Xbox 360--Still a Crummy DVD Player

[Jeremy Charette]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2088531,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2088531,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div><i>"I just updated the Xbox 360 in the lab and ran it into a TV using the VGA input at 1080p. With this I used the popular HQV DVD test disc, and the Xbox 360 scored a whopping 40. That's out of 130! Rather than show you the whole scoring chart, let me break it down for you: The 360 passed the Color Bars/Vertical Detail test (nearly everything does), the Picture Detail test, and the horizontal and vertical crawls. That's it. It failed every noise reduction, film mode, jaggies, and cadence detection test there is. In nearly every case, it was a clear failure; not…even…close. Oh, the hi-def situation isn't much better. HQV makes a hi-def test disc for HD DVD and Blu-ray players, and the 360 scores a zero (out of 100)."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/montypythonxbox360.jpg" /><br /><br />I never thought the DVD playback on my Xbox 360 was spectacular, but I never realized it was quite so <i>bad</i>. Check out this <a href="http://www.extremetech.com/slideshow/0,1206,l=&amp;s=1021&amp;a=199891,00.asp">gallery of sample images</a>, and prepared to be appalled. Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" is completely unwatchable, and most of the other discs they tried weren't much better. This should be all the convincing you need to invest in a <i>good</i> upconverting DVD player, like the OPPO DV-981HD. It is for me.

[Tim Williamson]

I still have a standard def TV, so this doesn't bother me at this point. But jeez, how did they mess up so bad? Can this be corrected with a software fix?

[Jeremy Charette]

It can, but it would require some very specialized coding, and development funds that Microsoft probably doesn't want to spend for a flaw most users will never complain about.

Upscaling DVD players and high-end TVs use dedicated chipsets like the Realta HQV or Faroudja DCDi to make heads or tails of the video signal on the disc. Surely MS can match those capabilities with the 360's CPU and GPU (plenty of processing power there), but again, the software development would be lengthy and expensive.

In other words, don't expect a fix anytime soon.

[mordin]

The built-in DVD player, as far as I can find, is only progressive-scan not upconverting. Take any older non-upconverting DVD player and use them on a 1080p display and see what poor results you get.

Oh, the hi-def situation isn't much better. HQV makes a hi-def test disc for HD DVD and Blu-ray players, and the 360 scores a zero (out of 100)."


I take it you were testing the Xbox360 add-on HD-DVD player on this hi-def testing because if you were testing the built-in DVD player it's no wonder the Xbox scored 0 out of 100.

[Jeremy Charette]

LOL! Yeah, ExtremeTech was testing the HD DVD version of the HQV Benchmark disc using the HD DVD Add-on drive. Still scored a big fat zero.

The 360 does upscale, but not over component. You have to use the VGA or HDMI cables to get an upscaled picture. That's what ExtremeTech did in thier tests, using the VGA cable. But whether the scaling is being done by the TV or on the Xbox 360 itself doesn't matter, it still does a terrible job of detecting cadence, de-interlacing, and reducing noise and artifacts.

Depending on the make &amp; model, the tv itself may do a fantastic job of upscaling 480i/480p to 720p or 1080p, if it has a high-end chipset like the Realta HQV. So if you've got a great TV, an upconverting DVD player may not be necessary. That said, a really good upconverting DVD player like one of the OPPO models is still hard to beat at any resolution.

[craigf]

We bought an Oppo DV-981H to tide us over until the HD format war is over, and we've been very pleased with it. It upscales all our existing SD content to 1080p so well that I don't really miss not having an HD player. Best $220 I've spent on HT gear in quite a while.

[rtrueman]

I've been very pleased with my DVD and HD DVD playback from my 360. I'm playing to a Sony 50" LCD rear projection (the newer A10 model, I think). I also recently purchased the Toshiba HD DVD player from WalMart for $99. I forget the model because it's still in the box. Are you guys saying I'll get a much better picture from that player than what I'm currently getting?

Maybe I won't give it away for Christmas!

Rob