New Xbox 360s include HDMI

Wednesday 08th August 2007, 11:10:00 PM, written by Tim

Hot on the heels of the $50 price cut, Microsoft confirmed that its $349 Xbox 360 console now includes an HDMI port, suggesting it could be the much-anticipated "Falcon" revision. As we reported in July, Falcon is a new motherboard revision that is expected to introduce 65nm variants of both the Xenon CPU and the Xenos GPU. In addition, Falcon would bring HDMI to models other than the Elite. It won't be clear whether this is a new motherboard revision or simply the motherboard from the Elite appearing in the standard model until one of these new consoles is disassembled, but hopefully that should be clear in the next few days.

One interesting note is where this leaves the Core model. The Core received the smallest price drop (a paltry $20 to $279), and Microsoft has said that it will not receive an HDMI port in the near future. This suggests a few possibilities for the Core's future. First, there could be enough inventory of Core systems to make a refresh impractical at the moment (as well as using HDMI to further differentiate the Core and standard systems). Second, the Core could be in the process of being phased out. This is supported by some anecdotal evidence of retailers finding it more difficult to order Core systems in recent weeks.

However, the most likely possibility is the introduction of a cheaper version of the Core. Microsoft's Shane Kim has said that the Core will not be discontinued and that the 360 must reach $199 in order to penetrate the mass market. What this means is that the Core in its current form will probably be phased out and replaced by a new, fully 65nm Core model that costs Microsoft much less to manufacture. That version of the Core will then become Microsoft's entry into the $199 market.

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Tagging

xbox ± core, hdmi, falcon, littlebirdy


Latest Thread Comments (69 total)
Posted by Sodoff on Wednesday, 22-Aug-07 23:29:40 UTC
Quoting AzBat
There hasn't been any reports on that dongle being required to use the digital optical connection with a HDMI connection. Considering that the dongle isn't available for purchase separately(at any price), I would assume it's not required and it was only included in the Elite SKU as a convienience.

Tommy McClain
The dongle is currently on sale seperately (Available here (http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1&product%5Fid=802758) for instance). And while I've yet to see see any major websites reporting on the incompatibility between the 360 AV cable and the HDMI cable, I've seeen numerous postings from people on message boards (Like AVS Forum) stating that the two MS cables cannot fit into the console at the same time. Some people have reported that slimmer third party AV cables *can* be plugged into the console at the same time. However, it appears that the video output doesn't work correctly when you do this, meaning the AV cable somehow competes with the HDMI cable from a video output perspective.

Finally, all the MS documentation refers exclusively to using the new audio dongle to output sound via TOSLINK when used with the HDMI cable, as can be seen here. (http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemsetup/xbox360/accessories/hdmicable.htm)

Given that MS saw fit to include the new dongle cable with the Elites in addition to the full AV pack, I'm reasonably confident that this is now the only solution you can use to obtain sound when using an HDMI connection. I don't have a 360 myself yet however, so I can't confirm whether this is the case or not.

Posted by ninzel on Thursday, 23-Aug-07 09:58:08 UTC
Quoting scooby_dooby
Ironically, it's ignorance which is thesource of the bitching.

Anyone who's even SEEN a 360 HDAV cable, should now that you can simply run your optical chord from there. :roll:
They don't fit together.. :roll:

I guess that's why MS is selling these seperately.

Posted by ninzel on Thursday, 23-Aug-07 10:00:38 UTC
Quoting pipo
It's a 360 good news thread, right? ;)
Yes it is a good news story,I was just making an observation that people should be aware of. People need to stop being so sensitive in interpreting stuff around here.Bitching??? Hardly.

Posted by ninzel on Thursday, 23-Aug-07 10:18:16 UTC
So anyway,I picked up an Elite and there were no setup problems with the HDMI. It just auto detected everything and away I went. No HDMI handshake problems.If you have a thick HDMI cable like I do,then the audio adapter will still interfere with the HDMI cable.You just have to switch to the MS supplied one,or like someone said,if you want to use your own cable you will have to use your TV's optical out if your TV has one.The system to my ear at least seems quieter than the previous 360's I went through,but I haven't played any disk games yet,just demos of the drive. A tad louder than the PS3 but certainly not as loud as I remember. The Wii is still king when it comes to noise.

Posted by Todd33 on Friday, 24-Aug-07 21:07:58 UTC
Quoting ninzel
The system to my ear at least seems quieter than the previous 360's I went through,but I haven't played any disk games yet.
So you are still siting at the launch pad, you need to take off before you judge the noise :)

Posted by ninzel on Friday, 24-Aug-07 21:55:36 UTC
Quoting Todd33
So you are still siting at the launch pad, you need to take off before you judge the noise :)
No doubt,I was just waiting for my Best Buy P.R.P. Gift card to arrive to buy Bioshock.

One other thing I noticed is that when comparing streaming quality between PS3 and 360,I would give the edge to the 360. The picture of the same source material running via TVersity shows no pixelation using the 360 and an overall much cleaner picture especially noticeable in dark shots. The downside being that it takes longer to startup a video and once you do you have no FF control.

Posted by mrcorbo on Saturday, 25-Aug-07 16:52:55 UTC
Quoting ninzel
So anyway,I picked up an Elite and there were no setup problems with the HDMI. It just auto detected everything and away I went. No HDMI handshake problems.If you have a thick HDMI cable like I do,then the audio adapter will still interfere with the HDMI cable.You just have to switch to the MS supplied one,or like someone said,if you want to use your own cable you will have to use your TV's optical out if your TV has one.The system to my ear at least seems quieter than the previous 360's I went through,but I haven't played any disk games yet,just demos of the drive. A tad louder than the PS3 but certainly not as loud as I remember. The Wii is still king when it comes to noise.
Any chance that an HDMI cable exists with a low enough profile connector that it would still fit with the advanced A/V cable connected?

Posted by ninzel on Sunday, 26-Aug-07 00:04:23 UTC
Quoting mrcorbo
Any chance that an HDMI cable exists with a low enough profile connector that it would still fit with the advanced A/V cable connected?
The MS supplied HDMI cable is the thinest I've seen, and it still requires the audio adapter.So I doubt it.

Posted by mrcorbo on Sunday, 26-Aug-07 17:31:53 UTC
Quoting ninzel
The MS supplied HDMI cable is the thinest I've seen, and it still requires the audio adapter.So I doubt it.
Pretty poor design, then IMO. There must have been some way they could have spaced those connectors further apart.

Posted by ninzel on Sunday, 26-Aug-07 22:28:17 UTC
Quoting mrcorbo
Pretty poor design, then IMO. There must have been some way they could have spaced those connectors further apart.
But then they wouldn't be able to sell another $50 USD accessory. Not poor design,calculated design. :wink:


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