Not much Difference between Hd-dvd and 360 upconversion player?

[L.A.]

Ok for about a month i've been thinking about getting the HD-dvd add on and at a price 200 bucks it was within my budget. But than my 360 was already upconverting my SD dvd's to HD and that just fantastic...So I decided to wait until XBL will let you download HD movies/shows. When that was finally released I downloaded an episode of CSI in HD and I was just blown away!

It was sooo much better than my upconverted CSI dvd's!!! So I was like Hell yea im going to get an HD-dvd Add on! So I picked it up yesterday the only store that had one within 30 miles! I was sooo excited to get home. I have a Samsung 32" LCD HDTV (LN-S3251D) and I couldnt wait until I saw that baby in HD! So I got home and set up my hd-dvd add on. I put installation disc into my 360, connected USB cable to the Hd-dvd and plug in the HD-dvd add on. I put on King Kong in HD and it looked pretty damn good! But I wasnt too impressed for some reason. So I decided to put in my SD King Kong on my 360 player to compare and what I saw there was minimal improvment! I mean dont get me wrong the HD-dvd was better but not much! Definetly not worth 160 bucks I paid for! I would give the PQ for the HD-dvd a "A" but I would give the Upconversion player a solid "B+" Am I doing something wrong because CSI in HD just ****ing owned but KIng Kong was like just minimal improvment? Im going to rent Batman Beings in HD and compare that also to my SD and see if it does it again because if it does im sending this baby back!

 

[Phaser]

I've heard that Batman Begins is a true showcase HD-DVD title, so yeah, it's a good idea to see how it stacks up against the upscaled standard DVD.

 

[imdaly]

What scenes did you compare the two with?

I actually haven't watched King Kong all the way through yet, but I have jumped around certain scenes and found some good ones to compare.

IMO, the best two scenes to compare the two would be the scene where Kong runs wild through New York, and the scene after that where he and the girl meet back up.

Also, the difference is most noticable in the far background and the close close forground.

Of course, I'm playing my HD DVD player on a 44" HDTV, so the differences should logically be more noticable on my TV.


Also keep in mind that the cool part about HD DVD is more than just PQ. It's also in some of the features and capabilities of the format. Notice you can now move around through the menus as the movie still plays to change the scene, audio selections, or to switch to a special feature.

Also notice that some movies (such as King Kong) have the In-Home Experience capability. Press "A" on your remote as you're watching the movie and a little icon will pop up in the bottom-right corner of your screen. Now as you watch the movie, every once in a while a new little icon will pop up there. If you press Enter on the remote while that's up there, you'll get a cool little Picture-in-Picture video showing a little about what went into making the particular scene that's being shown...all while the movie keeps playing. It's pretty cool, and not possible on standard DVD.

 

[guitarsingerguy]

I've heard that Batman Begins is a true showcase HD-DVD title, so yeah, it's a good idea to see how it stacks up against the upscaled standard DVD.

Yep. You can friggin' see imperfections in people's faces. It's pretty unreal. I'm watching on a much bigger screen now too though.

 

[L.A.]

I've heard that Batman Begins is a true showcase HD-DVD title, so yeah, it's a good idea to see how it stacks up against the upscaled standard DVD.

forgot about this thread but anyways I bought BB HD and compared to the SD version and again there was minimal improvment. It was a little bit more clear and sharp. But than I decided to bring my hd-dvd to my friend house who had a 55inch Samsung DLP and was literally stunned!!! Especially watching King Kong HD!!! It was literally in 3D So in conclusion my screen was just too small for it make any huge improvements from SD dvd. I will be getting a much bigger HDTV now