Xbox 360 gets H.264, MPEG-4, PlaysForSure in Spring update
We're the first to admit that we're not experts when it comes to things like video codecs -- we leave that job up to our friends at Engadget. Don't get us wrong, we know a little something about codecs (see above!), but eych-dot-two-sixty-four? Em-peg-four? Dubbya-em-dee-are-em? Yeah, these are all codecs that the Xbox 360 will support when the Spring Dashboard update rolls around next month but what do they all mean?
Lucky for us, the folks at Red Kawa -- makers of video conversion utilities like Videora Xbox 360, PSP Video 9, PS3 Video 9, and Wii Video 9 -- are experts in all things video conversion and they break the announcement down like this: "This puts Microsoft at the head of the pack in the Apple TV vs PS3 vs Xbox 360 video battle royale." Oh SNAP! They break down the details so we don't have to ... c'mon PS3, H.264 Main Profile only? All the kids want H.264 High Profile support nowadays!
Actually, the kids really want Xvid and DivX support so they can watch their torrents of bits, which Red Kawa reminds us this isn't. First, it doens't support the AVI container (so there!) and the 360 only supports MPEG-4 Part 2 Simple Profile while Xvid videos are encoded as MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile. Any questions?
