360 plays videos, but controls are lacking
by Dan Choi 
{ Nov 19th 2005 at 5:00AM }
It's been known for some time that the 360 would support
all kinds of CD and DVD formats for media, but after checking
out what was available for download online, we figured that a simple test would be in order. In short, playing DVDs is
fine, but multimedia control appears to be lacking.
For the trailers already loaded onto the 360 hard drive (as well as
the
ones downloaded earlier), all you get are play, pause, and stop functions. DVD/MPEG-2 videos fare a little better,
as some advanced controls were unlocked—such as chapter skip, zoom, and subtitles—when we gave a Sony DVD+R of an
episode from this season's Battlestar Galactica a whirl in the disc tray.
We'd still like to see other common DVD functions, though, like step and any level of fast-forward, slow-mo, or rewind
implemented in the movie and music functions of the 360. Having
the official
remotes simply handle these functions and volume control during playback would be really great, too.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Java Junky @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
I was beginning to think that you all had drifted off into a deep slumber!
I agree with previous post... late night updates rock!
:j
Efren @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
Did you guys get ahold of the new 360 version of the Logitech harmony remote yet?
adam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
Can you try transferring files to the hard drive and play them off there? Files other than mp3, like wmv, xvid/divx avi (probably wont work), mpeg layer1/2 video, etc
I would be most interested in knowing. thanks
Efren @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
Oh yeah.. that'd be great. Try out some divx or xvid movies and let us know if you have any success.
ledorky @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
divx, xvid do NOT work. Believe me I've been trying since the MCE connection software was released. Neither do mpeg1/2/vob/ts. I have yet to try a wmv file. On lark I tried ratDVD but no joy.
And you can only stream, you cannot ever store the files (pics/music/recorded video) to the Xbox 360 drive.
Say, how do you remove the useless Titanic HD trailer?
John @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
Use the remote you moron! , if you are a coretard buy the Remote.
Dan Choi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
John, the remote actually doesn't work for our hard-drive videos, and doesn't contain most of the functions you might find on a typical DVD remote. We hope Microsoft will offer a software patch so we can access more functions via the remote or controller in the future.
Coyote @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
wait.... theres no fast forward or rewind function at ALL? God that would be annoying when watching porn on it! And we all know if your player cant do porn its going to die (cough betamax). :P
Twig @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM
ledorky, are you sure about your information?
According to the url below you can do WMV up to 1920x1080 (1080p) at 30fps, and MPEG-2 up to 1920x1080 (1080i) with AC-3 audio.
And remember .ts can be converted to MPEG-2 files or DVR-MS files easily as they're all basically MPEG-2 streams):
http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/Xbox360/video.html