Why can't my XBox 360 play Regular DVD's on an HD-TV anymore?

mxmarks

Hey guys-

Sorry - I know this isn't a general help forum, but Ive scoured the internet, racked my brain, and just can't figure this out.

I have an XBox 360, hooked up to the XBox HD-DVD player, and run through a component cable to my roomates Westinghouse 1080p TV. Everything has been great, everything was going fine.

Tonight I went to watch a movie ("The Prestige") on regular DVD. I popped it into the HD-DVD player, and the screen did that little thing it does when it switches sources. But this time, I got a really odd picture (it was like, divided into a couple screens), and the sound was fine. I ejected the disc, put it into the 360 tray, same results. Everytime this happened, eventually my TV would just go black and say "no input signal".

Whenever I'd pop out the disc, and the XBox dash came back, everything was fine. As I lowered my XBox's resolution output, I'd be able to get the images to come up a little longer, but still, they'd go away and I'd get no input.

So I set my 360's AV switch from "HD" to "TV" and everything was fine. It totally worked - but obviously was in a mini box, as the movie was then black barred on the sides of the TV - AND letterboxed within that.

So then, I switched back to "HD", and re-set up the 360. 1080p output, widescreen. I tried the following:

-Rock Band. Worked flawlessly.
-The REGULAR DVD "Man On The Moon", which I watched 2 weeks ago in the HD player - worked a little bit. Signal eventually cut.
-The HD-DVD "Planet Earth". Worked flawlessly.
-The REGULAR DVD "The Departed". Worked flawlessly.
-The REGULAR DVD "The Prestige" again. Same results as above =\

So I'm 100% stumped. How is it that I can't watch regular DVD's on an HD-TV through my XBox?! I mean, I don't even know where to begin looking to solve this problem. Is this an X-Box issue, a cables issue, or a TV issue?

I know personal questions don't get asked a lot around here, but I havent found ANYONE online who's had these problems, and thought maybe to ask here. Thanks for anyone who can offer any help.

Local H Jay

Well, since Departed worked fine, I'd say it's an issue with the Prestige disc. The 360 might be having trouble upscaling it. Is it widescreen?

mxmarks

Yeah - but so was Departed. It definatley is a problem with scailing or resolution, as it just never seems to recover from that initial flicker that happens when a DVD starts up. I just can't figure out why it only happens in HD, and only happens with certain DVDs.

cctex823

Just a thought

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907586

Turn your console off, and then remove all the accessories that are attached, including the Xbox Hard Drive. Turn the console on to see whether the problem still occurs.
• If the problem does not occur when the Xbox Hard Drive is disconnected, try clearing the Xbox 360 Hard Drive cache. To clear the Xbox 360 Hard Drive cache, follow these steps:
1. Re-attach the Xbox Hard Drive.
2. Locate the System section of the Xbox 360 Dashboard.
3. Select Memory, select Hard Drive, and then press Y to view the device options screen.
4. On the Xbox 360 Controller, press the X button, press the X button again, press the left bumper, press the right bumper, press the X button, and then press the X button again.
5. You will be prompted to confirm system maintenance. Select Yes by pressing A.
• If this problem occurs when the Xbox Hard Drive is attached, and clearing the hard drive cache did not resolve the issue, create a new gamer profile, and then test to see whether the issue still occurs. If the issue does not occur when you use a new gamer profile, the issue may be related to the original gamer profile or saved game information for one or more games that are associated with the original gamer profile. To verify this, delete the saved games for all games that show this problem for the original gamer profile.

mxmarks

That didnt work either - and now Weeds season 1 (which I watched last week, perfectly) is doing it. I'm really starting to wonder if its something in the cables, where the cable isn't able to carry the proper signal, just because I can see my TV go to 480p (which is because the HD DVD player and the box I guess can only bring REGULAR DVDs to that resolution), and then the video flickers on and off and stutters - but the sound goes flawlessly. So it's obviously something to do with whats being sent from the XBox to the TV. Either the TV can't handle what the XBox is throwing at it, or the XBox isnt converting it right.

But again, all video games, and HD-DVDs work fine. And The Departed.

Any tests I can try before shelling out money on new cables? Anyone know enough about component cables to know if this is even possible? I know when I'd get a short in standard RCA cables, if I futzed around with them enough, I'd get a picture. Because component is sending video via 3-cables instead of 1, does this problem sound like something that would happen with bad cables?

cctex823

I would try new cables. Shell out the cash for Microsoft brand component cables, and if the new cables do the same thing, take them back for a refund.

Next thing to try then, would be a different HDTV. Then a different 360, same discs and same westinghouse tv.

wunderbar

have you tried playing the DVD that doesn't work in the 360's drive?

cctex823

wunderbar wrote: »

have you tried playing the DVD that doesn't work in the 360's drive?

"Tonight I went to watch a movie ("The Prestige") on regular DVD. I popped it into the HD-DVD player, and the screen did that little thing it does when it switches sources. But this time, I got a really odd picture (it was like, divided into a couple screens), and the sound was fine. I ejected the disc, put it into the 360 tray, same results. Everytime this happened, eventually my TV would just go black and say "no input signal"."

wunderbar

cctex823 wrote: »

wunderbar wrote: »

have you tried playing the DVD that doesn't work in the 360's drive?

"Tonight I went to watch a movie ("The Prestige") on regular DVD. I popped it into the HD-DVD player, and the screen did that little thing it does when it switches sources. But this time, I got a really odd picture (it was like, divided into a couple screens), and the sound was fine. I ejected the disc, put it into the 360 tray, same results. Everytime this happened, eventually my TV would just go black and say "no input signal"."

sorry, missed that second part about the 360 tray. when I made that post this morning I'm sure I was still mostly asleep.

although the first part you bolded is completely irrelavent. the 360 HD DVD drive plays normal DVD's just fine, so as long as he wasnt' trying to pop and HD DVD into the 360's tray it should have worked regardless(except that it didn't)

BubbaT

mxmarks wrote: »

But again, all video games, and HD-DVDs work fine. And The Departed.

Any tests I can try before shelling out money on new cables? Anyone know enough about component cables to know if this is even possible? I know when I'd get a short in standard RCA cables, if I futzed around with them enough, I'd get a picture. Because component is sending video via 3-cables instead of 1, does this problem sound like something that would happen with bad cables?

Wait, are you trying to upscale DVDs through component? Because AFAIK, you can't. I have no idea how you're getting The Departed to upscale, but DVDs aren't supposed to upscale via component on any DVD Forum-approved player.



Also - are The Departed and The Prestige both the same region?

mxmarks

Yeah theyre both same region.

And honestly I don't think it upscales or anything - its just the XBox is set to 1080i, and the TV supports 1080i, so as I understand it, when I put a DVD in, the XBox notices what it is, and drops its resolution to 480p or whatever. What's happening now on most things (like I said, now Weeds wont work, and that did last week), is it attempts to drop down to 480p (i see the indicator on the TV that says what the resolution is flash, and drop from 1080i to 480p), but it just never seems to 'recover' from it.

HyperAquaBlast

If it helps, my 360 was hooked up via component to my Samsung HDTVs and most of my DVDs wouldnt work. The screen would go to "mode not supported" and just be a black screen but sound was normal.

I purchased 360 VGA cables and the 360 now plays all my my DVDs now upscaled.

So maybe it's cause you are using component?

cctex823

One last thought, maybe the TV is having problems with 480p? Try a different HDTV.

alf4lyfe

Is the 360 good at upconverting regular dvd's through HDMI?

syndalis

alf4lyfe wrote: »

Is the 360 good at upconverting regular dvd's through HDMI?

it does it, but it is not good at it. The best console out there for upscaling is the PS3, and there is a very noticeable gap between the two systems in quality.

But if you don't own a PS3, the 360 upscaler is better than nothing at all.