X Box-360

Showing posts with label HD DVD. Show all posts

An Xbox 360 VGA Review – A Look At The Graphics Components

As new console games come out the graphics become more and more impressive. The latest from the folks over at Microsoft is now exception. I am going to do an Xbox 360 VGA review so you can have a better idea of what the capabilities of this unit are. IN this Xbox 360 VGA review I will look at both the HD DVD and game components. Both system use different parts of the console. I am going to try to avoid as much techno babble as I can and keep this Xbox 360 VGA review down to some that anyone can understand.

The First Part Of The Xbox 360 VGA Review – HD DVD

HD DVD is the next evolution in DVD technology. Without getting too much in depth, HD DVD is about 4 times as accurate and clear as normal HD. The reason for this is that the resolution presented in HD DVD has about 4 pixels to 1 pixel in HD. This means that images are more alive and crisp. IT is hard to describe the difference between HD DVD and regular DVD because DVD is already so crisp and clean. The differences are not nearly as obvious as the step up from standard definition to DVD. While DVDs look sharp, crisp, and accurate, and HD DVD looks warm and natural. The pixilation has a reach such a high level that you the images a literally completely smooth and natural looking. It is impossible to imagine, but when you see it you will understand the value. Similar to how movies in the theater look so lifelike, this is how HD DVD looks. The best thing is that this is fully controllable from the Xbox 360 wireless adapter, but look to my Xbox 360 wireless adapter review for more information on that.

The Second Part Of The Xbox 360 VGA Review – Games

The games on the Xbox 360 are amazing. The reason for this is that the processors inside the Xbox are fully dedicated to graphics processing and have no heavy operating system to maintain. The system is designed so that the unit is just a massive graphics processor. This shows in the lifelike animation in game play and in the trailers. Halo 3 was a launch title and it and Gears of War are probably two of the best games I have ever seen on any system anywhere – PC, Playstation, Wii, whatever these blow those out of the water. For my money I will get the Xbox 360 every time.

An In Depth Xbox 360 HD DVD Review

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Original Xbox Versus The Xbox 360 HD DVD Review

On the old Xbox you had the option of converting the unit into a DVD player. In order to do this you had to purchase a separate component that plugged into one of the control slot. There were a couple things that were really bad about this. First off was that although all the games for the Xbox were DVDs you could not read regular DVDs out of the box. IN addition when the DVD player was running you had to take one of the controller spots up so that you could not readily and easily switch between four players and DVD mode. That being said, the add on was not that expensive and it was fairly easy to switch and allow you to go into game mode.

Microsoft addressed these issues out of the box and the Xboxes are now able to read DVDs. The only real negative is while they can read regular DVDs, the HD DVD format is going by the wayside and is being taken over by blue ray. This threatens to leave this component of the Xbox in the dust and we will have to see what Microsoft does to address this issue.

Playstation, Wii Versus The Xbox 360 HD DVD Review

The Playstation comes with Blue Ray native on the unit. This was the format that is going to be the industry standard so for this the Playstation is clearly ahead of the Xbox. The Wii does not come with High Definition DVD playback ability, so the Xbox surpasses it in this area. As far as playback quality, HD DVD is the superior format but again Blue Ray appears to be the industry choice so while the Xbox beats at the Wii, it fails to beat the Playstation.

There you have it, a look at where the Xbox 360 stands against its competition in the HD DVD arena.

An In Depth Xbox 360 HD DVD Review

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I have taken a look at several different components of the Xbox 360 and now it is time for an Xbox 360 HD DVD review. What I would like to do in this Xbox 360 HD DVD review is take a look at what the current Xbox offers versus its competition and previous units. The first part of the Xbox 360 HD DVD review will compare and contrast the unit with the previous one, while the second part of the Xbox 360 HD DVD review will look at it versus the Wii and Playstation 3. If you are looking for a complete Xbox 360 console review I suggest searching for a different article.

Original Xbox Versus The Xbox 360 HD DVD Review

On the old Xbox you had the option of converting the unit into a DVD player. In order to do this you had to purchase a separate component that plugged into one of the control slot. There were a couple things that were really bad about this. First off was that although all the games for the Xbox were DVDs you could not read regular DVDs out of the box. IN addition when the DVD player was running you had to take one of the controller spots up so that you could not readily and easily switch between four players and DVD mode. That being said, the add on was not that expensive and it was fairly easy to switch and allow you to go into game mode.

Microsoft addressed these issues out of the box and the Xboxes are now able to read DVDs. The only real negative is while they can read regular DVDs, the HD DVD format is going by the wayside and is being taken over by blue ray. This threatens to leave this component of the Xbox in the dust and we will have to see what Microsoft does to address this issue.

Playstation, Wii Versus The Xbox 360 HD DVD Review

The Playstation comes with Blue Ray native on the unit. This was the format that is going to be the industry standard so for this the Playstation is clearly ahead of the Xbox. The Wii does not come with High Definition DVD playback ability, so the Xbox surpasses it in this area. As far as playback quality, HD DVD is the superior format but again Blue Ray appears to be the industry choice so while the Xbox beats at the Wii, it fails to beat the Playstation.

There you have it, a look at where the Xbox 360 stands against its competition in the HD DVD arena.