should be fine for HD-DVD (which, I would imagine, would be similar to the speeds required for Blu-Ray players). I know that's hard to read but I'm not sure how to make it much clearer other than writing about a paragraph more on the topic.

[jimsowden]

Look at it this way. USB is capable of 480mbit per second data transfer theoretically. Lets say real world this is halved to 240Mb/s. The HDV codec for miniDV uses a mere 25Mb/s with MPEG2 encoding. Increase the bandwidth and change to a more efficient codec and I think USB is more than able to handle this drive.

[greatdevourer]

Look at it this way. USB is capable of 480mbit per second data transfer theoretically. Lets say real world this is halved to 240Mb/s. The HDV codec for miniDV uses a mere 25Mb/s with MPEG2 encoding. Increase the bandwidth and change to a more efficient codec and I think USB is more than able to handle this drive. Exactly - it's USB2, not USB1.1

[sam10685]

I don't know if this has been posted yet but I found out the HD-DVD drive is coming in Nov 2006.

that is going to be one kick-ass month... PS3, 360 HD-DVD player, Wii, BUTT-LOAD of cool games...

[erickkoch]

Any word on the price? With HD DVD players going for about $500 or more, how cheap can they make it? If you can get a PS3 for $500-$600 which includes Blue-Ray, an Xbox 360 with HD DVD player might cost the same unless they sell it cheap. I think I read somewhere it might be about $100 but that seems too low to me unless Microsoft intends to sell it at a loss so it can gain market share.

[ReanimationLP]

Probably a max of 200 dollars, they can sell it for cheap because all it really is is a drive. The Xbox 360 would do all the encoding, so it will be a lot cheaper than a stand alone model where they have to include all sorts of high-end video processors.

[turbopants]

Yeah, November is going to be a huge month for gaming and hd video. I can't wait. I'll be getting a hd television around that time as well.

[millar876]

xbox360 as far as im aware is NOT HDCP compliant therefor HDCP-protected HD-DVDs would be downscaled to 520p/i. HOWEVER if M$ is a bad boy and wiggles its way arround disabling HDCP inside the 360, to let it output HD over component/VGA adapter/whatever, you will be aple to record strait onto a HD-DVDR or BD-R withhout any problems whatsoever, which i dont realy see the copyright/fun police being terribly ok with.

therefor if it cant output HDV upto 1080 and is stuck at 520 whats the friggin point in a HD-DVD drive, my 3 year old sony dvd recorder dose 520p over component.

[mrgreen4242]

xbox360 as far as im aware is NOT HDCP compliant therefor HDCP-protected HD-DVDs would be downscaled to 520p/i. HOWEVER if M$ is a bad boy and wiggles its way arround disabling HDCP inside the 360, to let it output HD over component/VGA adapter/whatever, you will be aple to record strait onto a HD-DVDR or BD-R withhout any problems whatsoever, which i dont realy see the copyright/fun police being terribly ok with.

therefor if it cant output HDV upto 1080 and is stuck at 520 whats the friggin point in a HD-DVD drive, my 3 year old sony dvd recorder dose 520p over component.

I'm almost certain, but not completely, that they said the 360 COULD support an HMDI connection, they just need to release a cable for it. If that's true, I would assume they'll throw an HDMI cable in the box with the HDDVD drive.

If MS puts an HDDVD drive IN the system and gets the price to a decent level, say $400 for the premium kit with HDDVD drive in it, they are going to clean up.

As mentioned, the current HDDVD drives are $500, but they actually have P4's in [some] of them. Since you can get a 360 for $300 right now, the additional cost of just the drive, minus the cost of the DVD drive being removed, it seems like they should be able to pull it off.

[millar876]

HDMI is not the same as HDCP. HDMI is basicly like SCART an a tv but newer, in essence its just a DVI-D cable with audio in a new wrapper. HDCP is like Macrovision and CCS encryption on current gen dvd's it stands for Hi-bandwidth Digital Copyright Protection and although many Hi-Def TV's with HDMI support HDCP it is not essential to have HDCP nor is it part of the HDMI standard infact you can get HDCP compliant DVI. case in point a friend of mine baught a nice new HDTV about 18 months ago, it has 1 HDMI socket, this socket is not HDCP enabled therefor no Blueray/HD-DVD/Sky-HD for him, however another friend has just went and baught a new computer monitor, which amongst others has a DVI input which IS HDMI compliant, which means that he gets to play with all the new toys at full res

HDMI = just a cable like compunent, SCART, DVI ect.
HDCP = A method of protecting copyrighted material in a digital format similar to macrovision protection or CCS

NOT THE SAME THINGS, COMPLETLY SEPERATE ENTATIES, EXIST SEPERATLY, JUST FOUND TOGETHRT SOMETIMES.

360 dose indeed support DVI and therefor HDMI amd M$ are planning to bring out a DVI cable for the 360 and mose 3rd parties are roumored to be bringing out an HDMI cable aswell, because i said its just DVI with audio celleotaped to it

[mrgreen4242]

HDMI is not the same as HDCP. HDMI is basicly like SCART an a tv but newer, in essence its just a DVI-D cable with audio in a new wrapper. HDCP is like Macrovision and CCS encryption on current gen dvd's it stands for Hi-bandwidth Digital Copyright Protection and although many Hi-Def TV's with HDMI support HDCP it is not essential to have HDCP nor is it part of the HDMI standard infact you can get HDCP compliant DVI. case in point a friend of mine baught a nice new HDTV about 18 months ago, it has 1 HDMI socket, this socket is not HDCP enabled therefor no Blueray/HD-DVD/Sky-HD for him, however another friend has just went and baught a new computer monitor, which amongst others has a DVI input which IS HDMI compliant, which means that he gets to play with all the new toys at full res

HDMI = just a cable like compunent, SCART, DVI ect.
HDCP = A method of protecting copyrighted material in a digital format similar to macrovision protection or CCS

NOT THE SAME THINGS, COMPLETLY SEPERATE ENTATIES, EXIST SEPERATLY, JUST FOUND TOGETHRT SOMETIMES.

360 dose indeed support DVI and therefor HDMI amd M$ are planning to bring out a DVI cable for the 360 and mose 3rd parties are roumored to be bringing out an HDMI cable aswell, because i said its just DVI with audio celleotaped to it

Yes yes, however, anything designed in the last year or more that has HDMI support HDCP. Your friends TV with HDMI and no HDCP was likely designed over 2 years ago, so that's not all that suprising.

If MS makes an HMDI cable, I'll wager on it being fully HDCP compliant. And if they make an HDDVD drive for the system, designed just for movies since games won't need it to work, I'll bet on an HDMI cable.

[Abulia]

I'm almost certain, but not completely, that they said the 360 COULD support an HMDI connection, they just need to release a cable for it. If that's true, I would assume they'll throw an HDMI cable in the box with the HDDVD drive.This is the big question and nobody knows (and Microsoft isn't answering).

If the 360 doesn't/can't support HDCP with a HDMI/DVI A/V cable then the 360 faces the same forced 540p downscaling of the constraint token that the P$3 faces. In which case you'll hear me screaming in agony and cursing Microsoft until the end of time. Dumb, dumb, dumb! :D

However, if the 360 can support HDCP via an upgrade and all it requires is the HDMI/DVI A/V cable forthcoming from Microsoft (presumably included with the HD-DVD drive) then we're talking genius. If you want HD and can support HD, here you go; Microsoft won't shove it down your throat like Sony.

Latest pricing rumors are at $199 for the HD-DVD add-on. I'd prefer it a bit more in the $150 range, but it isn't beyond the realm of possibility that the 360 will see a $50 price drop in Novemeber anyway.

[jimsowden]

Now that I think of it, I wonder if this will work with a Mac? I mean, all it is, as said before, is a USB 2.0 optical drive. Plug it into a Mac with 2.0, maybe some third party or hacked drivers, at most a firmware change on the drive. I bet money soon after this comes out someone is going to hack it up to a PC or a Mac.