Xbox 360 Spring 2007 Video Playback Specs

Details of the new video playback features in the Xbox360 Spring 2007 Update have been posted on the Team Xbox Blog

Below are some of the most common questions I think xbox 360 users will be after.. Read on..

1. What exactly does the Xbox 360 support for H.264?
Xbox 360 supports the following for H.264:
- File Extensions: .mp4, .m4v, mp4v, .mov
- Containers: MPEG-4, QuickTime
- Video Profiles: Baseline, main, and high (up to Level 4.1) profiles.
- Video Bitrate: 10 Mbps with resolutions of 1920 x 1080 at 30fps. See question number 6 for more information.
- Audio Profiles: 2 channel AAC low complexity (LC)
- Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions. See question number 6 for more information.

2. What exactly does the Xbox 360 support for MPEG-4 Part 2?
Xbox 360 supports the following for MPEG-4:
- File Extensions: .mp4, .m4v, .mp4v, .mov
- Containers: MPEG-4, QuickTime
- Video Profiles: Simple (including Simple profile content mislabeled as Advanced Simple)
- Video Bitrate: 5 Mbps with resolutions of 1280 x 720 at 30fps. See question number 6 for more information.
- Audio Profiles: 2 channel AAC low complexity (LC)
- Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions. See question number 6 for more information.

3. What exactly does the Xbox 360 support for WMV (VC-1)?
Xbox 360 supports the following for WMV:
- File Extensions: .wmv
- Container: asf
- Video Profiles: WMV7 (WMV1), WMV8 (WMV2), WMV9 (WMV3), VC-1 (WVC1 or WMVA) in simple, main, and advanced up to Level 3
- Video Bitrate: 15 Mbps with resolutions of 1920 x 1080 at 30fps. See question number 6 for more information.
- Audio Profiles: WMA7/8, WMA 9 Pro (stereo and 5.1), WMA lossless
- Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions. See question number 6 for more information.

5. What are the different ways to play video content on Xbox 360?
You can play video from a USB 2.0 FAT32 removable drive, optical media, and by streaming from the Zune software or Windows Media Player 11.

6. What is the "real" max bit rate, resolution, and frames per second that you support for all the different formats?
Xbox 360 does not specifically block video from playing based on a maximum bit rate, resolution, or frames per second. The maximums listed above for each codec are what we have tested for various video playback sources. Higher rated content will not be blocked, but playback may be less then optimal. Use higher bitrates at your own risk.

18. After the May 2007 update, my 3rd party software doesn't stream videos correctly. Why?
Video navigation was changed in the May 2007 update. 3rd party software that does not support folders through network sharing will not work correctly. You'll have to contact the software developer for support.

22. How can I get Windows Media Player 11 to stream MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264 to my console?
By default, Windows Media Player 11 does not support MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264. You can either convert your MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264 content to WMV or you can install a 3rd party MP4 DirectShow decoder pack to import MPEG-4 part 2 and H.264 files into your library. Once they are in your library they can be streamed to your console just like WMVs.

Read the entire faq page on the teamxbox blog..

News-Source: Team Xbox Blog