Pal or NTSC XBox 360?

[marcus]

Slightly OT but how is it possible to upscale a regular DVD disc image? I presume that DVDs output to 480p as standard, Id be interested to know if I could upscale that to 720p?

[marcus]

To answer my own question it seems this player would do it - http://www.itsupplies.net/product_in...roducts_id=247 - however its a shame that its just got a DVI-Out which is no use to me.

[MartyG]

?

Connectors:
* Analog (Mixed 2 Ch) Stereo (Left, Right) Audio
* S/PDIF (IEC-958) Coaxial/Optical Digital Audio
* Component Video/Composite Video/S-Video
* DVI (Cable included, pick below)
* 5.1 Channel Audio


I don't understand the license issues for PS output this gen of Xbox and Xbox360 - who is it they have to get a license from?

[andrewfee]

- Some PAL games were censored, so the possibility may arise again

Only Ninja Gaiden as far as I'm aware, and that was to get a lower age rating. All they did was remove decapitations from humans, everything else was intact. Didn't ruin the game at all in my opinion.

- Some games still took a while to arrive in the UK, so the possibility may arise again

Again, not really an issue now. Most new titles are within a couple of weeks of the US release now, the bigger games that is. (Psychonauts is an exception due to the publisher running into financial troubles)

+ Live stuff shouldn't be an issue with a PAL unit in the UK (though this wasn't a problem with XBox mind)

I know that Phantasy Star Online was limited to the region the game was bought it, which was a big issue in my opinion. With MMORPGs being more likely, I'd rather go with a PAL system as most of my friends will be. (WoW is region limited on the PC, for example)
I don't know if any other games are like this on Xbox though.

If you're intending to watch DVDs in component, presumably the machine will be region locked to R1/R2 for US/UK, so your collection of DVDs might influence things.

And actually, I can't really think of much else, as it looks like the US/UK release is identical. Given the Western nature of the console, things like major differences in packaging and content haven't really been a big issue.

I've also opted for the PAL route for the first time in years.

Can't say about DVDs, although current plans are to just have it outputting 480p, rather than upscaling DVD content. (even though it's capable of it)

I certainly wouldn't use it as a player though. I'd buy a dedicated upscaling player like the Oppo.

EDIT: Check out this page for examples of why an Upscaling player is worth it:

http://www.oppodigital.com/opdv971h_moreinfo.html

The Oppo only upscales via DVI, but you can get it with a DVI > HDMI cable, as HDMI is backwards compatible.

[forpey]

HD aside for a moment, what about normal 50/60hz mode? The current xbox has the switch on the dash, but still not all games support 60hz - will MS enforce the 60hz option as it appears to be doing with 16:9 modes?

Just a thought.

[andrewfee]

HD aside for a moment, what about normal 50/60hz mode? The current xbox has the switch on the dash, but still not all games support 60hz - will MS enforce the 60hz option as it appears to be doing with 16:9 modes?

Just a thought.

All games have to support 60Hz, 50Hz support is optional, apparently. (I guess if it's not got "proper" 50Hz support 360 will just disable v-sync, just like Ninja Gaiden did on Xbox)

[Angry the Clown]

D'you reckon the 360 will upscale regular dvds for 720p output (movie playback)? That'd be interesting.

Well, any DVD player that looks to abide by the rules of manufacturing will only upscale via copy protected DVI or HDMI, so the 360 would require such an output in order for it to do such a thing, unless Microsoft was happy to lose favour with the DVD Forum (which somehow I doubt).

[anephric]

Only Ninja Gaiden as far as I'm aware, and that was to get a lower age rating. All they did was remove decapitations from humans, everything else was intact. Didn't ruin the game at all in my opinion.

I thought it was more to do with German game censorship laws and their strict guidelines regarding mutilation and such... decapitation being out of the question in any rating.

[forpey]

I hadn't heard that before, its certainly encouraging for serious PAL gamers.

I'm uncertain Sony will be so supportive with the PS3.

[anephric]

...

[Angry the Clown]

I thought there were a few players knocking about that would upscale to 720p through component? I admit my knowledge of such things is scanty because I'm not high def -enabled at the mo...

I believe there are yes. It's not out of the question, it's just a matter of whether a manufacturer wants to abide by the ever evolving DVD Forum spec for the format or not. When it comes to the major manufacturers, it's kind of in their best interest to do so.

Quite why Studios and the DVD Forum are so up in arms about insisting on digital connection for upscaling I've never quite understood since in built scaling algorithms in players are very basic compared to dedicated external scaling devices (from Lumagen...etc...etc)

[andrewfee]

I thought it was more to do with German game censorship laws and their strict guidelines regarding mutilation and such... decapitation being out of the question in any rating.

If that was the case, they would just remove it from the German version.

I forget what game it was now, but there was at least one where the game was censored if your Xbox's language was set to German. I don't know why, but for some reason I'm thinking of Midtown Madness 3. (altohugh I can't think what it would be in that)

[Angry the Clown]

If that was the case, they would just remove it from the German version.

Well that's what the argument from gamers was about at the time wasn't it? That instead of doing such a thing they cut costs and delivered the same version to all PAL territories (anyone know if Australia got stuck with the censored version?)

[andrewfee]

Ah, just done some looking around. It seems it was censored to get a consistent rating across Europe. It would've had the same rating here, but in Germany would've been an 18 (or whatever their equivalent is) so they toned it down to have the same everywhere.

[MartyG]

Was Fable censored in Germany? That had decapitations in it too.