Xbox 360 Gets Video Transcoding

news via dailytech

TVersity opens up the real-time video streaming to the Xbox 360 without the need for MCE

Previously, only Windows Media Center PCs could send videos of any format to Xbox 360 for viewing on the big screen (using software such as Transcode 360). Then, in the Fall Dashboard Update, Microsoft opened up video streaming from any Windows XP PC as long as the file was in WMV format. Software such as Encode360 automates the entire process of converting your videos for Microsoft’s console, but does not offer the process streamed in real-time.

Today, a small wonder in software was released that should garner cheers from Xbox 360 media addicts. Video manager software TVersity Media Server released its latest beta version 0.9.9 and added to its list of features is on-the-fly video transcoding for the Xbox 360, giving users the ability to play videos in all formats, including MPEG-4, on the console. TVersity also supports media receivers such as the Philips SLA5500 and Sony Vaio VGP-MR100U.

Granted, to transcode a high-resolution video to the Xbox 360 in real-time requires some decent processing power, but everything works as advertised and without the need for Windows Media Center. The software allows for various quality and resolution settings for scaling to a PC’s speed. Videos may also be upconverted to high-definition for those with fast computers.

In addition to the video streaming, TVersity will also send audio to the Xbox 360, allowing the user to listen to music, podcasts and internet radio through the console.

Sounds really cool, but I just burn all my .avi videos to DVD and then view them on my 360.