HD DVD: The Real Xbox 360 Killing Application

Razor05 · 11-08-2006, 05:31 PM

As per TeamXbox:

HD DVD: The Real Xbox 360 Killing Application
By: César A. Berardini - "Cesar"
Nov. 8th, 2006 8:24 am

When you open the tray of the new Xbox 360 HD DVD player and put a movie to witness the outstanding visuals and sound that high definition movies have to offer, you don’t know how much it takes for those beautiful colors and realistic sounds to invade your living room.

Contrary to home players from manufacturers such as Toshiba, the Xbox 360 HD DVD player is basically a HD DVD drive that can be sold at only $199.99 ($300 less than the cheapest HD DVD player) because it uses the Xbox 360 hardware to decode the HD content.

For this reason, Microsoft had to develop all the software that will use the Xbox 360 innards to decode the HD DVD movies, making the actual external HD DVD player just a part of the equation.

Luckily for us, a member of the Xbox Platform development team took the time to share some of the details in the creation of the application that makes possible HD DVD on the Xbox 360.

Shaheen Gandhi, a Microsoft software engineer, revealed that it took “4.7 million lines of code, partner teams from all over Microsoft, and millions of dollars” to create the Xbox 360 HD DVD solution.

Although code for the codecs used by the HD DVD standard were available at Microsoft, they were all optimized for x86 architecture used on most personal computers; but, since the Xbox 360 CPU is a PowerPC chip, they had to re-write all codecs to take advantage of this architecture.

"This meant doing a lot of optimization. In this regard, the Xbox 360 implementation of H.264 can be considered a crowning achievement. For this computationally expensive codec, a hybrid approach was taken. Since GPUs are very good at parallelized workloads, stuff that could be parallelized is computed there, while the stuff that can't is better suited to the CPU and is done there."

Gandhi also revealed that so far, the HD DVD application is the only one that takes 100% of the hardware resources, all the time:

All 6 of Xbox 360's hardware threads are hard at work while playing back an HD DVD. At the moment, the player software pushes Xbox 360 harder than any other (save, perhaps, Gears of War during some particularly busy parts of the game).

Now you know that the next time you enjoy a HD DVD movie on the Xbox 360, there were lot of people involved to make this happen and it took as much as making the Xbox 360 itself.

junehhan · 11-08-2006, 05:39 PM

With the HD-DVD drive pushing the X360 harder than anything else out, i'm afraid of all the people who stuff their consoles into a cubby hole in some cabinet who will complain that the drive killed their console.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor05

As per TeamXbox:

HD DVD: The Real Xbox 360 Killing Application
By: César A. Berardini - "Cesar"
Nov. 8th, 2006 8:24 am

When you open the tray of the new Xbox 360 HD DVD player and put a movie to witness the outstanding visuals and sound that high definition movies have to offer, you don’t know how much it takes for those beautiful colors and realistic sounds to invade your living room.

Contrary to home players from manufacturers such as Toshiba, the Xbox 360 HD DVD player is basically a HD DVD drive that can be sold at only $199.99 ($300 less than the cheapest HD DVD player) because it uses the Xbox 360 hardware to decode the HD content.

For this reason, Microsoft had to develop all the software that will use the Xbox 360 innards to decode the HD DVD movies, making the actual external HD DVD player just a part of the equation.

Luckily for us, a member of the Xbox Platform development team took the time to share some of the details in the creation of the application that makes possible HD DVD on the Xbox 360.

Shaheen Gandhi, a Microsoft software engineer, revealed that it took “4.7 million lines of code, partner teams from all over Microsoft, and millions of dollars” to create the Xbox 360 HD DVD solution.

Although code for the codecs used by the HD DVD standard were available at Microsoft, they were all optimized for x86 architecture used on most personal computers; but, since the Xbox 360 CPU is a PowerPC chip, they had to re-write all codecs to take advantage of this architecture.

"This meant doing a lot of optimization. In this regard, the Xbox 360 implementation of H.264 can be considered a crowning achievement. For this computationally expensive codec, a hybrid approach was taken. Since GPUs are very good at parallelized workloads, stuff that could be parallelized is computed there, while the stuff that can't is better suited to the CPU and is done there."

Gandhi also revealed that so far, the HD DVD application is the only one that takes 100% of the hardware resources, all the time:

All 6 of Xbox 360's hardware threads are hard at work while playing back an HD DVD. At the moment, the player software pushes Xbox 360 harder than any other (save, perhaps, Gears of War during some particularly busy parts of the game).

Now you know that the next time you enjoy a HD DVD movie on the Xbox 360, there were lot of people involved to make this happen and it took as much as making the Xbox 360 itself.

Cygnus · 11-08-2006, 10:03 PM

Am I the only person wondering that the HD-DVD add on may literally be a 360 killer?? You know there will be posts that sez "my 360 died because of HD-DVD add on"

bboncorr · 11-08-2006, 10:11 PM

live has been cancelled until live 08.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/744/744911p1.html

Cygnus · 11-08-2006, 10:26 PM

This deserves its own thread so we can see Jimmy cry again. That way it will be one less thread about GoW

Quote:

Originally Posted by bboncorr

live has been cancelled until live 08.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/744/744911p1.html

bboncorr · 11-08-2006, 11:22 PM

thats wierd because i thought i posted it in its own thread.

godson · 11-09-2006, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cygnus

Am I the only person wondering that the HD-DVD add on may literally be a 360 killer?? You know there will be posts that sez "my 360 died because of HD-DVD add on"

Oh yea it will happen,but I'll take my chances with a drive that utilizes my GPU rather than my laser and disc drive(ahemPS3ahem)

Razor05 · 11-09-2006, 07:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by godson

Oh yea it will happen,but I'll take my chances with a drive that utilizes my GPU rather than my laser and disc drive(ahemPS3ahem)

Exactly.

mshulman · 11-09-2006, 08:36 AM

If anything, this is great news for new buyers. Get the 360, get the HD-DVD and play tons of HD movies in the first month. Really stress that 360 to see if there are any issues with it. If it doesn't fail, it probably never will.

Steve44 · 03-20-2008, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by godson

Oh yea it will happen,but I'll take my chances with a drive that utilizes my GPU rather than my laser and disc drive(ahemPS3ahem)

HAHA

Old GODSON just got burned.

Steve44 · 03-20-2008, 11:43 PM

Responding to Godson...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Razor05

Exactly.

....and RAZOR just got burned as well!!

bboncorr · 03-21-2008, 12:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve44

HAHA

Old GODSON just got burned.

how did GODSON get burned?

yup it's official you're on one of those i'm going to defend everything sony tirades.

Steve44 · 03-21-2008, 08:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bboncorr

how did GODSON get burned?

yup it's official you're on one of those i'm going to defend everything sony tirades.

Read his post son, He said he'd take a chance with HD-DVD rather than laser disk drive (blu ray in the ps3).

HD DVD is done. He took a chance. He lost. He's burned.
Now please, proceed with your "i want to sound smart and logical without any substance" logic.

junehhan · 03-21-2008, 04:03 PM

Why in the world are we reviving really old threads lately?

LarryLove · 03-22-2008, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve44

Responding to Godson...

....and RAZOR just got burned as well!!

Wow. Seems like someones on this Godson guys joystick.

And since you brought it up from oh so long ago,that wasnt any type of reference of a "brand" preference....obviously he was stating that he didnt want to watch movies using the same laser that he would be using for gaming.....Im just saying

11-08-2006, 05:31 PM	#1
Razor05 HD = 65 beautiful inches Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Canada Posts: 3,274	HD DVD: The Real Xbox 360 Killing Application As per TeamXbox: HD DVD: The Real Xbox 360 Killing Application By: César A. Berardini - "Cesar" Nov. 8th, 2006 8:24 am When you open the tray of the new Xbox 360 HD DVD player and put a movie to witness the outstanding visuals and sound that high definition movies have to offer, you don’t know how much it takes for those beautiful colors and realistic sounds to invade your living room. Contrary to home players from manufacturers such as Toshiba, the Xbox 360 HD DVD player is basically a HD DVD drive that can be sold at only $199.99 ($300 less than the cheapest HD DVD player) because it uses the Xbox 360 hardware to decode the HD content. For this reason, Microsoft had to develop all the software that will use the Xbox 360 innards to decode the HD DVD movies, making the actual external HD DVD player just a part of the equation. Luckily for us, a member of the Xbox Platform development team took the time to share some of the details in the creation of the application that makes possible HD DVD on the Xbox 360. Shaheen Gandhi, a Microsoft software engineer, revealed that it took “4.7 million lines of code, partner teams from all over Microsoft, and millions of dollars” to create the Xbox 360 HD DVD solution. Although code for the codecs used by the HD DVD standard were available at Microsoft, they were all optimized for x86 architecture used on most personal computers; but, since the Xbox 360 CPU is a PowerPC chip, they had to re-write all codecs to take advantage of this architecture. "This meant doing a lot of optimization. In this regard, the Xbox 360 implementation of H.264 can be considered a crowning achievement. For this computationally expensive codec, a hybrid approach was taken. Since GPUs are very good at parallelized workloads, stuff that could be parallelized is computed there, while the stuff that can't is better suited to the CPU and is done there." Gandhi also revealed that so far, the HD DVD application is the only one that takes 100% of the hardware resources, all the time: All 6 of Xbox 360's hardware threads are hard at work while playing back an HD DVD. At the moment, the player software pushes Xbox 360 harder than any other (save, perhaps, Gears of War during some particularly busy parts of the game). Now you know that the next time you enjoy a HD DVD movie on the Xbox 360, there were lot of people involved to make this happen and it took as much as making the Xbox 360 itself. __________________ Panasonic TH-65PZ850U Sony KDL37XBR6 Panasonic TH-37PX50U Cambridge Audio Azur 640R & 740C Paradigm Studio 60's, 20's, CC-590 & Seismic 12 Panasonic DMP-BD35 Toshiba HD-XA2 & A35 Motorola VIP1200 Monster HTFS1000, PB2100 AA 1154a Xbox360 Prem(2) & Halo3 LE + HD-DVD GT: Razor59 Sony PS3 slim GT:Razor_59 Sony PSP

11-08-2006, 10:03 PM	#3
Cygnus The Bringer of Balance Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 6,766	Am I the only person wondering that the HD-DVD add on may literally be a 360 killer?? You know there will be posts that sez "my 360 died because of HD-DVD add on" __________________ Toshiba 57H81 Kenwood VR-616 Comcast DCT6412 III XBox 360 GamerTag Sec0nd2N0n3

11-08-2006, 10:11 PM	#4
bboncorr High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 4,418	nba live 07 cancelled for the ps3 live has been cancelled until live 08. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/744/744911p1.html __________________ Living Room pioneer kuro plasma PDP-5010FD (9.9) Denon 4308CI (9.5) B&W 683's, HTM61, 685's (9.0) Sony PS3 (9.0) Sony BD-S350 (9.5) HSU VTF-3 MK3 sub (9.0) Harmony 1000 (9.5) XBOX360 + HD DVD (9.2) Nintendo Wii (7.5) Netflix Roku (9.0) Gaming Room 60A3000 (8.7) Halcro ssp200 (10. perfection) Deftech BP7004, C/L/R2002, BP2X (8.7) Sony Remote Commander (7.0) Toshiba HDA35 (7.9) Samsung 1400 (5.0) Bedroom Panasonic TH-42PZ85U (8.7) Tivo HD (9.7)

11-08-2006, 11:22 PM	#6
bboncorr High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 4,418	thats wierd because i thought i posted it in its own thread. __________________ Living Room pioneer kuro plasma PDP-5010FD (9.9) Denon 4308CI (9.5) B&W 683's, HTM61, 685's (9.0) Sony PS3 (9.0) Sony BD-S350 (9.5) HSU VTF-3 MK3 sub (9.0) Harmony 1000 (9.5) XBOX360 + HD DVD (9.2) Nintendo Wii (7.5) Netflix Roku (9.0) Gaming Room 60A3000 (8.7) Halcro ssp200 (10. perfection) Deftech BP7004, C/L/R2002, BP2X (8.7) Sony Remote Commander (7.0) Toshiba HDA35 (7.9) Samsung 1400 (5.0) Bedroom Panasonic TH-42PZ85U (8.7) Tivo HD (9.7)

03-21-2008, 04:03 PM	#14
junehhan High Definition is the definition of life. Join Date: Aug 2006 Age: 29 Posts: 5,640	Why in the world are we reviving really old threads lately? __________________ X360 Gamertag junehhan Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player -Klipsch RSW10 Subwoofer -Pioneer VSX1016TXVK reciever -Klipsch Synergy Quintet III 5 channel speakers AIM: jhhan80 HD-DVD's: Loving it! BD's: When we get a reasonably priced BDP with lossless decoders Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state, they forget that the state lives at the expense of everyone - Frederich Bastiat, 1848

11-09-2006, 08:36 AM	#9
mshulman My Projector is High Def. Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Marlborough, MA Age: 35 Posts: 6,571	If anything, this is great news for new buyers. Get the 360, get the HD-DVD and play tons of HD movies in the first month. Really stress that 360 to see if there are any issues with it. If it doesn't fail, it probably never will.