On Xbox, 1080p, and the lack of HDMI
IGN has a summary article on the state of 1080p from Microsoft and their Xbox 360 -- with the planned HD DVD add-on release coming soon, but without any HDMI support. Since many 1080p-capable sets only support that resolution via HDMI cabling, the assumption is that manufacturers like Microsoft would include the connectors so that the sets capable of getting the highest resolutions actually can. But so far, Microsoft is only planning to have VGA or component connectors, and when the studios turn on the Image Constraint Token to disable full resolution via analog outputs, your $200 add-on will be barely more functional than the DVD player inside the console itself.
They even fired off a few questions to the folks at Microsoft, asking about these apparent discrepancies. The company's answers included that 1080p will be supported for native games, and others will be scaled up to that resolution, while not answering how the console can even handle that resolution given its hardware (perhaps just upscaling and deinterlacing for everything?). IGN even speculates that this supposed 1080p support is really just a red herring and a smoke screen to take the heat off the upcoming Playstation 3 launch, which will include HDMI and progressive support. Let's hope someone can get their hands on the add-on soon and put it through the ringer so we can actually answer some of these questions rather than just speculating.
