HD video Questions!

nufc_fan

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Could someone please help me, i am a bit confused on this!

What is the difference between hd video files (like some of the samples on microsofts website etc (e.g coral reef adventure 720p) streamed through the xbox 360 and hd dvds played through a hd dvd add on drive!

Is the quality of the sample videos the same as that from the hd dvds? as they look very impressive on my 720p set!

If they are the same why dont microsoft have hd movie downloads and tv etc available through xbox live and make use of the 360 hd ability!

Thanks
 
Could someone please help me, i am a bit confused on this!

What is the difference between hd video files (like some of the samples on microsofts website etc (e.g coral reef adventure 720p) streamed through the xbox 360 and hd dvds played through a hd dvd add on drive!

Is the quality of the sample videos the same as that from the hd dvds? as they look very impressive on my 720p set!

If they are the same why dont microsoft have hd movie downloads and tv etc available through xbox live and make use of the 360 hd ability!

Thanks

Why-aye, they are in the US and will do so here once they've sorted licensing out with hollywood (eg Sky may have rights to distribute over here, not MS).

You have to be cautious about HD material, a lot of the demo clips I've seen are in beautiful locations with slow panning shots, impossibly vibrant colours and lots of detail to see, like the individual leaves on palm trees or tiles on a rooftop, close ups of models, that kind of thing.

These specially filmed shots, with little compression, really show off HD to it's best.

In real life, most of the stuff you watch won't be carefully chosen to make HD really whack you in the face with jaw dropping visuals. It will be just slightly clearer, more defined TV.

For example, say a close up of an actors face as they receive some shocking news.. the close up will typically have a shallow depth of field so you concentrate on their facial expression, so maybe 25% of the image will be fuzzy and out of focus - for example you won't see the bottles on the bar behid the actor or even the definition in their clothing, as the depth of field means just their eyes nose and mouth are in focus.

So what's the point of those wonderful HD pixels for 25% of the image? Sure, their facial features will look much more natural and vivid than you've seen before, but HD brings nothing to the rest of the frame as it's rendered.

Another example would be a side-on shot of an actor in a car driving along - their face will be in focus and using the HD pixaleage, but the background will be zooming by in a blur - as much of a blur as it does in SD :)

I think it's for this reason that HD movies seem "less" impressive to some - not every frame really benefits from the multitude of pixels available.

That said, it's still great. I think a lot more material will be shot now with HD in mind - LOST, for example, in HD, looks stunning in almost every frame of each episode.

PS I like my HD-DVD addon :thumbsup:
 
Could someone please help me, i am a bit confused on this!

What is the difference between hd video files (like some of the samples on microsofts website etc (e.g coral reef adventure 720p) streamed through the xbox 360 and hd dvds played through a hd dvd add on drive!

Is the quality of the sample videos the same as that from the hd dvds? as they look very impressive on my 720p set!

If they are the same why dont microsoft have hd movie downloads and tv etc available through xbox live and make use of the 360 hd ability!

Thanks

Get yourself a US account and some US points and you will have access to HD movies and TV shows :smashin:
 
how do i set up an american live account then! would be interested in doing so!

is it alloud?

Are there any disadvantages of doing so?
 
how do i set up an american live account then! would be interested in doing so!

is it alloud?

Are there any disadvantages of doing so?

Just setup an MSN account using US address details then setup a new gamertag linked to those details.

As for whether its aloud, they havent stopped people yet and its been well over a year and I dont see how there can be any disadvantages, they have stuff we dont and by setting up account you can have it to.
 
Its actually quite funny since seeing all the Hd movies on the Video marketplace in the US i only buy a fewy bluray/HD-dvd movies i dont see the point the qulity i more than good enough for me at present and if i wanted to i could watch a movie 3 or 4 times for less cost than a disc version (yes yes i know bluray/hd-dvd is better quality but not enough for me i am more than happy with the quality of the HD downloads on the marketplace)
 
Can't remember now, is it just a new hotmail account you need to register with a US address? Do you setup the gamertag on the console or online (sorry it's been a while!).

EDIT: It's ok managed to set up a US account, wow there's quite a lot of decent films on the US video marketplace isn't there! 340 marketplace points each and 2000 points $25 I think (£13) so about £2 each. Is it possible to add points using a UK credit/debit card or does it not work due to the address not matching? Failing that what's the easiest way to get some cheap marketplace points onto a US account? Can you use marketplace points purchased in the UK on the US marketplace?
 
Can't remember now, is it just a new hotmail account you need to register with a US address? Do you setup the gamertag on the console or online (sorry it's been a while!).

EDIT: It's ok managed to set up a US account, wow there's quite a lot of decent films on the US video marketplace isn't there! 340 marketplace points each and 2000 points $25 I think (£13) so about £2 each. Is it possible to add points using a UK credit/debit card or does it not work due to the address not matching? Failing that what's the easiest way to get some cheap marketplace points onto a US account? Can you use marketplace points purchased in the UK on the US marketplace?

No you cannot use a UK Credit/Debit Card and you cant use UK points.

The easiest method is to buy them off eBay.com and get the seller to email you the code, have done this afew times now and it works great.

Its worth mentioning though that the films are only rentals and will become invalid 24 hours after you first start playing them but thankfully the TV downloads do not expire.
 
Yeah I appreciate it's just a rental but still, £2 to watch a HD film ain't bad, compares favourably with the cost of subscribing to Sky Movies HD or buying a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and selling it on. I can't see me using it very much having said that but it's nice to have the option. Looked on ebay and the commonest one I've seen seems to be 1600 points for $30 which ain't that great really, will have to keep an eye on it
 
Why-aye, they are in the US and will do so here once they've sorted licensing out with hollywood (eg Sky may have rights to distribute over here, not MS).

You have to be cautious about HD material, a lot of the demo clips I've seen are in beautiful locations with slow panning shots, impossibly vibrant colours and lots of detail to see, like the individual leaves on palm trees or tiles on a rooftop, close ups of models, that kind of thing.

These specially filmed shots, with little compression, really show off HD to it's best.

In real life, most of the stuff you watch won't be carefully chosen to make HD really whack you in the face with jaw dropping visuals. It will be just slightly clearer, more defined TV.

For example, say a close up of an actors face as they receive some shocking news.. the close up will typically have a shallow depth of field so you concentrate on their facial expression, so maybe 25% of the image will be fuzzy and out of focus - for example you won't see the bottles on the bar behid the actor or even the definition in their clothing, as the depth of field means just their eyes nose and mouth are in focus.

So what's the point of those wonderful HD pixels for 25% of the image? Sure, their facial features will look much more natural and vivid than you've seen before, but HD brings nothing to the rest of the frame as it's rendered.

Another example would be a side-on shot of an actor in a car driving along - their face will be in focus and using the HD pixaleage, but the background will be zooming by in a blur - as much of a blur as it does in SD :)

I think it's for this reason that HD movies seem "less" impressive to some - not every frame really benefits from the multitude of pixels available.

That said, it's still great. I think a lot more material will be shot now with HD in mind - LOST, for example, in HD, looks stunning in almost every frame of each episode.

PS I like my HD-DVD addon :thumbsup:

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

fantastic explaination mate

i couldnt have said it better myselve :D



:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
Just bought 1600 points for $24, waiting for the code to be emailed to me then I'll give this a go (my ISP is gonna hate me!)
 
Dont be worried if it takes awhile, I am on 8Mb BB and a 2Gb episode of HD Star Trek took me 4/5 hours.
 
Ouch, I'll leave a download going overnight most likely.
 

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