Xbox 360 HD DVD Player Hands-On

By James Yu - Posted on Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Microsoft has been busy rolling out games, Xbox Live updates, and new console accessories all season long to keep the Xbox 360 from being forgotten during all the PlayStation 3 and Wii launch mayhem. Microsoft started by enabling 1080p output on the 360 with a console dashboard update. Then came the Xbox 360-exclusive Gears of War, which is the best game we've seen thus far from this system generation. Microsoft is now getting ready to launch Xbox Live Video Marketplace. On November 22, Xbox 360 owners will be able to purchase and download select television shows and movies from Xbox Live in standard- or high-definition formats.

With all the recent events and the pending system launches, it's almost easy to forget that Microsoft is also shipping the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player this month. Remember? It's the $200 Xbox 360 HD DVD drive that can play movies in 720p, 1080i, and 1080p high-definition resolutions. The drive is starting to appear in retail, and people who preordered the accessory months ago are already receiving their units in the mail.

The package includes the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player, power supply, a USB connector cable, and installation disc. For a limited time, Microsoft will also bundle the player with an Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote and an HD DVD copy of Peter Jackson's King Kong. The HD DVD player installation was as easy as plugging the drive power supply into an open electrical socket, running the setup disc, and connecting the drive to the console with the included USB cable. Microsoft placed two USB ports on the rear of the drive to make up for the lost USB port used for the HD DVD connection on the console. The drive even has the installation notches for the Xbox 360's wireless Wi-Fi adapter.

You'll need to provide your own set of Xbox 360 component or VGA cables to output an HD video feed from the Xbox 360 to an HD display. You should already have a component cable if you have the premium Xbox 360, but you'll need to get the VGA cable for full 1080p movie support because the Xbox 360 can only play HD DVD movies up to 1080i over component cables. We tested the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player on our Westinghouse 37" LVM-37w3 LCD 1080p monitor and found that it could play HD DVD movies at 1080p over VGA, but downgraded the movie image to 1080i over component cables. VGA is your only 1080p option right now because Microsoft hasn't added HDMI support to the Xbox 360 yet.

HD DVD movies looked great on our 1080p display. We used a Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift combo disc that had the HD movie on one side and the DVD version on the other. The 1080p movie had sharper text in the preroll MPAA rating screen, and the picture detail was especially noticeable in close-ups on the actors. GameSpot members can download a set of 480p DVD vs. 720p/1080p HD DVD screenshot comparison images here. The 1080p resolution looked the best to our untrained eyes, but 720p and 1080i also looked very nice. Playback was smooth at all resolutions--720p, 1080i, and 1080p--with no visible tears or artifacts.

The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player looks to be a terrific upgrade for movie fans who already have an Xbox 360 and an HD display. Performance is excellent, and the media remote and King Kong HD DVD movie pack-in items make the $200 price tag even more attractive.