Digital Home Thoughts: Microsoft Does Something About Sketchy Xbox 360 HD DVD Playback

"Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Emulator, enabling film studios and disc authoring companies to model the behavior of HD DVD disc content, including encoded video and HDi interactivity, in a virtual environment before committing to burning a single HD DVD disc. This comprehensive tool is among the first commercially available, software-based solutions of its kind, eliminating the need for expensive hardware or time-consuming and costly trial-and-error processes for testing HD DVD titles, helping to ensure that titles ship error-free...While the tool enables the testing of content playback on the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player specifically, it effectively eliminates layers in the testing process for other HD DVD players as well."



Both Jason and I have had problems with playback of HD DVD discs in our Xbox 360. Frozen screens, unrecognized discs, you name it. Typically Microsoft releases a patch for each disc in fairly short order, but these fixes aren't always perfect. Apparently Microsoft recognizes the seriousness of the problem, because they've made a development kit available to content producers and disc authors. HD DVDs can now be tested on the Xbox 360 without having to take the time to physically burn a disc, saving hundreds of hours of development time per month. One HD DVD production house says they've been able to reduce the number of test discs they make by 75%. This should mean quicker development times, lower disc costs, and fewer problems for Xbox 360 owners down the road.