Xbox 360 HD DVD add-on drive update
by Ben Drawbaugh 
posted May 16th 2007 at 6:02AM
One aspect of all the next generation movie players is firmware updates and now it is the Xbox 360's HD DVD add-on drive's turn. This update brings a few enhancements such as downmizing TrueHD to DTS at 1.5Mbps and more settings to help you control your audio output settings via TOSLINK and for those elite owners; HDMI. Also like other next-gen players the updates promises to resolve compatibility problems with certain discs. While we look forward to enjoying these new features, we wouldn't be one bit surprised if Microsoft also figured out a way to secure that pesky AACS hardware key that has caused such a ruckus.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
RazorD @ May 16th 2007 6:42AM
This update means i can now play and HD DVD's burnt onto standard DVDs, created in Pinnacle Studio 11 :)
Robinator @ May 16th 2007 7:41AM
The update also improves the HD audio quality (i.e. HD formats such as Dolby HD can now be downmixed to DTS 1.5Mb, not just Dolby Digital 640 Kb as previous).
Obviously the best option is to pass through uncompressed Dolby HD directly but XBOX does not support HDMI 1.3 - so the new DTS 1.5Mb output option is still a decent improvement (or you can now select the uncompressed PCM option - if you don't mind stereo).
Oh, for those who need to find this option - when playing a HD DVD, select display and choose audio option which will bring up new menu.
peter @ May 16th 2007 3:59PM
Thanks, Robinator. I was curious about the new audio tweaks as I've been unimpressed with the audio from the drive thus far.
So, would I be better left setting it to DTS even if a Dolby track is playing? Output over optical of course.
Or, better yet, what should the audio settings be for the entire system to achieve the best quality it can muster?
matt @ May 16th 2007 5:21PM
peter,
if your receiver supports it, i would suggest wmapro @ 1.5mbps. it has been compared to as the vc1 of audio codecs. i am currently running the hddvd drive at these settings on my pioneer receiver and have been very happy with the results.