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PS3 Gets DivX Support, Coming Soon to Xbox 360

Mpegged writes "The popular DivX video codec will soon be supported on the PlayStation 3 via a future firmware update. DivX CEO Kevin Hell also hinted that support is coming to the 360 as well. 'During the SMid Cap conference call with investment firm JP Morgan, Hell was asked if the recent deal that will see DivX codecs shipped with new versions of Microsoft's standalone Media Center Extenders means that such support will also be arriving on the Xbox 360. "Yes!" was his immediate reply, although he quickly qualified that confirmation with a disclaimer that the deal was still in the negotiation process and had not yet been finalized.'"

7 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Huh? by king-manic · · Score: 3, Funny

    Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 already support H.264; why in the world would anyone use DivX when a better option is available? \

    Because they're too lazy to convert 500 gigs of porn.
    --
    "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
  2. Re:DivX... do people still use that? by Wordsmith · · Score: 5, Informative

    Divx support means the ability to decode those Xvid files (at least in theory). Mpeg-4 Part II, of which both codecs are implementations, is set up so that implementations can vary in their encodes (like, say, two different MP3 encoders would do), decoding should work identically.

  3. Why the moaning? by coldgunner · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can't understand the complaints as to why we didn't get xvid etc, I mean, they didn't have to add divx and its better than having none at all

  4. Re:Huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    h264 comes in many flavors. The PS3 cannot (won't) play anything above level 4.1, although there are rumors of 4.2. Either way, it's not good enough seeing just about every "x264" recording is set to 5.1, which should really be used for ultra-mega-wega HD.

    The other issue is the container. The PS3 will not play mkv, and mp4 doesn't like ac3 5.1 sound. Currently you can split the streams apart, try to fudge the video level down to 4.1 and remux to vob format, with an extension the PS3 will accept, say .mpg. However, it's very hit-n-miss.

    What we really need is VLC to be on the PS3, and cut out all the crap. xbox360 owners seem to have their own limited support issues, but they're having great success with HD WMV, which sony won't touch.

  5. Re:DivX... do people still use that? by Fluffy+Bunnies · · Score: 3, Informative

    No. The two encoders have some mutually incompatible features. Some xvid encodes will work with the divx decoder, while the ones that actually use xvid's good features (like multiple b-frames) simply won't. (unless divx has changed radically in the last year or so)

  6. Re:DivX... do people still use that? by Shrubbman · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's simply an issue with Divx's decoder not fully supporting the spec, similar to how certain h.264 encoded videos with some of the more advanced features enabled can't be played back on the ipod. The only reason not to support the full spec in software would be hardware limitations, which shouldn't be an issue for either the PS3 or 360.

  7. Re:DivX Players? by DrXym · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I have a DivX Player... It's called a computer...

    Good for you. Next you're going to say that your computer is hooked up to your TV and everyone else should do the same?

    Fact is the PS3 and the 360 are plugged into a TV by definition and have more than enough power to play music and video. In that capacity it makes perfect sense to utilise them as multimedia jukeboxes.