No Code Changes Required For XBOX 360 HDMI Support

News Posted 27/03/07
Author: PV5150
Source: DailyTech


XBOX 360 logo

Although the existance of the XBOX 360 Elite hasn’t yet officially been confirmed by Microsoft; a Microsoft XNA Framework Developers comments and spyshots of the new 360 on a Chinese production line may indicate otherwise. It certainly appears that the Elite console is as close to official as it can get.

In a question posed under Microsoft’s Developer Network, a user asked in the XNA Game Studio Express section if any code changes are required to support the HDMI output on the revised Xbox 360. Shawn Hargreaves, XNA Framework Developer at Microsoft, replied simply with “No changes required.”

The comment by Hargreaves marks the first comment from a Microsoft employee acknowledging the HDMI output on the Xbox 360. Furthermore, his reply insinuates that the new HDMI output options will be completely transparent to developers, leaving the video duties completely up to the scaling hardware inside the new Xbox 360.

This could mean that games that don’t natively support 1080p resolution, such as Gears of War, may be upscaled to support the highest HDTV resolution. Movie lovers could be the ones who benefit the most from the added HDMI connection, as current Xbox 360 will only send a maximum signal of 1080i through component cables. For owners of the current console, using a VGA cable is the only way to hit 1080p, but the upcoming Xbox 360 Elite will finally give home theater fanatics their connector of choice.

Now all we have to wait for is the official word from Redmond as to when we can get our grimey mits on one.

Anyone gonna be shelling out for the Elite? Feel free to let us know in our forum