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DivX DVD Players Arrive
division21 writes "Geeks rejoice -- DivX Enabled DVD Players finally surface! (With all the goodies: MP3, SVCD, etc.) I remember when MP3 compatability appeared back in the day -- And it looks as though DivX Compatibility could be a real possibility for the mainstream ..." And if you can live without the compression, cherrypi points out this surprisingly favorable review of perhaps the cheapest (under $200) portable DVD player with a built-in screen.
Many will also end up supporting Ogg Vorbis, since it's become a popular audio encoding format for DivX's. (Or so I hope.)
This thing costs ~600$ (CDN), and isn't even DivX certified because it doesn't play 3.xx content, which is probably more widely used than 4.xx or 5.xx. I can go to Radio Shack and buy a DVD player for 100$ (CDN), and I know for certain that an MPEG-4 decoder chip does NOT cost 500$!
When these things cost under 200$ (CDN), and are truely DivX certified, I'll buy one. Until then... I could put together a cheap PC with S-Video out for half this price.
When are we going to get some Ogg Vorbis-enabled DVD/CD Players? With Microsoft getting WMA integrated into DVD players and Xiph putting out Tremor not to mention all the MP3 integration being done, it seems these little companies like Apex would jump to add yet another feature to their players that would differentiate them in that cut-throat bargain basement market.
The world is neither black nor white nor good nor evil, only many shades of CowboyNeal.
We already have nukes and biological weapons, I'm sure if NK or Iraq had the nukes and weapons we have then DivX DVD players would be the talk of the nation as well
Shouldn't the article point out that these DivX DVD players aren't the same as the DivX players once sold by Circuit City? Or are they?
In Soviet Russia, Jesus asks: "What Would You Do?"
I am glad to see that I can finally get a DVD player that supports DivX. Now I would love to find a PVR that supports the format (come on TiVo).
The dogcow says "Moof!"
I thought penny-arcade really put it best:
6 -18&res=l#
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=1999-0
"Quoting famous computer scientists out of context is the root of all evil (or at least most of it) in programming." - K
Will the firmware be flashable to update to the latest codecs? I'm sure many have spent time wondering why their movies didn't work before learning that a new DivX codec was released and the newer videos are being encoded with it.
Now I can watch my judy garlend DVDs on my gnu/linux system. :)
Finally, a DivX player that people will actually want to buy.
DivXNetworks, Inc, the company that created the revolutionary patent-pending DivX (TM) video compression technology...
Hmm, I thought that DivX was a perverse concatination of MPEG 4 and MP3. I wasn't aware that it was patentable.
I think, therefore I am an Atheist.
Read more Hereand also Here you have news from JVC and finally Something from Thompson and Zenith
i got a dvd player with divx when dvd first came out, what a ripoff...
"Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
what happens when the DivX codec is updated? Can you flash a update for DivX 6 support? Otherwise, im very excited. cant wait for the prices to fall...LIKE RAIN!
adventure-today.com
at USD$390.04 (according to this page) it seems a little steep, but I would buy one. Does anyone know if the price in Euros means I'm going to have to order it from overseas (I live in the US)
This is the MPAA's nightmare-come-true. Divx is soon to be just as mainstream as MP3 (as in my parents will know what it is). Oh well.. Now I can unload all that porn off of my harddrive.
Sigs? We don't need no stinking sigs!
thats like the third time today ive read "news" here that i read elsewhere about a week ago. come on guys, pick up the pace.
It doesn't seem to be very useful to me. So what? Now you can download ripped dvd movie encoded in divx, burn it on a cd and play it in this thing on your TV? For the cost of this machine, might as well go out and RENT a couple of dvds and watch it on your existing dvd player, and get better quality.
There is of course a huge problem here. Many people use different audio codecs for their divx files. I've seen a lot of divx files with proprietary audio codecs. So we won't be able to play those files on this device?
Yeah, these things dont even support SACDs or DVD-Audio.
now I can play the videos I get off kazaa on a dvd player, it's about time!
GoatPigSheep, the 3 most important food groups
Does anyone know whose chip they're using for the video decoder?
i hope you're joking.
For the clueless, DivX is a weird ass mpeg-4 technology, not that stupid landfiller divx rental technology.
"Martha Stewart can lick my Scrotum......do i have a scrotum?" -- Sharon Osbourne
Since you are trolling, don't forget that other countries use and threaten to use nasty weapons.
http://pcblues.com - Digits and Wood
KiSS DVD Player DP-450
and on a side note:
2002-10-27 05:10:41 The new Ultimate DVD player (articles,news) (rejected),
no really, i'm not bitter...
Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
Get a modchip and install the XBox Media Player. It'll stream DiVX/AVI/MPEG/SVCD/VCD from a PC (or off the internal HD) and display on your TV.
Very nice.
if somebody would come out with a player that allowed you update the playable codecs by hooking it up to your computer or inserting a preloaded pcmcia card. Open up the plugin architecture and you would probably sell one to every /.er.
Then I wouldn't have to read about all the I wan't (insert favorite codec here) on it but its not available because *they* are out to get me.
-- The morphemes of your disquisition are ascertainable, but they have eschewed an ambit of transpicuous exposition.
This thing ought to be able to output 1080p. Can it? And is it any good at DVD bitrate?
I was unaware that the Euro and the US Dollar were so close in value. Also, I was more concerned about the domestic availability of this product. I'm sure its not cheap to ship a DVD player.
...are these DivX DVD players or DIVX DVD players? :)
Can't wait for that particular bit of irony to hit the fan(s).
"when MP3 compatability appeared"
Fanny. "Compatability" dues net appeor en tho dectiunari. I wander why...
that these babies will come with somesort of firmware upgrade that will enable them to play any codec that can be downloaded. I've been waiting for this since a long time!!! Hmmm... now lets see if I can find a 500 CD changer and a 60" plasma TV :)
Does anyone know what the expected disc layout is?
Does it pick up any AVI files in the root directory and play them or is there a well defined structure/index file? How are multiple languages, subtitles and menus handled? This info is necessary for standardisation on a uniform DiVX disc format.
Krishna
--- I'd love to go out with you, but I have to study for a Turing test.
now i can watch divx rips on ma 80cm tv without luggin around my computer or waiting 18 years for it to decode and burn onto a cd!! ;P
We played dungeons and dragons for 3 hours.....then i was slain by an elf
But what about support for DIV3, the Microsoft hack? I would have to bet that most downloaded content is compressed with this codec, although Xvid is gaining popularity. I know that these players are going to get the most use from playing downloaded content. Some people will record tv shows and compress them. Someone is going to have to find a way to convert div3 to iso mpeg4. This can already be done by transcoding, but it would be really cool if it could be done losslessly. How far away is Microsoft Mpeg4 from iso mpeg 4?
While the player seems to support divx 3.11, 4 and 5 (of which only 3.11 is widely used), it doesn't seem to support xvid. Xvid is a rather new codec and a growing portion of movies are released in xvid. In maybe a year practically all new releases will be xvid, and these players won't play them.
Another point is, I wonder how long it takes for MSFT to come after these manufacturers. Divx is a hacked codec based on proprietary tech and I believe MSFT owns the IP rights.
We went DivX 3.11, 4.0, 5.0, and XVid, etc. This player can play DivX 4.0 and 5.0, but what about 5.03, the upcoming version? Or DivX 6? What about XVid, or old 3.11 movies you have kicking around?
But video is only a small part of the puzzle. Of the hundred or so DivX "backups" I have, only half have MP3 audio. A big chunk have ogg (and ogg is probably the most popular for new movies), and a few have AC3.
My point boils down to this: I spend alot of time watching movies encoded in DivX. I even do some encoding. With a PC that is almost infinately upgradable, with all the DivX sites out there offering support, I still have trouble playing some movies.
Some machine with hard-coded firmware is not going to make the grade.
If you want to watch DivX on your tv, then get one of these things. That's what I did - it's a stereo, DVD player, and it plays DivX in all it's formats. It sits under the TV, is plugged into the 100 megabit network, and makes life very simple. We don't even have cable any more.
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Seems to me, that at the prices people are willing to pay for these things, some pretty good new computer-screens could be bought. That's my way of watching DVDs and DivX movies - I simply use my good old trusty computer.
;-)
I know there are a lot of tech-geeks who are sooo excited about this, but I simply cannot se the charm OR the advantages over:
1. A cheap, LOW NOISE computer with video-out, that can easily fit behind or besides your tv.
2. A VERY big flat-screen for you computer so that you can simply use that as a substitute.
Well... I guess I am biased in a way since I have my computer near my couch, and linked to both my 5.1 sound system and my stereo... Uhh... and... by the way (I think no one beat me to it): Imagine a Beo... naahh... nevermind
- Tha LamerBunny...
does anyone know of a player that supports the Intel indeo video codecs under Mac OS X? Quicktime will do it in Mac OS 9, but nothing for OS X. Videolan is great with DiVX (better than Quicktime I might add) but we really need Mplayer for OS X. Come on h4x0rz, don't let me down!
and yer money, presumably US $ is backed by what ? Gold u say ? not all of it and proli it is a very small percentage that is backed by Gold. Try to go to yer US bank and exchenge yer "good" money for pure gold. /me thinks it will not work
Divx3,4,5 for various reasons including lower quality and copyright issues, most serious mpeg4 encoding is migrating to xvid. Once some Ogg issues get worked out most mpeg4 encoding will be done in Ogg/Xvid. Will this player support those codecs or just be a hundred dollar piece of obsolete junk?
I guess Valenti will be revising his anti-VCR speech from decades ago to attack this.
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http://www.tdcanadatrust.com
Go here you troll, and use your big brain [backed by Coke and Nachos] to run a currency conversion.
DivX is good.
Saskboy's blog is good. 9 out of 10 dentists agree.
Guys...is it so hard to spelling logging. Shit, I know the "editorial" crew can't spell things like its, you're, and their, but logging? that's a computer word, for fuck's sake.
you lazy jerkoffs don't deserve to be called programmers, let alone editors. I hope VA is paying you in stock options.R
we've got VCD, DVD, DeCSS, MPEG4, Dvix, DVIX, DviX, DviX;-), DviX B-], DviX (_)(_)=D, god knows what else!!
I bought a DVD player the other day, it was plastered with acronyms. MP3/DVD/CD/VCD/CDR/CDRW.......
This alphabet soup is pretty damn confusing.
Look, let's cut to the chase. All I want to do is pirate DVDs and trade them with other people like I do MP3 files. Why do I have to learn all this? When will somebody give me Point&Click piracy tools, like Apple's iTunes?
A lot of people seem to be concerned about if these divx enabled dvd players are codec-updateable when a new version of divx codec is released. Frankly as long as people follow standards there shouldn't be any problem.
The thing with mpeg-standards (divx is a subset of mpeg-4) is that they do not specify encoders, only decoders. That means that as long as a video stream is decodable by a standard decoder it is valid. Since mpeg compression relies hevily on the deficiencies in our visual systems it is really the tricks employed at encoder level that make the difference in quality (ie. discarding redundant information).
I've gotten the impression that divx has just gotten more standards compliant with every increment version and has picked up some useful tricks for greating a better bitrate/quality ratio. As long as they stick to mpeg-4 compliance and the decoder chips are also standards compliant there shouldn't be any problems with future versions of the divx codec.
Anyhow, here's a good Guacamole recipe:
Recipe courtesy Alton Brown
In a large bowl place the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice, toss to coat. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a potato masher add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mash. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 tablespoon of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.
But then if people dont follow whatever standards you're talking about, it doesnt matter. Anyone else unnable to play many recent movies encoded in 5.02 because the latest linux release is still 5.01?
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
there is no gold in fort knox... us money hasnt had any real value in like 90 years. once people realize it, we (america) will become a 3rd world country.
Yeh.. but like I said. Divx is a subset of mpeg-4 standard. For every increment version they seem to get more compliant. They might have upgraded their encoders and decoders together and implemented some mpeg-4 feature that was not in 5.01. That doesn't mean they're not standards compliant but that they might be even more so. The key here is that a decoder needs to be as compliant as possible.
I've yet to come across an ogg file itself much less a divx with ogg audio. Where are these new movies coming from?
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
That's the melodious wails of Jack Valenti screaming bloody murder. Oh wait a second, he did that the moment smart geeks discovered TMPGEnc and similar tools for making high quality VCDs out of DivXs to watch on their DVD players.....
How can I tell what version a file is encoded in?
DivX is dead, long live DivX!
I'll be impressed when all the codecs can be quietly streamed from a burned disc to the player, the player accepts the codec, and plays the disc with the codec provided.
If only companies like Apex set a few standards on how the 'handshake' of codecs will be initiated.
----------------------
I sig, therefore I was.
Here's my worst case scenario: The MPAA convince$ Justice that this technology allows users to circumvent copyright-protection. Justice tells Customs to stop and seize all shipments of incoming DivX;) DVD players. Justice subpoenas list of customers having purchased units from retailers & credit card companies. Jack-booted thugs break into your home (a la Elian Gonzales), wave M-16's at your family, and seize contraband DVD player.
You exhaust your life savings on legal fees to to fight off federal prosecutors.
You lose your house, your car, your job - your wife leaves you and takes the kids.
Years pass....
Large chunks of the DMCA are finally declared unconstitutional - but unfortunately you died of hypthermia three months earlier, while sleeping in a cardboard box.
The end.
If they stuck with standards like ISMA MPEG-4 instead of hacks like DivX, devices wouldn't become obsolete as quickly.
.mp4 container, while DivX is MPEG-4 video and MP3 audio in an AVI container.)
(Before someone whines, DivX is not standard MPEG-4. The standard specifies MPEG-4 video and AAC audio in a
DIVX SOLD OUT TO MPAA.
DRM will be embedded within DiVX. It's pointless now.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/04/04/224621 9&mode=nested&tid=126
and
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-875988.html
k.
--even a broken watch is correct twice a day.
Sorry to break this to you, but regular DVD format (mpeg-2) also uses compression
YA BIG STUPID HEAD!
What the hell are you talking about? A random sampling of NFOs on iSONews shows quite a few releases using VBR MP3 soundtracks.
Why on earth would AVIs require a CBR audio stream? Where did you get this idea? I'm really, really curious, here.
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
"DivX DVD Players Arrive"
I thought Slashdot had gone back in time a few years heh.
I wonder if that'll spark a trademark dispute...
If the code is all new, why not use a new codec name?
It already is a new codec name; "DivX 5" isn't the same codec as "DivX 3.11". "RealAudio G2" isn't the same codec as "RealAudio". "MPEG audio layer 3" isn't the same codec as "MPEG audio layer 2".
Will I retire or break 10K?
Steve
See ya!
Oh yeah, - Buy a Mac!
On a side note, the MPAA just had a collective heart attack.
Try using MPlayer with the included FFMPEG decoder (the default codecs.conf is probably fine). I haven't had trouble playing any videos recently.
I have MPlayer 0.90 pre 8 running on my iBook under OS X 10.2.1.
OK, I am a video encoding newb and that completely kills everything that I have read and reasoned about DivX. Would anyone care to elaborate?
.Is there any relation at all between DivX and the Circuit City DIVX?
As I understood it, DivX uses the *avi file format* which was developed my Microsoft and is simply a method of packaging the video and audio streams.
As it was explained to me, any audio any video stream (whether it be mp3, ogg or mpeg1 or mpeg2, etc) can be packaged into the avi file format and the fact that it is an avi does not imply a specific audio or video encoding (like choosing paper or plastic at the grocery store -- neither imply what is in the bags).
In this case, I thought the actual video and audio codecs they developed by the DivX people where as only the avi file format was Microsoft's and that DivX 5 was mpeg4.
Since we're on the topic and how I thought it all worked has been thrown to the wind, I might as well ask the question (which I may now have the wrong impression to also). .
Anyone care to elaborate for this now confused soul?
I know most people think of DiVX/XVid/MPEG4 as a tool to pass video around on the net at (relatively) low-bandwidth rates. But what I want to see is a standalone player that will support HDTV-level resolution. I have an HDTV capture card (or two) that I use to record broadcast HDTV as well as PPV, HBO and Showtime shows in high-def. I want to make DiVX DVDs of this high-def material - I want at least an hour of 1280x720 or 1920x1080i (really 1080p @ 24fps, which is just about the same as 1080i) on one DVD-R that I can play without having to use my computer.
If you haven't seen LoTR in high-def, you are missing out. Word is the new director's cut is going to be PPV once the DVDs are out. For a $5 PPV, that's way better picture quality than anything commercially available on DVD.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
What's the difference? Aren't they just filesystem layouts? Why would one be more suited to streaming playback than the other? Isn't the difference like FAT vs ext2---the actual file data stored is exactly the same?
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
What can you buy with DivX? DVD's sure don't use DivX, and the only people who really use it are either pirates or enthusiasts, and according to the MPAA, enthusiats are pirates, too.
As many people have pointed out, the codec is frequently updated. Therefore, many of the to-be-released videos will not play on DVD players that you buy today.
So why not create a new standard, analogous to the VideoCD format, that incorporates the codec algorithm into the disc headers? Thus all that we need is a universal decoder that will look for the codec in the first sectors of the disc.
+=o [b]RoboNerd[/b] o=+
-- We live in a world where lemonade is artificial and soap has real lemon.
Will it support DivX 3.11 (the hacked Microsoft codec)? This is the format the majority of my movies are encoded in.
Will it support XviD? This is the codec I use now.
Will it play DivX movies on DVD-R? I might eventually get a DVD burner - when the prices start to fall a bit more.
Will a multi-disc version be released with some type of changer mechanism? Many of my DivX movies are 2-CD, a few are 3-CD. Getting up to change discs *sucks*.
Will it be inexpensive enough that I can convince my friends/family who don't have a computer hooked up to their TV to buy one?
Will it have basic networking capabilites to play DivX movies and MP3s from a Samba server?
My guess is, being a first generation product, much like the first generation MP3 players that came before it, it will simply pave the way for better, more capable DivX players.
IT kind of depends on how it does the decoding. If it just has a general purpose CPU that is fast enough to handle all the decoing, like a Power PC 750 or something, then it is possable that this could be done since all teh decoding would be software based.
However I think it is far more likely that this device uses hardware dedicated to the sole purpose of decoing video/audio. Basically the MPEG 2/4 decoding is probably done by a DSP dedicated to that purpose. Well that means that the chip can't do anything but MPEG 2/4 decoding, and cannot be changed.
It's kinda like a 3d graphics card in your PC. Any modern 3d card is much, much, much faster than any processor you can find. The GeForce 4 can pull around 1 trillon opertaions per second when it really gets cranked up. However, it is a specific DSP, all it does it push pixels, and it can't be reprogrammed to do anything else. Your CPU, while much slower, is general purpose and can be programmed to do theoritically anything.
Now I don't know for sure what this thing uses, I was unable to access the information on their site, but I suspect it is a couple of dedicated chips to do decoding, not a CPU. In that case, it woul not be updatable. I could be wrong though, CPUs are cheap enough these days in theory they could have a moderatly powerful one (probably on the order of an 900mhz P3 or so) and then just do the decoding in software.
DivX 3.11 wan't legit. They didn't program anything to make it, all they did was hack the Microsoft MPEG-4 v3 codec to make it work with AVI files. So there would be a mess of liscencing issues since it's MS's stuff, not the DivX's team's stuff. Also, the MS MPEG4v3 codec really isn't MPEG-4 compliant (it's proprietary, huge suprise there) so an MPEG-4 deocder can't deal with it.
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What about divx's recorded using ogg vorbis sound...
.ogm's as far well as .avi's. The last few divx movies i have encoded have been ogm.. not only is the sound Way better, but the quality is really incredible. This would be a Huge factor in me buying on of these things.. Since every divx i make from now on i will try to make ogm, and the thing would really be obsolete without that for me :(
It would be a real blessing if the thing handled
its a traded currency, you fucking idiot. you know nothing about economics. pinned and backed currencies are doing fucking horribly right now.
and how does gold have real value?
Daisy Cutters... silly!
Americans are stupid. And we'll burn this place to the ground than ever see them on it.
We've got TiVo type boxes with Hard Drives, and DVD type boxes with DivX...really what we need is a more generalized component-sized PC that works to augment out television viewing experience. I know it's been done before, but the public hadn't caught up with the idea of computational ubiquity. Now's the time for:
* Component-sized set top box format
* 20G HD (minimum) for recording shows and user apps
* Low heat processor (e.g. Transmeta or XScale)
* A embedded operating system of one kind or another
* CD-RW/DVD combo drive
* Video in/out, RJ-45 for connectivity
* Front port for wired/wireless keyboard/mouse/joystick
Something like this ought to be doable for less than $500. Advantage: DivX 3.11, Ogg, MAME. whatever you want would be just a download away. Of course, a hacked XBox is already pretty close to this already.
There are two kinds of people: 1) those who start arrays with one and 1) those who start them with zero.
"DivX 3.11" or "DivX ;-)" is not MPEG-4 but MS-MPEG4 (from our friends at Redmond) thus an MPEG-4 chip can't decode a such stream.
I think it's really cool what they're doing with "set-top boxes" (is that he right term). I mean, a stereo unit that plays mp3s from a hard drive, or CD, or even from the network (I own an AudioTron). And these things are going to be REALLY cool ... but exactly who would own them? The people that have DivX files to play on them aren't going to be paying money for hardware to play them. They already have a computer that plays them, and probably an easy way of connecting it to their television set. Mp3 players for stereo units have a bigger market because there simply are more people who can use them.
In addition to that, there are so many non-standards that are changing so fast that I prefer to just build a good computer to sit in the stereo cabinate and use a wireless keyboard and mouse at the couch. With S-Video and optical audio outputs, I don't really need to worry about secondary hardware because my computer does everything I need. With a network connection to a file server, the geek world needs nothing more.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
From what little I can gather, that portable seems to be a shinco OEM. My guess is it's probably the Dvd-960 model which has been sold by RCA for around 400 dollars in the states for some time (I think it can be had for as little as 300 now though). I own one of these units and I must say it's quite impressive for the price, ESPECIALLY if you're into downloading anime (fansubbed and unlicensed of course, nothing illegal) and you'd like to watch it away from your computer. I actually bought mine JUST for vcds/svcds and consider the DVD capabillity to be a bonus. Just don't buy it for the mp3 playback, it bites (all songs start about 4-5 seconds into it, no idea why it skips first few seconds, and the on-screen display only shows 8.3 filenames).
Of course, if you design a special pared-down motherboard for it, the costs would go down further. It could be tiny, because it wouldn't have to really do much--so it could fit into a simple DVD-player-sized case. My question is: why aren't computer distributors falling over themselves to make these? A chip that can do DVD/DivX/Xvid/Ogg/APE decoding in software can be had for about $20. Special hardware decoding solutions will just seem moot at this price, given the usability limitations they impose.
I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I recall when divx first came out and people said there would NEVER be a commercially available stand-alone divx player becuase divx 3 was cobbled together from bits of microsoft code and thus violated their copyrights. Since then it became an open source project and has been rewritten from scracth. Hence, although versions 4 and 5 would be legal, a divx 3 decoding player would not be.
Well, AFAIK, there are only two countries in the world that back their currency with real, physical gold in the vaults. Switzerland, and some country in the east, Singapore maybe?
The gold standard just ain't what it used to be...
HEY! That was MY idea! STOP THAT!
And I thought it was damn funny too.... when I CAME UP WITH IT!
Because it is actually worth something. That means that even if there is no banking system, government, whatever, you can probably pay for anything you want in gold because of its inherent value. Like diamonds and platinum. Unlike Weimar Marks and Enron stock.
As soon as the sixty dollar mainland Chinese version comes out I'm buying one! This is definitely the toy of joy. The inevitable cheap verstions of stuff like this will screw up so many business plans where the primary focus is on controlling the user's media experience in specific place based scenarios. But hey, that's business, if you can't see the competition coming you're gonna get hit.
This is what I call Casey Jones technology. It aint got nothing to lose and it's heading for a bump.
Dedicated hardware is great... but sometimes you can do things yourself aswell.
I was lucky enough to get my hands on a broken Compaq Evo N160 with a broken screen (read: destroyed). Otherwise it was fine.
The bottom line: now I have a DVD/DivX/MP3/Anything player. And it's compact too. A laptop is even surprisingly cool looking without a screen.
PS. If you have a crappy TV like I do and it doesn't understand S-Video (you get a black and white picture), take a look here.
.: Max Romantschuk
Have a look at the DSP Village over on the Texas Instruments web site. There are whole families of DSP chips that are reprogrammable and accellerate media functionality in all sorts of ways. Even your example of the GF4 - it is specialized towards 3D accelleration, it is customizable with the Cg language extensions. I won't even get into crazier ideas like shipping a FPGA and putting the algorithms on it (the general purpose CPU is probably cheaper). This is the case today, but maybe not tomorrow. This device probably does use some crummy chipset, you're right.
What people should be asking is why the hell the folks at ATI - who already make exactly what you want, by the way, with their all in wonder cards - can't get their act together and write some decent, bulletproof software for windows 2k or linux (I don't really care at this point, if it's solid software). A general purpose PC with more power than you could ever need for this is about $500 away. Just add the card (maybe with some goodies like support for HDTV) and you're off to the races. Or just get a projector.
The problem with that right now is stability. That ATI software is not very stable or good, doesn't integrate DiVX and scheduling functionality, doesn't want to work with my satellite reciever, etc. Get some good software in there and you have something.
My $0.02.
..don't panic
If they dont want to put in a flashable codec chip/ have the codec on the disc, why not make an "expansion" slot [pcmcia/cartridge/etc] that has the codec chips on them. That way you can update the chip whenever the "standard" changes...
of course the manufacturers may not want to implement this since they wont be able to have "built in obselecense" [or sell a new version with the new chip for $$$$$$]
--
Time is on my side
I see a problem with these devices - they don't support DivX 3.11 and never will.
Incase you don't know, DivX 3.11 is kinda illegal beacause it uses a hacked version if MS's MPEG codec (or something like that) so incorporation of it would come under the legal finger of MS.
Why have DivX 3.11? It's arguably the best DivX codec because of compatability, size of files and the fact that it's free with no random software installed with it.
That device is just a DivX _player_ .
In fact, there's even no standalone DivX recorder on the market yet. Neither can you buy DivX movies on CD's anywhere.
So, a DivX player is only useful for people who have a computer, a CD burner, and a collection of movies stolen through P2P networks.
Because people bought a computer, they think that they can get everything for free. Free software is one thing, but movies are another thing. Making a movie costs a lot of money. I don't understand why just because someone wastes $500 in a computer and $30/mo in connectivity, he must be granted the right to freely copy an unlimited number of movies. He's not. The right to see movies is the same for everybody. Computer owners are not a special privileged class of people. Devices like DivX players just make people think that sharing DivX has nothing to do with piracy. That's bad.
Also [paranoid mode on] as buyers are likely to have an illegal collection of movies, if you ever buy those standalone DivX players, don't pay by check nor CC.
{{.sig}}
1) mp4 format
2) ogm format
3) pray MS never fixes the AVI bug that causes VBR mp3s to accidentally work in the first place.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Thus far, MS has left DivX 3.1 stuff and the like alone, probably because it's all been not-for-profit things and because they have more advanced codecs (WM8 and now WM9). Doesn't mean it's legal to use DivX 3.11, just that they aren't enforcing it.
I've got more and more respect for Krakow's reviews. They seem very honest, and answer the questions most people would have. And, the variety of products covered convinces me that he is a journalist; not a propagandist working for MS.
Even so, I'm not sure I'd want to run into him in a dark alley behind this WalMart he frequents...
The Kiss DP-450 at least, is using the same chip as the Sigma plug-in card (EM 8500). It supports "Simple Profile", but only partially supports "Advanced Simple Profile" (hey, I didn't make those names). B-frames are among the supported features, QPEL and GMC (as featured in DivX 5.x) is NOT, unless they've managed to do some miracle partial software emulation. Despite their claims of full Divx4/5 support, I don't believe it till I see it, as it's either CPU or chip, not both.
Eother way, don't expect DivX3.11 to work. It's not MPEG4 compliant (neither is DivX4 I think, but so close that it's no problem supporting it). Xvid will work in its *current* state. When they add QPEL/GMC, it wlll no longer work.
The chip has *some* mpeg-4 complience. But I'll wait for a full-featured one that won't be obsolete so quickly.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
VCDs and SVCDs are a tightly made standard with
specific multiplexing, bitrate, resolution,
framerate etc.
What is "divx" compatibility? Are we talking
about
bitrate, codec (audio/video), VBR/CBR etc?
A computer is flexible enough to handle any
weird format you try, but a set-top device needs
standards. I would really prefer an "MPEG-4"
standard that would specify (similarly to VCDs)
a file format, an audio encoding algorithm
(I believe AAC was formally proposed...) a
resolution etc. That way you know what you
are getting and you know that it WILL work
on another player and give the same results.
As a matter of fact. An MPEG-4 standard wouldn't
even have to be tied to DIVX and should be able
to reproduce all MPEG-4 video streams (XVID etc)
from compatible encoders.
That is the way to go. Using ad-hoc standards will
not help adoption and will certainly not ensure
future compatibility.
P.
There is a chip available. Check out Cyclone
:-)
It costs in the region of $15 to $40 in quantity depending on type and is completely reprogrammable. I've just been to see a demo of this chip (+ others) and it looks ideal for codec implementations. You can program it to be a processor if you want with complete control over the instruction set. These means you can build in such things as hardware complex multiplications, vector processors etc. if you want.
Watch out for this chip, it (and its big brother Stratix) will be many products in the future (certainly the ones I will be developing anyway
wot no sig
It's great for circuit boards and audio connectors!
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
It seems that more than a few people are concerned about the lack of a physical backing for currency, and are choosing to do something about it. It actually sounds like a good idea to me. Even if some of the people who are backing the idea seem a bit shady.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order- Ed Howdershelt Via Tass
If Microsoft ever decides to fix their AVI decoding, all VBR audio tracks will lose synchronization. And any system that actually uses a standards compliant decoder (My guess would be Macs, Linux, stand-alone players) does not and will never have synch either, unless they choose to implement the same bug just to keep compatibility.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
It's using Sigma's EM8500 chip (same as in their add-on card). It will work with:
Current Xvid
DivX 4.x
CBR mp3 tracks
It will not work with:
DivX 3.11 (not mpeg4-compliant)
DivX 5.x with GMC or QPEL enabled (no support in chip)
VBR mp3 tracks (unless they've duplicated the windows BUG which allows it in the first place)
Ogg audio tracks (no support at all)
And for the future:
Won't work with future Xvid releases (no GMC/QPEL support)
But hey, if you need an expensive paperweight, please do.
Kjella
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
it would be interesting to see diamonds fall back to a price equivilant to what they are really worth. Diamonds (other than jewelry) really have a very limited function in the real world. However gold and platinum both have some great properties that make them actually useful in many different feilds, where as the diamond is only really good for cutting things. Question is though, if the markets fail will DeBeers still extort a high price out of these common rocks?
Can you do recharge in and take it on the airplane for less than $200?
The truth shall set you free!
Considering some current DVD players have flashable firmware, whats the chance of us just changing that, to give DivX support for even less $$?
Or chipping a used PS2 or somethin?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Now if only they'd ship at least ONE DVD player with an old-school coax input. I think it's absurd that I have to buy a new television (or an adapter more expensive than a low-end APEX player) just to watch DVDs on it.
I'm not claiming there's a huge market for it, but it's got to be significant, and it can't cost that much to add.
Seen any BadMarketing lately?
DivX on CDs is a great way to record and distribute home video. My parents want to see their grandkid. I have a camcorder. Trouble is, they live halfway around the planet. It's easy to duplicate and mail DivX video on CDs, and it would be great if my not-all-computer-savvy relatives owned DVD players that happened to play DivX.
Yes, you are clueless. A divx with audio sync probs due to VBR are extremely rare, usually the sync problems are due to a clueless encoder with wrong interleaving values. VBR MP3s has worked in divx perfectly for almost two years now. OGG VBR works fine, too.
And for divx 3.11 being awful? If you mean by being awful it being a hack and all that yes, but in terms of quality is far from being awful. A well-encoded 2cd divx 3.11 will look almost as good as the DVD. Xvid has about the same quality but you can get that same quality easier, so it's good for n00bs, but 3.11 is still the king of the hill in the hands of experienced encoders. Yes, there are better codecs than 3.11, but they are not mainstream in the scene due to various reasons. Xvid will probably be better than 3.11 in a few short months, but 3.11 is by no means awful quality-wise.
Why don't you do some encoding yourself and make your own conclusions instead of acting like a clueless moron relaying someone else's opinion as your own.
I've seen Video Disk Recorders for about $1000 that will record a VCD or SVCD in real time of whatever is coming in on the AV jacks, but someone should write software for those of us with TV-in cards and burners to do the same thing.
I'de love to convert all my video tapes to VCD without having to sit there to capture/edit/burn each one.
I realize that the word "hyperbole" has 4 syllables, and therefore beyond your grasp. However, try looking that word up in the dictionary.
The slashbots have no interest in nude women, and the rest of us have access to the real thing.
It took me a while to get used to seing DIVX relating to some new encoding scheme.
I seem to remember a DVD format in the 90s that was a limited play DVD. Wasn't it called DIVX?
Am I just doomed because of my imperfect memory? How many other people remember that stuff?
The point is that when I see DIVX, I think of something I want to avoid in a DVD player.
Wim.
The user's guide says the battery lasts up to two hours with the screen on (four hours with it off)
How could you watch a DVD movie with the screen off??
From excellent karma to terible karma with a single +5 funny post...
The EPIA Eden is a small form factor low power consumption x86 based motherboard that has built in CPU, audio, video, ethernet, and tv-out. Just add RAM and a HD. The Eden is cheap at $80. Add in RAM, a small HD, and a DVD drive, and you are looking at around $200. Then all you need is a chasis and powersupply. It is best to use a small chasis and fanless powerfupply.
Then add a highly tweaked and stripped down version of Linux, with DivX, MP3, and DVD functionality.
More detailed specs and pictures can be found here: http://southernwholesale.zoovy.com/product/DVD9510
Surprisingly versatile for the money...
(curiously, Shinsonic does not have this player on their own website, but they do have a portable DVD player with built in Megadrive/Genesis game system, but I digress)
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
...this player won't be breaking any price records (except upwardly maybe). Call me when Apex sells one.
At home I have a Gainward GeForce2 MX TwinView ViVo Golden Sample - see the review at Tom's Hardware. It's got TV-in *and* TV-out (ViVo), but the TwinView is what really sold me. You can set up multiple monitors using different resolutions, no matter what device you are connected to, such as two RGB monitors or a monitor and a TV (like I have.)
I forget which nView setting I have now, but have it configured for a 1280x960 resoultion on my 19" CRT and a separate 640x480 display on my TV. The Windows taskbar only shows on the CRT, but the TV has a mirror of the background and I can drag windows on to it. I usually leave Winamp running on the TV, but the coolest part is that it automatically scales video to full-screen on the TV. Like the other reply noted, any video window open on my main desktop will run fullscreen on the TV, whether it's in the foreground or not. Definitely worth looking into, as I'm sure Gainward has a newer GF4 card with similar functionality.
What I should have said was nothing.
I have yet to see that. There is S-video and RCA, but what about Component out?
-- Leeeter than leet
You are completely correct. For some god-awful reason, after DivX (the terrible DVD competitor) died, DivX (the MPEG4 codec people) decided to keep the name.
Like the ATI All-in-Wonder Radeons with the ATI Multimedia Center? They have realtime VCD and SVCD recording (AMD Athlon 900, 256MB PC133 SDRAM, works GREAT)
the real at&t mix
i think this kind of thing could really fly;
...this would up the required hdd total capacity significantly.
a linux distro made mostly for a specific setup but flexible enough to work for any computer.
not neccessarily embedded, either; we all have old machines lying around waiting for tasks...
though ideally, a $500 machine w/ tv in/out could easily handle this out of the box (maybe needing hdd and ram upgrades).
h/w would be as described above (with option for mpg2 card for tivo compatibility)
distro would be minimal (no need for gnome or kde, or most gui things; something simple like wmaker or openbox is fine to run xine, gstreamer, or whatever).
i like the idea of the box ripping as needed (like tivo) and then crunching it down to more managable divx (or tarkin, vp3, theora, sorenson, etc) during pre-determined idle time.
minimal distros seem to be a dying breed.
anybody know of a up-to-date distro really good for older machines (90-300mhz)?
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
hi there you fucking cunt. please STFU. K THX.
nice acronym there fucker. AFAIK. How about;
FU, FOFF, FO&D, suck my nuts, you dumb bitch.
Having just purchased one from a local Wal*Mart, I am suprised at how bad the LCD is on this thing. Not only is it 4" diagonal but it seems to be something on the order of 30dpi (along the lines of the really low-end LCD panels for game consoles.) The video artifacting caused by this is quite distracting (with bright halos around people's faces, nearly illegible subtitles, etc.)
I don't know what the MSNBC reviewer was thinking when he said the video quality was good...It's barely passable and not worth the $.
I'll be going back to the return line and considering upgrading to either a $400 unit capable of normal resolution or considering going to a laptop (although battery life, size, weight, and cost are a big bonus in these portable DVD players.)
The ffmpeg project can decode divx 3.11 files with 100% GPL code. It can even encode to the msmpeg4v3 format, which is essentially what the hacked divx 3.11 binary was outputting.
Diamonds are great for industry. Incredibly hard due to their bonding properties, they make great heatsinks (look up the thermal conductivity of a diamond, there is nothing better). However, karat for karat (am I spelling that right?!?), rubies are rarer then diamonds. De Beers is the ONLY reason why diamonds are worth what they are, otherwise, they're only useful for a bunch of researchers trying to do oddball stuff with a rather cool looking rock.
So, when's lunch?
Ihave a Rage128 AIW, I mean record dirctly to disk in realtime.
For better or worse, I have 200+ CD's encoded with FairUse, which uses the hack Divx :}, 3.11 codec. None with work on this bird. Until FairUse is update or something that will encode exactly the scenes I want at exactly the length I want with the best clarity I have yet seen, I will stick to my method and play them only on my computer.
I don't mind changing the CD every 40 minutes.
Besides the device, the box should contain:
* Eight little rectangular snippets of paper that say "WARNING"
* A plastic packet containing four 5/17 inch pilfer grommets and two
club-ended 6/93 inch boxcar prawns.
YOU WILL NEED TO SUPPLY: a matrix wrench and 60,000 feet of tram cable.
IF ANYTHING IS DAMAGED OR MISSING: You IMMEDIATELY should turn to your spouse
and say: "Margaret, you know why this country can't make a car that can get
all the way through the drive-through at Burger King without a major
transmission overhaul? Because nobody cares, that's why."
WARNING: This is assuming your spouse's name is Margaret.
-- Dave Barry, "Read This First!"
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