PaxumBud

i was wondering if anybody has had a chance to compare video quality when playing dvd's between an xbox and a decent PS dvd player. i have an xbox that i play my dvd'd on right now, and am wondering if a PS player would produce a better picture. would i actually notice a difference?

Johnwa

I have not tried this yet but I was going to tonight and I"ll let you know the results as soon as I can. However, this will not really be a fair battle because I'm using my new Pioneer dv-47a dvd-a / sacd player and it is smoking everything else on the audio end, so I'm sure the pq is also smoking most other ps dvd's(and the non-ps dvd/xbox).obviously I am proud and biased but I"ll attempt to make a scientific approach.

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Toshiba 65hdx82 Pioneer dv-47a dvd-a/sacd player Harmon-Kardon avr 510 thiel cs 1.5
MITerminator 2 cables

Johnwa

I have completed my testing of my xbox and my Pioneer dv47a ps dvd player. First off, as reported by Sound and Vision Magazine the Xbox is an outstanding interlaced dvd player(I am using the high definition pack from Microsoft). I really wanted to see more of a difference than I did just to justify spending $600 on the Pioneer, but the Xbox proved to be as great a dvd player as it is a game console.For my review I used the not so reference quality "ON DEADLY GROUND" dvd. This dvd has plenty of artifacts that takes a great dvd player to display all of, or eliminate if the technology provides. Resolution, resolution,resolution... and the total lack of grain were the obvious benifits of the Pioneer. Color detail was also more accurate. The difference was wide enough that even my wife could tell, and trust me she usually don't get into this stuff enough to get a response like the one she gave.So in summary I would have to say it is worth the extra cash for the video as well as the audio which just more accurate and stable as far as I could tell.This may not be the case with lesser ps dvd players though.

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Toshiba 65hdx82 Pioneer dv-47a dvd-a/sacd player Harmon-Kardon avr 510 thiel cs 1.5
MITerminator 2 cables

e95

the xbox may be a good player on an analog tv - but on a highdef set? - i've got the new 43" hit. which upconverts everything to either 540p or 1080i [virtual hd]

the xbox - through the hd pack with monster2 cables looks great on monsters inc. - that's it. just monsters inc. - gi jane, titanic, pearl harbor... all mediocre at best - and movies like crimson tide are practically unwatchable - case in point. late in the movie when they are down in the sub and red, green and blue are heavily used as lighting sources... oh god it was just horrible. the red especially - the characters faces... there's just no word to describe how bad the red light source made the faces look.

jimmy neutron was another one- his red shirt looked like a badly decoded mpeg.

and i knew the issue wasn't with the settings on the tv cause i'd been through the avia setup and my game systems looked great outputting 480p [metroid, tony hawk 4 on xbox in 720p up to 1080i, etc.]

so i went out and picked up the panny rp62 from bestbuy [$130] and it is truely a case of night and day - the picture and sound were leauges better. i used crimson tide as my reference - the red blue and green scene was now detailed and clear - it's not drop dead georgeous cause of the age of the movie.

so i proceeded to watch the pod race in ep. 1 - and the bombing raid in pearl harbor - now those two reminded me why i'm spending all this $

so maybe it's the way the hit. upconverts everything to at least 540p or maybe it's the way my eyes work. but the xbox nor the ps2 should be used with a high def tv. too much is lost in the d/a conversion resulting in a general muddy and unfocused look to movies - and forget about anything where red is in the majority lighting.

e95

PaxumBud

thanks for the detailed info guys. A+ for the reviews. you have defenitely helped me make up my mind on this issue. i see a PS DVD player in my very near future. thanks again.

Chaz

Thanks for the info e95.

What cable connection were you using to connect the Xbox and DVD player? component cables on both?