Recommended Xbox 360 Video Format?

Question

What is the recommended or native video format for the Xbox 360? I have a Plex DLNA server setup and I dont want it to have to convert on the fly.

So what is the recommended Xbox 360 video playback format?

Solution

From: Video Playback FAQ - Xbox Engineering MSDN Blogs

Xbox 360 supports the following:

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.
• Audio Profiles: Dolby® Digital 2 channel and 5.1 channel, MP3
• Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions.

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.
• Audio Profiles: 2 channel AAC low complexity (LC)
• Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions.

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.
• Audio Profiles: 2 channel AAC low complexity (LC)
• Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions.

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.
• Audio Profiles: WMA7/8, WMA 9 Pro (stereo and 5.1), WMA lossless
• Audio Max Bitrate: No restrictions.

Comments

[Bala Sivakumar]

To add further clarity, the recommended format is H.264 in the MP4 container. This format is also most likely to work on most devices.