technology type feature
Next Gen HD DVD
tested for against
PS3 vs XBox 360 add-on Low cost HD DVD
Picture/audio/longevity Cheap/great picture Two formats/small library
Review File
high definition dvd: player test
ps3 blu-ray player vs xbox 360 hd dvd player, after all the hype here are the facts and the eagle-eyed view...
16-bit EXR image import into Photoshop with exposure and Gamma adjustments – Apple's Shake has its own import software
n the blue corner we have the Playstation 3’s (PS3) BluRay and in the red corner we have the Xbox 360’s (360) HD-DVD. Both systems represent the lowest cost player available in their chosen format and are key parts of their creator’s plans to replace SD DVD with a next generation HD disc format. If you are creating HD content your material will be seen on these systems, so how do these 'games consoles' stand up as HD players?
I
Video capability
Both systems are fully compliant with the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD specs supporting MPEG-2, AVC and VC-1 video codecs. The PS3 comes as standard with a HDMI 1.3 (HighDefinition Multimedia Interface) connection supporting up to 1080p 60Hz (59.94) as well as 1080i, 720p (games only currently) and SD. In the future Sony may add 1080p 24Hz via a software update. It only supports HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) digital connections but will output
analogue component at 1080i for movies. The 360 is limited to analogue connection meaning the 360 has to convert its digital video to analogue for output and the display device will then convert the analogue back to digital again for processing and display. The output options are VGA at up to 1080p and analogue component 1080p for games and 1080i for HD-DVD. A version of the 360 with HDMI is rumoured to be in development. The 360 generally looks sharpest over analogue VGA with component a little softer but this will be down to the processing in the display device. We tested using the expensive Monster 360 cables, which are significantly better then the component cable supplied by Microsoft (MS) in the box or the optional MS VGA cable.
Audio connectivity
Both systems provide Dolby Digital 5.1 bitstream over optical Toslink at up to 640Kbps and can decode Dolby TrueHD (lossless compressed) and re-encode to Dolby Digital.
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Now this is where the 360 has a problem. When the HDDVD add-on shipped, many users noticed that something was very wrong when the 360 played back a HD-DVD with Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital Plus soundtrack. The dynamic range was totally flattened. In fact it sounded like Dolby’s dynamic range limiting “features” were turned on. Now, after months of MS dancing around the issue it has finally been disclosed that the 360 had the dynamic range limiting set to maximum, referred to as “night mode”, as it was a Dolby requirement for devices without a user control for dynamic range. The fix for the audio problem on the 360 is currently to simply to choose the Dolby TrueHD track if present. MS will be adding a system preference to turn off the dynamic range compression as well as offering 1.5Mbps DTS re-encoded output. The PS3 goes beyond compressed audio and supports up to 7.1 channels of uncompressed Linear PCM via HDMI, so can actually deliver LPCM or decoded Dolby TrueHD audio to an amplifier with HDMI audio input capability. Also the PS3 can deliver the native bitstream over HDMI for decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio, which is not supported over Toslink. If you select an LPCM soundtrack and only have a Toslink connection the PS3 will down mix to Lt Rt Dolby Surround. Currently the PS3 can’t decode DTS Master Audio and will extract the lossy 1.5Mbps core stream and output via Toslink.
useable from the game controller with full control over audio, subtitles, A-B repeat etc. In fact pretty much everything you would expect to find on a standalone player is present. The PS3’s information overlay is comprehensive giving both video and audio codec with bitrate display. For £17.99 you can get the dedicated PS3 Bluetooth Blu-Ray remote controller, which is just like a normal standalone Sony player remote.
ted
dis
cs
PS3 Blu-Ray
Casino Royale Kingdom of Heaven Pearl Harbor Hellboy Black Hawk Down
tes
360 HD-DVD
Superman Returns Miami Vice Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire King Kong
Video & Audio quality
All the HD-DVD titles are VC-1 compressed with Casino Royale and Hellboy on Blu-Ray being AVC encoded with the remainder being MPEG-2. Image quality via HDMI 1080p is excellent from the PS3 with every detail of the intricate playing cards title sequence of Casino Royale and the big action sequences displayed with excellent clarity. Visually it’s as close to a DI as I have seen on a consumer level system within the limitations of the 4:2:0 8bit video stored on the disc. Kingdom of Heaven was interesting as I had the Sky HD showing recorded and comparing the PS3 to the Sky HD output showed a big difference in resolution, with the Sky feed looking like it had been dropped to 1440x1080 and been re-compressed a few times along the way. The Blu-Ray has fine detail visible on hair and costumes, which in the Sky HD transmission are significantly reduced. Black Hawk Down (BHD) won the Oscar for best sound in 2002 beating Pearl Harbor. On Blu-Ray Pearl Harbor wins with a 6.9Mbps 48Khz 24bit 5.1 LPCM soundtrack that overshadows BHD’s and Bonds’s 4.6Mbps 48Khz 16bit 5.1 LPCM tracks. The clarity and depth of LPCM can’t be overstated with lossless DTS Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD offering the same level of quality, which is just not there with lossy compressed Dolby Digital and DTS. And finally the 360 HD-DVD: both Superman Returns and Miami Vice are digitally shot on the Genesis and Viper
Taking control
The 360’s HD-DVD add-on comes with a remote control in the box, however it’s not a specific HD-DVD unit but the normal 360 remote with keys that are of no interest if you are watching a disc, and it is missing some really useful keys like audio stream switching etc. The lack of dedicated keys means you are at the mercy of the HD-DVD disc’s own menus to achieve the same result, as the 360 has a very basic on-screen interface. For the PS3 you have a comprehensive on-screen interface
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product name for against
PS3
product name for against
Great HDMI picture Not much...
Very cheap but add XBox 360 Poor picture against PS3
HD DVD add-on XBox 360
Review File
respectively, with Potter and Kong shot on 35mm. None of the HD-DVD’s played on the 360 attained the image quality attained by the Blu-Ray discs on the PS3. With standalone players connected via HDMI the image quality of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD is comparable, with the quality of the master having the greatest effect on image quality. The analogue connection robs the 360 of the visual clarity that HD-DVD can deliver and it’s noticeably softer than D-VHS over analogue component. This combined with the Dolby Digital dynamic range problem make a standalone HD-DVD player a more attractive proposition until a HDMI equipped 360 is released.
Pricing
The 60GB PS3 is £424.99 in the UK with Blu-Ray as
standard. The Premium 20GB Xbox 360 (£279.99) with HDDVD add-on (£129.99) is £409.98 (£329.98 if you go for the basic 360 core model without hard drive, but I wouldn’t recommend it). In comparison the cheapest standalone players I found in the UK are the HD-DVD Toshiba HDE1 for £349.99 and the Blu-Ray Samsung BD-P1000 for £579.99. The 360 with HD-DVD drive unfortunately does not attain the very high standards of the PS3’s Blu-Ray playback via HDMI connection, which produces professional level results providing output that matches the quality of the standalone Blu-Ray players and is in another league in comparison with the 360’s analogue output.
jonathansmiles@highdefhome.co.uk
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