Xbox One S - Play X265 video files natively and Harmony support?

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Jaxson

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#205819 28-Nov-2016 15:13

Thinking of an Xbox One S purchase, mostly as a media machine.

Just checking if it can play X265 video files natively? (streamed directly from a shared folder file on a networked PC, and not via a conversion app like plex/PS3 media server etc)

And how have people found the integration with the basic IR Harmony Remotes?

Looks to be much more supported than the PS4 for example in this regard.

Thanks.

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#1679097 28-Nov-2016 20:57

In regards with the harmony remote I have a harmony 650 and it works perfectly. I really only use it to watch videos with on my xbox but it works great. Can turn it on/off and it can use most buttons found on an xbox controller.

sidefx

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#1679230 29-Nov-2016 09:12

Yup, works absolutely perfectly with my old harmony 600 remote. Not sure about X265 - I've not hit anything it can't play, but I've also started using Plex most of the time so it might be transcoding some stuff, I haven't really checked.

I think this says yes?

http://wccftech.com/xbox-update-fixes-multiplayer-issues-adds-hevc-10bit-codec-patch-notes-detailed/

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networkn

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#1679262 29-Nov-2016 09:21

I don't think it plays it natively, but as far as I know if you had the media files on a Plex server it can transcode.

sidefx

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#1679264 29-Nov-2016 09:25

Doesn't HEVC = H.265 = x265 ?

EDIT: Oops I meant H.265 not 264!

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keepitwarm

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#1679300 29-Nov-2016 10:22

I do have lots in x265 ( HEVC) and it plays fine, but as above, plex maybe transcoding it as thats the player i use. they play fine and instantly though without issue.

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simple logic.

Interslice

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#1679301 29-Nov-2016 10:25

I couldn't get x265 files to work when I just tried cast to device through windows 10 but that was a while ago.

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Jaxson

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#1679350 29-Nov-2016 11:06

I presently decode h.265 via ps3 media server and send to the PS3.

The results are laggy between video and audio. I want to sort this, but if the Xbox One/PS4 don't play these files natively, then I'm back to using my PC to decode/re-encode and stream to the device.

This Plex thing, does that sit on the Xbox One or on the PC? If it's an app you can load on the Xbox One then I'm down with that. If it resides on the PC then I'm back to maybe my PC isn't powerful enough to decode this quickly enough, and that's kinda why I want the new Xbox One anyway.

No, X.264 is the older format, which is much easier to play than X.265

X.265 is becoming very popular though, as you still get a good image/sound, but in a much smaller file size. Just means more work to decode though.

These are newish consoles, you'd think they'd be onto providing this. Much 4k fileness is going to be in H.265 format...

sidefx

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#1679351 29-Nov-2016 11:10

Oops I meant H.265 above not 264... I'll try straight from a share and not through Plex when I get home. The article I linked above would seem to indicate it should do it.

Plex server sits on a PC and then there are client apps for many devices. I'm running it on a "home server" I built a while which is just an older generation consumer mobo + cheapish i3 CPU (I think) running linux and it seems to transcode for playback by ipads, etc without any issue, even multiple streams.

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Jaxson

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#1679368 29-Nov-2016 11:37

Thanks for the update.

Yeah I really want to know if the Xbox One S will play an H.265 file directly from a shared folder on a PC.

ie I download a file and point the Xbox to that folder, and play. vs having to fire up an intermediate application to re encode and stream out on the fly.

If it can't remove the PC application from my equation, then it's not helping me at all. It's 2016 going on 2017, so should include native media player support for HEVC/H.265 by now.

keepitwarm

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#1679588 29-Nov-2016 16:13

Plex is a 2 part program, you have a server running on a something like a pc, that takes care of managing all your video files, and a player, running on smart tv, xbox, playstation phones etc.it really is great, it does heaps more, and is free for the most part. see https://www.plex.tv/

If you want a simple solution, using VLC installed on the xbox, you can play the h.265 files directly from your pc,browse folders etc, it will play off a usb drive too directly plugged into the xbox one S, i just tried both and it played fine. this was the files codec

Codec: MPEG-H Part2/HEVC (H.265) (hevc)

.............................................................

simple logic.

Jaxson

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#1679592 29-Nov-2016 16:19

keepitwarm:

using VLC installed on the xbox, you can play the h.265 files directly from your pc,browse folders etc, it will play off a usb drive too directly plugged into the xbox one S, i just tried both and it played fine. this was the files codec

Codec: MPEG-H Part2/HEVC (H.265) (hevc)

Mate, that's awesome. So basically I can install VLC Player as an app on the Xbox One S device, and read directly from the USB drive or from a shared folder on the PC, with no transcoding required?!

That's a great option if it's free/low one off cost, and I can use that just as easily as the inbuilt stock Xbox One media player.

That's great as VLC on the PLC reads these files perfectly also, just is presently a pain to feed to the PS3, as it can't read the files, and requires the PC to churn away trying to transcode this on the fly via PS3 Media Server.

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keepitwarm

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#1679900 30-Nov-2016 07:09

Jaxson:

... So basically I can install VLC Player as an app on the Xbox One S device, and read directly from the USB drive or from a shared folder on the PC, with no transcoding required?!

Yes. thats it.

.............................................................

simple logic.