Xbox being used as a DVD player??

[Dwayneburke]

Hi

I have a Xbox being used as a DVD player at the minute connected to a projector...would i bet better off getting a dedicated DVD player for this purpose i.e. will the image be much better?

Thinking of getting Toshiba SD330E Multi-region DVD Player from amzon for £124 inc P&P

Any ideas welcome

[Zacabeb]

Maybe. The DVD playback in the consoles is at the mercy of their internal picture processing, which means that it goes through some quality reducing steps it would not in a standalone DVD player. But even a standalone DVD player can mess up the picture quality because of poorly written firmware.

My Xbox is over a year old and there is probably newer firmware for its DVD player, but it suffers from color banding that will not be present in a correctly working DVD player. My standalone DVD player (a Philips DVD737) suffered from a similar problem as the Xbox, but this was corrected - a little - by the latest firmware upgrade.

The problem is that a lot of manufacturers have difficulty accepting the fact there are standards to follow, and seem to do a lot of things arbitrarily. You have to be careful in selecting a DVD player that does not suffer from unnecessary flaws.

One thing is for sure though, a standalone DVD player will be more quiet than the Xbox. That alone is a good enough reason to get one.

[Taz69]

Hi m8, I believe if your xbox is "special" and you buy the advanced connection kit available online, you can use progressive output to the pj, the SD330e you are on about is the same as what I have, (btw cheaper at Richersounds) this does have component output for a PJ but not prgressive output which is needed for a PJ, I have found this out in my thread about progressive players for a AE100, the chap on there said about a AMW player available from DABS for around £40 but I havent found any independant reviews on it yet.

Hope this helps

Taz

[V5-APS]

Why not give the Yamaha dvd-s540 a run.....it's around £98 from Richersounds and is PAL/NTSC progressive multiregion too. Great pic. as well.

[paulw77]

The picture from the xbox using the official MS high definition pack is very very good. Of course, you need a display that supports progressive/component connections.

[Dwayneburke]

tks for the info ppl.....just to let you know i have a xbox connector

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...category=20385

that allows me to get dolby digital/s-video etc etc....just wondering is this the best im going to get....

Just bought a Epson tw-10 PJ so the funds are a bit low but i take your advice V5-APS and i think i will be getting the Yamaha dvd-s540 eventually (when the girlfriend calms down after the PJ)

Cheers

[Taz69]

Hi m8, is that what you have or are bidding on ?

That looks like it will do the trick if your xbox is "special" I think it has to be "special" to allow progressive output, unless anyone knows different.

Thanks
Taz

[Dwayneburke]

Hi Taz69....bought it already (for the 5.1 audio more than anything else) but no my xbox is bog standard outta the shop Xbox...

is it true that the prgressive etc only works in the states? i.e they have disabled it for PAL? not too up on this but read you will only get 480 lines in europe as opposed to the states where you will get 1080...not too sure if this applies

[paulw77]

You need a modded xbox to get progressive - along with the hi-def cable and enigmah video mode switcher software.

[Dwayneburke]

I think i will opt for the Yamaha mentioned earlier....less heartache...

But can anyone tell me in all honesty is a dvd player with progressive (and using RGB) really that noticable note i will be using the projector only!! Is there a noticable WOW factor??

Tks guys

[gandley]

even a moded xbox is not a great dvd player. better can be had for sure.