Playing x264 on XBOX

General discussion relating to XBMC4XBOX. Please use the support forums for help on using the software or plugins.
Post Reply
grupy
Posts: 30
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:26 am
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Playing x264 on XBOX

Post by grupy »

Noticed a lot of TV shows are now coming in this format and not XVID as before. I know you can still find XVID content but does anyone know if this plays without any issues before I start to update my TV shows.

Pls and thanks!
User avatar
VanZan
Posts: 91
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:30 am
Location: Limerick, Ireland
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Playing x264 on XBOX

Post by VanZan »

It'll play but it will drop frames during some sections. You need to bring up the context menu and play it with "dvdplayer" and not "mplayer".
User avatar
Spongy
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:11 am
Has thanked: 16 times
Been thanked: 18 times

Re: Playing x264 on XBOX

Post by Spongy »

Scene releases have been working fine for me with a few rare exceptions. Larger files, like football games often lose sync or won't play.

dvdplayer should be the default in recent builds.
User avatar
spicemuseum
Posts: 906
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:08 pm
Has thanked: 94 times
Been thanked: 75 times

Re: Playing x264 on XBOX

Post by spicemuseum »

grupy wrote:Noticed a lot of TV shows are now coming in this format and not XVID as before. I know you can still find XVID content but does anyone know if this plays without any issues before I start to update my TV shows.

Pls and thanks!
H.264 video can be decoded and played on XBOX. But it's CPU intensive and since XBOX has no specific hardware acceleration for H.264 it quickly runs out of CPU cycles. The CPU loading is determined by a number of factors but primarily the resolution and bit rate.

As a rule of thumb SD content - 720x480 (AKA 480p) will playback at reasonably high bit rates (~2mbps) without problem, above that it becomes hit and miss.

I have a few, very low bit rate, 720p rips which just about play (~0.5mbps), but to be honest the quality is so poor at this bit rate and resolution that it isn't worth it.

Edit: BTW, H.264 is the codec standard, X264 is a software implementation of it.
Post Reply