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Microsoft's 1080p lets you read the fine print
Much like looking both ways before crossing the road, remembering to read the fine print is a valuable life skill that will inevitably save your existence at one point or another. Some even consider HD resolution to be a matter of life and death, especially when the money spent on a 1080p television could have been used to purchase New Zealand instead. When Microsoft announced earlier this week that an update would automagically enable 1080p resolution ("true" or "full" HD if you believe in such things) for the Xbox 360, they neglected to mention any specifics regarding component output and that pesky issue of copyright. A Microsoft insider (with handle "amirm") provides some clarity on the AVS forums, explaining what types of content are allowed over a component connection. If you insist on watching your HD-DVDs at full resolution, it appears you'll have to invest in a VGA cable (and not an HDMI cable).If your 360 is hooked up via component cables: Xbox 360 games can be upscaled to 1080p. Titles that run in 1080p natively (none of which currently exist) will also display without a problem. HD-DVDs will display at 1080i maximum -- you can thank AACS for that. Normal DVDs will play at 480p. CSS prevents anything higher (though some upscaling DVD players conveniently ignore it). If your 360 is hooked up via VGA cable: HD-DVDs, Upscaled DVDs and games can all display at 1080p with no copyright hassles. If your 360 is hooked up via RF Adapter: You have bigger problems. [Via Engadget HD]
TGS: Xbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet point
At their pre-TGS press briefing in Tokyo today, Microsoft announced that the Xbox 360 will support 1080p content through a software upgrade. The "p" stands for parity.Microsoft's announcement -- which effectively parries Sony's bold claims regarding the merits of 1080p high definition content or, as Sony calls it, True HD -- is their latest move seeking to blunt the impact of the oncoming Sony PS3 hype-train. With the True HD cat de-clawed, Microsoft's mantra of choice will appear even more appealing. It's another bullet point taken out of the next-gen console war equation.Joystiq spoke briefly with Shane Kim, General Manager of Microsoft Game Studios, about their announcements in Tokyo today. First off, Kim clarified that, while the software patch would upscale all content to resolutions as high as 1080p, Microsoft themselves had no plans to produce gaming content taking advantage of this ability. He was similarly convinced that very few other developers would see the value in producing 1080p games, with the singular exception of Sony's first-party studios, eager to validate the value of the capability.Similar to the way the Xbox 360 upscales original Xbox games from 480p to 720p/1080i, you'll be able to enjoy your existing Xbox 360 games at the new resolution. As if you needed more proof that Microsoft's adoption of high definition HD-DVD is little more than a strategic move to limit Blu-ray's potential sphere of influence, Microsoft's 1080p software upgrade will also remove some of the value of their upcoming HD-DVD add-on by upscaling your existing DVD movies to HD resolutions, including 1080p. So, Microsoft just announced that the Xbox 360 will play your existing DVDs back in high-definition -- in addition to being able to play back legitimate HD-DVD content if you're interested -- and they're gonna do it in 1080p. In the bullet point war, Sony better hope that extra Blu-ray disc space is worth it; they'll have a chance to prove it at TGS this week.Microsoft's TGS press briefing:HD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 17th for ¥19,800Blue Dragon hits Japan this holiday
HD DVD reviews updated with Dolby TrueHD, firmware update warning
So far only only a few HD DVDs have rolled out with a Dolby TrueHD lossless audio soundtrack, and with good reason, the only players on the market didn't support it. But now, thanks to the just-released 2.0 firmware, Toshiba HD-A1 owners everywhere can enjoy advanced audio. According to High-Def Digest, as long as you have a receiver that accepts audio via HDMI or analog 5.1 inputs (but not S/PDIF, sorry) you should be ready to go. Of course this is only worthwhile if there is a noticeable difference and by their report, there is with improved quality and surround sound effects. We look forward to more TrueHD enhanced releases, although you have to wonder what this will do to potential HD DVD/DVD combo releases that don't have the space for the movie and uncompressed audio. Given the benefit, the possiblity of bricking your HD DVD player during the update is but a miniscule risk (take any discs out before updating via the Ethernet port or it's to Toshiba customer support you must go.)
Sony Playstation 3 Conference Details
Lets get down to the facts. $499 w/20GB HDD, $599 w/ 60GB HDD in the United States No new details about Blu-ray movie playback or drive speed Japan launch date: November 11 US Launch date: November 17 2 million PS3s to ship in "launch window" Accelerometer in a wireless dual shock controller, much like Nintendo's, no rumble support Showed Gran Turismo HD: a special version using GT4 models rendered at 1080p and 60fps Well there it is folks, don't forget to check out Joystiq for the moment to moment updates, although they are likely to slow down momentarily as Sony's last announcement was that they had playable PS3 games onsite. Now I suppose the question is why would anyone buy an HD DVD player for $500 when they can get a PS3 for the same price. Did anybody else check out the stream (via Gamespot.com or E3insider.com), what were your impressions?
PS3 Games: Not 1080p
We'll have to wait until Sony's conference later today and the rest of E3 to get more details about their upcoming console but from the Pre-E3 announcements we're already getting a few tidbits. Sony has been touting their ability to output 1080p via dual HDMI ports while some have claimed most games won't be able to use that resolution. Checking out Sega's announcement that Virtua Fighter 5 will be a Playstation 3 exclusive and Epic's interview regarding Unreal Tournament 2007 reveals one common thread, that both are targeting 720p. Obviously these will be early titles in the systems lifespan so we may see later games kick it up to 1920x1080 and with few having HDTVs that display or accept a 1080p signal this is of limited importance. Still one has to wonder if Sony will even call these games high definition, since the only True HD is 1080p at least according to Phil Harrison.Check for more live E3 coverage from Joystiq.
