xbox360 & HP x280n as Vista Media Center Extenders, help me?

[nemloc]

Hi all,
As the subject suggests I have an XBox 360 and an HP X280N acting as extenders to a Vista Media Center PC in my garage. I would like to get to a single common format that will work for both devices. Wether it's from my DVD collection that I have ripped into VOBs (for XBMC in the past) or downloaded content, I'd like to have a single copy of my media and have it work no matter which extender I use to view it. So the main question is:

1. what encoding for both video and audio can I use that both devices will be able to watch in their extender mode?

requirements, assumptions, and other questions:
- I'd like to maintain 5.1 audio if the source has it
- Ignore storage space requirements.
- Ignore re-encoding time (and even complexity for now as I can optimize that out later)
- I don't want to have to run any other streaming service other than my vista media center. (plugins for it would be borderline and treated on a case by case basis.
- I'd like to support HD formats (720p source is common and 1080p is there although rarer)

2. is there a difference mode for the xbox extender between stream and copy? As an extender, is it always playing the file as if from a file share, or is there any mode where vista media center streams?
3. is there a good source for info on the x280n? a set of specialized forums maybe?
4. if I can't get one format that supports HD, 5.1+, and both extenders, is there a single format for the next step down?
5. Once a format is picked I have access to both a mac and pc so I should be able to re-encode my media. Any recommendations for software?

Thanks for any suggestions or help.

[yoda313]

wmv is about the only way to go.

You should be able to do wmv high def with 5.1. However I don't know if media center supports high def wmv. I'm sure it does I just never tested it (I have vista premium with media center and a 360 and have done standard def wmv a-ok (at the 320x240 zune resolution - stereo that is)).

EDIT - of coures you can stream just about anything with tversity as a server. Though it will take a little time for proper configuration. Check out the guides for more on tversity. The reason I mention wmv first is it is natively supported by the 360 and media center.

[nemloc]

will it also work on the hp x280n in extender mode? are there limits on bit rate or special audio?

[mh2360]

The HP X280N will play WMV (according to Amazon.com), but whether or not it will handle HD VC-1 and WMA Pro 5.1 audio, I dont know.

Encode360 will convert just about anything to VC-1 with 5.1 audio (5.1 audio in CBR mode only), maybe you could convert a short video clip just to check.

Because it uses Windows Media Encoder, be prepared for a long wait...