Xbox 360 Fanboy

This email convo I had with mad cats needs to be at the top of these comments, hence my reply here:

From bottom up:

Hi Josh,

I have personally tested our Xbox 360 conversion kit with the HD-DVD player and an HDMI-less Xbox 360 on my Sony SXRD 55" Projection 1080p HDTV. I set my Xbox 360 to display 1080p in the video settings menu and when I started a HD-DVD movie and pressed my display button on my TV’s remote and it said it was displaying 1080p. If you have any further questions, please let me know. Thank you for your time.







Michael Browning

Customer Support Supervisor

619-321-3544

619-683-9830 ext.3544





From: Josh [mailto:jrl1227@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 20, 2007 9:44 PM
To: Michael Browning
Subject: RE: Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit



That sounds like very good news, but every tech guru and their grandmother on the internet says that you WON'T be able to watch HD-DVDs in 1080p with this conversion kit - they say that they original, HDMI-less Xbox 360s are not capable of transmitting the HDCP copyright protection information required by the HDTV to display a copyrighted 1080p movie in full 1080p. Instead, they say, it will display 1080i.

Any chance you could talk to one of your tech guys on this one? I have read dozens of comments online about your upcoming product today, and this is the #1 concern. Watching our HD-DVDs in full 1080p is the #1 reason people want this conversion kit.

Thanks a lot for your continued support.

Michael Browning wrote:

Hi Josh,
We were having some issues with our phone systems today and I
apologize for that. Yes, you will be able to watch HD-DVDs in 1080p as
long as your HDTV supports 1080p. The conversion kit should be
available at GameStop in the beginning of January of 2008. If you have
any further questions, please let me know. Thank you for your e-mail.



Michael Browning
Customer Support Supervisor
619-321-3544
619-683-9830 ext.3544




-----Original Message-----
From: Josh Lizarraga [mailto:jrl1227@yahoo.com]
Posted At: Thursday, December 20, 2007 2:44 PM
Posted To: Inbox
Conversation: Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit
Subject: Xbox 360 HDMI Conversion Kit

Hello. I am very interested in this upcoming product. I tried calling
your offices (I had no idea you guys were in San Diego - me too!), and
it said you were closed for lunch from 12-1 PST, but it is almost 3 PST
right now.

Anyway, currently the only way to watch HD-DVDs in 1080p with an Xbox
360 HD-DVD player is if you have an Xbox 360 with an HDMI port. If I buy
this adapter, will the 360 allow me to play HD-DVDs in 1080p?

The problem is that the 360 has restrictions on what it will pass through Component. VGA is not limited, but Component is, so you can't get 1080p or even 720p from some sources.

This thing will only work if the 360 sees it as a VGA, in which case this is a VGA to DVI to HDMI converter.
And we all know the issues with 360 vga.

I have been waiting for my 360 to die so I can get HDMI, but I would sooner have an HDMI elite, as my TV has a spare VGA port on it anyway that will give me 1080p.

Im a perfect example of someone who would need something like this, yet most likely wont get it.

My situation: TV with essentially only one input of each kind (1 component input, 1 HDMI input, 1 S-video, etc). My digital cable box doesn't have an HDMI output, So for high def viewing, i would need to use component cables. That means I have to take out my xbox component cables and put the digital cable box component cables in whenever I want to watch high def TV.

My options?
Get another DVR box (already have one downstairs) for upstairs (Which will cost me an extra monthly fee) because Time Warners HDTV DVR boxes are the only ones that have HDMI (how stupid is that?)
or
Get a new xbox with HDMI output so I dont have to keep switching.

So this thing makes it slightly more economical especially considering the TV doesnt support 1080p anyways. Although 100 bucks is so bloody expensive for such a minimal peripheral I probably wont buy it

@elmersglue : I use one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-PH-61148-4-Way-Component-Selector/dp/B000BVIBGI/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1198187934&sr=8-1

ah, of course! haha problem solved. Thanks.

Component cables are huge as they are really 5 cables bundled into one group. They're not that messy, but they certainly take up more space than a cheap HDMI cable.

I have a Sharp Aquos and it has 1080p through component which I use for my 360. I highly doubt you can watch HD DVDs in 1080p with this if it just uses the regular AV port.

My Westinghouse supports 1080p over component. I use the VGA to upscale the DVD movies though. Won't the VGA cable support 1080p HD-DVD on your set?

http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/09/21/xbox-360-hd-dvd-playback-maximum-1080i-via-component-1080p-vga/

No, only HDMI can show movies in 1080p, because of the HDCP (sp?) copyright protection. Analog signals like VGA and Component cannot transmit this copyright information.

I have a viewsonic tv and it lets me do 1080p through component, though I could care less as long as it's HD

Hey guys, I sent this email to MadCatz:

"Hello. I am very interested in this upcoming product. I tried calling
your offices (I had no idea you guys were in San Diego - me too!), and
it said you were closed for lunch from 12-1 PST, but it is almost 3 PST
right now.

Anyway, currently the only way to watch HD-DVDs in 1080p with an Xbox
360 HD-DVD player is if you have an Xbox 360 with an HDMI port. If I
buy
this adapter, will the 360 allow me to play HD-DVDs in 1080p?"

And I got this response:

"Hi Josh,
We were having some issues with our phone systems today and I
apologize for that. Yes, you will be able to watch HD-DVDs in 1080p as
long as your HDTV supports 1080p. The conversion kit should be
available at GameStop in the beginning of January of 2008. If you have
any further questions, please let me know. Thank you for your e-mail.



Michael Browning
Customer Support Supervisor
619-321-3544
619-683-9830 ext.3544"

Josh, take another look at the situation. You are wrong, please read the article I posted in my previous comment. VGA does not fall under the same copy protection standards that component does. VGA will give you 1080p through HD-DVD.

"VGA:

* HD DVD - 1080p resolution and all others
* DVD - Upscaled as high as 1080p resolution and all others
* Games - 720p games upscaled to 1080p, also supports native-1080p games in the future


Component:

* HD DVD - 1080i resolution maximum, limited by AACS
* DVD - Upscaled to 480p maximum, limited by CSS
* Games - 720p games upscaled to 1080p, also supports native-1080p games in the future.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/09/21/xbox-360-hd-dvd-playback-maximum-1080i-via-component-1080p-vga/

It's been known for some time that the original 360 has NO digital output abilities whatsoever, so unfortunately that's not what Mad Catz is doing. I wish, as I also have an original system and just got a 1080p TV I'd like to make full use of.

Ahh okay, well this thing really is mostly useless, as far as the actual video signal quality goes.