Updated video playback FAQ for Fall Dashboard Update

**1. What exactly does the Xbox 360 support for AVI?

Xbox 360 supports the following for AVI:

· File Extensions: .avi, .divx

· Containers: AVI

· Video Profiles: MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple & Advanced Simple Profile

· Video Bitrate: 5 Mbps with resolutions of 1280 x 720 at 30fps. See question number 11 for more information.

· Audio Profiles: Dolby® Digital 2 channel and 5.1 channel, MP3

· Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions. See question number 11 for more information.

[Skerj]

Damn, about time!! No more encoding to WMV.

[darthv72]

oddly it doesnt mention being able to play these files from a cd-r or dvd-r/rw. I have several divx movies I made using dr. divx and have them burned on a dvd-r. Unless it allows for support of direct play from a disc...it looks like I will be copying them back to my ext usb drive.

[romaink]

they will be playable if they meet the size requirements[4 GB]. I read that somewhere in the long list.

[socomnick]

Does it support being read from a Usb drive ?

[razer]

it will play divx/xvid from USB. But it does not play it via Media Center and that makes it a total bust for me.. very lame indeed.. But of course it plays on the new MS Home Server software. Basically, if you have MCE or Vista Ultimate and use it as Windows Media Server(not using WMP11 or Zune for media sharing) you are screwed.. I think they expect people to upgrade to Home Server for it.. shadey

[romaink]

it will... if the external drive has been formatted in FAT32 or as a Mac drive. it won't read NTFS drives

[Bonsai1214]

it doesn't read NTFS? that sucks. but its good to see AVI being supported. all my friends dl movies (legally of course ;-) ) in avi format and i hear them complaining about wmv all the time.

and when it says video bitrate, does that mean it can stream videos at 720p? its good to m$ focusing in on the "media center" portion of the system too

[romaink]

" 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."

personally, I've never seen avi xvid files (including HD) with bitrates over 4Mbps, so I don't think this will be an issue.

[Charlie2688]

I wish the 360 was a little bit more "codec friendly" and if you wonder what do I mean by it, its about playing files that use multiple codecs at the same time like I just tested a .mp4 file coded in h264 and ACC and it didn't worked while a .mp4 and h264 does play >.>

cuz you know with DivX coming you HAVE to be ready so you wont find out that A, B or C divX wont play cuz it has another codec too (which is becoming VERY common)

I hope the update with the whole "enhanced codec support" fixes this :)

[davidadrake]

I can finally sell my modded original xbox!

[Apocwhen]

Not if you still want to play DVDs region free.

[Tempo]

I have an old xbox, the HDD crapped out on me a while back. Does anyone here know, or can direct me to a fix or replacement guide or the less "technically inclined" For some reason i just can't bring my self to throw it out yet.