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Xbox Spring Update To Offer Codecs, MSN Messenger

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the might-be-able-to-retire-my-xbox-180 dept.

adachan writes "It seems that Microsoft has decided to add Xvid playback into the upcoming Spring Xbox 360 dashboard update. Xbox.com has a list of all the upcoming enhancements to the dash. The playback of video using H.264 and mpeg4 codecs seems to be the biggest news for those using the system as a media extender. If this is indeed true, my Xbox Media Center will be used less and less." Update: 04/09 17:29 GMT by Z : MSN Messenger is kinda interesting as well. Several sites are reporting that instant messenging is being added to the Xbox Live experience, with a USB keyboard controller attachment to be offered sometime in the near future.

4 of 207 comments (clear)

  1. Re:AppleTV? by MSFanBoi2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Um, you got that the other way around. Microsoft was in the market with the Xbox 360 well before the AppleTV. Microsoft offered movie downloads far before Apple did with the AppleTV.

  2. Re:Will it stream xvid and h.264? by twistedsymphony · · Score: 5, Informative
    That's because it's not mentioned there... the summary is just assuming that MPEG-4 means support for all MPEG-4 codecs... I highly doubt we'll see Xvid. h.264 is actually mentioned specifically though. This is all the press release has to say about video:

    * H.264 video support: Up to 15 Mbps, Baseline, Main, and High (up to level 4.1) Profiles with 2 channel AAC LC and Main Profiles.

    * Added MPEG-4 Part 2 video support: Up to 8 Mbps, Simple Profile with 2 channel AAC LC and Main Profiles.
    AFAIK Xvid uses the "Advanced Simple Profile" (ASP) flavor of MPEG-4... not the "Simple Profile" (SP) that will be supported by the update. Most of the worthwhile MPEG-4 based codecs use ASP... SP is typically reserved for really tight compression scenarios like cellphones, iPods and PSPs.
    --
    Collector's Edition
  3. Re:In your face Sony! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    The PS3 H.264 support is extremely fussy. Just look at the tools that do transcoding and their forums and mailing lists. They're full of problems getting the PS3 to play H.264. Currently the best method it to use an Apple TV preset profile, but you can kiss goodbye to any surround sound, and be left with stereo only.

    The PS3 is also finicky about the container, and certainly won't play any of the H.264 files you can find online, TV shows etc. You cannot simple passthrough the streams and write a new container header.

    The PS3 doesn't support Baseline, Main, and High profiles. I believe it's limited to Main only.

    The article doesn't mention xvid or vidx, so the 360 still offers less than the old xbox with XBMC. It's a shame the original xbox doesn't have the processing power to cope with HD, because nothing comes close to matching its functionality as a media hub compared to the newer consoles or Apple TV.

  4. Divx/Xvid NOT suppported by getnate · · Score: 5, Informative

    Divx and Xvid require MPEG4-ASP (Advanced Simple Profile). This update only includes Mpeg4-SP (Simple profile). Therefore this dash update does not add Divx/Xvid compatiblity.

    There is a possibility that Microsoft cannot claim "MPEG4-ASP" because they do not support GMC and QPEL however nobody cares about those features of ASP and 99.9% of the divx/xvid videos dont use them. This leaves open the possiblity that Microsoft may still support Xvid and Divx, just not the full suite of MPEG4-ASP features. Im not holding my breath.