Well, that
Xbox 360 Spring 2007 Dashboard update did
land at about 2:00AM PST as expected, and brought with it a few fun features we were hot to test out -- but none more than the
Xbox's expanded video playback capabilities. Before we get to the fun part, though, it's worth noting that the whole Dashboard experience felt a lot snappier; if you ask us, they made some worthwhile performance tweaks. Since we don't use MSN all that much 'round these parts we couldn't delve too far into the new Messenger contact list capabilities, so we'll get to the good stuff: you want to know about the video. Well, we're happy to say it works as advertised. We were able to play back 720p and even 1080p MPEG-4 and H.264 content on our Xbox 360. Technically speaking the Xbox 360 now officially
beats out the Apple TV in the digital video arena, both in resolution and bitrate. (At best the ATV only does up to 720p at 5Mbps, while the Xbox does 1080p up to 10Mbps; neither supports higher than stereo audio.) In other words, if you're an Xbox owner thinking about an
Apple TV for playing back video in your living room, you might want to think again. Expanded test results after the break; check out the hands-on / walkthrough of the update in the gallery.
Update: Microsoft posted an extremely useful
video playback FAQ. Check it out.
Xbox 360 MPEG-4 / H.264 video test results. Here's what Microsoft said should work, followed by we tested worked and that didn't:
Microsoft added
- H.264 video support: Up to 10Mbps peak, Baseline, Main, and High profiles with 2 channel AAC LC.
- Added MPEG-4 Part 2 video support: Up to 5Mbps peak, Simple Profile with 2 channel AAC LC.
- PlaysForSure (did not test)
Tested, worked
- H.264 / 720p, MPEG-4 container, AAC stereo 48kHz, ~1.1MBps
- H.264 / 1080p, MPEG-4 container, AAC stereo 48kHz, ~5.5MBps
- MPEG-4 / 720p, AAC stereo 48kHz, ~1.1MBps
- MPEG-4 / EDTV, AAC stereo 44.1kHz, ~1.5MBps
Tested, didn't work
- MPEG-4 / 720p, QuickTime container (.mov), AAC 5.1 48kHz, ~6MBps
- H.264 / 1080p, QuickTime container (.mov), AAC 5.1 48kHz, ~9.8MBps
posted May 9th 2007 9:31AM
Well, PS3 supported these "features" out of the box from launch... Wierd though, that none of the current consoles or Apple TV supports 5.1 audio with H.264 content!
Can anyone explain to me why it is so hard to play back 5.1 audio with H.264 video???
ditto on the 5.1 issue. That's a comparatively low bitrate.
"Well, PS3 supported these "features" out of the box from launch"
Oh does it???
PS3 cannot playback .WMA files yet alone Plays for Sure video and audio.
"Well, PS3 supported these "features" out of the box from launch..."
Except that the 360 can stream the video from any PC on your network. I doubt that the PS3 will ever be able to do that since they are talking about a "Media Center" PS3 coming in the next couple years.
The big question for me is: Does this make it a better experience than XBOX Media Center on the original xbox?
That's my gold standard, and that's why I haven't replaced my xbox with either a 360 or a ps3 yet.
How is the interface that enables access to network resources? Can it handle a NAS? How long does it take to load up a "My Music" folder having 15 gigs (give or take) of music? Does it then cache the metadata, or does it refresh the folder on each access? (that's the biggest problem with xbmc, no caching the list of songs)
Yeah Xbox Media Center is kool i have it myself, but xbox is dead 360 games are a reason enough to get a 360. If you dont have a 360 already you either aint a gamer or just simply broke
My PS3 with Firmware 1.7 plays WMA just fine, along with MP3, ATRAC and AAC.
http://uk.playstation.com/help-support/ps3/network/detail/item60089/Update-features-(ver-1-60)/
And PS3 has always supported H.264 video formats.
VIDEO
MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (PS,TS), H.264/MEPG-4 AVC, MPEG-4 SP
MUSIC
ATRAC (.oma .msa .aa3), AAC (.3gp .mp4), MP3 (.mp3), WAV (.wav), WMA (.wma)
IMAGES
JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF
I think you meant to say it doesn't support WMV files, which it doesn't and is a pain in the A** because most high quality downloadable videos (PS3 game reviews, etc.) are only available in WMV or Quicktime, NEITHER of which is supported on the PS3. They licensed WMA from Microsoft they need to license WMV too. I will say though that the PS3 supports DIVX which gives them a good advantage in what I would call "medium quality" video playback.
I stand corrected on the .WMA playback on a PS3 but it still does not support Plays For Sure video and audio if I'm not mistaken.
Now all the PS3 needs is:
A scaler so folks with 720p or 1080i only TV sets don't get screwed out of half the HD functionality of thier PS3.
Something to compete with Xbox Live Video Marketplace
$200 price drop
Oh and did I mention Games?
No update to the damn DRM. If you have purchased a new Xbox 360 and you bought XBLA games or other content on a previous system, you can only use that content when connected to Live. XBLA games and other content are tied to Xbox 360 serial numbers and gamertags and there is no way to migrate the information so you can play online. A good update, but very dissapointed. Maybe its time I disputed the charges with my Credit Card Company, and rebuy the games with the money the would be credited back. I called Microsoft and they said the only workaround to this problem is if you can provide a proof of exchange from a retailer and fax them a copy, then they will refund you the points. So if you bought a system off Ebay and it Red Ringed of Death then you're fucked. Well actually there are some workarounds but I will live that to the imaginations of those who are having the same problem. I know what I'm going to do. But seriously, Microsoft who pays for shit to not be able to use it at their discretion? Damn DRM!
@LongshotX
The DVD drive on my 360 broke, so I sent it in for repairs. Several months later, when a friend was logged into my 360 and I wasn't, we noticed that he couldn't play any of the games I purchased before I sent it in, but he could play anything I purchased after I sent it in. So I called MS, and after a rather long phone call listing each and every game I purchased, I received full credit for all of them to rebuy my games. Almost 8000 MS points. I was very satisfied, and now all my games work again.
Or you just delete it and then redownload it like I did.
Not brain surgery. The content is linked to your gamertag in your purchase history. I just replaced my broken console with a new one, and it sucked redownloading everything, but thanks to the new update, I did that while I was sleeping anyway.
Sorry for Double Post
No update to the damn DRM. If you have purchased a new Xbox 360 and you bought XBLA games or other content on a previous system, you can only use that content when connected to Live. XBLA games and other content are tied to Xbox 360 serial numbers and gamertags and there is no way to migrate the information so you can play online. A good update, but very dissapointed. Maybe its time I disputed the charges with my Credit Card Company, and rebuy the games with the money the would be credited back. I called Microsoft and they said the only workaround to this problem is if you can provide a proof of exchange from a retailer and fax them a copy, then they will refund you the points. So if you bought a system off Ebay and it Red Ringed of Death then you're fucked. Well actually there are some workarounds but I will leave that to the imaginations of those who are having the same problem. I know what I'm going to do. But seriously, Microsoft who pays for shit to not be able to use it at their discretion? Damn DRM!
I was able to play both Diggnation and The Totally Rad Show h.264 large Quicktime files. Man, they look so much better than the WMV counterpart.
I wasn't able to play any Quicktime trailers off Apple's Quicktime trailers website.
I saw some postings where people were having trouble streaming the files over the network with WMP11. I have had no problems whatsoever. I think it may be becuase I have all the files in the My Videos folder.
Anyone know of any other good places to grab some video content to watch on the 360?
The high-quality videos at Gamespot.com and IGN.com are in WMV but they make great streaming examples of what the 360 can play.
"Well, PS3 supported these "features" out of the box from launch..."
...since when did the PS3 allow you to stream audio/video from a PC? Still waiting for that to happen. Ripping CD's over again and transferring photos/video from flash cards is a pain.
@npa201 you can stream content to your PS3 from your PC with http://www.orb.com/ I think it works quite well, and it bypasses most of the codec issues by handing all the transcoding stuff. Still not as nice as playing things natively though.
I use Red Kawa File server. It isn't "streaming", but it works just as well.
This updates is a disappointment for me, I bought my xbox when i was 17 so i used a fake account for my parental settings, i'm now 18. I just found out that i cant use the new MSN or any other age restricted options, ever!!!! In Microsoft's eyes, once a minor always a minor.
When will Microsoft realize that all these parental controls only promote the use of fake accounts?
Plus, a bit of Mac support would be nice.
Apple support you say?
http://www.nullriver.com/index/products/connect360
it cant play 5.1 DD because the mp4 container doesn't (strictly) allow AC3 (dolby digital) audio. It does allow 5.1 AAC but thats absolutely useless to the vasty majority of us. Its a real shame, high def video, but old school audio....
it would need to support other containers, such as MKV and avi (mkv being the preferred one for h.264)
http://www.bontragerphotography.com/psp/
Here's my question...
What are they using to stream the video to the 360?? Windows media connect?
can't play divx/xvid files!
If you purchased your console off eBay and it didn't include the receipt from the original purchase, then when it died, why not send the console in to Microsoft to be repaired? Even if it wasn't under warranty and you had to pay for the repair, which is unlikely given all the warranty extending going on, it would still be cheaper then buying a new console. If they needed to replace the console, they would have had proof of exchange, and refunded all the points.
The only time that their DRM for downloaded content is a legitimate issue is when someone purchases a new Xbox in addition to their old one, and expects to transfer their content (for example, purchasing an Xbox360 Elite). Unfortunately, that's not how the licensing works, and (to their credit) MS has gone out of their way to try to point this out.
It would be nice to be able to transfer console-level licenses from one console to another, but because it involves being able to play things offline, it opens up many ways to scam the system for free copies of games (backing up the HDD, transferring the licenses, restoring the original - just as an example). And if that happens, we all lose: more time spent to fix the holes, more inconveniences for us, fewer new features, and ultimately fewer games. Maybe there will be a decent transfer mechanism in the future, but don't assume that it's a simple thing to do.
FYI: If you do do a chargeback, don't be surprised if they block your credit card/billing address from ever being used on their system again. Businesses do not like chargebacks - I would not suggest it unless you don't plan on doing business with them again.
"Jason"
I did send my console for a free repair. But when it was returned it no longer sees it as my original console. So now I have to be logged in to play the arcade games I already had.
Did you notice the new color gamut settings under Display? Looks like we finally have a fix to VGA washout.
Alright, I'm going to ask a stupid question... What was the extension of the files that you tested... I have some .x264.mkv files and its a no worky.
Thanks,
D. Dub
MP4. MKV and AVI aren't supported.
.mp4 files for h.264 either from things like quicktime (noooo) or megui
http://www.bontragerphotography.com/psp/
any one know if this will work with H.264 thats crippled by DRM?
will external usb drives work???
Well I first called and said I bought a 360 and it broke so I exchanged it. The rep needed to get information from his supervisor and the supervisor said I would need to fax a copy of the exchange reciept. I told them I didn't have one, and they said my best option was to just buy all the stuff over again or call Wal-Mart and asked if they had a record of the 4 month old reciept. So I called again and said I bought a 360 because I found a good deal and sold my old 360 I purchased off of Ebay, and they said because I sold it that they couldn't refund my points. I know of one other option, and it should work but what do you think I should do. Do you think if I told your story it would work? I just want to play my damn games that I BOUGHT offline.
What TV is engadget displaying this on. I know its just a photo, but the colors appear to be really rich and vibrant.
the 360 still lacks compared to the Apple TV because of the Interface. The AtV's is much much better for Music and Movies than that of the 360.
Does anyone have a good tutorial on how to turn a DVD into a high-quality MPEG-4 so I can watch it on my 360? Also, does it require WMC11 to do this? Links to tutorials or programs that need to be downloaded would be appreciated...
This hasn't been brought up yet, and I certainly didn't know until I tried it. The H.264 support is ONLY (repeat: ONLY) for the dashboard. It is not supported in the Media Center Extender. Why? Who knows. That totally destroys any of it's utility for me.
Thank you, Microsoft, for tempting me with something you did not actually deliver.
It worked for this guy...
Have you downloaded the optional media pack yet?
http://forums.xbox.com/12278860/ShowPost.aspx
@Luvbeers7
That poster clearly thinks "media extender" means the streaming capabilities from a regular PC, the problems many of us are talking about is the lack of H.265 for the Media Center Extender. That is, connecting to an actual Media Center PC and using its interface, not the simply media player sharing on XP.
lol, H.264 I mean.
OMG. After playing around in the dashboard, looking at the changes,
everything has just locked up. I have rebooted, and I get the
dreaded red rings of death.My console is only 2 months old!!! On the
phone to Microsoft now...UPDATERS BEWARE, THE UPDATE MAY BE BRICKING
CONSOLES....
microsoft's abandoning media center extender for media center pc.
I have spent the past couple of days encoding a few DVDs to h.264 using HandBrake and I have to say that I dig this feature. The iPod setting looks great on SDTV and should scale to 720p alright.
Now I just have to wait for Nullriver to update Connect360 so I can stream from my Mac (I burnt the .mp4 files to a DVD-R for testing). Hopefully they will also add some much needed features like the ability the designate the folder to scan for video files and maybe even the ability to scan multiple folders (wouldn't mind being able to share images from a designated folder either since I don't use iPhoto).
MP4 does work. I've ripped a DVD using handbrake and it looks beautiful. I've noticed that I've been able to view more videos after I installed the Zune software for sharing. Large Quicktime movie trailers also work now, but it's a no-go for HD trailers.
how do i play mp4 on xbox360? stream, extender or pc connect???
at videophiles09:
I was able to stream it with WMP11 and Zune Software. I was also able to pop it on a USB drive. I'm not sure if you have to download the optional media thingy from the marketplace. I did that by accident before trying to view any files.
Up until now having a child's account was not a big deal to me. The only noticeable annoyance was the lack of "Featured Downloads" in Marketplace. Now however, they have a real problem on their hands. I can legally join a military branch, be trained how to use a automatic weapon to kill, and kill myself with cigarettes; I cannot however use a texting service on something called Xbox Live! I love Xbox Live and what it has done for online gaming, but this is just outrageous.
Thank You,
A disgruntled Live user
I got all kinds of excited when I saw this. Then I realized it does NOTHING for Media Center. I still have to use Transcode360. Why the F- is it so difficult for M$ to add divx/xvid support?
@jon: (WARNING: offtopic!)
- Scaler: I SO agree with you!
- Xbox Live Video Marketplace: What's that? But PS-store is sooo empty, so I think I agree with you on that one too!
- $200 price drop: That would be nice! I think everything should be for free anyway though, so it doesn't count...
- Games: I too would like to see thousands of games for any electrical device I have from launch, agreed!
But you forgot the most important thing about PS3 lacks:
- Silent operation (EU versions are as noisy as 360, long discussion) when watching BluRay
- playlist support, and better music management
Jon,
So, you criticize the PS3 for not supporting WMA and are quickly proven wrong. But instead of just making a humble apology, you instead choose to switch topics and criticize the PS3 for everything you can think of that has nothing to do with media capabilities?
"you instead choose to switch topics and criticize the PS3 for everything you can think of that has nothing to do with media capabilities?"
So having a scaler has nothing to do with Media capabilities??? Do you understand the breth of the problem? Being able to play any codec and resolution you want on the PS3 doesn't matter much if the PS3 ends up just scaling your TV to 480p anyway.
The Xbox Live Video Marketplace is where you can download Movies and TV shows in Hi-Def and Standard Def. It is the only service that provides HD as Apple TV and others still provide only Standard def downloads. It's a bit expensive for movie rentals...but completely obviscates the need for either an HD-DVD drive or Blu-Ray to get HD content on your TV set.
Plays for Sure is a big deal to some. It allows for the purchase or download of movies and music from websites such as CinemaNow and URGE or Napster to be streamed to the Xbox 360.
And last I checked games were a type of media.
I agree with you on all the points you've mentioned. Scott has clearly stepped into territory unknown to him. Much like what will happen when he reaches the seventh grade and has to go through the trials of his first boy/girl dance.
what do i have to download in marketplace???
Except $1.99 gets you a tv show instead of horse armor(yes I know this is no longer true)
To Andy -
15 gb of music should load in a snap. Mine loads 80+ gb in no more than a couple seconds. Finding certain artists by scrolling through thousands of names, however, takes much longer.
i encode using nero digital, and nothing works!!!
How are you trying to encode within nero? If you're encoding to h.264, make sure the audio stream is strictly 2 channel AAC LC, not 5.1 or HE.
If you're encoding to mpeg-4 part 2, make sure you are using Simple Profile and not Advanced Simple Profile.
Um, can somebody link out to a "complete retard's guide" for getting this media onto your 360? I have looked around e.g. Wikipedia and here's what I get:
* The 360 is a UPnP AV Client with very limited capabilities -- it can find a UPnP AV MediaServer, but can only play back WMV video (and now I guess a few other formats)
* Windows Media Center Edition includes UPnP AV MediaServer functionality built right in, and will transcode to 360-friendly formats on the fly (though I imagine you need some serious grunty CPU to do it at high res in real time)
* Windows XP can run Windows Media Connect to do similar to the above, but... uh, poorly? Or something?
* There are a few implementations of UPnP AV Media Server for Linux, which should be able to serve out media if they can put it in an acceptable format (which probably gets us back to the transcoding issue above)
I would love to be able to watch my MythTV recorded shows on my 360, but: they're MPEG-2 video, in a Nupplevideo (NUV) container. I guarantee that won't work out of the box, and my Myth box is running on an ancient Athlon 850 with something like 512 MB of RAM. So on-the-fly transcoding at higher than about 128 kbps is probably right out, especially if it's recording at the same time. I could set up some scripting to auto-export everything it records to another format, but what format should I use? And what server software should I stream it out with?
Anybody?
Ah, I wish I still had my old 'Box running XBMC -- things are so much easier when they just *work*.
Very very childish to compare X360 and Apple TV just on resolution and bitrate. What about the content guys ?
@Ondra
ooh...I wouldn't compare content. that'd make AppleTV worse. Let's see:
AppleTV = whatever iTunes carries
Xbox360 = whatever your HTPC can record.
As of right now, I can record all ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, and PBS shows in true HD. Not Apple's 480p version of "HD". That means Lost at 1280x720p and Heroes at 1080i. Try getting that off iTunes.
Also, I get the Daily Show and Colbert report. Haven't checked iTunes yet, but is it even available?
XBMC/classic Xbox/big ol-skewl sony tube screen rawks!!
i encoded using nero recode, digital simple profile.
nothing works.
"...since when did the PS3 allow you to stream audio/video from a PC? "
Launch. Download RedKawa server, or the latest Pimpstreamer
"Ripping CD's over again and transferring photos/video from flash cards is a pain. "
360 is the only one that makes you re-rip CDs. PS3 will copy MP3s off media. If you ripped the CDs once already, just copy the MP3s
"Except that the 360 can stream the video from any PC on your network"
So can PS3
I've had some really good success with MP4 video from DVD using Handbrake. H.264 with MOV containers works as well in SD. M4V podcasts look nice too. I've tried to stream M4A audio without any luck. It works when I pop it on a USB drive though. I'm going to try to convert some video files to MP4 to find something that works.
anyway to stream directly from OSX now? - the added format support made me hope that it would be possible with this update ... anyone knows ?
Thanks
This is encouraging. As soon as the next gen 360's are out, I am getting one.
I'm running it through my 80g western digital. My 200 plus hours of ripped .MP4 all seems to be working. I'm so excited about this. My ibook takes several hours to rip dvds. This update has doubled the value of ripping movies for me, and i couldn't be more stoked about it. Spring Update FTW!
you don't have to be logged in to play the games if you just re-download them under your profile.
I got the ring of death the moment I fired my console up with the intent of updating. Damn microsoft!!
False. If your purchased content is re-downloaded onto a 360 other than the one originally downloaded to, then you must be connected to Xbox Live in order to use the content.
No, works fine for me. I'm on my 2nd 360 and by default after hooking the old hard drive up, yes you have to be connected to live to play an arcade game... but if you just re-download the game it will play without needing to be connected to live.
"So having a scaler has nothing to do with Media capabilities??? Do you understand the breth of the problem? Being able to play any codec and resolution you want on the PS3 doesn't matter much if the PS3 ends up just scaling your TV to 480p anyway."
PS3 lets you play media at any resolution. Only games are unscaled.
360s media capabilities are a joke.
When you press any button an on-screen menu pops up rather than performing an action
On PS3, triangle brings up the menu, other buttons like start pause the video.
PS3 lets you copy MP3s off of CDs/USB devices and back to USB devices.
PS3 lets you rip CDs to any bitrate/codec is supports.
PS3 uses an online database for CD track listings rather than wasting space on your hard drive.
PS3 has animated thumbnails
On 360, when you select a movie and press A, it goes to another menu with play listed as an option.
Pressing A should play the movie, another button should bring up a menu with delete/etc. Like how PS3 does it
360 was made to be a media extender, and PS3 was made to be a media server. And it shows
"When you press any button an on-screen menu pops up rather than performing an action
On PS3, triangle brings up the menu, other buttons like start pause the video."
I just use my IR remote with the 360 when I am playing back media. My Harmony 880 works great with it.
"360 was made to be a media extender, and PS3 was made to be a media server. And it shows"
WTF? What exactly does the PS3 "serve" media to? Well, if you got the version with wireless built in, it can serve media to a PSP, and that's it. Why the hell would you want a device with such limited hard drive space to be a "server?"
I have 2 PCs in my house, both have over 1TB of hard drive space EACH. That is where I store my media. Yes, the 360 can be used to view and listen to media on those two PCs. That is a feature that the PS3 is sorely lacking. Using a flash video transcoder via a web page on the PS3 to try to eek out the same functionality out of the PS3 is weak.
And yet a PS3 is a "media server" that can only serve media to a single device, and only if you bought the right PS3. Brilliant.
"WTF? What exactly does the PS3 "serve" media to? Well, if you got the version with wireless built in, it can serve media to a PSP"
Actually, any version can stream to the PSP so long as you have a wifi hotspot connected to the network.
"Why the hell would you want a device with such limited hard drive space to be a "server?""
Well unlike 360, you can plug any harddrive into it.
"Yes, the 360 can be used to view and listen to media on those two PCs. That is a feature that the PS3 is sorely lacking"
No it's not.
"Using a flash video transcoder via a web page on the PS3 to try to eek out the same functionality out of the PS3 is weak."
It's just as lame as installing a UPnP server for 360.
And then there is running MPlayer or other media players in Linux. (Which is just as lame as installing XBMC on a modded XBOX)
"And yet a PS3 is a "media server" that can only serve media to a single device, and only if you bought the right PS3"
Again, ANY version does it.
How can i set up a hard drive for the 360 that I can consistently add files to from my mac to create a home media server, without having to move wires or drives around the house?
ATV is still a better option as it doesn't overpower the sound with its turbine fans.
@Extinction
Why are you posting here? You act as if the Ps3 supported WMA from day. It was recently added. It still cannot play playforsure music or videos so to many it is useless.
If you consider all those third party applications that hardly works a streaming solution then so be it.
Sorry but no one rips cds to the 360 since we already did so on our PC.
Sure it will play but only in trial mode.
No really, it plays the full game. Sheesh, I'm done with this. Just try it already.
Jesus, Extinction. You are the most MISinformed person EVER.
To all the rest, I'm sure (sarcasm) that Extinction is a Sony representative, because all he does is praise the PS3 with features it doesn't have, and can't have unless (sometimes) having a special program. You see, he blatantly ignores the facts, and tries to pass off total fallacies as fact.
If you see his name, just scroll on through, because if you know the PS3, you will notice his statements are bogus. Again, this is a warning for your I.Q. If you see the name "Extinction", just pass it up.
Sorry, I could not pass this up...
"PS3 lets you copy MP3s off of CDs/USB devices and back to USB devices."
First off, so can the 360. Second, us 360 owners don't need to do that because we can just stream from our home network. No POS third party freeware.
"PS3 lets you rip CDs to any bitrate/codec is supports."
I'm sure you mean "it". That's really nothing, because, again the 360 can do that, and PS3 doesn't support ALL media formats. Neither consoles do.
"PS3 uses an online database for CD track listings rather than wasting space on your hard drive."
And thus, making the PSN experience even laggier. Hardly a plus, considering that album info doesn't take up much space, and that doesn't matter when you can just stream from your home network. Again, PS3 can't do that without third party (half-assed) freeware.
"PS3 has animated thumbnails"
Yeah, that take up your precious hard drive space. If not, theres another thing that slows the PSN up.
"360 was made to be a media extender, and PS3 was made to be a media server. And it shows"
Not really, seeing as how it can't stream with your home network or recognize network memory, thusly, it doesn't show anything but how worthless it is for media.
"'...since when did the PS3 allow you to stream audio/video from a PC? '
Launch. Download RedKawa server, or the latest Pimpstreamer"
Hey, your idiocy is showing. It obviously can't do it since launch, because if it could, you wouldn't need any third party programs.
"'Ripping CD's over again and transferring photos/video from flash cards is a pain. '
360 is the only one that makes you re-rip CDs. PS3 will copy MP3s off media. If you ripped the CDs once already, just copy the MP3s"
That's strike 2 (in this single post) for your intelligence. 360 streams from your home network. PS3 doesn't. If you want music or video on your PS3, you need a third party program or you have to transfer it manually. 360 does both.
"'Except that the 360 can stream the video from any PC on your network'
So can PS3"
Again, no it can't. Save yourself the embarrassment and leave this alone with all your Utopian world where the PS3 can do all that the 360 does.
kthxbai
What program do you to covert videos to:
MPEG-4 / EDTV, AAC stereo 44.1kHz, ~1.5MBps
I have a full version of quick time but cannot find those conversion settings in the application.
Get VLC. Use the Wizard to transcode. Select MP4: you want to use mp4v for video, mp4a for audio. Set audio to 192 kbps, 16 bits/sample. Pretty straightforward. I tested it last night on a dozen Baby Einstein videos for my daughter -- a whole mishmash of codecs in a bunch of different containers (.mpg, divx .avi, xvid .avi, wmv, .mov). VLC blasted thru them all.
Good luck!
What is your process for a codec with 5.1 channel sound? WMV or Mpeg2?
Yay! For all you Mac users, Connect360 is working on an update right now- they're usually pretty fast, so we should have it soon.
If you're a Mac user that doesn't have Connect360, get it. You can stream internet radio to your box, music, pics, video- same functionality as the Media Center. Only 20 bucks, well worth it.
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.
-They've broken Connect360
As much as i love the 360 and Wii and hate the PS3 let's not turn this into an argument.
The real problem is that it says I have a child account and can therefore not use messenger! what bullshit if a child can chat on the PC why can't they do it on the 360 I'm 17 so I can legally drive but I can't talk to friends on the 360? M$ wants you to buy a new account this is completely and utter poppycock.
I cannot view mp4/h.264 in wmp11. I've installed the klite video codec pack.
Am I missing something?
Most of my videos are mp4/h.264 and I usually use media center 2005 but I'd like to be able to stream it without tying up my pc
I hope this will answer many of our questions:
http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/2007/05/09/spring-07-video-playback-faq.aspx
ezadam - you need to install the Zune software on your PC to stream H.264/MPEG-4. WMP11 only streams WMV, it does not support the other video codes for media sharing. Weird, I know. Check the FAQ listed in the article for a link to the software.
"Why are you posting here? You act as if the Ps3 supported WMA from day."
I didnt say anything about WMA. Nothing at all
"Jesus, Extinction. You are the most MISinformed person EVER."
You're the moron who I caught lying about PS3s specs a while back, and disagreed with the specs Microsoft posted on their own website.
"If you consider all those third party applications that hardly works a streaming solution then so be it."
It streams video from my PC. Whoever made it is irrelevant.
""PS3 lets you copy MP3s off of CDs/USB devices and back to USB devices."
First off, so can the 360.""
No it doesnt.
" Second, us 360 owners don't need to do that because we can just stream from our home network. No POS third party freeware."
I use the IIS server which comes built into XP Pro.
""PS3 lets you rip CDs to any bitrate/codec is supports."
I'm sure you mean "it". That's really nothing, because, again the 360 can do that, and PS3 doesn't support ALL media formats. ""
And 360 does not, it ONLY rips to WMA and you dont pick the bitrate
I didnt say PS3 does support All formats. However in Linux it supports any format PC supports.
""PS3 uses an online database for CD track listings rather than wasting space on your hard drive."
And thus, making the PSN experience even laggier. "
No it doesnt
"Hardly a plus, considering that album info doesn't take up much space"
"Again, PS3 can't do that without third party (half-assed) freeware."
Windows XP is third party half assed freeware? Since when?
""PS3 has animated thumbnails"
Yeah, that take up your precious hard drive space."
Which takes up less space than 360's CD track listing database, which you said isnt much space
"Not really, seeing as how it can't stream with your home network or recognize network memory"
Actually it does
""'...since when did the PS3 allow you to stream audio/video from a PC? '
Launch. Download RedKawa server, or the latest Pimpstreamer"
Hey, your idiocy is showing. It obviously can't do it since launch, because if it could, you wouldn't need any third party programs."
That made no sense. The functionality came built into the console, and was not added by those programs. Those programs added the ability for your PC to stream to PS3.
"That's strike 2 (in this single post) for your intelligence. 360 streams from your home network. PS3 doesn't. "
360 also has you rip audio cds if you want the mp3s stored on it.
PS3 does stream.
""'Except that the 360 can stream the video from any PC on your network'
So can PS3"
Again, no it can't."
Again, yes it does. I do it.
apple tv supports more then stereo.
its just that what apple sells doenst come in more then stereo.
atv supports 5.1
Can you listen to music that you stream from a PC while you are playing a game or doing anything other than watching a web page on the PS3?
Extinction is wasting comment space. Any attempt to reason with this person is fruitless. Now I will rant...
Here is what I know. My 360 does everything I need it to do without any third party involvement. I don't need to go to any separate websites or download any additional software. If the PS3 was intended to do such things it would have come with the functionality out of the box with no additional steps required directly from Sony. (I do not consider any first-party software updates to be an additional step either.)
Does the PS3 have the same media capability that the 360 has currently? No. It can do its best to emulate the experience through third party software, but it is still not equal.
This Xbox 360 Spring Update has NO EFFECT on you. Why are you commenting? Here to bash 360 owners? I don't think anyone had even said anything about a PS3 until you started commenting.
All you are doing is circumventing people discussing the media capabilities of the 360, and ironically, that is probably your intention. Typical fanboy.
Why would anyone want to use such a NOISY piece of equipment as a media centre is beyond me.
agree with earlier poster - we need a guide for noobs on how this works. i spent an hour fighting with WMP11 this evening to no avail. Funny thing is that Orb worked like a charm...maybe I should just stick with that...
"Here is what I know. My 360 does everything I need it to do without any third party involvement. I don't need to go to any separate websites or download any additional software. If the PS3 was intended to do such things it would have come with the functionality out of the box with no additional steps required directly from Sony. (I do not consider any first-party software updates to be an additional step either.)"
PS3s YDL Linux is a first party software update and grants me all the functionality of an XBOX with XBMC.
"Extinction is wasting comment space. Any attempt to reason with this person is fruitless. Now I will rant..."
No, you're just a fanboy who doesn't like that PS3 does everything I claim and are trying to rationalize a moronic opinion that it doesn't count cause it's not done the exact same way as 360.
Who cares that the difference between the way they handle video streaming is 360 uses UPnP and PS3 uses HTTP? Only idiots care. The fact of the matter is, PS3 does those tasks, how it does it is irrelevant.
Anyone claiming otherwise, is wasting space
All the people comparing 360s and PS3s should stop wasting space, this article has nothing to do with the differences between the systems.
Ever since I've downloaded the update my 360 has twice now frozen up, with a strange checker pattern all over the screen... anyone hear or experience the same thing?
Screen feezes with the chekered pattern. Now I got the Red Ring of Death. Thanks, Bill. Great update!