ok i am new to this and i am scared the answer will be a " a slight difference in quality" ,but i still have to ask . if the x box 360 hd dvd drive will upconvert using vga cables then what is the point in shelling out the extra bucks for a hd dvd.why not just buy the regular dvd and let it do its job? help?
I guess you could also ask yourself - what's the point of buying the HD-DVD drive if you're not going to play HD-DVD's on it anyway? Anyway my answer to your question would be this: For me the difference in picture quality between an HD-DVD and its regular counterpart is worth the extra bucks and it's not just "a slight difference." Upcoverting involves taking the data from a 704 x 480 (or is it 852 x 480 - I can't remember) pixel video (your regular anamorphic widescreen DVD) and converting this into 1920 x 1080 pixels. It does this by "guessing" the data that has to go into the additional pixels. When you have an HD-DVD you already have all the data you need at 1920 x 1080 pixels and no "guessing" is involved. The difference in picture quality is remarkable particularly if you have the proper display. Fine details that weren't there before become visible. Some people are content with upconverted DVD's and I guess that's a perfectly valid viewpoint. But for me I'd rather spend the extra bucks.
The point is to convince you to shell out more $$$ for hardware and to re-purchase your content, and to eventually make your current stuff obsolete so you have no choice but to go along. And, in 5-10 years, when the next standard replaces HD and/or Blu-Ray, you'll be expected to re-buy everything all over again.
thank you people for your comments ...and i do plan on buying a few hd dvds i just wondered how dramatic it could actually upconvert