Questions Re: What Video Formats XBox 360 Will Play Now and in the Future?

blobert

Hello,

I'm not quite clear on what file formats the XBox will play, was hoping someone might clear it up.

It seems to be selective when it comes to DivX/XVid files playing some and not others. Is there a reason for this or a particular kind of file it doesn't like?

In terms of HD material it seems it will play HD WMV files but not MKV files (which seem to be the more common format). Is this correct?

I know you can convert MKV to MP4 files but it is a bit of a tedious process.

Does anyone anticipate that future updates will allow MKV playback?

My belief is that seeing as Microsoft want to push their own VOD service and MKV files seem to be primarily be used for Blueray rips that they are unlikely to make this possible.

It's a shame though as if the Xbox could do this it would make it a very good Media Centre without much need for a seperate HTPC, etc.

If anyone knows anything about this let me know, most of the discussion of it on the net seems to be a few months old.

Thanks

grizzly

blobert wrote: »

Hello,

I'm not quite clear on what file formats the XBox will play, was hoping someone might clear it up.

It seems to be selective when it comes to DivX/XVid files playing some and not others. Is there a reason for this or a particular kind of file it doesn't like?

In terms of HD material it seems it will play HD WMV files but not MKV files (which seem to be the more common format). Is this correct?

I know you can convert MKV to MP4 files but it is a bit of a tedious process.

Does anyone anticipate that future updates will allow MKV playback?

My belief is that seeing as Microsoft want to push their own VOD service and MKV files seem to be primarily be used for Blueray rips that they are unlikely to make this possible.

It's a shame though as if the Xbox could do this it would make it a very good Media Centre without much need for a seperate HTPC, etc.

If anyone knows anything about this let me know, most of the discussion of it on the net seems to be a few months old.

Thanks

With the variety of free video format converter software available, is this really anything to worry about?

neacy69

grizzly wrote: »

With the variety of free video format converter software available, is this really anything to worry about?

I can imagine a 4gb mkv file would take quite a while to convert!

rejkin

Well with tversity a 600mb video takes 2 seconds to stream wirelessly to my tv,as long as you dont start trying to jump way forward in the film you will be grand

blobert

Can TVvertsity stream MKV files to your XBox 360 without having to convert them?

Is it full quality or degraded in some way?

It takes about 25 minutes to convert a 5-6Gb MKV file on my computer, it's not the wnd of the world but I'd prefer to not have to do it.

Any further advice would be much appreciated

rejkin

I honestly havent tried an mkv file,mainly avi files and they look excellent,it runs watever resolution the tv can run,like i run it at 1280x1024 so any avi that run at that it will run em to that,looks excellent. I guess you can just try it out and see if it runs it HD Id be pretty amazed that it didnt run it

Vic Vinegar

rejkin wrote: »

I honestly havent tried an mkv file,mainly avi files and they look excellent,it runs watever resolution the tv can run,like i run it at 1280x1024 so any avi that run at that it will run em to that,looks excellent. I guess you can just try it out and see if it runs it HD Id be pretty amazed that it didnt run it

It won't do MKV files for me, just a nice black screen! :mad:

docentore

neacy69 wrote: »

I can imagine a 4gb mkv file would take quite a while to convert!

I can imagine converting my >200 films would take a while
I left myself Xbox1 with xbmc as media center and use 360 for playing. I personnaly think its better solution than straming video from pc. You know, electricity bills etc. The only thing is original xbox has not enough power to play hd content

Auvers

just buy one of these



Plays MKV files in 1080p perfectly and at 100 quid you cant go wrong

discussed here if you want further info

Vic Vinegar

Auvers wrote: »

just buy one of these

I got one of those! bloody brilliant they are....:D

blobert

Thanks guys.

Actually bought a new XBox 360 yesterday with Tescos 30% off, figured I could live with the pain of converting files. Wish I'd seen this first:)

That does look good alright, not sure if I can justify forking out another €100+

I think I'll just stick with converting MKV files and playing them through a flash drive, streaming anything is going to cost more as I'll have to leave the PC on.

Final question, when you convert from MKV to MP4 for XBox are you loosing any video quality?

I know the audio is downmixed, that doesn't bother me as I am only using a 2.1 setup, but is the video quality degraded?

kaimera

I'm having problems laying hd mp4/avi files after converting them from mkv.

i'm using xilisoft video converter but tversity wouldn't play the h264 mp4 files first off.

now the avi files i converted them to are buffering every few mins - I'm using a wired connection from pc to router and router to xbox so 100megs should be more than enough for the hd content.

no loss in video quality from what I could see, dont have optical on my receiver to try the 5.1 sound