Xbox 360 Fanboy

Could such a device be used to upscale dvds for people that have hdmi, but not vga on their tv?

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"The analog-to-digital conversion created by an adapter would likely nullify the enhanced visual fidelity of HDMI anyway."

So, stop bitching about how MS screwed you over and just wait when the price drops on an HDMI installed 360. Fair enough?

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That seems highly unlikely - the only thing that would make any sense is a HDMI adapter/dongle right on the video output to HDMI. If someone wants a component-to-HDMI solution, they are already out there.

"Furthermore, Ozymandias states that a hardware change was required to implement HDMI in the first place, hence the creation of the Elite."

Thereby confirming that MS previously lied, as they claimed HDMI was possible on the current 360.

That pisses me off to no end. If they had just admitted that it was not a possiblity when asked, I'd have no problem with this.

Scumbags.

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To #3. DOOM
Sony helped developed the specs for HDMI. I have no doubt that they made the spec so that the original xbox 360 could not adhere to it. The HDMI spec is basically a 2-way street and requires the specific port on both sides to be enabled. This is why we had to change the box.

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Sony is a deceptive company when it comes to HDMI.

Sony claims to be a leader in HDMI, yet the Playstation 3 doesn't come with an HDMI cable or ANY type of high-definition cable.

As far as HDMI high-definition TV's go, I remember in late 2005 when Sony had $4,000 projection TV sets that claimed to be 1080p using HDMI, but in reality they would only "Display" a 1080p upconverted picture, because at the time Sony's version of HDMI could not "Accept" true 1080p signals. Yet, that didn't stop Sony from advertising it as a "Full 1080p HDTV."

It's the same way with Sony's Blu-ray.

Sony claims the Blu-ray discs are 50GB in size with up to 7.1 sound channels.

But virtually every Blu-ray disc on the market is 25GB in size with that garbage 15 year old MPEG-2 format that standard DVD discs use. That's why standard DVDs used on an unconverted DVD player or upconversion TV end up looking nearly identical to a Blu-ray.

All HD-DVD discs on the market are 30GB discs that use VC-1, the much newer video streaming format, that was designed to compete with MPEG-4.

MPEG-4 is the worst compression format of all in terms of how large the files are, so even a 50GB Blu-ray isn't enough for larger movies with special features. So that means Sony is stuck using MPEG-2 because they don't want to pay royalties to Intel and Microsoft, because they invented VC-1.

Here is the biggest disappointment with Blu-ray: The standards are so much lower.

With HD-DVD, you always need to use at least 5.1 sound, and can have up to 7.1 sound.

Blu-ray talks a lot of crap about HDMI cables passing 7.1 sound, but look at the way movies like The Quick and the Dead on Blu-ray are NOT even in 5.1 sound! They are STILL in 2.0 Stereo that doesn't even have a dedicated sub-woofer channel!

Blu-ray sucks, and Sony lies!

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#5 that is very interesting. Where did you get that info form. I never heard that before. Plus I have really noticed how Sony Lies all the time. They are Liers and Bitters to me.

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Wow... lots of FUD here today, eh? I can't believe I am going to do this, because I hate Sony more than most people, and hated them LOOOOONG before it was the cool thing to do... But wow, the two of you are so far off the mark I've got to say something.

@LongGone, The first revision of the HDMI spec was finalized in 2002... you'll correct me if I am wrong, but the 360 spec wasn't finalized then, was it? So probably Sony, and also the SEVEN other companies that comprised the initial HDMI group weren't thinking at all about how they could screw MS. No, they were probably mostly concerned with creating a crispy digital signal and an end-to-end DRM solution so they could screw consumers. ;) That MS was short-sighted enough to not initially include and HDMI port isn't Sony's fault. Go back and check pre-release interviews/press about it, I believe you'll find that MS's line at the time was that HDMI wasn't necessary.

@Kim Naroz, where do I even begin?

I believe Sony IS the leader in HDMI right? Correct me if I am wrong, but they've got more HDMI capable devices on the market than any other manufacturer. Although you called out correctly that they're clearly not the leader in HDMI cables ;)

While it's true that the first batches of Blu-Ray movies are on BD-25 and use MPEG-2, the majority coming out _NOW_ do not. Take a look at... say.. the January 2007 releases. 70% or so of them are on BD-50. Also, I was under the impression that VC-1 is the codec being used on pretty much every Blu-ray coming out now... I encourage you to prove me wrong (and cite recent releases, not crap that came out when Blu-Ray/HDDVD premiered)

And not all HD-DVDs on the market use VC-1 either... sure it's the standard NOW (as it is with Blu-ray too) but when they first got rolling, it was H.264 all the way.

Also, I call bullshit on this "With HD-DVD, you always need to use at least 5.1 sound" Here, watch: BULLSHIT! Read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_DVD#Audio I think you'll find that a stereo mix is perfectly accommodated by HD-DVD.

Also... you may not realize this... but the movies are mastered/published/duplicated/etc. by the studios, not by sony... so it's TOTALLY up to the studios which codec they want to use, what type of audio they want to include, you name it. Also, the movie you cite, The Quick and the Dead, HASN'T BEEN RELEASED ON BLU-RAY OR HD-DVD... so how the hell would you know that that it's only got a stereo track, when it doesn't even exist?

We do at least see eye to eye on Sony & Blu-Ray sucking... But in the future can you be a little less Michael Moore about it, and stick to facts?

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Just get an Elite.

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I probably shouldn't post anything anywhere after drinking heavily, but there are starving Ethiopian children who don't even have a regular Xbox!

Count yourselves fortunate.

That's all.

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"And of course, the most obvious reason to doubt an HDMI adapter, it would serve no purpose."

Aside from people (like me) who have a Wii and a 360, and want to connect the Wii via component for the better picture quality that comes with it, but who don't want to go scurrying behind their TV's to switch 5 cables every time they want to switch between the two.

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I still can't understand why everyone is sooooo obsessed with HDMI. I have the VGA cable with an optical audio cable and it all looks and sounds perfect. Games, HD-DVDs, everything looks fine.

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Bear in mind those of us who have Sony TVs. I have a 40" Sony 1080p TV... and sony decided to screw me out of 1080p over component.

The only way I can get 1080p is over VGA - which looks really wash out even when I try and change the settings to improve the picture.

Component to HDMI would/should allow me 1080p with nice rich colours.

I for one would buy one.

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Optical cables are NOT okay for viewing HD DVD if one would like to be able to listen to the uncompressed HD audio on HD DVD discs. Optical cables cannot support these formats, that's why HDMI is so heavily sought (that, and many people actually believe that HDMI produces better quality pictures over component). Plus, if the DRM that HD DVD is capable of providing (forget the name) is ever flagged, those with HDMI who cannot use VGA (I'm in that boat) will get down-sized images from our HD DVDs. Not cool.

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I meant those without HDMI and those incapable of using VGA (I.e., gthose using component right now).

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Some of us don't have money to buy a SECOND 360 and aren't stupid enough to do so. Also, some of us don't have VGA inputs on our TVs and do have HDMI inputs. Now, I do have a VGA input and I am reserving that to use my DLP as a monitor.

As for an HDMI adaptor, I got an email from MS that said they had no information on HDMI for existing 360 systems. So, nobody knows right now and stop pretending you do.

"Thank you for your inquiry! I do apologize for the inconvenience but as of this moment, we do not have information yet on HDMI for XBox 360. Please check the website, www.xbox.com, for any future updates. Thank you for understanding."

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