Review of XBOX 360 HD-DVD add-on

XBOX 360 HD-DVD ad-on

Hardware Review
By Dean Winkelspecht
FIRST ONLINE Nov 12, 2006

Tools:

History of the Video Game Module
Throughout the history of video game consoles, the add-on peripheral has never truly been successful. Mattel Electronics and their Intellivision family of consoles and Coleco Industries and their ColecoVision console were the first to test the waters of creating hardware add-ons to expand the capabilities of their machines. Mattel released their Intellivoice voice synthesis module that presented the first talking games to the industry. However, due to the impending Video Game Crash and a reallocation of resources at Mattel, only four games were released for the device. They had also released the System Changer module that allowed Intellivision owners to play their primary competitor, the Atari 2600's games on the Intellivision II console. They also released the PlayCable module, Entertainment Computer System (ECS) module and a music keyboard. The highly upgradable system never saw great sales for any of these devices.

After the Intellivision and ColecoVision saw very limited success with hardware add-ons, a later video game generation saw the NEC TurboGrafx-16 and Sega Genesis arrive. These two systems would also test the waters by providing additional hardware for their devices. Notably, both provided Compact Disc drive peripherals. The TurboGrafx received the TurboGrafx-CD CD-ROM peripheral and the Sega Genesis was given the Sega-CD add on. Of course, the Genesis would later receive the horribly ill-fated Sega-32X module that nearly single-handedly destroyed the notion that people would actually purchase additional hardware for their video game consoles. However, the two systems and their CD-ROM drives saw limited success and were hardly the failures that have historically dogged hardware modules throughout the various generations of video game consoles. Some very good games were released for both the Sega and the NEC systems. The ability to play CDs was an additional bonus for these two peripherals. The third hardware manufacturer of the time, Nintendo, had contracted Sony to create a CD module for their Super Nintendo system. Unfortunately, Sony and Nintendo suffered a falling out and the technology became the basis for the eventual PlayStation console.

With no resounding successes in producing hardware add-ons, the past two generations did not see any additional hardware components for their systems. Releasing these modules was seen as non-profitable, unsellable and generally - taboo. Great additional functionality was provided by these devices, but they had never quite caught on. The Sega-CD was perhaps the most successful of these hardware devices and a good number of games on the CD format were sold by Sega to the purchasers of the device. However, its usage as a CD player was not very good and the Sega-CD device was primarily used to play the CD-ROM games. Still, Microsoft is placing a hefty bet that their new HD-DVD add-on for the Xbox 360 game console will be a big success and are providing a somewhat pricey $200 component to allow users no additional gaming benefits, but the ability to play one of two high definition formats currently competing for consumer's hard earned cash. It also places them in yet another direct competition with primary competitor Sony, who is pushing their Blu-Ray format with their new PlayStation 3 console.

Microsoft has stated that the HD-DVD drive will not allow gamers to enjoy the benefits of the larger storage medium and that HD-DVD games will not be released in this generation. The HD-DVD drive is entirely for movie watching pleasures. When you compare the $200 price tag to that of the standalone Toshiba HD-A1 player and its $500 price tag, you can see where Microsoft's constant cry of "We are providing our users with choices" is quite valid and if owners of the Xbox 360 console wish to watch HD-DVD films, for a relatively cheap amount, they have the choice and the ability to use their high-powered video game console to play the latest and greatest of home video formats. The big questions are, however, is this $200 hardware module for the Xbox 360 a decent HD-DVD player and will Microsoft find success in releasing a hardware module for a video game console and succeed where everyone else has failed?

A Review of the HD-DVD Drive
Being the proud owner of an Xbox 360 console and a Toshiba HD-A1 player, I was placed in a position to review the new HD-DVD drive and put it through its paces in a head-to-head comparison to the Toshiba unit. I have been an advocate of HD-DVD thus far, but I do own the Samsung BD-P1000 and a few dozen Blu-Ray titles. I am certainly curious to see how this 'High Definition Generation' of video games consoles will help determine the outcome of the HD formats as a home video medium. Currently, the HD-DVD drive is listed on Amazon.com as the number seven best seller and was previously sitting at number five. I have talked to store managers at Circuit City and EB Games and they have reported strong interest and sales in the unit, so it seems that early on, Microsoft's decision to provide the HD-DVD add-on was a wise choice and the unit is going to find itself in many a home. At an early point, it looks like the second question is that Microsoft may indeed find success with a hardware module. However, how does it perform?

My Toshiba unit connects to my Samsung LCD HDTV via HDMI cables, where my Xbox 360 is currently limited to component cable connections. The Toshiba delivers sound through either an optical cable or six analog RCA cables to a set of pre-ins on my Denon receiver. The Xbox 360 does use an optical cable to my receiver. The connections are not exactly identical, and at the current time, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive does not allow for the best possible picture nor does it allow a method to deliver Dolby TrueHD sound. The only mechanisms currently available are through either HDMI 1.3 or through six channel analog hookups. The 360 is not capable of either, but there are some rumblings through the rumor mills and grapevines that the big MS might indeed release an HDMI cable for the Xbox 360. I'd certainly welcome such a cable.

The first comparison was picture quality. As a free bonus for early adopters of the HD-DVD drive, Universal's "King Kong" is provided free. I'll have my review for that completed in the next day or two, but there are some absolutely amazing visual sin this film and it is a good test of what the HD-DVD format and the Xbox 360 add-on are capable of. Comparing the Xbox 360 add-on to the Toshiba unit showed that the Xbox 360 unit was capable of some very good visuals, even considering it is using only component cables versus the HDMI hookup of the Toshiba. I noticed a slight difference in colors and the amount of difference in detail was minimal. I have to give a slight nod to the Toshiba unit when it comes to visuals, but this may be more due to the HDMI connection than the hardware itself. The Toshiba is essentially a Pentium 4 computer, where the Xbox 360 runs on a PowerPC core. All new software had to be written for the Microsoft unit and they certainly did a great job, because without a direct A-B comparison, it is difficult to find a difference in picture quality.

Sound was another area where the additional connectivity capabilities of the Toshiba drive allowed it to rise above the capabilities of the Xbox 360. When comparing the Dolby TrueHD soundtracks of films such as "Training Day," "Batman Begins" and "End of Days," the Dolby Digital only capable Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive showed to this reviewer a slight amount of confusion. Oddly, the Xbox 360 drive allows you to select Dolby TrueHD sound and it was clearly an improvement over the standard Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. In an A-B comparison with the Toshiba unit, the Toshiba does exhibit a better overall audible experience, but at a slightly lower volume level. The differences between the Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD soundtracks on the Toshiba unit were more noticeable than when switching between them on the Xbox 360, and when comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges between the units, the Toshiba did sound a bit better, but there is certainly something happening with the TrueHD soundtrack on the 360 unit.

I'm guessing that Microsoft is somehow converting the data to the Dolby Digital datastream and that a majority of the improved sound resolution is making its way to the receiver. This somewhat waters down the statement that the Xbox 360 is handicapped by not fully providing Dolby TrueHD, but it is indeed doing something. DTS seems to be converted to Dolby Digital as well, as selecting DTS on "Æon Flux" resulted in the DTS mix being displayed as Dolby Digital on my receiver. Still, comparing the DTS mix to the Dolby Digital mix exhibited that there was a slight audible difference. At this point, I'm willing to bet that Microsoft converts either DTS or TrueHD to a Dolby Digital datastream before shipping it out the optical cable. Sound is very good from the unit and I was surprised at the TrueHD handling, but I still give a slight nod to the Toshiba, but this shows that the Xbox 360 is a very capable unit, even with lesser connections.

After sound and video, the final questions are that of functionality. This is where the Xbox 360 unit starts to show that it is a hardware add-on and not a full functioning device. On the plus side, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive is very fast. You can swap and change three to four discs in the time it takes the Toshiba HD-A1 to exchange one. The startup time for the Xbox 360 is fairly quick, so the initial load is simply the base startup time of the high-powered gaming machine. Menu response is a hair faster than the Toshiba and you can use either the provided Universal remote (which is a $30 value separately) or one of the 360's controllers. The remote control contains all of the base functionality of a standalone player. It is backlit and aside from some of the advanced functioning of the Toshiba unit, is a tremendous upgrade. A hand controller allows for very basic functioning, but it does work.

Where the unit starts to suffer some is in the user friendly functionality of a standalone device. The first noticeable shortcoming is that the unit has only one button on its droll gray face. You can open and close a disc at near instant speed, but you can only play, pause or advance through tracks and chapters via the remote. I still consider the Sony 7700 as one of the best DVD players of all time because it had full menu navigation capabilities on the face of the unit, and here, we have no capabilities whatsoever without a remote. Another huge shortcoming is the ability to stop a film and resume playback later. This is pretty much standard functionality, but with the Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on, you must use chapter search ("King Kong" has many of these by the way) to find the location where you last stopped watching or Warner Bros. bookmarking functionality.

The unit can also be used to play standard definition DVD titles. This is noteworthy, as I do not recommend using the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or other high end gaming devices as DVD players. You simply want as little wear and tear on these machines as possible and the HD-DVD drive will allow you watch DVDs via the Xbox 360 without adding additional wear and tear to the device's DVD drive. The Xbox 360 does not appear to handle upconverting, but does provide a decent standard definition picture. Compared to my Pioneer Elite DV-47A, the playback was not as vivid, but seemed nearly identical to the performance of simply playing the disc in the Xbox 360 and the difference was fairly great when comparing DVD playback against the mighty upconverting Toshiba unit.

Finally, there is the look of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD unit. I guess it is intended to look like a book. The spine of this unit reminds one of the front of the rather attractive Xbox 360 unit, but this is just the spine. The drive door of the HD-DVD drive is the same shiny chrome as the Premium Xbox 360, but the chrome is lost in the horribly ugly dark gray face of the HD-DVD drive. Sitting either beside or atop the Xbox 360, it just doesn't look nearly as nice and is perhaps one of the dullest and least entertaining pieces of electronics I have ever seen. It is overly simplistic, but I feel a white face would have served it better and where my Xbox 360 has a few faceplates, no matter which faceplate it wears, the HD-DVD drive looks sad. It has rubber feat under one side and is more at home sitting horizontally than vertically. I'm not sure who designed the look and feel of this unit, but the Xbox 360 is the best looking console since the woodgrained days and its little HD-DVD add-on is just frumpy.

Final Words and Recommendation
I questioned Microsoft's decision to release the add-on HD-DVD unit, and to state it would be for movie viewing only. Sure, having the drive support gaming would have truly made this the second coming of the Sega-CD, but it would have made a bit more sense considering it is for a game console. However, after playing with the unit and thinking more about it, Microsoft truly is about offering choices to its consumer base with this generation. If Blu-Ray becomes the standard, you can bet a Blu-Ray add-on would be in the works. By omitting an HD-DVD drive in the main Xbox 360, cost of the unit was kept down. Microsoft believes that a standard DVD-9 is more than adequate for this generation's gaming. For only $200, Xbox 360 owners can have the ability to playback HD-DVD films with very good performance.

With no HDMI, the unit falls a hair shy of what the Toshiba stand alone units are capable of. Sound is puzzling, as there is some definite upgrade to selecting Dolby TrueHD from the menus of films provided with the soundtrack. However, the sound is slightly less impactful than when realized through the Toshiba HD-A1 and six analog channels. Regardless, the HD-DVD add-on for the 360 is nearly identical in playback to the Toshiba and of you compare component to component and Dolby Digital to Dolby Digital, there is nary a difference. High end audio and video buffs are not going to be using an Xbox 360 as a hub for their high definition video watching, so the small amount of difference is trivial as the Xbox 360 is going to be more than adequate for its target audience. I have one friend that had yet to see any HD-DVD or Blu-Ray films on his large 1080i 60" TV, and when he saw the Xbox 360 and its HD-DVD add-on, he was simply amazed.

I was pleasantly surprised by the speed of the unit. I could swap discs and view difference scenes and sequences very quickly. Menu functionality and enhanced commentary tracks performed perfectly and with the supplied Universal remote, the HD-DVD drive was quite usable. Resume play was sorely lacking and perhaps an update to the software will allow for this in the future. The bottom line is that if you own an Xbox 360 and you decide you would like to watch HD-DVD films, then the $200 is a very wise investment. This is a small cost when compared to today's standalone units and considering you get nearly the same performance as the Toshiba units, it is an investment that delivers a lot of bang for the buck. It is not perfect and it is uglier than sin, but I feel Microsoft made a wise decision by providing the HD-DVD as a module for the Xbox 360. They are looking to make the Xbox 360 the centerpiece of the living room and this little drive is another step in the right direction for Microsoft. Before the first Xbox, they were not known for hardware, but continually, Microsoft is showing they have their heads in the right place.

You can buy the drive from Amazon.

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