Streaming a .iso file to an Xbox 360

[Dominus Atheos]

I am considering purchasing an Xbox 360 so I can stream videos to my TV. The only concern I have is I have a very large .iso collection and I don't know if there's any way to stream those. I tried googling "xbox 360 iso" and that wasn't much help. Then I tried "xbox 360 iso streaming" and all I can find is stuff from 2007 saying it's not possible. Does anyone know if it's possible now in 2010?

[Stark]

Man, this is the best question ever.

Streaming through 360 uses Microsoft services like Zune, WMP, WMC, etc or plugging in devices. It's not very flexible (although at least it plays h264 these days) and your best bet is to use a realtime transcoder.

Well, your best bet is to not horde dvd isos like a dirty pirate and use actual portable formats, but that's just me. Lucky for me my TV plays media from USB or network, I guess.

[Dominus Atheos]

Streaming through 360 uses Microsoft services like Zune, WMP, WMC, etc or plugging in devices. It's not very flexible (although at least it plays h264 these days) and your best bet is to use a realtime transcoder.

It's a lot more flexible nowadays, even Matroska is streamable with nothing more then a plugin from DivX.

[Stark]

Come on, nobody who uses Matroska isn't going to be using something that lets them mess with the features properly, like a media box (a whole sixty bucks).

And frankly I'm not a fan of needing to leave my computer on all day just to watch media; my TV can stream via network but it's just easier to plug in a media drive. That'd work on 360 too if you didn't insist on using ISO.

Actually, since I assume you have some asinine quality reason for using ISO, bear in mind that 360 is pretty poor at playing media and if they're BR images or something it'll stutter. It doesn't even handle high bitrate h264 very well.

[Dominus Atheos]

Come on, nobody who uses Matroska isn't going to be using something that lets them mess with the features properly, like a media box (a whole sixty bucks).

Hah, I wish. Unfortunately pretty much all network media players cost $130 or more. And since there's always at least one placethat has the 360 arcade on sale for $150 or so, I figured I'd just pay the extra $30 to get something that plays games. If you know of a network media tank for less then $100 that supports UPnP and streaming Netflix, I'd much rather buy that.

[Beowulf]

If you extract the files from the iso, media center should be able to play them just fine, and thereby stream them to your X360.

[Dominus Atheos]

If you extract the files from the iso, media center should be able to play them just fine, and thereby stream them to your X360.

I have 45 .iso files coming in at 295 gigbytes. Mounting those and re-ripping them to Video_TS would take days, if not weeks; not to mention that I would have to find space to add another 300GBs worth of files. If there isn't a program like TVersity that can read them and stream them on the fly, maybe a 360 just isn't for me.

[Beowulf]

If you extract the files from the iso, media center should be able to play them just fine, and thereby stream them to your X360.

I have 45 .iso files coming in at 295 gigbytes. Mounting those and re-ripping them to Video_TS would take days, if not weeks; not to mention that I would have to find space to add another 300GBs worth of files. If there isn't a program like TVersity that can read them and stream them on the fly, maybe a 360 just isn't for me.

It'd take like a day and another $100 for another HDD. And I wouldn't doubt there'd be a way to automate it.

[eion]

If you extract the files from the iso, media center should be able to play them just fine, and thereby stream them to your X360.

I have 45 .iso files coming in at 295 gigbytes. Mounting those and re-ripping them to Video_TS would take days, if not weeks; not to mention that I would have to find space to add another 300GBs worth of files. If there isn't a program like TVersity that can read them and stream them on the fly, maybe a 360 just isn't for me.

I stream media to my 360 all the time. The most robust method I've found is to do it through the WMC extender in the 360. If you can get the .iso to play in WMC on your computer, there is a good bet it will play in the WMC on the 360. I've tried TVersity and it was good, but then WMC came out with a way to do .mkv streaming, so I went back to that.

Plus if you set up your WMC PC with a tuner card or 4 you can watch live TV on your 360 and ditch your cable box for good.

[Stark]

Even ripping the features in the ISO to a real format would only take about a day, two if you use finicky denoise settings.

I mean if someone is going to keep things in a non-portable format and then get cross when it's not portable...

The best part is the butthurt OH NOEZ 360 NOT FOR MEEEE when for $75 you can buy a media box that will play from USB and take a HDD to store files AND read off networks. Anyone who buys a game console for media primarily when there are cheaper and better options is a moron.

360's interface for media playing is slow and poorly laid-out anyway.

[Dominus Atheos]

The best part is the butthurt OH NOEZ 360 NOT FOR MEEEE when for $75 you can buy a media box that will play from USB and take a HDD to store files AND read off networks. Anyone who buys a game console for media primarily when there are cheaper and better options is a moron.

360's interface for media playing is slow and poorly laid-out anyway.

Wow, way to not read the fucking thread:

Hah, I wish. Unfortunately pretty much all network media players cost $130 or more. And since there's always at least one placethat has the 360 arcade on sale for $150 or so, I figured I'd just pay the extra $30 to get something that plays games. If you know of a network media tank for less then $100 that supports UPnP and streaming Netflix, I'd much rather buy that.

As it turns out, people should read the thread before posting a reply? Lol, who knew amiríte?

[Stark]

Except network players DON'T cost USD130? Like I said, 360's media interface is slow and crap. But hey, keep your media in a stupid format and get cross when it's useless, let me know how that goes.

[eion]

Like I said, 360's media interface is slow and crap.

Which is why most intelligant people use the WMC extender option, which supports more media formats, live TV, etc.

360 plays from USB too. I've even plugged in an iPod and it'll just treat it like another external HD. WIth the new update that's going to be even easier.

[Stark]

The WMC system has its own flaws (not least the format restrictions). The massive wait to enter the system is bad enough (doubly so on the Zune-based channels) but when there are alternatives...

I've mentioned using USB like four times already, chief.

[eion]

The WMC system has its own flaws (not least the format restrictions). The massive wait to enter the system is bad enough (doubly so on the Zune-based channels) but when there are alternatives...

It does. Format restrictions are less so than the dashboard player, though. And setting it up is measures easier than the dashboard.

It really comes down to whether or not you're going to us the 360 as a game system or as a media box only. If you play games, why buy two boxes.

You and I agree that .iso is just an annoying format to deal with in the first place. Dominus should really spend the time to re-encode (Or just require) them in a better format.

I'm still not buying your price though, cheapest media box I can find at newegg is the Patriot Box Office on-sale for $89.99

I've mentioned using USB like four times already, chief.

Yes you have. Sorry, thought you meant on the media-boxes

[Stark]

Yeah, the WMC is certainly the better option, provided you use formats it supports as it's more like an actual media player. Last time I tried it it played all my crappy xvid stuff and none of my high profile h.264 stuff, which made it pretty useless to me.

The media box I was looking at was a pretty dodgey one (an Astone) but it works at least as well as a 360 and has more options (and is much easier to set up for network use). Of course it can't do netflix, but 360s can't do ISO, so he'll just have to a) choose or b) set up a queue and recode.

This makes me think I should try WMC with larger BR rips; the dashboard struggles with anything more than 2gb/feature film, so a 4gb movie probably won't work so good either.

[Beowulf]

360s can't do ISO, but it's literally the work of a couple minutes to dump the files out of the ISO into a directory. (7zip can manage it in something like 3 clicks). At which point the WMC extender works fine.

[Stark]

Sure, but running a script for a day would reduce the size by 2-3 times without a loss in quality if we're talking about DVDs.