Xbox Team

December 2007 Video Playback FAQ

** Represents a new feature or change in functionality from the Spring 07 release.

[Update 12/4/07 - added question 40. "When trying to play 25 or 50 fps content, I don’t get any video over VGA"]

**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.

2.    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 11 for more information.

·         Audio Profiles: 2 channel AAC low complexity (LC)

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

3.    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 & **Advanced Simple Profile

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

·         Audio Profiles: 2 channel AAC low complexity (LC)

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

4.    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 11 for more information.

·         Audio Profiles: WMA7/8, WMA 9 Pro (stereo and 5.1), WMA lossless

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

5.    Can I mix and match the video and audio codecs outside of those defined in questions 1 through 4 above?

No you cannot.  We only support each audio and video codec in the explicit containers defined in questions 1 through 4.

6.    How can I determine if a video file that I am trying to play conforms to the specifications as laid out in questions 1 through 4?

You can use a 3^rd party tool to analyze your video files to determine what audio and video codec is used.  A popular 3^rd party tool to analyze video files can be found at http://www.headbands.com/gspot/. 

7.    How do I create WMV, AVI, H.264 and MPEG-4 content? What encoders does Xbox 360 support?

You can create this content on one of many 3^rd-party applications. Xbox 360 supports many popular encoders. Specifically for encoding to WMV you can use Microsoft Expression Encoder or Windows Media Encoder.

**8.    What specific features of Mpeg-4 Advanced Simple Profile does the Xbox 360 support?

The Xbox 360 supports Bidirectional Frames (BVOPs), Interlaced Frames, Quarter Pixel Motion Compensation, Global Motion Compensation, and MPEG Quantization.

9.    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, Windows Media Player 11, or Windows Home Server.

10. What are the different video codecs that are supported in all the different ways to play video content on the Xbox 360?

See table below for more information:

* = Please refer to question 32 on how to configure Windows Media Player to share these file types to the Xbox 360.

11.    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.

12.    What size USB storage device does the Xbox 360 support?

The Xbox 360 will support as big of a storage device as you can format using FAT32.  Unfortunately when formatting a device in Windows Vista or Windows XP you will be restricted to a maximum FAT32 size of 32GB.  You can work around this limitation by using a 3^rd party utility or using an alternative Operating System that does not have this restriction.  Please note that the maximum size of any single file on FAT32 is 4GB.

13.    What is the maximum video file size that is supported?

The maximum file size for an AVI, MPEG-4 Part 2, and H.264 file that can be played is 4 GB. 4GB is also the maximum size of any single file that you can store on a FAT32 USB hard drive.  However, Windows Media Player 11 and the Zune software do support streaming WMV files greater than 4GB.

14. Do you support 5.1 channel AAC?

No. Only 2-channel AAC is supported. If you want to play a 5.1-channel video on your console, you will need to encode it to WMV with WMAPro 5.1 audio or use the AVI container with Dolby® Digital 5.1 audio.

**15.    What types of AVI files are supported?

The Xbox 360 supports files encoded using MPEG-4 Part 2, Simple and Advanced Simple Profile.  These files are often referred to as Xvid or DivX® video files.  Many common PC DVD authoring tools, cameras, and camcorders are capable of encoding files using MPEG-4.  Note that some files authored for DivX devices may also contain additional functionality(menus, subtitles, multiple audio tracks, etc).  The Xbox 360 will attempt to play these files, but does not support any of the additional functionality and in some cases will be unable to play the file. 

16.    Why don’t some of my older versions of DivX® files play?

Since we only support Mpeg-4 compatible codec implementations, we will not be able to play video files older than DivX® 5.0.

17. Does the Xbox 360 support video artwork when browsing my collection from Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune PC software?

The Xbox 360 will display whatever video artwork that is displayed in Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune PC software for each video file. 

**18. Does the Xbox 360 support video artwork when browsing my collection from a USB 2.0 FAT32 removable drive or optical media?

For all video types we will search for a corresponding .jpg file and use that as the artwork.  For example video1.avi would display the artwork in video1.jpg if it existed.  In the absence of this file, for the mp4 container, we will search if the video file has embedded album artwork and display that instead.  Please note you cannot use this method when streaming from Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune PC software.  See question number 21 for more information.

19. What is the maximum album artwork size that the Xbox 360 supports?

You should not exceed 512KB for all scenarios.  This includes embedding artwork in the mp4 container, storing artwork alongside the file in a separate .jpg container, or streaming from Windows Media Player 11 or Zune PC software.

**20. How does the “Sort by Type” and “Sort by Title” option work when browsing my own generated video content?

The “Sort by Type” option is the typical Windows Explorer view that a computer would show your files in.  It will first alphabetically sort your folders and then alphabetically sort your files.  The “Sort by Title” option allows you to sort all folders and files alongside each other.  Both of these sort options are persistent and linked to your profile so that you do not need to set them every time.  See question number 21 for more information.

**21. What is a sample way of organizing my video hierarchy so that I can best utilize artwork and folder structure on the Xbox 360 for my personal video collection?

The following example uses the sort option “Sort by Title” on a USB hard drive connected to the Xbox 360:

·         Genre 1 (Folder)

·         Genre 2 (Folder)

·         Video 1.avi (File)

·         Video 1.jpg (File) (Artwork)

·         Video 2.mp4 (File) (Artwork embedded in file)

·         Video 3 (Folder)

·         Video 3-1.wmv (File)

·         Video 3-2.mp4 (File)

·         Video 3-2.jpg (File) (Artwork)

·         Video 3-3.wmv (File)

·         Video 3-3.jpg (File) (Artwork)

·         Genre 3 (Folder)

22. How do display modes work?

There are 5 display modes: auto, letterbox, fullscreen, stretch, and native. You can access these modes while watching a video by pressing Display on your remote or A on your controller.

a.    The auto setting attempts to automatically determine what the best viewing experience is for your video. If it is a very low resolution video, it will enlarge it enough to be viewable on your screen while limiting the size for optimal viewing. If the video is of higher resolution, it will it will enlarge it to fit the TV. For both scenarios, it will retain the aspect ratio of the original video (for example, 4x3 or 16x9).

b.    Letterbox mode will display your image full screen while retaining the aspect ratio of the original video. Use this if you want to override the auto function and fit the content to your TV.

c.    Fullscreen mode will display your image full screen with the assumption the video is 16x9 formatted for 4x3 screens. This can be helpful for older content that may be 4x3 with black bars encoded into the video. This mode will allow you to zoom through the black bars and see it as wide screen.

d.    Stretch mode will display your image full screen and stretch 4x3 content horizontally to fill a 16x9 TV. This can be helpful for those who always want to fill their TV regardless of the aspect ratio of the content. This causes 4x3 content to appear stretched.

e.    Native mode allows you to see the content at its original resolution. Use this to view content that is extremely low resolution or very low bitrates.

23. How are display mode settings saved?

Every time you watch a new video, the display mode defaults to auto. If you decide to change the setting, each time you watch the same video the console will remember what you chose last time.

24. What is the information bar?

The information bar on the on-screen display now shows you exactly where you are in the video and where the chapters are in the file. In addition, for downloaded content, it will also show how much of the video has been downloaded.

25. How are the chapters determined?

Each video is divided into 10 chapters, allowing you to quickly move around the video content. Use skip to move to the next or previous chapter. Each chapter appears as a tick on the information bar.

**26. Can I fast forward, rewind, and skip while watching content while it's being downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace?

You can move around in video as much as you have already downloaded.  If you skip or watch past the point that you have already downloaded, you will be required to wait for it to buffer enough to begin normal playback again.

27. Is there other 3^rd party software out that I can use to stream from my PC to my Xbox 360?

The Xbox 360 team extensively tests that we work well with Windows Media Player 11 and the Zune PC software.  If you do decide to use 3^rd party software, please contact them directly for support. 

28. How can I stream content from my Mac?

To share from a Mac computer you will be required to use a 3^rd party streaming solution.  Please note that we do not support 3^rd party streaming solutions and you will be required to contact them directly for support. 

29. After the May 2007 update, my 3^rd party software doesn't stream videos correctly. Why?

Video navigation was changed in the May 2007 update. 3^rd party software that does not support folders through network sharing will not work correctly. You'll have to contact the software developer for support.

30. How can I set up Windows Media Player 11 or Zune to share my media to my console?

For info about setting up sharing, see www.xbox.com/pcsetup.

31. Should I continue to use Windows Media Connect (WMC) to stream video to my Xbox 360?

Windows Media Connect can be used but is no longer supported outside of Windows Home Server. We strongly suggest people upgrade to Windows Media Player 11 or use the Zune software to receive the best experience for managing and streaming content to Xbox 360.

32. 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.  Your first option is to install a 3rd party MP4 DirectShow decoder 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 and they can be played from within Windows Media Player 11 on your PC.

An alternative approach is to rename all of your mp4 files to have an “.avi” file name extension.  This will enable Windows Media Player 11 to import them into the library and will allow them to be played on your Xbox 360.  To enable the playback of these files on the PC, you will still need to install an appropriate decoder on the PC.

33. I can't see my video files from the Zune software on my console. What's wrong?

Make sure that the folders containing the videos you want to share with your console are included in the Zune software's list of monitored folders.

34. I received a message that says a media update is required to play the content. When I download the update I get the message "The download could not be completed. Please try again later. Any points you used for this transaction have already been deducted from your balance and will not be deducted again" with error code 80070005. Explain.

You'll get this error if you previously downloaded the media update on another Xbox 360 console with the same profile. You are only allowed to download the update on one console per profile. You can work around this by creating a temporary Silver membership to download the update. Once it's downloaded, you will be able to use the update with any profile.

**35. What shortcuts can I use with my gamepad while using the Video area?

LB skips backward one chapter.  RB skips forward one chapter.  RT fast forwards.  LT rewinds. Start toggles between play and pause.  X and Y bring up the On Screen Display for more advanced options.  While browsing through your lists of videos you can also push Start to automatically begin video playback using the bookmark if it exists bypassing the Resume/Restart page.  You can also use RT or LT to page up or page down through lists of items.

**36. Why do I see the message “Updating content. This may take a few minutes. Please wait.” the first time when entering the Console video area?

To support grouping television and game videos your content metadata needs to be updated.  Once this process is completed subsequent entries into the Video area will be very quick.  Please be patient during the update process and allow it to complete updating all of your content metadata.

**37.What changes have you made to selecting the source for Videos, Music, and Pictures?

The source selection is now mapped to the X button for each of these areas.  The Xbox 360 will remember the last source that you picked and default to that.  We have also removed the computer affiliation from the System Blade and we now show a list of all the computers that you can connect to directly in the Select Source scene.  This allows you to quickly jump between Windows Media Player 11 and Zune PC software media shares.

**38.How can I play music from my iPhone® and iPod Touch®?

Unfortunately the iPhone® and iPod Touch® uses a different mechanism for storing your music then a traditional iPod®.  We are currently unable to play music from the iPhone® or IPod Touch®.  You can still browse the pictures stored on these device through the Pictures area in the Xbox 360 dashboard.

**39.Can I play videos from my iPod®?

The Xbox 360 does not support playing videos from an iPod®.

40. When trying to play 25 or 50 fps content, I don’t get any video over VGA

This only affects consoles which output PAL-50 and PAL-60 output modes. There is a known issue in which 25 or 50 fps video sometimes doesn’t display over a VGA connection if you have previously connected your Xbox over component video output.

The workaround for this issue is as follows:

1.       Connect your Xbox 360 to a display device using a component video cable

2.       Go to the System Blade

3.       Go to Console Settings

4.       Go to Display

5.       Set your display settings to a different resolution than is currently selected (e.g., set it to 480p if your current setting is 720p)

6.       You should see a slider with the words “Your display settings have changed. You can keep this setting or try another. Do you want to keep the new settings? If you keep the new settings, your TV will be tested to see if it also supports this setting at 50Hz.” Answer “Yes, keep these settings” to this prompt.

7.       After this your display will be tested for 50Hz output

8.       You should see a slider with the words “Now displaying at 50Hz. Does this display appear correctly?”  Answer  “No” to this prompt even if the display is correct. Again, make sure to answer “No” to this prompt.

9.       Connect your Xbox up via VGA again. The videos should now play correctly.

41. I can’t stream content to the Xbox after upgrading the Zune software to version 2.1

After you upgrade the Zune software to version 2.1 on a Windows XP-based computer, you may be unable to use the Media Sharing feature to connect to an Xbox 360 system. This issue may occur if you used an account that has administrative permissions to log on to the computer when you upgraded the Zune software. More information is available at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/945037

Hello Everyone!

Coming shortly is our December 2007 System Update, one where we've added a lot of new features that you guys have been asking for. You should be prompted for the update early next week on December 4^th.

This is the seventh system update I've been responsible for and I recently went back and reviewed the previous major updates we published in June '06, November ‘06, and May ‘07. It is amazing how far the console has come since 2005! And knowing all the work that has gone into this current update I stand back and feel super-proud of the Xbox Console Team.  The incredible innovation and efforts they continue to put into the platform each day is unbelievable.

Maintaining a twice yearly ship schedule is difficult.  Launching major services like Video Marketplace is challenging.  Designing and launching an external HD-DVD player from scratch in 10 months is difficult.  Growing our library of backwards compatible titles to almost 500 supported games is demanding. But hearing feedback from our users and seeing our platform succeed makes it all worthwhile.  And it makes us want to tackle even more.

Did you know our system update package is only 7MB in size?  Or that the entire 360 O/S resides on a tiny 16MB filesystem and when running it is only given 32MB of system memory?  I mention this as our developers and testers do an amazing job of coding for performance, and that is overlooked by a lot of people.  Each day they are faced with adding more features, improving performance, and creating magical experiences with those hard-capped limits.  And release over release they are able to pull off some magic to make it happen.

I feel really lucky to work with such an amazing team. We love the 360, and we are passionate about making it better!  Remember the team is listening to your comments on Xbox.com and on Major Nelson's site so please continue to provide the feedback!

The team is already thinking about the next update and after some well deserved time off for the holidays we'll again be working to improve your 360 gaming experience.

Daryl Welsh (GT: IndieGames) -Xbox 360 Group Test and Release Manager

Account Management

·         Added error text to direct under 13 year old user to the Web when attempting to change contact information

·         Added Messenger Signup into Xbox LIVE signup

·         Added PEGI logo icons to Game ratings scenes

·         Added support for switching between Windows Live ID accounts

·         Added Support for User Graduation

·         Added support to allow users to change the Windows Live ID they use with their Xbox LIVE gamertag

·         Added support to Migrate Zune Accounts to Xbox LIVE accounts with purchase rights

·         Added text for "in-game voice" complaint option

·         Display MS Points Web Address correctly for Korea

·         Improved blocking support for Friends Only sessions

·         Improved enforcement of Windows Live ID and Gamertag Regions

·         Improved Informational Text for cases where Gamertag already in use

·         Improved parental control support for 48 hour trial codes

·         Improved robustness when viewing friends profiles and quickly backing out

·         Improved support for account recovery when no storage devices attached to console

·         Improved support for invalid characters in phone field

·         Improved support to cancel out of Credit Card scenes during account sign-up

·         Improved support to load Dashboard after exiting from Account Recovery

·         Improved text for accounts that have been banned

·         Improved text for Direct Debit in Germany

·         Improved text for explaining Gamertag, Gamercard, etc to users signing up

·         Improved text for recovering Gamertag dialogs

·         Improved text for Zune Accounts in Sign Up app

·         Improved text spacing for Recover Gamertag dialogs in Russian

·         Improved text support for handling expired credit cards during purchase transactions

·         Improved text to inform users that only 1 profile can have auto signin enabled

·         Improved text translations for Account Management in German

Ads

·         Added support for Audio Mute/Unmute for video ads

Community

·         Added double-high friends list to show more details for each friend

·         Added new feature "Inside Xbox" on the Xbox LIVE blade

·         Added support for richer profile viewing including Real name, Bio, Locations, etc

·         Added support to control privacy settings for Friends of Friends viewing

·         Added support to show friends a real name

·         Added support to view Friends of Friends

·         Display actual friends count and not list item count in Add Friend page

·         Improved German localized text for recent players blade

·         Improved robustness in Friends area when rapidly pressing A and B buttons

·         Improved support of viewing Friends profiles when friend has existing pending friends requests

·         Improved text messages for Privacy Settings in Blocked Communication scenarios

·         No longer report Invitations as 'sent' when communication set to 'blocked'

Dashboard

·         Added ability to twist UI left and right to filter/sort in Media lists

·         Added 'Downloads' button to game launch page on Games Blade

·         Added fade out transitions for transitions from dash to video playback

·         Added Friends Playing Now feature to Games Blade for Xbox LIVE Arcade, Xbox Originals, Xbox 360 disc based games, and Xbox 360 Demos.

·         Added grouping support for TV & Game content in Media Blade

·         Added localization support for AM / PM in 12-hour clock format for Traditional and Simplified Chinese

·         Added sort by Title/Date for acquired Video library content

·         Added support for Featured Downloads in Arcade area of Games Blade

·         Added support for twist controls in offline Dashboard and Xbox Guide

·         Added support for updating Marketplace, Xbox LIVE and Games blade without full system update download

·         Added support for Video album art on attached hard drives in separate .jpg files

·         Added support to not write trial-version Arcade games to user's played games history (this is only for newly downloaded games after the Dec'07 update is released)

·         Allow all signed in users to access Banners in Dashboard or Marketplace, not just first signed in user

·         Arcade area shows '--' instead of '0' for gamerscore when signed out

·         Changed UI Flow for Media connectivity: default to console, and allow users to change device via X button.  Also remember last chosen device

·         Disconnected MU or Controller Message persisted when launching back to Dashboard from Game Title

·         Improve accelerated scrolling speed for long lists

·         Improve transition speed of blades

·         Improved consistency in confirmation text when deleting items

·         Improved enumeration speed of lists in games blade

·         Improved error handling when signing out while viewing a marketplace ad

·         Improved handling of moving game profiles from MU to HDD

·         Improved localization text for Polish in System Update dialogs

·         Improved performance of Guide Transitions

·         Improved progress bar accuracy when moving large files from MU to HDD

·         Improved responsiveness of Dashboard overall

·         Improved robustness after attempting to resume an expired purchased video

·         Improved robustness when comparing achievements after connection to LIVE is lost

·         Improved support for Daylight Savings Time in Alaska time zone

·         Improved support for handling disc full when downloading movies from Marketplace

·         Improved text layout for blade names in CHT (Traditional Chinese)

·         Improved text on Startup page in System Blade area

·         Improved text translations for Arcade area in Japan

·         Removed PC Affiliation from the System Blade

·         Starting DVD playback with 2 or more wireless controllers shows all game pads on the console ring of light

·         Starting DVD playback with a mix of wired and wireless controllers now shows all game pads on the console ring of light

·         System Update Message in Russian properly formatted

DVD / HD-DVD

·         Added CHT language support to video players

·         Improved accuracy of tray state when ejecting multiple times

·         Improved robustness when ejecting discs from external HD-DVD drive

Family Settings

·         Added Family Play Timer Feature

·         Improved handling for resetting parental controls to default

Font Support

·         Added support for Virtual Keyboard and IME for Simplified Chinese

·         Improved CHT (Traditional Chinese) font support for game achievements

·         Gamer Profile

·         Dates and Times support region specific attributes

HDMI

·         Improved handling of AVMUTE for HDMI

·         Improved handling of CEA861 mode for HDMI

·         Improved handling of flashing during on/off mode changes

·         Improved handling of Standby-3 mode for HDMI

Keyboard

·         Added IME indicator for Messenger Conversations

·         Added support for F9 and F10 in Virtual Keyboards

·         Added support for Polish and Russian USB Keyboards

·         Improved Chatpad support for Korean Language

·         Improved handling of Caps Lock for JPN USB keyboards

·         Improved IME Japan Keyboards in Xbox Guide

·         Improved overall IME Self Learning support

·         Improved support for USB Keyboard with System UI Message displays

·         No longer show keyboard results when entering password via Chatpad or USB Keyboard

·         Removed extra '@' from CHT Virtual Keyboard

Marketplace

·         Added "Featured Items" as a top level section of Marketplace

·         Added "Featured Trailers" and "Shorts" options within the Movies area of Video Marketplace

·         Added Accelerated List Scrolling to Marketplace

·         Added List wrapping to Top Download lists in Marketplace

·         Added prefetching support for off-screen thumbnail images in Marketplace list views

·         Added support for "New Arrivals" area within Marketplace for all catalog content types

·         Added support for "Spotlight" area within Marketplace

·         Added support for displaying audio support in top level UI for videos on Marketplace

·         Added support for displaying Marketplace video previews in Full Screen mode (newly added files are encoded at higher bitrate, existing previews remain encoded at low bitrate)

·         Added support for multiple previews (varying languages) for International Video Marketplace (this is content provider dependent)

·         Added support for renting Movies in several international countries

·         Added support to Browse, Purchase, Download and play Xbox Original Games

·         Added support to cache metadata information for off-line usage in Media Blade library scenes

·         Added support to Play Now from Marketplace storefront for items already downloaded

·         Added support to prefetch off-screen thumbnails in Video Store

·         Added support to send actionable Marketplace recommendations to Friends for Arcade games

·         Added support to show audio language and subtitles for International Video Marketplace

·         Added Twist Control support for navigation and sorting

·         Allow Banner Messages to link to Arcade Titles

·         Changed "Media and Entertainment" to "Video Store"

·         Improved error handling for corrupt video content

·         Improved localization text for Belgium Profiles with Netherlands Marketplace

·         Improved robustness when service returns incorrect number of items when viewing Download History

·         Improved support of Parental Ratings with Arcade recommendations

·         Improved text for cases where License is not available for purchased video content

·         Improved text messaging for playing rental movies on consoles other than the console purchased with

·         Improved User Experience for Credit Card scenes in Russian

·         List wrapping functionality identical now between Media blade and Marketplace blade lists

·         More robust error handling for Add Points dialog page

·         TV Series on Marketplace now navigate directly to episode list instead of Season1

·         Unrated Titles now display ratings as "Rating: Pending or Unrated"

Media - All

·         Added more user friendly text for various error related messages

·         Added Shortcut keys from Remote Control: Pressing Play on a Video/Song/Picture will immediately start playback of that item from the list (pressing Start from gamepad does the same thing)

·         Added support for Album/Video artwork larger than 500kb

·         Added support to enumerate metadata in the background and not just when selected by the user

·         Added support to make sort options sticky across console reboots

·         Added support to show all available Media Sharing Servers on the local network and allow automatic re-affiliation

·         Automatically delete older versions of Optional Media Update package when new ones are downloaded

·         Improved consistency in storage naming across all areas

·         Improved performance for displaying Album Art when connected to remote sources

·         Improved text messaging when connection to PC is lost when streaming Music/Photo or videos

Media - Music

·         Added support for CD Playback from music area in Xbox 360 Guide area

·         Added support for listing multiple computer sources in Xbox Guide music sources

·         Added support for Y button to toggle full screen on and off for music visualizer

·         Disable 'play all' button when folders only contains playlists (with no audio files)

·         Disable Y button when no list items selected in Music player

·         Improved device support for new iPods (classic and 3rd gen Nano) - iPhone and iPod touch are not supported

·         Improved error handling for mixed encoded playlists (aac,mp3,wma)

·         Improved handling for MTP Music devices with >200k entries

·         Improved handling of game background music after playing videos in Dashboard

·         Improved handling of music playback over games (if music source terminates or has errors, background music returns to game background)

·         Improved performance for "Play All" with attached MTP devices

·         Improved performance of music enumeration via Guide

·         Improved robustness when playing back HFS+ formatted iPods

·         Improved support for returning to game background audio when user's music player session terminates

·         Improved support for scrolling song lists while listening to music during game playback

·         Improved support when ejecting game disc while selecting music source through Guide

Media - Pics

·         Added support to display PNG files when streamed from Windows Media Player 11 on Vista

·         Improved enumeration for PTP cameras including Cannon Powershot SD 630 and Apple Iphone

·         Improved playback performance of "Play All" when PC source has 1000s of photos and subdirectories

·         Support Folder view of Photos from MTP Portable Devices

Media - Video

·         Added 2 line support for entries in the Video Area of the Media Blade

·         Added ability to recognize Colorspace attribute for Video Marketplace Content

·         Added fade in transition for start of video playback

·         Added full screen buffering animation for streaming videos from Xbox LIVE

·         Added Suggestions scene for Video Library area in Media blade of the Dashboard

·         Added support for 16x Fast-forward/Rewind

·         Added support for AC3 embedded audio (see video faq for full information)

·         Added support for enumeration of video files from Zune 2.0 devices

·         Added support for Left Shoulder button on controller to chapter skip backward

·         Added support for Left Trigger button on controller to rewind

·         Added support for moving past the point user has viewed when doing progressive downloads of Video Marketplace videos

·         Added support for MP3 embedded audio (see video faq for full information)

·         Added support for Mpeg-4 part 2 video files in AVI containers

·         Added support for Right Shoulder button on controller to chapter skip forward

·         Added support for Right Trigger button on controller to fast forward

·         Added support for Zune Podcast video playback from Zune device

·         Added support to display metadata and thumbnails embedded in video files

·         Added support to enumerate .divx video files

·         Added support to group TV shows by Series in Video Library of Media Blade

·         Added support to group Video and Game Trailers into same area of Video Library of Media Blade

·         Added support to sort Movies or TV Shows by Title or Download date in Video Library of Media Blade

·         Added top level support to show expired or soon to expire information for purchased movies from Video Marketplace in Media Blade

·         Improve support for "Play Now" calculations with ISP that boost download for the first 20MB of a file

·         Improved accuracy of bookmark positions when video player abnormally ends

·         Improved accuracy of download progress bar after chapter skipping operations

·         Improved auto resizing experience for small (under 100x100) video files

·         Improved Bookmark / Resume experience with 60fps Interlaced WMV videos

·         Improved bookmark support while progressively downloading videos from Marketplace

·         Improved calculations for "Play Now" for Video Marketplace downloads

·         Improved deinterlacer support for video playback

·         Improved enumeration speed for user-generated video content in Media Blade

·         Improved error message support when playing back video files without valid licenses

·         Improved error message support when pulling USB drive while playing back video files

·         Improved handling for USB memory stick removal while on Video device selection list in Media blade

·         Improved handling of video playback when transitioning from 4x FF to Play with MP4 video files

·         Improved handling of WMV bookmarks when rewinding and shutting down video player

·         Improved info pane timer when playing back DRM's WMV content from Windows Media Player 11 from Windows PC

·         Improved message support for progressive video playback

·         Improved overall UI, content descriptions and navigation of Video Library of Media Blade

·         Improved performance during Fast Forward to Playback transition when playing back MP4 content

·         Improved performance for buffering and playback of streaming videos from Xbox LIVE

·         Improved performance for low bandwidth streaming of MP4 videos from Zune PC software v1.0

·         Improved performance of skip forward/backward with WMV video files

·         Improved performance of trick modes when streaming videos from Zune PC client

·         Improved performance of WMV playback for WMV7 & WMV8 encoded video files

·         Improved playback experience after extended pauses of video files from Marketplace

·         Improved playback experience when resuming from a stopped/paused state

·         Improved playback performance for h264 720p .MOV files

·         Improved playback performance with 1920x1080 MP4 files

·         Improved playback performance with 5Mb h264 encoded video files

·         Improved playback performance with 60fps 720x480 MP4 content

·         Improved playback performance with h264 files in .m4v containers

·         Improved quality for upscaled user videos when played back full screen

·         Improved quality of MP4 decoder: Global Motion Compensation and VMX optimizations

·         Improved quality of MP4 decoder: improved Interlaced Support

·         Improved quality of MP4 decoder: Out of order frame output, bidirectional motion vector handling, etc.

·         Improved quality with  non-square pixel video files

·         Improved responsiveness of trick mode controls for video playback

·         Improved robustness during chapter skipping of h264 video files

·         Improved robustness for streaming problematic video files from Zune PC Software 1.0 or Windows Media Player 11

·         Improved robustness of video player when playback catches up to downloads in progressive playback scenarios

·         Improved robustness of video streaming when network congestion / stalls occur

·         Improved robustness when closing video player after attempting to play a video file that would not open

·         Improved robustness when entering and exiting video playback on a portable device repeatedly

·         Improved robustness when exiting video files encoded in h264 and playing back from attached USB HDD

·         Improved robustness when playing back Mp4 video with consecutive bad aac samples encoded into it

·         Improved robustness when shutting down console during h264 video playback

·         Improved robustness when trying to play a video recently moved from MU to HDD or vice versa

·         Improved robustness with video player when exiting player via Xbox Guide button -> Y

·         Improved support for AAC-LC 2 channel encoded audio in MP4 video files

·         Improved support for chapter skipping during progressive downloads of Marketplace Video content

·         Improved support for MP4 video files with discontinuous time stamps encoded in

·         Improved support for MP4 video playback from burned optical dvd-r's

·         Improved support for resuming downloaded videos after reaching end of an uncompleted download

·         Improved support for resuming partially downloaded videos from Marketplace

·         Improved support for using Big Button controller during video playback

·         Improved support for Video bookmarks when playing MP4 videos from USB portable hard drives

·         Improved sync of video display and info pane display when rewinding

·         Improved text for Windows Media Center setup instructions

·         Improved Trick mode support when streaming videos with AAC embedded audio

·         Improved video performance for 60fps interlaced WMV videos

·         Improved Video performance with 15Mbs 1080i 24fps WMV video files

·         Improved video playback for Fast-forward and immediate exit usage with h264 video files

·         Improved video playback of MP4 content from Zune PC Software v1.0

·         Improved video playback when source content has incorrect sync samples encoded

·         Improved video quality for SD Composite AV pack displays of the on-screen display for video controls

·         Improved video support for chapter skipping of MP4 videos

·         Improved Videotrick mode support with 24fps 1080i WMV video files

·         Improved visual display of WMV video files while rewinding

·         Improved WMV Playback performance for 60fps and 1080i 30fps videos

·         Improved WMV7 performance with VLC encoded content

·         Removed occasional purple flickers in video playback when transitioning between FF and RW

·         Removed potential 9 second delay when rewinding WMV video files

Messaging

·         Removal of stale Xbox 1 Team Recruit Messages from Xbox 360 Message Center

Messenger

·         Added "Invite Friends" scene after Messenger/Windows Live ID switching dialog

·         Added localization support for "<user> has joined conversation" in Messenger

·         Added messenger notification to Private Chat

·         Added support for adding contacts via Windows Live ID from Xbox 360 console

·         Added support for child accounts (ages 13 through 17)

·         Added support for dual platform invites / text messages to PC client

·         Added support for IME in Chatpad overlay

·         Added support to send game invite to Messenger Contact from Xbox 360

·         Display Signin option instead of Join Xbox LIVE when accessing messenger from a signed out profile

·         Improved handling of transitions between messenger conversations and personal profiles

·         Improved localization text for Spanish, Portuguese and Russian in Chat and IM dialogs

·         Improved online status reporting with accounts that have passcodes set

·         Improved performance of buddy list enumeration

·         Improved performance with greater than 250 contacts

·         Improved performance with Messenger and large lists

·         Improved support for sending multiple friends requests from messenger contact dialog

·         Improved support for signing up for Messenger on 2nd signed in profiles

·         Improved sync performance between buddies and gamertag friends during login

·         Improved text message for blocking Windows Live ID Child accounts

·         Improved visual display of Up/Down arrows on Select Contacts scene

·         No longer displaying '??' when Kanji characters are used in Messenger Display Names

·         Nudges from messenger now translated into rumble notifications on controller during game/movie playback

·         Remove flash of LED on controller when Chatpad keyboard is invoked

·         Removed 2nd notification when connection to LIVE and signed into Messenger

·         Updated icons for Messenger in Private Chat area

System

·         Added fade out transition when powering down console

·         Added support for browsing XNA games within the Games blade

·         Added support for XNA Game Studio Express V.2

·         Added support to connect to Apple Extreme routers in 802.11a/n mode

·         Added support to pause background downloads when streaming full screen videos or ads

·         Added support to retrieve game thumbnail directly from XNA game package

·         Added system wide support for Simplified Chinese language

·         Added text to explain flashing LED in the Ring of Light during background download low power mode

·         Addressed rare case where game disc would spin in the DVD drive while playing HD-DVD Movie in external HD-DVD drive

·         Disable Optical audio output when in low power background download mode

·         DVD player no longer converts to YCbCr709 when output is over HDMI

·         Improved auto sign-in to Xbox LIVE with Xbox 360 Wireless Adapter

·         Improved clock accuracy for S/PDIF optical streams

·         Improved compatibility with NEC WR8400N WiFi routers

·         Improved download speeds when in low power background download mode

·         Improved DVD Tray State notifications immediately after application of System Update

·         Improved Forced Aspect Ratio Changes via HDMI output (including DVI)

·         Improved handling when ejecting game disc during game start

·         Improved handling when removing MU after sending Arcade game recommendation to friend

·         Improved localization text for Wifi setup in German

·         Improved performance for Game Titles to reboot in backcompat scenarios

·         Improved performance of Xbox Guide during Messenger signin

·         Improved robustness when ejecting game disc when prompted for game title update

·         Improved robustness when inserting two MU's at the same time on the device selector scene

·         Improved support for 3rd Party Controllers

·         Improved support for Buffalo WiFi routers

·         Improved support for Creston AV receivers with HDMI

·         Improved support for JPN Corega CG-BARFX network router

·         Improved support for signing into Xbox LIVE with Big Button Controller

·         Improved support for starting console with Big Button Controller when console is charging attached Wireless Controllers

·         Improved Xbox guide performance ~2x

·         Removed "Windows-based PC" from Computers area in Systems blade

·         Removed option to "Turn off Controller" when using Big Button Controller

·         Resync the Ring of Light pattern to the boot audio/animation

·         Updated copyright dates for 2007

FAQ Updates Listed at the bottom (last update 5/16/07)

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.

4.    How do I create H.264 and MPEG-4 Part 2 content? What encoders does Xbox 360 support?

You can create this content on one of many 3^rd-party applications. Xbox 360 supports many popular encoders.

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.

7.    What is the maximum video file size that is supported?

The maximum file size for an MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264 file that can be played is 4 GB. However, Windows Media Player 11 and the Zune software do support streaming WMV files greater than 4GB.

8.    Do you support 5.1 channel AAC?

No. Only 2-channel AAC is supported. If you want to play a 5.1-channel video on your console, you will need to encode it to WMV with WMAPro 5.1 audio.

9.    Do you support DivX?

No.

10. Do you support MPEG-2?

No. Xbox 360 Media Center Extender does support MPEG-2, but you can't play this content in the Xbox 360 video player .

11. Does Xbox 360 Media Center Extender support MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264?

Not at this time. You must play these videos in the Xbox Dashboard.

12. Does Xbox 360 display embedded artwork for MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264 files?

Yes. You can embed your artwork that is less than 400KB in the video files and they will be shown in the Xbox 360 video area when streaming from the Zune software.

13. How do display modes work?

There are 5 display modes: auto, letterbox, fullscreen, stretch, and native. You can access these modes while watching a video by pressing Display on your remote or A on your controller.

a.    The auto setting attempts to automatically determine what the best viewing experience is for your video. If it is a very low quality video, it will enlarge it enough to be viewable on your screen while limiting the size for optimal viewing. If the video is of higher quality, it will it will enlarge it to fit the TV. For both scenarios, it will retain the aspect ratio of the original video (for example, 4x3 or 16x9).

b.    Letterbox mode will display your image full screen while retaining the aspect ratio of the original video. Use this if you want to override the auto function and fit the content to your TV.

c.    Fullscreen mode will display your image full screen with the assumption the video is 16x9 formatted for 4x3 screens. This can be helpful for older content that may be 4x3 with black bars encoded into the video. This mode will allow you to zoom through the black bars and see it as wide screen.

d.    Stretch mode will display your image full screen and stretch 4x3 content horizontally to fill a 16x9 TV. This can be helpful for those who always want to fill their TV regardless of the aspect ratio of the content. This causes 4x3 content to appear stretched.

e.    Native mode allows you to see the content at its original resolution. Use this to view content that is extremely low resolution or very low bitrates.

14. How are display mode settings saved?

Every time you watch a new video, the display mode defaults to auto. If you decide to change the setting, each time you watch the same video the console will remember what you chose last time.

15. What is the information bar?

The information bar on the on-screen display (OSD) now shows you exactly where you are in the video and where the chapters are in the file. In addition, for downloaded content, it will also show how much of the video has been downloaded.

16. How are the chapters determined?

Each video is divided into 10 chapters, allowing you to quickly move around the video content. Use skip to move to the next or previous chapter. Each chapter appears as a tick on the information bar.

17. Can I fast forward, rewind, and skip while watching content while it's being downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace?

You can move around in video you have already watched. For example, if you watch 15 minutes of a TV show, you can to go back 10 minutes and then skip forward to the 15 minute mark again (where you left off).  After the video is fully downloaded, you can move through the entire video.

18. After the May 2007 update, my 3^rd party software doesn't stream videos correctly. Why?

Video navigation was changed in the May 2007 update. 3^rd party software that does not support folders through network sharing will not work correctly. You'll have to contact the software developer for support.

19. How can I set up Windows Media Player 11 or Zune to share my media to my console?

For info about setting up sharing, see http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/digitalmedia/pc.htm.

20. Should I continue to use Windows Media Connect (WMC) to stream video to my Xbox 360?

Windows Media Connect can be used but is no longer supported. You can manage and stream content to Xbox 360 with Windows Media Player 11 or the Zune software.

21. What are the different video codecs that Zune and Windows Media Player support out of the box for streaming?

The Zune software supports unprotected WMV, MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264. Windows Media Player 11 supports protected and unprotected WMV.

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.

23. I can't see my video files from the Zune software on my console. What's wrong?

Make sure that the folders containing the videos you want to share with your console are included in the Zune software's list of monitored folders.

24. I received a message that says a media update is required to play the content. When I download the update I get the message "The download could not be completed. Please try again later. Any points you used for this transaction have already been deducted from your balance and will not be deducted again" with error code 8070005. Explain.

You'll get this error if you previously downloaded the media update on another Xbox 360 console with the same profile. You are only allowed to download the update on one console per profile. You can work around this by creating a temporary Silver membership to download the update. Once it's downloaded, you will be able to use the update with any profile.

Hmm, looks like we got there first.  Again.

What takes 4.7 million lines of code, partner teams from all over Microsoft, and millions of dollars to create?  The Xbox 360 system software?  Nope.  This is just the HD DVD player.

The Xbox platform team (us) is experiencing its own emergence day as of late; we've been hard at work for the past 8 months straight bringing the fall system update to fruition.  I haven't even posted since August.  Daryl's already gone over a lot of the features and changes that are in this release.  I've personally been working on the Xbox 360 HD DVD player (which, by the way, reached the #1 best seller slot on Amazon.com's video games category) and I thought I'd go over some of the technical difficulties it takes to bring HD DVD to market.

There's a perception that HD DVD is just DVD with HD content, but once you look at things more closely, it's clear that HD DVD is a different beast altogether.  The Xbox platform team became serious about HD DVD last year, when Microsoft as a company threw its endorsement behind the standard.

The Xbox 360 HD DVD Player, for the most part, is an entirely software based implementation.  Other players on the market have specialized chips (called DSPs) that decode things like H.264, MPEG, VC1, DTS, Dolby Digital, and other codecs.  Much like how backwards compatibility for Xbox 1 works on Xbox 360, the heavy parts of HD DVD are all done on Xbox 360's triple-core CPU.

If DVD is an audio/video pipeline with some navigation data (go to the menu, start playing, etc.), HD DVD can be considered a runtime environment where audio/video playback is just one major feature.  So let's break down that 4.7 million lines of code.  I don't have the numbers for each component, but each of these is a very significant chunk:

• Video Codecs: H.264, MPEG-2, VC1
• Audio Codecs: Dolby Digital+, DTS, TrueHD, LPCM, MPEG
  
• HDi: The HD DVD runtime engine.
• GDI: Drawing stuff like menus
  
• AACS: Cryptography/DRM stuff
• MF: Audio/Video pipeline

That's a lot of stuff.  Some of the acronyms may not be recognizable.  GDI is the Graphics Device Interface, which has been a mainstay of the Windows operating system for many years, providing facilities to draw stuff on screens.  MF is Media Foundation - a framework for audio/video pipelines that was being built for Windows Vista.  The Windows teams in charge of the above components all pitched in to make them work on Xbox 360 while continuing to work on other Windows projects (Vista, CE, etc.) - quite a task.

A lot of the codecs existed in code at Microsoft before the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player was being built.  However, it was all code that was optimized for PC platforms (windows/x86) and not Xbox 360's PPC core.  This meant doing a lot of optimization.  In this regard, the Xbox 360 implementation of H.264 can be considered a crowning achievement.  For this computationally expensive codec, a hybrid approach was taken.  Since GPUs are very good at parallelized workloads, stuff that could be parallelized is computed there, while the stuff that can't is better suited to the CPU and is done there.

Unlike DVD, where typical players pass the audio data from the disc through to your receiver, HD DVD requires that players mix sounds from menus and such in with the audio being played for the movie.  The 360 player software decodes all the above codecs in software, mixes anything that needs to go together, re-encodes it into Dolby Digital and then sends that to your receiver.  So, don't be alarmed when your receiver still says "Dolby Digital" even if you've selected DTS in the menus. 

All 6 of Xbox 360's hardware threads are hard at work while playing back an HD DVD.  At the moment, the player software pushes Xbox 360 harder than any other (save, perhaps, Gears of War during some particularly busy parts of the game).

If I'd have known how much work it was going to be bringing the 360 HD DVD Player out this year, I may not have signed up last year, but now that I can watch HD movies, it's hard to go back to crummy old DVD :)

Streaming High Definition Video over a Wireless Network

With the Xbox 360 Flash Fall 2006 System Update, we've added support for WMV video playback from new sources.  If you've read the video format post, you'll see that your Xbox has the ability to playback high definition (HD) video encoded in the Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile (VC1) codec.  This means that you'll not only be able to watch High Definition video from external sources like a USB drive, CD, DVD, but also PC.

However, when you decide to stream HD content over your home wireless network, you might see performance degradation in the form of choppiness. This post is to provide you with some workarounds and suggestions to fix the choppiness.

Workarounds

Generally the performance degradation happens due to issues like interference, assuming you have an 802.11g router. The easiest, most cost-effective way to get around this is to wire your Xbox to your router via a LAN cable. Doing so will provide the best streaming quality bar none; although that probably was not the answer you wanted to hear.

A second (albeit more expensive) workaround is to purchase a router capable of 802.11a. Choppy video performance is likely due to either too much interference on your wireless’ operating frequency due to home appliances (i.e. the microwave, the cordless phone, or Bluetooth devices) or too much interference on overlapping g wireless channels.

802.11a has clear (non-overlapping channels) and operates on 5Ghz, a frequency that doesn’t have as many home appliances running within it, which makes it a better mode to stream anything that requires a lot of bandwidth. For more information on the differences between 802.11a and g, jump down to “802.11a vs. 802.11g.”

Through testing done by the Windows Media Center Team, it was determined that 802.11a is almost on par with 802.11g in terms of barrier penetration and range. Even so, it’s advised that you should only pass 802.11a through at most one wall for the best performance. If you still run into problems, even with 802.11a, you can read more about 802.11a drawbacks and an optimal environment by jumping down to “An optimal wireless streaming environment”

I wasn’t trying to stream HD content; I was trying to stream standard definition content over my 802.11b network!

You’ll probably notice that there wasn’t really mention of 802.11b in the workaround discussion. While it’s still a valid wireless mode, it’s the weakest of the three modes, capable of only providing ~6Mbps in ideal instances on an operational frequency of 2.4 Ghz. This mode will likely have problems even streaming non HD content, and is unable to stream HD content. If possible, for all content, use at least 802.11g which will give you good performance with standard definition content; 802.11a will likely give the best results for both standard and high definition content.

How do I know what wireless mode my 360 is connected to?

Start up your 360 without a game and it will boot to the dashboard. Go to the System Blade and scroll down to Network settings. Press A to see your Basic settings and you should see what 802.11 Wireless Mode your 360 is connected on be it a, b, or g.

802.11a vs. 802.11g

Yes, 802.11a and 802.11g have the same max throughput (25 Mbps not 54 Mbps as advertised due to WiFi being half-duplex communication technology). Streaming High Def usually requires about 19-24 Mbps, which means that your WiFi mode, be in a or b/g needs to be running at max throughput through the course of your video. Interference on a g network can compromise the performance of your WiFi network and thus cause degradation in performance.

The operational frequency of 802.11g is 2.4 Ghz, which is a common operating frequency for devices such as the microwave, all Bluetooth devices, and cordless phones. This means that if you have any of the above devices running, your home network could take a hit in performance due to the interference generated by your household appliances. The operational frequency of 802.11a is 5 Ghz which is a more uncommon operating frequency, mitigating it from interference caused by other devices.

IEEE 802.11 a/b/g all communicate in their respective operational frequencies by splitting their frequencies into several channels. A major difference between b/g and a is that the channels in b/g overlap, creating interference whereas the channels in a do not. In general, channel 1 on a b/g network overlaps with channels 2, 3, 4, and 5. This means that if your home network is on channel 1, but your neighbor’s home network is on channel 2, your WiFi signals may interfere, causing a degradation of performance for both networks (WiFi pollution). Contrast to this is 802.11a which has 12 clear channels meaning there’s less of a chance that you will incur a performance hit.

An Optimal Wireless Streaming Environment

We’ve found that optimal streaming performance occurs when you have either your PC or your XBOX connected to your router via a LAN and the other connected wirelessly over 802.11a. If you connect your PC to the router, then connect your Xbox wirelessly via Wireless Networking Adaptor to the 802.11a router or vice versa, do not connect both the PC and the Xbox to the router wirelessly.

Your 802.11a router should be in less than 20-feet with a clear line of sight to the device that’s connected to it wirelessly. This is especially important for 802.11a which theoretically has less range and worse material penetration than 802.11b or 802.11g.

The end goal is to reduce the amount of devices on the WiFi network to reduce any possible factors that might degrade performance.

Compiled by: Jun Ma (GT: shunsoku)

Sources

Netgear’s Wireless Networking Basics Manual

http://documentation.netgear.com/reference/fra/wireless/pdfs/FullManual.pdf

Wikipedia’s entry on Wireless Networking

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wi-Fi#Wi-Fi:_How_it_works

As you may have heard, with the Xbox 360 Flash Fall 2006 System Update we are adding support for WMV video playback from new sources.  Videos can be streamed from a PC running Windows Media Connect, Windows Media Player 11, or the new Zune client player, and can also be played from Optical Disc and most USB mass storage devices.  For all these sources, only the WMV video file format and codecs are supported.

How do I know if a video file will work on the Xbox 360?

Currently only the Windows Media Video (WMV) file format and codecs are supported.  If you have a file with a “.wmv” extension, then the odds are pretty good that it will work.  Technical details on the types of files we support can be found at the end of this post, but the easiest way to find out if a file will work or not is to just try it.  Hopefully after you click play the video will show up on your display, but if the content is not supported you will simply get an “Unplayable Content” message blade from the side of the screen and then be returned to the Video blade.

How do I create videos that will play on my Xbox 360?

Windows Movie Maker, a standard feature of Windows XPSP2, will output WMV video files compatible with the Xbox 360 console.  Either use the default settings when you finish a movie and click “Save to my computer,” or just make sure that the output video format you select shows the file type as “Windows Media Video (WMV).”

Videos will usually look best when they are closest to the original resolution that they were created with.  Try to create video files at least 360 pixels high in vertical resolution in order to minimize content upscaling on the console. 

If you decide you want finer control of the output video file format, download a version of Windows Media Encoder (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/) and then start encoding away.  Optimal size and bitrate settings will vary depending on the source material you are encoding.  As a general guideline though, 1.5 Mbps is a typical bitrate that should be suitable for most standard definition content, and 8 Mbps is a common bitrate for high definition content.

Can I get more technical details about the kinds of files you support?

WMV video files with the extension “.wmv” are stored in a generic file container format known as ASF.  ASF files can contain many different types of codecs within them.  Xbox 360 supports most common WMV video codecs, as seen in the following chart:

Supported Video Codecs:

There are some files with “.wmv” extension that may play on a PC, but are unsupported on the Xbox 360 console.  Windows Media Screen, Windows Media 9 Image (Photostory), and some older Microsoft codecs are unsupported, as seen in the following chart:

Unsupported Codecs:

Anamorphic content with nonsquare pixels is currently unsupported on Xbox 360 console, and will be displayed as if the pixels were square.  If you want to play such content on your console, it is recommended that you re-encode the content in a square pixel format.

Hello everyone,

Wow, only 5 months have passed since we first posted about the Spring update. The release process never seems to slow down but as tired as we all are, I’m still excited to be talking about our third major update to our system software for Xbox 360.  Later tonight (or early in the morning depending on your location) the November ’06 update will go live and with it you will get to see the work we’ve put in over the last 5 months.

Coming out of Spring we looked really hard at all the feedback each of you provided.  We are always listening to our Product Support people.  We dissected the replies from Major Nelson’s blog and of course we review the feedback from the Xbox.com forums.  In addition we are all gamers, and we are passionate about making our product better.  This will be the third evolution of our system software and with it I’m super proud of what we’re delivering.  I’m hoping that you guys will be too.

Back in my original post from June I explained the concept of ‘Your Games, Your Friends and Your Lifestyle’.  This is still something we pivot around in our planning for Xbox 360 and it provides a good framework to talk about some of the changes we’ve made with this release.

For Your Games, we invested heavily in enabling new experiences.  The Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel is an awesome accessory and we worked around the clock to make sure that there was support in the system for this cool new experience.  Wireless is where it’s at in the Next-Gen and this is why we’re excited to also provide support for the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset as well.  People loved not being tethered to the console with their controllers before, now they can be totally wire free when online with their friends using the new Wireless Headset.  And they can be wireless to their console when tearing up the laps using the new wheel.

Here on the 360 Team we all love Xbox Live Arcade and from all the downloads of games we know you do as well.  The Arcade team did an amazing job in improving their part of the dashboard this release.  Being able to auto-download new titles….seeing your friends scores from the Arcade page….improving the enumeration speeds, are all part of the improvements in this area.  We’re really proud of how well Arcade has done since launch but now we get to look forward to the games you guys may create via XNA Express.  We worked closely with the XNA team to ensure support was in this release for developing your own games and running them on a retail Xbox 360 console.  I’ve seen some of the really cool games being developed on XNA Express that have just blown me away.  Enthusiasts and hobbyists around the world have been anxious to develop games on a next-gen console, and now they can. 

For Your Lifestyle, we decided to focus heavily on video with this release.  One of the ‘loudest’ feedback items we heard over and over was around not being able to stream videos unless you had a Windows Media Center Edition PC.  I can’t even begin to count how many conspiracy theories there were around why this limitation was in place.  With this update we can now dispel all those theories.  We are now streaming videos from your XP / Vista PC and you can even play them back from USB 2.0 drives or data discs if you’d like.  I know we are going to get a lot of feedback on the codec support we provided with this release.  Let me save everyone the trouble….we know that WMV is not the only video format out there….we know that people want more choices…. and we know folks will want other codecs like H.264 / Mpeg4 / Divx / etc.  Our approach from launch day last year is that we listen to constructive feedback and while I can’t promise anything for the future, I can promise that we will listen and will improve our system software over time.  Some things are just not doable because of legal or licensing issues, but where possible we really try to drive new digital entertainment experiences for your lifestyle.  Additional codec support is already something we’re thinking of for the future.

In addition to the streaming video support, we spent a huge amount of time getting the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player support baked into the system.  I’ve been playing movies on my final production HD DVD unit and I’m amazed at the picture quality and interactive features built into the HD DVD movies.  I hope everyone else gets a chance to the player out.  Once you’ve gone HD, you just can’t go back!

We also worked closely with our co-workers in Zune to make sure the experience with a Zune device is handled really well on the Xbox 360.  We expect that streaming videos, music and pictures will be popular with folks and I look forward to increasing the support between the two devices.  Also with the Zune software on your PC you can stream AAC encoded files to your Xbox 360, something that wasn’t possible prior to this release.

With this release out the door, we’ll take a step back, collect our breaths and start to get ready for the next one.  Post your feedback because we love to hear about how you’d improve and make this system better.  We believe that incredible software and world class services are what make us stand out in this next generation.  Your feedback guides us on what to improve or add.

Now it’s time to find some time for in-depth ‘product testing’ on some of the new games coming out.  I’ve had a chance to play the final version of Gears of War and Viva Pinata, and both of them are amazing.  I’m really looking forward to Rainbow Six: Vegas, as I had a chance to meet the dev team and help them integrate the Xbox Live Vision into the game about 11 months ago.

Thanks everyone,

Daryl Welsh (GT: IndieGames)

Below is the full feature list of changes with this release.

NEW FEATURES

• HD 1080p video mode support over VGA and component.
• Xbox 360 HD DVD Player support.
• Stream WMV video from a Windows-based PC running Windows Media Player 11, Zune software, or Windows Media Connect.
• Play video from storage devices such as USB Flash drives, Xbox 360 Memory Units, etc.
• Play video from CD or DVD data discs.
• Xbox 360 Wireless Headset support, including battery level indicator in the Xbox Guide.
• Video support for 50-Hz HDTV modes (DVD and HD DVD only).
• Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel support.
• Set up automatic downloads of newly released Xbox Live Arcade trial games.
• Support for upcoming release of XNA Game Studio Express (separate download and subscription required.)
• Stream music, pictures, and video from a Zune device.
• Stream AAC (non-DRM) Music from Zune software

SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS

Xbox Live Arcade

·         Lightning-fast enumeration and listing of all Xbox Live Arcade games on the console.

·         Find games quickly with two new sort options: Recently Played and By Category.

·         Have all new Xbox Live Arcade games at the ready with auto-downloads. Auto-downloads optionally adds newly released trial versions of games to active downloads when you enter Xbox Live Arcade.

·         View full achievement info in Xbox Live Arcade, including icons, achievement point details, and descriptions.

·         Friends leaderboard: Compare yourself with friends and view leaderboard details right from the Xbox Dashboard.

·         Tell a friend: Send a message to a friend about your newest favorite Xbox Live Arcade game.

DVD Player

• Optionally disable notifications from Xbox Live while watching DVD movies.
• Improved support for audio streams on incorrectly authored DVDs.
• Better handling of unreadable discs.
• Updated countdown timer.
• Xbox 360 HD DVD Player support.
• Added zoom support for non-anamorphic content.

Video Player

·         Improved support for extended all-black scenes in WMV content.

·         Added support for Windows Media Video 9 Advanced profile video.

·         Screen saver now becomes active when videos are paused.

·         Now shares UI and player controls with DVD player.

·         Improved video playback while downloading from Xbox Live.

·         Added skip controls (forward approx. 30 seconds, back approx. 7 seconds).

·         Improved messaging around unplayable video content.

·         Added time elapsed and time remaining displays.

·         Improved playback of high bit-rate HD content on fragmented hard drives.

·         Improved visual quality of video playback.

·         Added selectable display modes: default and letterbox zoom.

Localization

·         New locale setting for China.

·         Improved German translations in console settings.

·         Improved German translations in Memory area.

·         Improved Japanese translations in Family Settings.

·         Added localized text for all supported languages in Pictures area.

·         Improved Spanish translations in camera effects.

·         Improved locale-specific decimal denominators.

·         Added localization support for title menu and main menu in the DVD player.

·         Added localization support for “Attempting to Read Media” system message.

·          

Memory Area

·         Added support for Xbox 360 HD DVD Player content..

·         Added new page for viewing content size by category.

Other System Improvements

·         Updated support for new Daylight Saving changes coming in 2007.

·         Improved support for games to better handle host migration in multi-player matches.

·         Improved Xbox Live Vision camera support for changing room lighting while zooming.

·         Background-downloaded videos appear in video area

·         Improved Xbox Live Vision camera support while using VGA.

·         Playing photo slideshows from PC now maintains picture folder hierarchy.

·         Improved user experience when playing and deleting videos from the Games or Media areas.

·         Improved handling of invalid characters during Xbox Live signup.

·         Better handling of watermarks in gamer cards.

·         Improved text for Windows Media Connect..

·         Improved UI performance in Windows Media Center.

·         Improved connection support for Buffalo WZR-G108 wireless router when using Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter.

·         Redownload of deleted Xbox Live Arcade Games no longer re-enumerates all games on the Xbox Live Arcade page.

·         Improved visual display of text in themes.

·         Improved support for CD playback after signing up for Xbox Live and losing network connectivity.

·         Improved support for long names of items Memory area.

·         Improved handling of gamer pictures downloaded from Xbox Live.

·         Improved background download notifications when downloading many small items from Xbox Live.

·         Improved support for custom backgrounds after returning to the Xbox Dashboard from the Account Management area.

·         Improved network reliability between Windows Media Center on Windows Vista and Xbox 360 consoles using Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter.

·         Improved voice chat quality in Xbox Dashboard and in-game chats.

·         Improved messaging when failing to connect to Windows Media Center.

·         Improved USB keyboard support when using a USB hub.

·         Improved consistency of user experience when deleting various types of content.

·         Improved handling of low storage space for background downloads.

·         Improved handling of picture streaming from attached digital cameras over MTP protocol.

·         Improved error messaging for optional iPod support download when storage devices are full.

·         Improved handling of multi-key repeating for USB keyboards.

·         Expanded Family Settings to include support for blocking unrated DVDs and videos.

·         Added ability to clear space from storage devices in download areas.

·         Added support for low-speed and full-speed USB keyboards.

·         Improved caps lock behavior for USB keyboards.

·         Improved look and feel for Xbox Live Marketplace and Xbox Live Arcade.

·         Added redeem code option to Xbox Live signup.

·         Removed system message at the start of new downloads. Messages will be displayed for completed items.

·         Added support for CCV credit card validation field in Xbox Live Marketplace purchase areas.

·         Updated “More Information” instructions in the Xbox Dashboard for connecting an Xbox 360 console to a Windows-based PC to stream digital media content.

·         Added auto-scroll to long text descriptions in Xbox Dashboard UI.

·         Improved support for DVD insertion while playing a video file.

Today an update for Backwards Compatibility was released via Xbox Live.  Below is a list of the titles affected by this release.

By the way this is the largest update of new titles (39) since Launch of Xbox 360 last year..

Over the past few months, forumers have reported issues with certain content items functioning improperly. Prevalent among these issues was the report that their purchased content was no longer being recognized as “purchased” by their boxes. The reason people seem to be having issues with these items is because of licensing.

When an item is purchased and subsequently downloaded for the first time, licenses to use the downloaded content are created and passed out to two separate locations. First, a license is created and issued to the console. This license enables all accounts to use this content freely, as long as the content is being accessed from said console – any profile being used on the console will be able to use the content while on the console.

Second, a license is created and issued to the profile used to purchase the item. This license is different in that it allows the profile to use the content on whichever console it currently resides on, but only if it is connected to live. Only the signed-in account can use the paid-for content – a license would have to be purchased on that console for everyone to be able to play. This seems to be where some people are getting tripped up – bringing a profile with a license on it to another console will not give the second console a license as well.

Example Scenario:

Say we have Consoles A and B, and profiles Player1, Player2, Player3.

Player 1 purchases the full version of Geometry Wars on Console A.  Console A now has a license for Geometry Wars, and anybody can play the full version of the game on that console. Player2 and Player3 are both able to enjoy the game as well on console A, as the console is licensed.

If Player1 moves to console B, he can still play the full version of Geometry Wars while he is signed into Live, as his profile has the license for the game. Player2 and Player3 would both be able to play the full version on console B, as well, as long as Player1 is connected to live on the same console. Once Player1 disconnects, however, Player2 and Player3, can only play the trial version, because they do not have the license, and nor does Console B. The only way Console B can be licensed is if another profile (Player2 or Player3) purchases the content on the new console.

Hopefully, this helps to clarify some of the issues you folks have been having. I’ll do my best to keep actively reading the forums, and will try to help out in any way I can.

Millael (Ben Salem)

Hey folks,

My name is Kevin Meyer (gamertag: doulWeapons) and I'm on the test team for some of the Xbox 360's system software like the dashboard and the guide. I'm going to talk a little bit about the exciting world of PAL video modes!  Well, maybe it's not that exciting, but some users have had some confusion on the subject, so we at the Xbox Team blog thought we'd lend a hand in helping you understand what's going on, and what you can do.

The PAL video specification supports two frequencies for output, 50 and 60 hertz.  The Xbox 360 supports both frequencies at standard definition (480i), but only outputs at 60hz for high def resolutions (480p, 720p, and 1080i).  However, just because the system supports 50 Hz doesn't mean that every game will, and there are a handful of games that won't work at 50Hz.  These include Feeding Frenzy and The Outfit among others.  If your system is set to PAL 50 output mode, you will see a message telling you that the game doesn't support the current video mode.  However, if you are in High Def mode, some of these games, like the two I mentioned above, will still show the warning.

There was a problem with an early version of the development kit given to game developers that still paid attention to the SD setting for PAL mode, even when your system is set to HD mode.  This has since been fixed so new games that have the 50 Hz limitation for SD won't hit this problem, but it's a large amount of work for developers to go back and fix the games that already have the problem.

Lucky for you, there is an easy way to get around this problem.  First you need to switch back to using SD mode - flip the switch on your Component HD AV pack to the SD setting, or temporarily swap out your VGA AV pack for a Component (SD) AV pack, S-Video pack, or HD pack set to SD mode.

Next go to the System Blade, pick Console Settings, then Display, and change your output mode to PAL 60. 

Now just switch back to your HD video mode of choice, and you are ready to go.

- doulWeapons (kevin.)

The Team Xbox crew recently sat down for an interview with Digimask.  The article is a good read, but what I find exciting are the images they captured for the in-game players.  These are awesome!

I have an affinity for the camera as I was part of the team that brought it to reality over the last 18 months, and results are exceeding even our own expectations.  I'm really looking forward to the next World Series of Poker, especially since it'll have camera support over Xbox Live.  (a small shout-out to my buddy Chip, who's the exec-producer for the game....keep up the awesome work!)

-IndieGames (Daryl Welsh)

We posted two updates last night.

New System Update:

This update has no new features.  It only addresses a font issue that consoles with a language set to Chinese would have seen. (System Version for this new update is 2.0.2858)

There are no other changes in this build.  In fact there were no other code changes at all, as this was just the change of a single font file added to the update package.

Backwards Compatibility Update

Version 1.4 of the Back Compat emulator now supports these additional titles:

1.   4x4 EVO 2
2.   Amped® 2
3.   Bad Boys 2
4.   Big Mutha Truckers
5.   DOOM 3®
6.   Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
7.   Fatal Frame™
8.   FlatOut™
9.   Grabbed by the Ghoulies™
10.  Intellivision Lives
11.  LEGO® Star Wars®
12.  Minority Report
13.  MLB SlugFest 20-04
14.  The Punisher™
15.  RalliSport Challenge
16.  Silent Hill® 4: The Room
17.  Spawn® Armageddon
18.  Spider-Man
19.  Star Wars Battlefront™
20.  State of Emergency
21.  Zapper™

Additional Japanese-only titles:

Bistro Cupid 1
Flight Academy
Othello Seminar
Igo Seminar
Shogi Seminar
Mahjong Seminar

For those Xbox 360 owners that do not have access to Xbox Live, Xbox.com will be updated soon with instructions on how to download this update through your PC soon.

Personally I’m super excited about 2 of these titles that are now supported; Amped® 2, as I was part of the team that produced this game, and LEGO® Star Wars®, as this was the one game my kids cannot put down.  Finally I can retire my original Xbox!

The Back-Compat team is already hard at work on the next version.  As always we look to user feedback on which titles to target first so please send feedback to backcomp@microsoft.com

-IndieGames (Daryl Welsh)

With the release of the Spring Update we did provide a way for our product support engineers to help users diagnose and clear content from their system cache.  This is most useful for the engineers to help those who are unable to download a game update, a system update, or who are having problems with their achievements.

The instructions for performing these steps were posted on Xbox.com in the forums by one of our support folks and wow....in a flash it seems like every website and forum site picked up on it and started to spread the word.

Below is the official word on this feature which the PR team is sending out to gamesites and news organizations who've asked about it.

The HDD cache clearing feature is a part of the Xbox 360 technical support process and is only supported in those instances. While the cache clearing operation will not harm or render your console inoperable, it should only be used when instructed by the Microsoft customer support staff. As always, any gamers experiencing any issues with their console should contact 800-4-MYXBOX instead of attempting to troubleshoot on their own via this feature.

I can provide a little more context on this. Clearing out your system cache:

• Will clear out the temporary copies of achievements and gamertiles on Memory Units or Hard Drives (note these get re-downloaded when re-connected to Xbox Live)
• Will clear out Game Updates stored on Memory Units or Hard Drives. (note these will get re-downloaded when launching that Game while connected to Xbox Live)
• Will not clear out system updates.
• Will not clear out the game areas of the hard drive where game titles cache their own information

-IndieGames (Daryl Welsh)