December Update Video FAQ - From a Microsoft Employee directly.

[Kamshaft]

Some good news here!

http://blogs.msdn.com/xboxteam/archive/2007/11/30/december-2007-video-playback-faq.aspx

[Kraft]

What the hell? So they have AVI support if I want to stream avi/divx files from my computer to my dashboard video player... but I can't stream avi/divx using the media extender? This seems rather asinine to me...

Both the xbox dashboard and media extender seem to be based on the WMP architecture which means all they require is a codec to properly display avi/divx. But they only added the codec to one of two playback systems, and not to the playback system they are trying to use to push their networked home functionality.

-10 points to microsoft for this screw-up.

[Kamshaft]

Media extender? Streaming from what I've read will be done via Windows Media Player 11, USB drive locally, or a recorded data DVD. Those methods should work. But, we'll see.

[Kraft]

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:


Scenario
Supported Codecs

From USB storage device to Xbox 360 Dashboard Video Player
WMV(Unprotected), Mpeg4, H.264, AVI

From Windows Media Player 11 to Xbox 360 Dashboard Video Player
WMV(Protected), WMV(Unprotected), *Mpeg4, *H.264, AVI

From Zune Software to Xbox 360 Dashboard Video Player
WMV(Unprotected), Mpeg4, H.264

From Windows Home Server to Xbox 360 Dashboard Video Player
WMV(Protected), WMV(Unprotected), AVI

From Windows Media Center to Xbox Media Center Extender
WMV(Protected), WMV(Unprotected), Mpeg2



Media center being the neat media console microsoft built in to the 360 and added the fancy green button to their remote controls for. It's highly functional, easy to use, my wife loves using it as well, and it is getting the cold shoulder in this update as shown by the excerpt I quoted above.