Does the Xbox 360 upconvert DVDs to HD?

KalTorak

Pretty quick question - just wondering if I should be getting an upconverting DVD player with my new HDTV (only 720p) or if the 360's DVD playback upconverts the video. I haven't gotten the 360 yet, so if it depends on the model I should be getting the most recent version (probably a Pro).

urahonky

There is a mixed opinion on this, believe it or not. People swear up and down that DVDs look TERRIBLE on the 360, and those that think DVDs look fine (if not, better) on the 360. At least, that's what I can tell.

I play DVDs on my 360 all the time, and they look much better than my regular DVD player on the same exact TV. But I don't think it's upconverting it.

Wetsun

Somewhat related, my 360 plays widescreen DVDs as letterboxed 4:3 (pillar'd) instead of filling the screen. There is probably an option to change this, but I couldn't find it.

I gave up after a few minutes of tinkering and used my PC to play them instead.

urahonky

Wetsun wrote: »

Somewhat related, my 360 plays widescreen DVDs as letterboxed 4:3 (pillar'd) instead of filling the screen. There is probably an option to change this, but I couldn't find it.

I gave up after a few minutes of tinkering and used my PC to play them instead.

You should be able to hit Select, and go to display mode, then change it to whatever.

ElJeffe

The 360 will upscale DVDs if you're using the HDMI out. It won't do it over component.

And I'm one of the contingent that thinks the 360 is a terrible DVD player. Video quality is muddy and noise is accentuated as compared to my 10 year old Sony DVD player. The PS3, by way of comparison, is pretty good.

HD-DVDs on the 360 always looked good, though.

taliosfalcon

urahonky wrote: »

There is a mixed opinion on this, believe it or not. People swear up and down that DVDs look TERRIBLE on the 360, and those that think DVDs look fine (if not, better) on the 360. At least, that's what I can tell.

I play DVDs on my 360 all the time, and they look much better than my regular DVD player on the same exact TV. But I don't think it's upconverting it.

It was absolutely horrible when it was launched, but they've had a few updates that improved it since then and now its not that bad imho

AbsoluteZero

There really isn't any reason it should be bad short of laziness. I assume the up-scaling is all done in software, so it isn't like anything is set in stone as far as quality and performance.

If you want a really good up converting DVD player though, I'm letting my Oppo go (see sig).

KalTorak

Hmmm... well I'll definitely be using the HDMI out. I think for now the plan will be to just use the 360 and see how it goes. If it turns out to be unwatchable (I'm not that picky) then I'll pick up a budget upconverting DVD player. If not then I'll wait a year or so for the prices on Blu-rays to come down a bit.

ElJeffe

My experiences are from about six months ago, so it may have improved since then. It wasn't unwatchably bad even then - I mean, not like watching broadcast TV, or anything - and on really good DVDs it wasn't that bad. The test of a good DVD player, though, is with non-really-good DVDs, and on those it didn't fare well. The PS3 has been much better to me.

As to BD prices, one of Amazon's upcoming Stupidly Low Price Vote Thingies has a Sony BD player for $100 as an option. It's currently trailing by a wide margin to an HDTV offer, but who knows?

OremLK

Also, I'm hesitant to even watch a movie off Live on my 360, or Netflix. Why ask for an RROD by using it for something you could use another, cheaper and more reliable device for?

urahonky

OremLK wrote: »

Also, I'm hesitant to even watch a movie off Live on my 360, or Netflix. Why ask for an RROD by using it for something you could use another, cheaper and more reliable device for?

Do you wear a tinfoil hat when you leave the house?

ElJeffe

OremLK wrote: »

Also, I'm hesitant to even watch a movie off Live on my 360, or Netflix. Why ask for an RROD by using it for something you could use another, cheaper and more reliable device for?

Unless yours is one of the first-gen 360s, you're probably fine. Even then, if you have ample ventilation, you're probably fine.

Burtletoy

ElJeffe wrote: »

OremLK wrote: »

Also, I'm hesitant to even watch a movie off Live on my 360, or Netflix. Why ask for an RROD by using it for something you could use another, cheaper and more reliable device for?

Unless yours is one of the first-gen 360s, you're probably fine. Even then, if you have ample ventilation, you're probably fine.

Plus f you do red ring it, you can get a fancy new xbox w/ a HDMI out! Unlike mine

Stupid 360 and lack of HDMI.

variant

Wouldn't the loud ass drive kill any chance of using it as a dvd player?

(I've never ran a movie on mine)

tehgils

variant wrote: »

Wouldn't the loud ass drive kill any chance of using it as a dvd player?

(I've never ran a movie on mine)

It's only loud when your playing a game and the drive is running at full speed, when you watch a movie it is much quieter.

smokmnky

I watch movies on my 360 all the time, actually that's about all I use it for any more (that and a media center pc). The movies look good on my 32in LCD (1080i). The 360 puts out the DVDs to 480p and it looks good, sure not as good as a regular HD move or Cable but I really don't have a problem with it at all. Also with the NXE and the Netflix streaming it's really become a nice Media Center PC

Bionic Monkey

ElJeffe wrote: »

The 360 will upscale DVDs if you're using the HDMI out. It won't do it over component.

And I'm one of the contingent that thinks the 360 is a terrible DVD player. Video quality is muddy and noise is accentuated as compared to my 10 year old Sony DVD player. The PS3, by way of comparison, is pretty good.

HD-DVDs on the 360 always looked good, though.

I should point out, the 360 will also upscale DVD's through the VGA cable.

As for quality, the colors are more dulled through the 360, but I've noticed more artifacting with the PS3 upscaler.

Bionic Monkey

tehgils wrote: »

variant wrote: »

Wouldn't the loud ass drive kill any chance of using it as a dvd player?

(I've never ran a movie on mine)

It's only loud when you have a shitty drive. Not all 360's have loud optical drives.

OremLK

urahonky wrote: »

Do you wear a tinfoil hat when you leave the house?

I take it you've never actually had an RROD happen. I have. Also, quite recently, so has Tycho.

ElJeffe wrote: »

Unless yours is one of the first-gen 360s, you're probably fine. Even then, if you have ample ventilation, you're probably fine.

It is/was. I don't know about now, the one I'm using is one MS refurbished after my first RROD.

urahonky

Actually I've had an RRoD and a DRE error. So I know your pain, but the RRoD problem is only a problem if you don't have the latest 360 model. Saying that by playing DVDs instead of games is going to increase your chances of a RRoD is asinine.

Ego

urahonky wrote: »

Saying that by playing DVDs instead of games is going to increase your chances of a RRoD is asinine.

He didn't say watching DVDs on a 360 instead of playing games on it would make it RROD, he asked why you'd use a 360 for DVDs instead of games when --regardless of whether your activity is gaming or watching movies or looking at your console funny-- the 360 is prone to failure.

360s seem to have a finite lifespan. My launch 360 hasn't failed yet but I'm sure not going to waste whatever precious life it has left by watching DVDs on it when I have a million devices that play DVDs and one device that plays 360 games.

OremLK

Ego wrote: »

urahonky wrote: »

Saying that by playing DVDs instead of games is going to increase your chances of a RRoD is asinine.

He didn't say watching DVDs on a 360 instead of playing games on it would make it RROD, he asked why you'd use a 360 for DVDs instead of games when --regardless of whether your activity is gaming or watching movies or looking at your console funny-- the 360 is prone to failure.

360s seem to have a finite lifespan. My launch 360 hasn't failed yet but I'm sure not going to waste whatever precious life it has left by watching DVDs on it when I have a million devices that play DVDs and one device that plays 360 games.

Exactly. I prefer to use it only for what I need it for (playing games) so as to reduce the amount of time the system spends running. So if I could be leaving it off by using a $30 DVD player instead, I'm going to do that. Sure, it's under warranty and all, but being without your console for several weeks is kind of a pain.

urahonky

Ego wrote: »

urahonky wrote: »

Saying that by playing DVDs instead of games is going to increase your chances of a RRoD is asinine.

He didn't say watching DVDs on a 360 instead of playing games on it would make it RROD, he asked why you'd use a 360 for DVDs instead of games when --regardless of whether your activity is gaming or watching movies or looking at your console funny-- the 360 is prone to failure.

360s seem to have a finite lifespan. My launch 360 hasn't failed yet but I'm sure not going to waste whatever precious life it has left by watching DVDs on it when I have a million devices that play DVDs and one device that plays 360 games.

That makes me laugh, so much.

ElJeffe

I really don't think 360s have a finite lifespan that you subtract from every time you power it on. I think that, at worst, some systems are fatally flawed and some aren't. The latter will play nigh-forever without issue. The former will likely eat themselves at some point. Those, however, are a small minority.

Willeth

There's something to be said for not wearing out the disc drive, though.

OremLK

Wear may or may not be a factor. Aren't these issues usually caused by overheating? In any case, it doesn't hurt me to just use a DVD player, so why take any chance on the matter?

Edit:

The real reason for the 3 red lights of failure is a result of long term heat of the CPU and the GPU against the motherboard that caused it to “bow” or “warp”. This warping issue causes the lead-free solders that were used to mount the motherboard to have lots of tension on them. After it too having long exposure to elevated temperatures, the solders become brittle and develop hair-line cracks that are almost irreparable.

http://sogamer.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/360rrod/

Note "long term heat of the CPU and GPU". I assume having less heat over time would result in a longer time before you get an RROD.

Ego

ElJeffe wrote: »

I really don't think 360s have a finite lifespan that you subtract from every time you power it on. I think that, at worst, some systems are fatally flawed and some aren't. The latter will play nigh-forever without issue. The former will likely eat themselves at some point. Those, however, are a small minority.

*shrugs* I've seen way too many of my friends 360s fail to think otherwise. They all worked great --until one day they just didn't.

KalTorak

OremLK wrote: »

Wear may or may not be a factor. Aren't these issues usually caused by overheating? In any case, it doesn't hurt me to just use a DVD player, so why take any chance on the matter?

Edit:

The real reason for the 3 red lights of failure is a result of long term heat of the CPU and the GPU against the motherboard that caused it to “bow” or “warp”. This warping issue causes the lead-free solders that were used to mount the motherboard to have lots of tension on them. After it too having long exposure to elevated temperatures, the solders become brittle and develop hair-line cracks that are almost irreparable.

http://sogamer.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/360rrod/

Note "long term heat of the CPU and GPU". I assume having less heat over time would result in a longer time before you get an RROD.

I dunno, that seems to assume that every 360 will RROD eventually.

ElJeffe

Every 360 subject to certain conditions. Greater external ventilation will help keep the internal temp down. And that's referring to the old design.

variant

I'd like to add: decent upconverting DVD players cost no more than $50 now a days.

ElJeffe

Shit, I got one in my box of Honeycomb the other day. My fucking keyring will upconvert DVDs.

Dark Shroud

On the component cables the 360 can upscale to 480p, through the HDMI & VGA it can do up to 1080i. The problem is that the 360 is a really low grade DVD player. Originally it only got a 20 on the HQV test. MS then worked hard and doubled that to 40, out of the total 130.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2088533,00.asp

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2228134,00.asp

All this being said there is no way in hell I'd play a DVD on mine. My first 360 died of everything except the RRoD and it was the DREs that were the worst until it bricked.