DVD Playback on a 360.

Vandle

Vandle

Vandle

Soldato
Joined
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Melbourne , Oz.
G'day.

I just got a new TV at the weekend , here - http://www.samsung.com/au/products/tv/lcdtv/la32r81bd.asp

Plugged the 360 into a hdmi slot , flicked the switch on the cable to HDTV , changed the settings in the dashboard to 720p and put in a game.
Its fantastic , only ever played it once on HDTV on my mates plasma but the quality of this surpasses that.

Anyway , I havent got round to buying a DVD player yet so am using the 360 as one and the quality leaves a lot to be desired.
Its quite jaggy in places , light colours in the forground blend in with light coloured backgrounds and it sometimes "clips" like on the GTA games on the PS2.
Its by no means unwatchable but Ive seen better outputs on those 30 quid jobbies you can buy in ASDA.

Any idea whats causing this?
Is there a setting I need to change for movies or is the 360 just not a very good dvd player?

I know a lot of folk in here have Samsungs , any tips would be appreciated.

Cheers.
 
So if you're connecting via the HDMI input are you using a 360 Elite? I know that when using a VGA input the 'extended' mode in your display settings greatly improves the IQ and gets rid of that 'washed out' look which sounds a bit like what you're experiencing.
 
JBeck said:
So if you're connecting via the HDMI input are you using a 360 Elite? I know that when using a VGA input the 'extended' mode in your display settings greatly improves the IQ and gets rid of that 'washed out' look which sounds a bit like what you're experiencing.
Click to expand...

nah , using the cable that came with the premium , the 6 plugged one.
Its component im connected by.

I should have made that clearer.
 
Ok, I knew someone with a similar problem and they changed theirs from 60 hz to 50hz although his was a older TV but it did stop all the 'chopping' and improved the IQ. Also, when watching a DVD without macrovision (copied dvd/home movie etc) it used to skip frames badly. Using your component cable the 360 will not upscale to 720p, you need the VGA for that.
 
Dutch Guy said:
Looks like the Xbox 360 is a crap DVD player: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2088533,00.asp

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/home-entertainment/xbox-360s-dvd-playback-stunningly-bad-233490.php
Click to expand...

those are basing it on connecting via component, which, yes is rather poo, but using the VGA lead it makes a world of difference as it upscales the picture (so i dont know what the article is saying about it not looking any different when they tried the VGA).

The only off putting thing, if your watching a none action orientated film with loads of noise etc, i can hear either the drive or fans going, haven't quite sussed out which
 
I have watched DVD's via VGA through my PJ and the quality is fine. The 360 can be a little noisy though.
 
I recently started using my VGA lead with the TV instead of component, the picture quality is far improved on both TV's I've tried it on. The picture in games is better but with DVD's it's a real improvement, don't think I could ever go back to using the component lead again.
 
Thanks fellas , so whats the VGA cable like?
Is that not the old fashioned red , white and yellow plugs?
Would getting one mean I would have to switch cables when changing between games and DVD's?

I always have one or the other on , if you had watched aussie TV , you would understand why.

I cant here any noise from the 360 during dvd playback , gaming yes but not dvd.
 
I use our 360 as the main DVD player. It is noisier than I would like but the picture over VGA with my Toshiba 32WLT66 is fantastic. It's definately quieter than when playing a game / using the dashboard but it's far from 'silent'
 
According to the linked article a VGA cable has the same problems but it does upscale:
We chose to use component cables to hook up the Xbox 360, since that is by far the most common connection for it. Because Microsoft values compliance with the DVD Forum's rules, component cable output of DVDs is limited to 480p resolution. If you buy the VGA cable, you can upscale DVDs to HD resolutions; we've tried this before, and it absolutely does not fix any of the problems we'll highlight here.
Click to expand...
 
VGA cable is just a normal VGA plug for monitors, with a red and white plug for audio. (it comes with an adaptor to have it for a single line in audio plug)
On my TV at home I have to plug it into a DVI adaptor aswell but it works fine through that.
I've heard (from people on these forums) that the unofficial cables can be pretty poor quality, probably safer to just stick with the MS one.

That article says it sticks it at 480p, I thought through component it went to 520p for DVD's?
 
Emlyn_Dewar said:
VGA cable is just a normal VGA plug for monitors, with a red and white plug for audio. (it comes with an adaptor to have it for a single line in audio plug)
On my TV at home I have to plug it into a DVI adaptor aswell but it works fine through that.
I've heard (from people on these forums) that the unofficial cables can be pretty poor quality, probably safer to just stick with the MS one.

That article says it sticks it at 480p, I thought through component it went to 520p for DVD's?
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. So will I notice the difference gaming @ 720p with the VGA over the Component?
 
I definately did, TDU was the biggest improvement with everything just look sharper, colours were better too. Gears of War and Oblivion showed similar improvements.
 
Emlyn_Dewar said:
VGA cable is just a normal VGA plug for monitors, with a red and white plug for audio. (it comes with an adaptor to have it for a single line in audio plug)
On my TV at home I have to plug it into a DVI adaptor aswell but it works fine through that.
I've heard (from people on these forums) that the unofficial cables can be pretty poor quality, probably safer to just stick with the MS one.

That article says it sticks it at 480p, I thought through component it went to 520p for DVD's?
Click to expand...

480p is the NTSC standard, and 575p is the PAL standard. :)
 
I've heard a few differing reports on 360 dvd play back. Personally though I wouldn't make it anymore than a short term job. The difference between the 360 and a upscaling DVD player is night and day.
 
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