Ultimate quality to store on hard disk AND playback on a Xbox 360

[SimonG156]

I am an XBMC user who has ripped some of my own collection to Xvid. Now I am finding I am dissatisfied with the quality. I have ISO copies of some disks as a test and they play well over my wireless connection to the Xbox XBMC.

I'd like to cut down the number of boxes under the tv and thought I'd like to start playing my rips through the Xbox 360.

What is the highest quality I can stream off a hard disk for the 360?

[t0nee1]

I stream .mp4/ h.264 to the Xbox,and AFAIK, the quality is great ,try it!.......
Others will post their preferences..To each his/her own....

[SimonG156]

I stream .mp4/ h.264 to the Xbox,and AFAIK, the quality is great ,try it!.......
Others will post their preferences..To each his/her own....

MP4 container H.264 - I had read that was the best. What resolution to you encode PAL DVD. I was trying a couple of utilities last night and 720x388 or something came up.

I was expecting 720x580 (or 576) whatever the native resolution of DVD is.

[guns1inger]

DVDs use non square pixels. When you compensate for this to get back to a 1:1 pixel aspect ratio, the numbers shake out a little differently.

If you were converting 16:9 (1.778:1) for Divx/Xvid you would normally end up with 720 x 400 or 640 x 368. if it is wider then the vertical will be smaller.

As you are streaming, you could try encoding 1024 x 576 (1.78:1 anamorphic source), and compare the picture quality to a 720 x 400 encoding on playback.

[SimonG156]

DVDs use non square pixels. When you compensate for this to get back to a 1:1 pixel aspect ratio, the numbers shake out a little differently.

If you were converting 16:9 (1.778:1) for Divx/Xvid you would normally end up with 720 x 400 or 640 x 368. if it is wider then the vertical will be smaller.

As you are streaming, you could try encoding 1024 x 576 (1.78:1 anamorphic source), and compare the picture quality to a 720 x 400 encoding on playback.

Thanks for that. I am going to try Handbrake or XVid4PSP at teh best H264 I can get an try some comparisons.

[guns1inger]

My vote would be for Xvid4PSP.

[t0nee1]

I also would use XviD4PSP....The last .mp4/h.264 I created for my Xbox I used Megui and Yamb, and burned to a "CD" disc , but it also streamed very well and believe it or not,it looks pretty darn good, even at that low bitrate......
@ 973 Kbps ,768x432 16:9