HD DVD for Xbox 360 via. USB Confirmed

[Jeremy Charette]

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/events/e32006/articles/20060507-hddvdexplained.htm

"Xbox 360™ ushered in the era of high-definition gaming by standardizing high-definition resolutions and 16x9 widescreen support for every game (Xbox Live® Arcade included) on the system. What's more, Xbox 360, while powerful on its own, is also a foundation from which new technology and accessories can be added. Chief among these is the recently announced HD DVD add-on. This much anticipated accessory carries with it an extension of the HD Era that Xbox 360 offers, and provides the most visually stunning movie watching experience available..."The major difference is going to be price, and all the leading indicators point to HD DVD winning."...now's a good time to examine why Microsoft®, and many other industry leaders, believe HD DVD is the clear winner for consumers...When comparing the two formats, there is no difference in the video support with both offering 720p, 1080i and 1080p HD resolutions, leaving it to CE and PC manufacturers to determine which flavors they support based upon costs and consumer preferences...This new accessory will connect to the Xbox 360 console with a USB cable, enabling it to harness the power of the Xbox 360 console for the HD video outputs and digital surround sound."



This of course leaves a couple of questions unanswered: how will HDCP support be handled? Will full-resolution video be allowed through the component outputs, or will an HDCP compliant HDMI cable need to be purchased as well? Will the hard drive be required for disc caching? How much is it going to cost? What's the release date? I'm intrigued, now I just want to know more.

[Jeremy Charette]

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/events/e32006/articles/20060507-hddvdexplained.htm

"Xbox 360™ ushered in the era of high-definition gaming by standardizing high-definition resolutions and 16x9 widescreen support for every game (Xbox Live® Arcade included) on the system. What's more, Xbox 360, while powerful on its own, is also a foundation from which new technology and accessories can be added. Chief among these is the recently announced HD DVD add-on. This much anticipated accessory carries with it an extension of the HD Era that Xbox 360 offers, and provides the most visually stunning movie watching experience available..."The major difference is going to be price, and all the leading indicators point to HD DVD winning."...now's a good time to examine why Microsoft®, and many other industry leaders, believe HD DVD is the clear winner for consumers...When comparing the two formats, there is no difference in the video support with both offering 720p, 1080i and 1080p HD resolutions, leaving it to CE and PC manufacturers to determine which flavors they support based upon costs and consumer preferences...This new accessory will connect to the Xbox 360 console with a USB cable, enabling it to harness the power of the Xbox 360 console for the HD video outputs and digital surround sound."



This of course leaves a couple of questions unanswered: how will HDCP support be handled? Will full-resolution video be allowed through the component outputs, or will an HDCP compliant HDMI cable need to be purchased as well? Will the hard drive be required for disc caching? How much is it going to cost? What's the release date? I'm intrigued, now I just want to know more.

[Felix Torres]

While I would *love* to see the 360 get a Digital video-port option, it doesn't need it for this application:

For the forseable future, movies on both BD-ROM and HD-DVD will support full resolution output over component (and other legacy analog) ports. Remember, the down-convert flag is an *optional* part of *both* specs that responds solely to content providers' interests and for now the content providers need to sell disks into the installed base; which means component support or no sales.

So, as soon HD-DVD sided with consumers, BD-ROM had no choice but to follow suit and consumers got a rare victory.

Format wars do have their up-sides: they fully empower consumers to vote with their wallets.

[ChrisL01]

Not really. "Full resolution output" can only be over digital connections. Full meaning 1080p. AACS doesn't allow 1080p over component.