HD-DVD Has anyone played these discs via a PC?

[beerking]

I have recently obtained an HD DVD disc. More by default than on purpose. It is a DTS-HD /HD DVD 2007 DTS-HD Master Audio Presentation Disc.

This one:
https://www.discogs.com/Various-2007-DTS-HD-Master-Audio-Presentation-Disc/release/6614021
The one shown is a blu ray version, mine is clearly a HD DVD one.
I have a Xbox DVD player (recently obtained)
Is there any software available that will enable me to play this through my 64bit Windows 10 PC using the Xbox DVD player?

I realise these discs were discontinued some time ago but I thought it would be interesting to see if any method of playback can still be achieved.
Any ideas/help will be gratefully received...ta

 

[winopener]

Some old version of PowerDVD had the possibility to play HD DVD. That's the only thing i know, never had one.

 

[JediJoker]

So, you are able to hook up the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive to your Windows PC via USB, and it shows up in Device Manager? When you insert the HD DVD into the drive, does the disc show up in Windows/File Explorer? If yes to all of the above...

I'd suggest trying VLC. It can play almost anything you throw at it, from disc or file.

Some old version of PowerDVD had the possibility to play HD DVD.

Here's what I found.

 

[beerking]

So, you are able to hook up the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive to your Windows PC via USB, and it shows up in Device Manager? When you insert the HD-DVD into the drive, does the disc show up in Windows/File Explorer? If yes to all of the above...

I'd suggest trying VLC. It can play almost anything you throw at it, from disc or file.

Here's what I found.

Cheers For the VLC suggestion after a bit of delay and configuration that has worked!!
Just need to see how to get to play the files in surround!! ( Bit slow at all this these days)

 

[beerking]

Some old version of PowerDVD had the possibility to play HD DVD. That's the only thing i know, never had one.

Cheers for that I will look into that as well

 

[4-earredwonder]

You've just given me the impetus to hook up my old Toshiba HD~DVD player to my LG OLED TV. I have so many movies in that format ...... why not? Supposedly, according to early reviews, it was better than the then nascent Blu Ray players and discs of the time.

 

[JediJoker]

Supposedly, according to early reviews, it was better than the then nascent Blu Ray players and discs of the time.

That may have been true at the dawn of the formats, but Blu-ray's main advantage was higher capacity per layer and therefore higher bitrate possibilities (i.e. better image/sound quality). This explanation goes into a bit more depth:

Blu-Ray won on quality, among other factors. Both formats supported identical audio and video codecs (compression systems), one of the two critical factors in quality. But Blu-Ray won handedly on the other: bit rate. Its physical disc format has 60% higher capacity than HD DVD (50GB/disc vs 30GB/disc), allowing higher bit rates and therefore better image quality. DVD, for comparison, fits 8.5GB/disc.

1080p HD has six times as many pixels as DVD-quality video, so all other things being equal needs six times the storage capacity (though advances in video compression reduced this by a bit). Blu-Ray provided enough capacity for that, and HD-DVD didn’t.

HD DVD further harmed its image quality by encouraging studios to ship movies as hybrid SD/HD discs with a DVD layer for old players and an HD-DVD layer for new players. This provided a single disc that would work for both old and new video players, but each version was limited to just half its full capacity: 15GB for the HD DVD layer and 4.7GB for the DVD layer. This significantly reduced the quality of both versions in the name of convenience and cost. Blu-Ray never supported this, and studios have instead shipped two separate discs in the same package — each dedicating their full capacities to their respective versions.

Blu-Ray later used some of its extra capacity to add support for 3D, something HD DVD would have had a much harder time squeezing in.

And, of course, now 4K/UHD content is available on Ultra HD Blu-ray disc (though not backwards-compatible with standard Blu-ray players). That wouldn't have been possible on HD DVD without some serious overhauling of the underlying disc tech.

 

[der_angsthase]

I have recently obtained an HD DVD disc. More by default than on purpose. It is a DTS-HD /HD DVD 2007 DTS-HD Master Audio Presentation Disc.

This one:
https://www.discogs.com/Various-2007-DTS-HD-Master-Audio-Presentation-Disc/release/6614021
The one shown is a blu ray version, mine is clearly a HD DVD one.
I have a Xbox DVD player (recently obtained)
Is there any software available that will enable me to play this through my 64bit Windows 10 PC using the Xbox DVD player?

I realise these discs were discontinued some time ago but I thought it would be interesting to see if any method of playback can still be achieved.
Any ideas/help will be gratefully received...ta

Easiest way would probably be to rip the disc via MakeMKV and then simply playing the single demo files on the disc. As far as I know VLC doesn't properly or natively support HD-DVD, older Player-Software is either discontinued or doesn't work (well) with newer Windows Versions. Mind you this tech was common when Vista was still relatively fresh.

Small Edit for everyone who's interested in trying this on a Mac: Look elsewhere or try the MakeMKV route. Mind you that some disc even there won't rip, like U2s Rattle And Hum.

 

[4-earredwonder]

That may have been true at the dawn of the formats, but Blu-ray's main advantage was higher capacity per layer and therefore higher bitrate possibilities (i.e. better image/sound quality). This explanation goes into a bit more depth:

And, of course, now 4K/UHD content is available on Blu-ray disc (though not backwards-compatible with standard Blu-ray players). That wouldn't have been possible on HD DVD without some serious overhauling of the underlying disc tech.

Well, we all knew the outcome and Toshiba had no chance against the mighty SONY ... and despite spending a small fortune on HD~DVDs ...... I'll give them a shot and see how they look through the LG OLED TV. Should be interesting.

 

[beerking]

Easiest way would probably be to rip the disc via MakeMKV and then simply playing the single demo files on the disc. As far as I know VLC doesn't properly or natively support HD-DVD, older Player-Software is either discontinued or doesn't work (well) with newer Windows Versions. Mind you this tech was common when Vista was still relatively fresh.

Cheers for that.
I'll try that route later, as I've got the 'War of the Worlds' bug, now watching the DVD version. Eddy is right, it screams quality in the best that DTS can offer...espscially as I've got my Marantz playing back at me in DTS + Neural X!! .....Utter joy.

 

[beerking]

Soz folks..be back on topic shortly ..just needed a quick fix..

 

[musicmemorabiliashoppellc]

I have a sealed copy of “The Song Remains The Same” in HD-DVD format that doesn’t have the same problem that the Blu-Ray does.

If you’re interested let me know. I’d be interested in trading for certain Jethro Tull multi-channels.

 

[JediJoker]

I have a sealed copy of “The Song Remains The Same” in HD-DVD format that doesn’t have the same problem that the Blu-Ray does[emoji3].

I know it's off-topic, but... What's the issue with the Blu-ray?

 

[beerking]

Okay ..I have now sussed how to use VLC properly.
Make MKV recognised the player and the disc but that was it.
I am listening to and watching the videos on the DTS Demo disc...True I cant get them to run simultaneously but at least I'm further on from where I had nothing, first thing this morning.

Many thanks to all for your inputs and keep them coming if there are more solutions out there.

 

[musicmemorabiliashoppellc]

I know it's off-topic, but... What's the issue with the Blu-ray?

During Moby Dick there are drop-outs in the sound

 

[ubertrout]

My HTPC (currently not hooked up) has a LG HD-DVD/BD drive, and it plays both fine via PowerDVD. I recently sold my HD-DVD collection though.