There's not much to on besides a teaser page right now (okay, so there's only a teaser page right now), but here's the important part: DivX 7 is coming, and it's due next month. The next-generation of the software promises "true HD video" with H.264 video and AAC audio, and apparently it'll present something akin to "a cinematic experience" on your computer. Pretty bold claims there -- thank goodness we've but a matter of weeks to determine if it lives up to 'em or not.
Supports M4V and M2TS as well, which are actually useful, unlike MKV, and the converters have gotten a little better to mux between the two. For a while MKV was a real dead end.
DIVX are trying to hijack H264 AVC the way they did with MPEG2 Pt 2 ASP.The industry should create a logo specifying the container, profile, levels resolutions, subtitles etc for HD playback and not leave it up to DIVX to basically steal credit for another format. It will be even worse if certified devices start slapping the DIVX logo over movies like they do already for ASP ones.
Relax bro, they aren't trying to hijack anything. This isn't some proprietary knockoff. In fact, the x264 guys celebrated their 1000th release at DivX's offices a little while ago.
Early betas of their decoder has proven to be faster than CoreAVC in some areas, if not overall.
They are making MKV their standard. They are doing more to get MKV recognized AS a standard than anyone I can name. Just imagine "DivX HD Certified" meaning your device has to support the format.
DIVX are taking existing industry standards, defining a subset profile and slapping their logo onto it. They did it with ASP and I believe they're using their existing DIVX certification as a wedge to make it happen with AVC too. I'm not saying there aren't benefits to a well defined profile that all devices can implement (it would sure make transcoding much easier) but I just question why the industry isn't setting it rather than letting DIVX lead them around by the nose. If DIVX wants to implement a compelling implementation of AVC & AAC then fine, but this is more than that. I bet future firmware updates for the 360 & PS3 will start showing the DIVX logo over AVC movies just like they do with ASP movies.
Let's remember first and foremost what made ASP into the superstar that it is today. It was the proprietary knockoff MPEG-4v3 that was hacked into Divx ;-) 3.11 alpha. We all know what happened from there, with XviD and all.
But before we start calling them the sons of Satan, (seemingly someone's still mad about the whole dvix vs xvid format war) lets remember the x264 team came to their offices to celebrate their 1000th release, and were welcomed with open arms. There's more than enough room for both the Open Source and Divx to compete.
Like I said before, DivX supporting H.264 is, and can only be, a good thing. H.264 is already VERY well established, and far too many devices support the STANDARD for DivX to come up with some evil proprietary version that will supplant that.
And let's not forget that MKV will definitely benefit from DivX.
When a tiny cabal lead by Sony leads the industry "by the nose", putting up pseudo industry groups like the BDA as a front whose decisions it blatantly ignores, you don't have a problem with it. Indeed, you criticize more open efforts based upon actual industry consortiums as "more proprietary."
When a small company that makes fairly decent media decoders (they even made MPEG4 Part 2 usable...) offers something that they have no way of forcing upon anyone as a possible standard for the industry to gather around, then it's suddenly the worst thing ever.
If DivX 7 succeeds, it'll be because it's good enough for the industry to see as worth backing. And given the entire thing is based upon well documented open standards (MKV, H.264, AAC), I'm really not seeing anything to be against here. There's no part of this they can prevent other companies implementing independently, and the logo will establish a baseline encoders and decoders can strive for compatibility with.
What's the problem here? "Hijacking"? How? What can they possibly prevent other people from using freely?
They're not Sony. And if they succeed at what they're doing, then it's a net positive for HD, particularly given the high cost of Blu-ray publishing at the moment.
I swear, you're just as bad as the HD-DVD duo, Truth Teller and whatshisotherface. DivX is selling an H.264 encoder/decoder, and helpng to make MKV a standard on consumer devices. This has less to do with Blu Ray than all the tea in China does. You agreeing with my general points only taints them. Thanks a bunch. I needed that.
The industry already sees H.264 as a standard worth backing. I would think that was obvious long ago. Just look at all the devices that support it. The IPod, Xbox 360, PS3, Zune, Windows 7, PSP, DirecTV, Dish, I could go on and on.
I wasn't talking about Blu-ray DrXym, except briefly at the end where I pointed out that an open standard for H.264 streams would be very welcome at a time when it's relatively expensive to produce Blu-ray discs. Which is obvious, and I would hope uncontrovertial.
I was talking about you, and your bizarre behavior here where a fairly weak company is offering a take it or leave it technology based upon open standards that, itself, will establish a reasonable baseline standard, and you're acting as if they've just patented MPEG4 and are going to force everyone to use it, when your past behavior when it comes to vastly more powerful companies has been to defend their behavior and even suggest the standards they've pushed are "less proprietary" than those created by actual open consortiums.
This is a genuinely positive development. Either people will sign on to it, or they will not, but if they do then DivX are establishing a truly open standard that everyone can adhere to, and that'll benefit everyone, particularly as DivX cannot do anything to punish those who stray outside of the standard beyond refuse to allow their mark to be licensed.
I'm bewildered you think it's so terrible. Perhaps it's safe to say you're frightened by open standards?
Damn, I wish we could edit posts, I also wanted to say that we should wait and see how they implement and market before we start pointing fingers and complaining. Put the tinfoil hat down for now.
A tinfoil hat isn't required. You only have to look at their existing certification requirements to take an educated guess as to how it will work with DIVX 7.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
zioncat @ Dec 23rd 2008 11:50AM
WOOOOOPPPP EEEEEEEEE can't wait.
Bobby @ Dec 24th 2008 4:19AM
http://rapidshare.com/files/172645889/DiVX7.rar
There ya go
z @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:08PM
We can already do "true HD" with existing h264 encoders. This is nothing to get worked up about.
WDTV_owner @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:13PM
too late!.... I think I already wet myself with excitement!
David Hildreth @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:12PM
x264 works great for me, there is no need to pay for some proprietary knock off.
Dominic @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:45PM
x264? oh you mean that container that develops the rarely supported MKV container? I swear that container lives and dies on one machine!
J.Goodwin @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:21PM
Supports M4V and M2TS as well, which are actually useful, unlike MKV, and the converters have gotten a little better to mux between the two. For a while MKV was a real dead end.
DrXym @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:37PM
DIVX are trying to hijack H264 AVC the way they did with MPEG2 Pt 2 ASP.The industry should create a logo specifying the container, profile, levels resolutions, subtitles etc for HD playback and not leave it up to DIVX to basically steal credit for another format. It will be even worse if certified devices start slapping the DIVX logo over movies like they do already for ASP ones.
xemumanic @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:42PM
Relax bro, they aren't trying to hijack anything. This isn't some proprietary knockoff. In fact, the x264 guys celebrated their 1000th release at DivX's offices a little while ago.
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=142482
Early betas of their decoder has proven to be faster than CoreAVC in some areas, if not overall.
They are making MKV their standard. They are doing more to get MKV recognized AS a standard than anyone I can name. Just imagine "DivX HD Certified" meaning your device has to support the format.
DrXym @ Dec 23rd 2008 12:59PM
DIVX are taking existing industry standards, defining a subset profile and slapping their logo onto it. They did it with ASP and I believe they're using their existing DIVX certification as a wedge to make it happen with AVC too. I'm not saying there aren't benefits to a well defined profile that all devices can implement (it would sure make transcoding much easier) but I just question why the industry isn't setting it rather than letting DIVX lead them around by the nose. If DIVX wants to implement a compelling implementation of AVC & AAC then fine, but this is more than that. I bet future firmware updates for the 360 & PS3 will start showing the DIVX logo over AVC movies just like they do with ASP movies.
xemumanic @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:15PM
Let's remember first and foremost what made ASP into the superstar that it is today. It was the proprietary knockoff MPEG-4v3 that was hacked into Divx ;-) 3.11 alpha. We all know what happened from there, with XviD and all.
But before we start calling them the sons of Satan, (seemingly someone's still mad about the whole dvix vs xvid format war) lets remember the x264 team came to their offices to celebrate their 1000th release, and were welcomed with open arms. There's more than enough room for both the Open Source and Divx to compete.
Like I said before, DivX supporting H.264 is, and can only be, a good thing. H.264 is already VERY well established, and far too many devices support the STANDARD for DivX to come up with some evil proprietary version that will supplant that.
And let's not forget that MKV will definitely benefit from DivX.
squiggleslash @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:39PM
Gordon Bennet DrXym, this really takes the cake.
When a tiny cabal lead by Sony leads the industry "by the nose", putting up pseudo industry groups like the BDA as a front whose decisions it blatantly ignores, you don't have a problem with it. Indeed, you criticize more open efforts based upon actual industry consortiums as "more proprietary."
When a small company that makes fairly decent media decoders (they even made MPEG4 Part 2 usable...) offers something that they have no way of forcing upon anyone as a possible standard for the industry to gather around, then it's suddenly the worst thing ever.
If DivX 7 succeeds, it'll be because it's good enough for the industry to see as worth backing. And given the entire thing is based upon well documented open standards (MKV, H.264, AAC), I'm really not seeing anything to be against here. There's no part of this they can prevent other companies implementing independently, and the logo will establish a baseline encoders and decoders can strive for compatibility with.
What's the problem here? "Hijacking"? How? What can they possibly prevent other people from using freely?
They're not Sony. And if they succeed at what they're doing, then it's a net positive for HD, particularly given the high cost of Blu-ray publishing at the moment.
DrXym @ Dec 23rd 2008 2:58PM
Trust you to turn this into a rant about blu-ray.
xemumanic @ Dec 23rd 2008 6:17PM
I swear, you're just as bad as the HD-DVD duo, Truth Teller and whatshisotherface. DivX is selling an H.264 encoder/decoder, and helpng to make MKV a standard on consumer devices. This has less to do with Blu Ray than all the tea in China does. You agreeing with my general points only taints them. Thanks a bunch. I needed that.
The industry already sees H.264 as a standard worth backing. I would think that was obvious long ago. Just look at all the devices that support it. The IPod, Xbox 360, PS3, Zune, Windows 7, PSP, DirecTV, Dish, I could go on and on.
squiggleslash @ Dec 23rd 2008 10:05PM
I wasn't talking about Blu-ray DrXym, except briefly at the end where I pointed out that an open standard for H.264 streams would be very welcome at a time when it's relatively expensive to produce Blu-ray discs. Which is obvious, and I would hope uncontrovertial.
I was talking about you, and your bizarre behavior here where a fairly weak company is offering a take it or leave it technology based upon open standards that, itself, will establish a reasonable baseline standard, and you're acting as if they've just patented MPEG4 and are going to force everyone to use it, when your past behavior when it comes to vastly more powerful companies has been to defend their behavior and even suggest the standards they've pushed are "less proprietary" than those created by actual open consortiums.
This is a genuinely positive development. Either people will sign on to it, or they will not, but if they do then DivX are establishing a truly open standard that everyone can adhere to, and that'll benefit everyone, particularly as DivX cannot do anything to punish those who stray outside of the standard beyond refuse to allow their mark to be licensed.
I'm bewildered you think it's so terrible. Perhaps it's safe to say you're frightened by open standards?
xemumanic @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:19PM
Damn, I wish we could edit posts, I also wanted to say that we should wait and see how they implement and market before we start pointing fingers and complaining. Put the tinfoil hat down for now.
DrXym @ Dec 23rd 2008 1:35PM
A tinfoil hat isn't required. You only have to look at their existing certification requirements to take an educated guess as to how it will work with DIVX 7.
Brian @ Dec 24th 2008 2:46AM
Is this going to make my NetFlix HD look better, when streaming to my 360? If so, then woot woot for DivX 7! :)
Does this also mean that MKV is going to be used more widely, now? That we be an enormous benefit!