HD-DVD

It's all about time. And after some time, I finally decided to give the next generation High Definition portable media a try. One of the things that is holding back this technology is that there are 2 competing standards vying for supremacy in the consumer space. One is Blu-Ray, the other being HD-DVD. Think of this competition being similar to the VHS/Betamax competition way back when.

Both formats have their benefits and downsides, and it is still not very clear who is going to win out. So, instead of forking out $500+ dollars on a standalone player, I decided to take advantage of owning an XBox 360 and picked up Microsoft's addon on HD-DVD player. It was a breeze to hook up, and after a software update I was ready to play high definition videos. HD-DVD is capable of outputting 1080P resolution to the TV (and thankfully, my TV handles 1080P through HDMI and component) Unfortunately I am hooked up through component to my TV, and there is a limitation in the HD-DVD licensing (at least this is my understanding) that you cannot output greater than 1080i over component. So I am basically running at 1/2 the resolution that I can run.

So, what do I do? I have gone and ordered a VGA connection cable for the XBox 360, which will allow me to view movies in full 1080P resolution. :) I will give you an update on how all that is going about when I get it all set up. Of course, it is going to take me some time to get this done as I am still pretty limited on my mobility.