DC Labs: Think Out Of The Box With Xbox 360

First, the Xbox 360 will only connect to TVs with a composite or component input. To connect to other displays it is necessary to purchase the Xbox S-Video AV Cable or VGA HD AV Cable, available for under $60 each. However these cables convert the image to play it on the display, which may cause it to become degraded. For the highest quality image and HDTV-type resolutions, you should instead recommend Microsoft's Xbox Advanced AV Pack and a component-to-VGA adapter, which is available from numerous vendors. The AV Pack costs $20, while adapters are available for $299 or less, which is a pricey purchase but will significantly improve the graphics for serious gamers. Engineers were disappointed that the Xbox does not support an HDMI connection.

Another surprise of the Xbox is its poor performance for playing DVDs on HDTV displays. The NTSC standard for DVD, TV and gaming signals operates differently than the ATSC standard for HDTV. Therefore if integrators professionally calibrate a display for one standard, the image will not be perfect for the other. Microsoft says it's working on a test pattern to help calibrate a display for both NTSC and ATSC signals. In the mean time, integrators should look for displays with two modes and set one for NTSC and one for ATSC use.

The easiest solution for audio is to use a display with built-in speakers, but for the highest quality sound, integrators should recommend a 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system. The rear of the Xbox's cable connector includes a port for digital audio, but to connect external systems, a Toslink digital audio cable, available for under $60, is needed. Integrators also need to make sure to get a receiver capable of decoding Dolby Digital or DTS signals.

One of the features of the Xbox 360 that has received the most interest for integrators is the ability of the unit to receive TV, video, audio and other content streamed wired or wirelessly from a Media Center PC. Setting up this capability can be a little challenging. The 360 contains a software wizard that walks users through the process, while separate software must be downloaded for the PC. The procedure takes a lot of steps, and requires several ports of the PC to be opened to allow it to receive content. Also if the PC has a third-party firewall, it needs to be calibrated to accept traffic from the Xbox. The Microsoft Web site provides guides to configure firewalls from Microsoft, McAfee, Symantec and ZoneLabs; for others, Microsoft provides some general advice but it's up to integrators to figure out the specifics.

A single Media Center PC can stream content to two Xboxes, and a single Xbox can receive content from more than one PC if set up properly.

The home's wired or wireless network also must be able to support the extra traffic, so offering a network upgrade to support the bandwidth is a useful service for integrators. Microsoft recommends an 802.11a network. Also not all routers support the 360, so check with Microsoft before purchasing.

For other problems with the Xbox 360, check out the Xbox Forums or XboxFAQs.com