Topic: Dvd Movie Playback Quality (Read 270 times)

zorxd · « **on:** April 27, 2004, 03:00:00 PM »

I have a stand alone progressive scan DVD player and the image quality is much better then when I play DVD from my xbox with the MSDASH. Does XBMC or DVDX2 can get the same quality than a stand alone DVD player?

swisha82 · « **Reply #1 on:** April 27, 2004, 04:28:00 PM »

its the video cable.

if your using the regular rca adapter, the video quality is half ass i agree. i have an xbox with a 27" tv that way and just half to deal with it. heck dvds play dang near the same quality as some dvdrips.

fix.

monster cable. find out the best video input your tv has be it rca, s-video, hdtv, dvi whatever. then get the corresponding monster cable. dont be fooled by them other look alike cables tho. make sure you get a true monster cable.

i have another CRYSTAL xbox that gets to hang with my 61" and is connected via monster cable hdtv. much better picture. its not a true hdtv signal but recieves the best picture quality the xbox can put out.

you might look on ebay for best prices aswell. ended up gettin a hdtv monster cable for 40 delivered vs 60 at the mall. didnt check wallyworld.

zorxd · « **Reply #2 on:** April 27, 2004, 05:04:00 PM »

I only wanted to know if the software decoder was a limitating factor

swisha82 · « **Reply #3 on:** April 27, 2004, 05:05:00 PM »

all looks the same

ChrisF · « **Reply #4 on:** April 27, 2004, 06:39:00 PM »

swisha82: There is no Xbox DVI cable made by any manufacturer. In addition DVI is a digital connection so a high-end cable is largely marketing and brand premium - digital signals are not eroded or altered in any similar way to an analog connection. In addition, Monster makes a lot of different cables accross a wide range of qualities (from shit to reference). There are many companies who make cables that surpass Monster (check out the prices on Transparent cable's Opus interconnects at $8500 apiece). In professional and hobbyist audio/video circles the Monster name doesn't mean quality by any means and often means high prices (and there is a large portion that seem to hate them passionately). The mark up on Monster is large due to retail distribution and marketing - you can often find equivalent cables from entry to reference quality at lower prices. That being said, the Monster 400x consistently equals or beats the next best alternative, the MS HDTV kit (Xbox world is limited due to the lack of real component outputs on the Xbox). Even with very high-end upgraded cables the low quality breakout box on the MS errodes the signal significantly enough that the 400x is able to beat or equal it (and the 400x is not a high-end cable by any means). The 400x can be had new from Gamestop for $39.99 (keep in mind the cost of the x100 optical cable which is bundled with the Monster proprietary connector - $25 roughly and a rip IMO but what can you do).

zorxd: Assuming you are using 480p from the Xbox also, you already have component cables hooked up. The problem is that without hex editing the dash the DVD player is always 480i (even under the new dashboard upgrade). Once you hex edit you get DVD in 480p but the Xbox DVD player is fair at best and suffers from the chroma bug and distorts the video quality under certain circumstances. DVDX2 I belive was made from a hacked MS dash so quality should be exactly the same. XBMC should be able to output DVD video in 1080i if they ever repair the code and get it running right (good chance since they are finalizing 1.0 now). We'll see what this does for us but in all honesty a quality or even fairly decent stand-alone is much better than the Xbox.

Hope that sheds some light on these issues.

Colonel_Schvats · « **Reply #5 on:** April 28, 2004, 09:59:00 AM »

just my 2 little cents here

First I just have to agree with ChrisF about monster cables. I am in the professional home theater buisness and yes monster=hate. Their cables are all talk. For some real quality cable get Straight Wire, or XLO. Even so, I have not seen the 400x in action myself, this is all just based on past experience with monster.

Second, to answer zorxd's question, no. A quality stand alone dvd player, like something put out by Integra or Lexicon, hooked up to a good tv with good cables will definatly create a noticably better picture than what the xbox will ever be capable of. As for diferences between the various players on the xbox itself, I personally have not noticed any difference in quality, but I almost never use my xbox to watch dvds.

This post has been edited by Colonel_Schvats: Apr 28 2004, 05:00 PM

ChrisF · « **Reply #6 on:** April 28, 2004, 10:57:00 AM »

nirash81 · « **Reply #7 on:** April 30, 2004, 05:27:00 AM »

Hey Colonial, I was wondering if you had any experiance with Radio Shack's Fusion line. Are they worth the over priced cost of them? I guess this post really doesn't beong in this thread, but oh well.

Protonus · « **Reply #8 on:** May 04, 2004, 01:35:00 PM »

for good quality, "comparitivly inexspensive" interconnects and cables, I like IXOS, they have several "levels" of cables but even their best cables are still cheap by comparison to crap like monster.

I agree that the monster component out is nicer then the MS but that's probably only because it's the only alternative to a cheaply made product.

opjose · « **Reply #9 on:** May 04, 2004, 08:13:00 PM »

Author Topic: Dvd Movie Playback Quality (Read 270 times)