Toshiba confirms HD-DVD for 360?

[EndR]

Didn´t see these posted..

Here’s an interesting tid-bit: Toshiba was showing off their Fall line-up the other day and demoed a HD-DVD that was being created in conjunction with Microsoft. This, of course, was well before the official Xbox software announcement, but now attendees are starting to wonder if references to the device’s ability to download games and play them may be tied into the Xbox software deal.

Could Toshiba be working on a HD-DVD Xbox? It would certainly explain why Microsoft seems so willing to drop the original console like a bad habit, maybe they are making room for a new, fancier iteration of the original.

Oh, and the Toshiba folks also spilled the beans on HD-DVD and the Xbox 360, saying that the next-gen console will use the new format for its media and whining about how Microsoft is dragging their feet on the official announcement.

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/gossip/xbox-2/toshiba-developing-xbox-hddvd-player-110785.php

 

[PC-Engine]

Hehe if this is true then it's an awesome idea. This would be almost EXACTLY like what Panasonic did with the Q. I'd buy a Toshiba HD DVD Xbox 360 that's priced similar to a PS3 in a heartbeat. 8)

 

[one]

Here’s an interesting tid-bit: Toshiba was showing off their Fall line-up the other day and demoed a HD-DVD that was being created in conjunction with Microsoft. This, of course, was well before the official Xbox software announcement, but now attendees are starting to wonder if references to the device’s ability to download games and play them may be tied into the Xbox software deal.

It's called iHD and only Flash-level games.

http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20050628/106209/

 

[BenQ]

If the Xbox 360 uses an HD-DVD drive I sincerly hope that it is STANDARD. It will be such a waste if they release Xbox 360 this fall with only a DVD drive, and then six months later offer a new Xbox 360 with an HD-DVD drive.

Sure you'd be able to watch HD movies on it, but it will piss of the early adopters of the console AND developers won't be able to use the extra storage for games as doing so would screw over all the owners of the early version of the Xbox 360.

 

[jvd]

aye if its not standard i wont care to much . If its not standard and i can upgrade my x360 i might consider it if priced right i would pick one up later on in its life . But really i don't want to buy a x360 and 3 months later have ahd-dvd version come out . ONly if its at least a year out

 

[-NakedZ-]

Agree. If it's not standard, I won't care much. Unless it would be price around the same as the non-HD-DVD, which I highly doubt ("if" they release). But then again, by that time, I probably own one of the first batch of 360. So forget about what I just said about "unless." It would be like the Panasonic GC. Not many cared. And by the time the second version of 360 (with supposed HD-DVD drives) comes out, I would already have a Blu-Ray player in a form of PS3. I guess Toshiba is a bit concern with Sony's move to add Blu-Ray onto PS3. This next-gen format war would probably drive me crazy once everything starts to roll.

- Z

 

[jvd]

If you can upgrade the drive on your current unit and they offered it for like 50-100$ i would most likely pick it up for evil dead .

Otherwise i convinced myself i would wait till i figured out who was winning the war haha

 

[PC-Engine]

It would be like the Panasonic GC. Not many cared.

Not many cared because many people already had DVD players, so it doesn't make much sense to buy a game console because it offered another DVD player. How many people would have HD DVD players next year? How many would you be able to buy for $400?

 

[jvd]

Pc engine i really hope its for this year at launch , perhaps a 400$ model . Cause if its not i will be pissed

 

[therealskywolf]

When they say Toshiba working on a Hd DVd Xbox, they really mean Xbox not Xbox 360.

If this news is accurate, something that i dont if we should believe or not, since MS related leaks or most of the times accurate, seeing how they have problems keeping things secret (Xbox 360 design and Specs, Images, even Square Enix on Xbox 360 got leaked before the Press Conference), the Xbox 360 will have HD DVD standard, and they are probably just waiting for the right moment to say it in order to cause a bigger impact.

I have trouble believing it, i tried to check past news of the site, they dont seem to report BS or speak lies, so who knows

 

[Shark Sandwich]

This would be awesome news if true. There is still the issue of no DVI/HDMI output, though. If MS wanted HD-DVD movies on the 360, then either they would have to include HDMI output, or perhaps require you to buy some adapter.

I could see MS resorting to the latter. They could shift the cost of royalty fees to the adapter (like they did with the Xbox DVD remote) and save money on the console itself.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[Confidence-Man]

Wouldn't Itagaki have known about this already, and not commented on the 360's lack of an HD medium?

 

[JasonLD]

If it is Microsoft who will be come out with Hddvd version, I don't know if it will be standard, if it is not standard, then probably at least a year away from X360 launch to not to piss off early adoptors.
If it is Toshiba who will come out with HDdvd X360, then it will certainly be expensive(probably lot more expensive than PS3) because Toshiba won't sell the hardware at loss...it will be just like Panasonic Q...Its impact will probably be zero in terms of influencing market share.

 

[Ty]

Pc engine i really hope its for this year at launch , perhaps a 400$ model . Cause if its not i will be pissed

Assuming it's a standard...

Oh boy, MS is going to lose a ton of money, raise prices, and/or cut features. This is no different than including a BR drive for the PS3.

Personally, like the BR drive in the PS3, this is useless to me.

The quality of either of these units as playback devices will likely be fairly mediocre to poor.

This would be awesome news if true. There is still the issue of no DVI/HDMI output, though. If MS wanted HD-DVD movies on the 360, then either they would have to include HDMI output, or perhaps require you to buy some adapter.

I could see MS resorting to the latter. They could shift the cost of royalty fees to the adapter (like they did with the Xbox DVD remote) and save money on the console itself.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Yes, the lack of HDMI/DVI would certainly mean including a HD-DVD drive would be fairly pointless.

But how would an adapter work if the port only outputs analog? I hope you don't mean that the adapter would do a A->D conversion. That would suck.

 

[therealskywolf]

I dont get the HDMI / DVi thing. Component can output HD resolution, HDMI is only better because it sends Audio and Video trough 1 plug (slot whatever), and its good for copyrighted material.

 

[Titanio]

I dont get the HDMI / DVi thing. Component can output HD resolution, HDMI is only better because it sends Audio and Video trough 1 plug (slot whatever), and its good for copyrighted material.

Well there is a quality issue too, at least for fixed-pixel displays (where DVI/HDMI > component).

However technicalities aside, the MPAA simply won't let any high definition movie content to be output via component cables - it has to be either HDCP-compliant DVI or HDMI, for copy protection purposes. I remember some early upconverting DVD players, for example, that allowed upconversion over component cables, but AFAIK they've simply stopped making them (upconversion is only over DVI or HDMI now) because of the MPAA.

So despite the fact that component is technically capable of carrying a high definition picture, going forward it's not going to happen as far as movies are concerned.

 

[Shark Sandwich]

Yes, the lack of HDMI/DVI would certainly mean including a HD-DVD drive would be fairly pointless.

But how would an adapter work if the port only outputs analog? I hope you don't mean that the adapter would do a A->D conversion. That would suck.

I've heard some speculation that there might be some kind of adapter that can plug into the USB port on the back. I honestly don't know whether this is feasible or not. Otherwise, MS would need to modify the design of their console.

Who knows, maybe MS intentionally left the digital output out of their prototype designs to throw off the competition? That would be pretty clever of them! I realize the chances are slim, but it's fun to speculate.

 

[NavNucST3]

I dont get the HDMI / DVi thing. Component can output HD resolution, HDMI is only better because it sends Audio and Video trough 1 plug (slot whatever), and its good for copyrighted material.

Well there is a quality issue too, at least for fixed-pixel displays (where DVI/HDMI > component).

However technicalities aside, the MPAA simply won't let any high definition movie content to be output via component cables - it has to be either HDCP-compliant DVI or HDMI, for copy protection purposes. I remember some early upconverting DVD players, for example, that allowed upconversion over component cables, but AFAIK they've simply stopped making them (upconversion is only over DVI or HDMI now) because of the MPAA.

So despite the fact that component is technically capable of carrying a high definition picture, going forward it's not going to happen as far as movies are concerned.

I would slightly disagree with the fixed pixel assessment; when it comes to viewing a computer on fixed pixel then dvi> component (or in a computers case VGA) ,however, when viewing HDTV/D-VHS movies on my displays DVI does not equal better quality than Component. I have one crt tube and one lcd tv. While many will notice a picture difference (with DVI it may be cooler until picture is adjusted, or with component the reds may be too high until adjusted), that does not equate to "better". Also, just FYI there are a lot of tube CRTs that DO analog to digital conversion already (most of the CRT tubes with DVI) and I have yet to hear the owners of such HD sets complain; even a converted HD image is better than the best SD image. I would suggest to all to browse the avsforum.com forum to study HD.
More ramblings from my brain, since HDMI is in just as short supply in current TVs, what would stop MS from just using firewire as an output method, (my D-VHS player uses firewire copyright protection) and all HD cable boxes have to have firewire on them as well. The number of TVs with firewire is equal to or greater than those with hdmi. Like I said just a general ramble.

 

[Ty]

I would slightly disagree with the fixed pixel assessment; when it comes to viewing a computer on fixed pixel then dvi> component (or in a computers case VGA) ,however, when viewing HDTV/D-VHS movies on my displays DVI does not equal better quality than Component. I have one crt tube and one lcd tv. While many will notice a picture difference (with DVI it may be cooler until picture is adjusted, or with component the reds may be too high until adjusted), that does not equate to "better".

What is the bandwidth of Component? What will be the bandwidth requirement for the next generation (HD-DVD/BR) media players?

Yes, currently most will see little to no difference between Component & DVI/HDMI but the next generation players could stretch the difference even further.

Also, just FYI there are a lot of tube CRTs that DO analog to digital conversion already (most of the CRT tubes with DVI) and I have yet to hear the owners of such HD sets complain; even a converted HD image is better than the best SD image.

That's digital-to-analog, not analog-to-digital.

I would suggest to all to browse the avsforum.com forum to study HD.

Yes, a great resource indeed (quite a few of us here are members there as well).

More ramblings from my brain, since HDMI is in just as short supply in current TVs, what would stop MS from just using firewire as an output method, (my D-VHS player uses firewire copyright protection) and all HD cable boxes have to have firewire on them as well. The number of TVs with firewire is equal to or greater than those with hdmi. Like I said just a general ramble.

Using Firewire? Good question, I don't know much about it (for instance I didn't know it had copy protection). I would presume though, that copyrighted material in the future is going to look for the HDCP flag and if that isn't there in Firewire, then the two schemes might be incompatible. /shrug.

 

[cthellis42]

Hehe if this is true then it's an awesome idea. This would be almost EXACTLY like what Panasonic did with the Q. I'd buy a Toshiba HD DVD Xbox 360 that's priced similar to a PS3 in a heartbeat. 8)

You'd also buy an Xbox 360 that's priced similar to a PS3 in a heartbeat if it used a Morse Code-based controller, ran on an 8086, and used 8-track tapes as game storage, but who's counting?