Xbox (1) *IS* enough to play hd videos!

M

Mendel

Mr. Upgrade
Veteran
I just ftp'd the high definition video trailer of Alan Wake to my xbox media center and was pretty disappointed. It only shows like 10 frames from here and there and just pauses for most of the time. Do I just have too old version or totally wrong software or is the xbox hardware just absolutely insufficient for 720p video?

Would converting the video to some other format help and if... then which format in particular? Would non compressed be best? What tools to use for conversion? (on my pc)

Oh and where could I find more (free, legal) HD videos in various formats for testing purposes?

edit: note, edited the topic. (was originally "Xbox (1) not enough to play hd videos?" but that was not the case as you can see when reading the topic through)

See Npl's post for link to clips that work pretty smoothly.
 
if you`d convert it to MPeg2 it will most certainly run smooth.
When it comes to processing requirements it goes like this: Mpeg2 < Mpeg4( eg. Xvid ) < Mpeg4-AVC , WMV

try a few Vids from there: http://www.divx.com/hd/ to see if the XBox is enough for Mpeg4
 
thanks guys, I'm downloading and trying the madagascar clip

edit: And such pretty it was that I'm downloading the rest of those clips as well. It was actually very fluid! There was one hitch during both of those clips when framerate fluctuated to like 10 fps but most of the time it was very smooth. I think there's hope for this thing to work!
 
hd clips

From what I remember in all of my failed xbox HD attempts, is that you need the upgraded modified xbox, 1.4GHz, to be able to play HD.
 
Re: hd clips

NucNavST3 said:
From what I remember in all of my failed xbox HD attempts, is that you need the upgraded modified xbox, 1.4GHz, to be able to play HD.
Click to expand...

dude you must try those divx hd clips Npl linked and run them on xbmc, I'm getting more and more impressed as I read what those clips are supposed to require... 2.4GHz? Here I am running it with 733MHz celeron and it's buttery smooth 99% of the clip! :eek:

edit to add: I didn't actually think I would accomplish anything by posting this here. I was expecting you to just confirm that the xbox is not enough, but it seems b3d forums worked unpredictable magic again :) lo and behold, it works. Damn I just love technology :)

edit to further add: Well the cinderella man trailer wasn't that amazing... well it ran flawlessly but just wasn't that impressive... but the shark tale and madagaskar, omg I have entered the HD era o/ woohoo!

This also has such implications for the future of xbox as a usable media center, it extends the lifetime of my poor modded-to-hell console to indefinite future (since my tv can't display 1080p anyways)

Better stop before I get too ecstatic :)
 
The NV2A can assist the cpu in Xbox with some video accelerations functions so you don't need a very powerful CPU. ;)
 
I guess the difference is I was trying to run full .ts streams and that was a definite no-go. I will have to take a look at the divx versions. I would imagine the reason you were awed by shark tale and madagascar is because they are animation, it is much easier to get better visuals with animation than with pure film (that wasnt recorded in HD). People are floored when I play Ice Age on my D-VHS player, hands down the best HD movie I own.
 
Mendel said:
Xvid hd material seems to run badly too...

So divx hd it is then.
Click to expand...

Xvid and Divx are both creating Mpeg4 Streams. Playback shouldnt take more power than the other, though you might have to evaluate if a few of the optional Mpeg4 features might cause the slowdown (Encodersettings)
 
Encoder settings certainly do make a difference with Xvid video. I have the Serenity trailer in 720p Xvid and it runs fine on my machine (as long as I turn off the postprocessing filters) but I recently encoded an animation I made as 720p with Xvid and it was unwatchable, I suspect mostly because I tend to have all the encoder options turned on (and also it is likely that the trailer was actually not full 720p resolution but actually a bit lower vertically since movies are usually wider than 16:9 aspect).
 
PC-Engine said:
The NV2A can assist the cpu in Xbox with some video accelerations functions so you don't need a very powerful CPU. ;)
Click to expand...
NV2A doesn't have any chance to accelerate WMV-HD clip :rolleyes:
 
jvd, it depends on which dvd drive you have on your xbox. Samsung drives are often thought to be best. Toshiba the worst and philips in the middle.
 
Mendel said:
jvd, it depends on which dvd drive you have on your xbox. Samsung drives are often thought to be best. Toshiba the worst and philips in the middle.
Click to expand...

Did you mean Thomson?
xbox_dvd_drives.gif



(EDIT: Yea Alstrong, I've always thought it was with a 'p' as well, but I figured to go with the mispelling in the graphic for consistency's sake.)
 
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