The 360 is a high-def capable piece of electronics, so even if the media on your PC is 720p or higher, you can stream it. If you take photos in high-res, for example, they can look fantastic on a high-def TV screen. High-def movies that you've downloaded or created on your own translate perfectly through the 360.
There are two ways to go about sharing media with your Xbox 360, and they depend on whether or not you wish to use Media Center. If you do, that's fine; otherwise, you can share media through the standard interface (which is simpler). The difference between the two methods is this: By sharing through Media Center, you can stream recorded TV through the 360. Otherwise, you can only share formats compatible with your Xbox 360.
What also is working great... When you don't want to stream from a PC that's on all the time:
Buy an external USB 2.0 HDD (a large one :P)
Get it formatted in HFS+ (mac format), use Macdrive 7.
You can download/put HD movies on the external USB 2.0 through your PC, hook it onto the 360 and play away.
No HD-DVD or BluRay player nescessary, no discs that can scratch. This is a way better format (streaming or external USB HDD) to use if you're a movie fanatic!
Formats:
Video Formats: WMV, H.264, MPEG-4, and PlaysForSure (for HD WMV)
Audio Formats: WMA, WMA Pro, WMA Loseless, MP3
Picture Formats: JPEG
It's rumored to get DivX support with the Fall Update
me i care about games tbh bu tnice to see 360 is capable of doing every thing and then some with the amazing games coing out this year and next year .
I used that for over a year, and suddenly it didn't work anymore. I deleted the program and wanted to download it again and it wasn't available anymore. I tried to install Zune but it wouldn't let me.
First, this article fails to mention that you can view, pause & record Live TV via 360 with the Windows Media Center functionality.
Secondly, what else is cool, is anytime you're watching RECorded video, Live TV or listening to music\viewing photos, you can still communicate (chat & voice) to people on your Friends List.
Now think about this; add on the fact that via Windows Media Center, you can d/l movies thru Vongo (and other apps) as well as d/l movies from XBL Marketplace and you've got yourself a media juggernaut!
Using the 360 as a media extender can be a pain if you use certain codecs. The 360 only supports a small number of codecs, and this meant I had the choice of converting all of my media to Microsoft friendly formats or use something like tvercity.