Archive:Intro FAQ

What is XBMC?

XBMC, formerly "Xbox Media Center", is a free, open source (GPL) multimedia player. Originally for the Microsoft Xbox™, it is in the process of being ported to Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows (all of which are usable but not as stable or feature complete as the Xbox version just yet).

What can XBMC do?

• XBMC can be used to play/view the most popular video/audio/picture formats, and most other multimedia formats (including many more less known formats).

Including:

• Video - DVD-Video, VCD/SVCD, MPEG-1/2/4, DivX, XviD.
• Audio - MP3,AAC.
• Picture - JPG, GIF, PNG.

Which can all be played directly from a CD/DVD in the XBox DVD-ROM drive or from the XBox's built-in hard-drive, XBMC can also play multimedia from a computer over a local-network and media-streams directly from the internet.

• XBMC can play DVD-Video movies (with and without menus) from ISO/IMG images and even ZIP/RAR-archives.
• XBMC has playlist and slideshow functions, a weather forecast feature and many audio visualizations.
• XBMC can in addition run python-scripts written for XBMC as plugin widgets.
• XBMC has a simple and user-friendly user-interface, it's easy to use, it's convenient, flexible and offers a great price/performance ratio.

All these features enable the XBox™ running XBMC to fully function as a multimedia-jukebox.

Notes

• XBMC is a non-profit hobby project that is only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free.
• XBMC does require a modded Xbox to run on or it will not function), (see modchip or software exploit/hack).
• For a complete list a functions and features see the supported features/formats list here.

What features does XBMC have?

See the complete list of supported features.

Does XBMC support or feature this and that function...?

See the complete list of supported features/formats here or try it yourself and find out!

You might also want to look in the manual.

Exactly which media formats can XBMC play?

See the complete list of supported features/formats here, if it is not listed there then XBMC does not support it (yet)!

What media codec versions can XBMC play?

Again, See the complete list here

Does XBMC support High Definition (HD) resolution media?

Yes and no, but the answer is a little more complicated than that, see bellow:

XBMC for XBox

In general, it can not play native HD format videos, but can upscale SD or lower format video to HD resolutions

A standard XBox (with the XBox HD AV Pack) is capable of outputting HD signals. XBMC can quite easily upscale all low-resolution videos (like retail DVD Movies) to 720por 1080i.

Unfortunately, the XBox's 733Mhz Intel Pentium-III CPU, is to slow to play native HD video (Microsoft® and DivX® recommends a 2.4 Ghz PC + 384MB RAM for 720p MPEG-4 playback!). This means that you might only get maybe 10-20fps (frames per seconds) displayed which would appear so jerky because of all dropped frames that it will be un-viewable.

Upgraded Processor

It is possible to upgrade the processor in an XBox (for example, with the DreamX-1400 from FriendTech, to one which is at capable of decoding some native HD videos (i.e. those encoded with MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 ASP (H.263) at up to 720p). FriendTech do offers trade-in). Note! You must enable/setup your HDTV settings in Microsoft dashboard, (on NTSC Xboxes).

XBMC for Linux

Since all the components in a Linux based PC can be upgraded, the limit on resolution will be dependent on the exact hardware in your system.

List of standard supported HD resolutions

On a standard XBox the following HD formats are supported:

• 480i/480p/576i/576p output at 480p (Not Scaled).
• 480i/480p/576i/576p output at 720p (Upscaled).
• 480i/480p/576i/576p output at 1080i (Upscaled).

The following video resolutions are NOT supported, at any output resolution:

• 720p
• 1080i

These will attempt to play, but will drop so many frames as to become, to intents and purposes, un-watchable.

Where can I suggest/request a new feature or function to be implemented into XBMC?

You can log a NEW feature/function request in our RFE Request Feature Tracking System, (you must register and be logged-in on SourceForge.net before you can do this). Just make sure that you first remember to search for existing "Feature Requests" before logging a new request! You should take note that we guesstimate that 99% of all new requests XBMC users post have already been requested before so it is imperative that you search thoroughly! You may also post a copy of your suggestion in the feature-suggestion section of our community-forums if you want it open for discussion, however, again you must search there too before you can post, (we do not enjoy reorganising duplicate posts). Please respect that your request only counts as a suggestion, there' s no guarantee that it will implemented soon or ever. Known that almost all users think their own ideas is the most important, and a very common comment is: "if you only add these features then XBMC will be perfect for me". Note! Only one feature per RFE Request and Forum Thread is allowed (for easier manageability).

When will this and that feature or function be supported by XBMC?

Tomorrow, in a year, never... who knows! XBMC is a non-profit hobby project that is only developed by volunteers in their spare-time for free, none of us get paid to develop new features/functions/formats/codecs for XBMC meaning we foremost prioritize the things we ourselves what to see and use in XBMC. XBMC development is driven by the tasks that are important to the individual developers. If there is a feature that is important to you, the best way to get it implemented is to undertake the task yourself, otherwise you as an end-user of who do not yourself contribute source code patches to the XBMC project have no rights to demand new things to be implemented and get no guarantees that some specific thing will be prioritized before something else, you may however suggest/request for things and if you ask nicely then maybe someday a developer might like your idea and implement the thing you asked for, (we recommend that you read this article on How To Ask Questions The Smart Way). We do appreciate your ideas, opinions and feedback if they are presented in a good way, so it is possible to lobby for something specific, just don't be a jerk about it, arrogant and 'pushy' people will most likely just be ignored (or even banned if they step over the line which we consider to be acceptable). Known that almost all users think their own ideas is the most important, and a very common comment is: "if you only add these features then XBMC will be perfect for me". If you can not accept the possibility that your thing might never make it into XBMC then you just have to bite the bullet and learn how to program C/C++ to be able to code it yourself, (see the "Appendix D: Development Notes" section of this manual).

Can I update the auido/video codecs in XBMC myself?

No. XBMC relies on a built-in open source codec-suit called FFmpeg. XBMC codecs get updated on a regular based by the developers of Team-XBMC when FFmpeg programmers adds support for newer or updated codec formats and file container formats, please see Codec and Format requests for more information.

Where can I request/suggest a new codec-decoder or file-format to be implemented into XBMC?

The answer (and explanation) to this question is so long that we had to put it in separate page, see; Codec and Format requests.

When will this and that codec-decoder or file-format be added and supported by XBMC?

The answer (and explanation) to this question is so long that we had to put it in separate page, see; Codec and Format requests.

Is XBMC, The XBMC Project, or Team-XBMC affiliated with Microsoft in any way?

No, XBMC, The XBMC Project and its members are not in any way affiliated with Microsoft in any way. XBMC is only a software program that is made by Team-XBMC (ie, the members of the The XBMC Project) as a free third-party product that any person can install and run on the Xbox™ game-console hardware (which is manufactured and sold by Microsoft Corporation).

XBMC, The XBMC Project (and its members, Team-XBMC) and the services (including developer tools, resources, download areas, files, source code, product information, documentations and communication forums, collectively called "Services") provided by us has nothing to do with Microsoft by any association or affiliation what so ever.

XBMC is not approved by Microsoft to run on the Xbox, in fact installing/running XBMC on your Xbox may very well void your warranty! Microsoft does however have similar products to XBMC for the Xbox called "Media Center Extender for Xbox" (a.k.a. "Xbox Media Center Extender Kit") and "Xbox Music Mixer", which are both very limited feature/function-wise in our own humble opinion.