Conjoshus
11-10-2006, 03:45 PM
Testing movies now... 1080i looks much better than 720p on my set even though it shouldn't make much of a difference since it's only a 46" screen. I dunno, you explain it!
First time I put a disc in, it took about 15 seconds to load the movie. Every time after, it has been a little shorter (about 10 seconds). I don't know if it's just V for Vendetta or if the 360 had to fill the ram with the HD-DVD code, but we'll see with more testing.
Movies I'm testing:
HD-DVDs:
V for Vendetta
Jarhead
King Kong
Four Brothers
DVDs:
American Psycho
Hannibal
V for Vendetta, I couldn't even figure out how to get the menu up, but it looked pretty good. It was better than DVD, but not mind blowing. EDIT: the menu comes up just fine now. Probably some issue with it being the first movie I tried. I dunno. Like King Kong, it also features a U Control style feature, but WB had to call it "In Movie Experience" instead. That shit is gonna get confusing eventually!
Jarhead looks fucking amazing! When you hit the menu button, it does the menu in an overlap while the movie continues to play! I'm totally impressed with this one!
Four Brothers looks great! The only problem I noticed with it is the fact when you do the chapter skip, it studders for a split second when it starts up the next chapter. I did it a few times just to make sure, the other two titles didn't have this problem. Most people won't notice though. Features the same style interactive menus as Jarhead.
Be back in a minute with an edit for the King Kong HD-DVD and some regular DVDs.
EDIT: King Kong has U Control features. When you enable it, you see a little icon come up when you reach a scene that has a video commentary, or whatever for a scene. You hit the "ok" button and it automatically pops up in the corner a little video commentary while the movie plays! The video quality seems to be about the same as V for Vendetta and has the slight chapter skip studder problem of Four Brothers, but the U Control is totally kick ass!
Regular DVDs -----------------------
The drive does NOT upconvert over component. It plays in 480p, just like the 360. Load times are identical, the movie receives no enhancements. I could try the VGA, but I don't feel like pulling the cord out.
Xbox 360 and Xbox BC games ------------------------
Neither can be played via the HD-DVD drive. You just get the standard DVD message that it's not a movie disc.
Audio CDs --------------------------
They don't work in the drive either. You get the following message: Can't read this disc. If this is a game, CD, or data disc, place in your Xbox 360 disc tray.
EDIT------------------------------
Unlike regular DVDs, the 360 does NOT remember where you left off on an HD-DVD if you remove the movie or stop it for whatever reason and go to the dashboard.
The included 360 remote is backlit... oooo, pretty.
King Kong had the full-sized case. It's not some cheap-ass paper sleeve.
Just found out how to add your own bookmarks in any movie! Holy shit this is awesome!
One minor gripe I have is the "open/close" button on the 360 remote does not open/close the HD-DVD tray. It ALWAYS does the 360 tray. You can close the tray by selecting the HD-DVD drive button on the dashboard, but there is no other way to open it aside from getting up and hitting the button yourself (as far as I can tell, I hope Yankee proves me wrong here).
Time to watch King Kong to see if the 360 gets all super loud (like some claim) for running an HD-DVD for a while. Right now, it's the same volume it always has been.
First time I put a disc in, it took about 15 seconds to load the movie. Every time after, it has been a little shorter (about 10 seconds). I don't know if it's just V for Vendetta or if the 360 had to fill the ram with the HD-DVD code, but we'll see with more testing.
Movies I'm testing:
HD-DVDs:
V for Vendetta
Jarhead
King Kong
Four Brothers
DVDs:
American Psycho
Hannibal
V for Vendetta, I couldn't even figure out how to get the menu up, but it looked pretty good. It was better than DVD, but not mind blowing. EDIT: the menu comes up just fine now. Probably some issue with it being the first movie I tried. I dunno. Like King Kong, it also features a U Control style feature, but WB had to call it "In Movie Experience" instead. That shit is gonna get confusing eventually!
Jarhead looks fucking amazing! When you hit the menu button, it does the menu in an overlap while the movie continues to play! I'm totally impressed with this one!
Four Brothers looks great! The only problem I noticed with it is the fact when you do the chapter skip, it studders for a split second when it starts up the next chapter. I did it a few times just to make sure, the other two titles didn't have this problem. Most people won't notice though. Features the same style interactive menus as Jarhead.
Be back in a minute with an edit for the King Kong HD-DVD and some regular DVDs.
EDIT: King Kong has U Control features. When you enable it, you see a little icon come up when you reach a scene that has a video commentary, or whatever for a scene. You hit the "ok" button and it automatically pops up in the corner a little video commentary while the movie plays! The video quality seems to be about the same as V for Vendetta and has the slight chapter skip studder problem of Four Brothers, but the U Control is totally kick ass!
Regular DVDs -----------------------
The drive does NOT upconvert over component. It plays in 480p, just like the 360. Load times are identical, the movie receives no enhancements. I could try the VGA, but I don't feel like pulling the cord out.
Xbox 360 and Xbox BC games ------------------------
Neither can be played via the HD-DVD drive. You just get the standard DVD message that it's not a movie disc.
Audio CDs --------------------------
They don't work in the drive either. You get the following message: Can't read this disc. If this is a game, CD, or data disc, place in your Xbox 360 disc tray.
EDIT------------------------------
Unlike regular DVDs, the 360 does NOT remember where you left off on an HD-DVD if you remove the movie or stop it for whatever reason and go to the dashboard.
The included 360 remote is backlit... oooo, pretty.
King Kong had the full-sized case. It's not some cheap-ass paper sleeve.
Just found out how to add your own bookmarks in any movie! Holy shit this is awesome!
One minor gripe I have is the "open/close" button on the 360 remote does not open/close the HD-DVD tray. It ALWAYS does the 360 tray. You can close the tray by selecting the HD-DVD drive button on the dashboard, but there is no other way to open it aside from getting up and hitting the button yourself (as far as I can tell, I hope Yankee proves me wrong here).
Time to watch King Kong to see if the 360 gets all super loud (like some claim) for running an HD-DVD for a while. Right now, it's the same volume it always has been.