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DivX 7 Adds Support For Blu-ray Rips (H.264/MKV)
mrspin writes "DivX looks set to continue to be the video format of choice for 'grey' content, with the company announcing that version 7 adds support for H.264 video and, more significantly, the Matroska (MKV) container. Anybody familiar with Blu-ray rips found on BitTorrent sites or other filesharing networks will instantly recognize the MKV file format in combination with the H.264 codec as a popular way to deliver High Definition video on a PC. And now that DivX is throwing its weight behind the Matroska container, MKV support should increasingly find its way on a range of non-PC devices, such as Blu-ray players, HD digital televisions and set-top boxes."
That's simple : DivX is a video software, not a video format. It always has been. DivX 4-6 is based on one standard format : MPEG-4 Part 2 (aka MPEG-4 Visual, aka MPEG-4 ASP). So they are just updating their software to support the latest standard format, H.264 (aka MPEG-4 part 10, aka MPEG-4 AVC).
The equation video codec = video format is just a bad habit, and most of the time false today with proprietary things like Indeo ou RealVideo less and less used.
Neither the summary nor the article said anything about piracy, whether "in general" or otherwise. You made that association on your own.
Are we reading the same article?
From TFA:
DivX looks set to continue to be the video format of choice for 'grey' content
Anybody familiar with Blu-ray rips found on BitTorrent sites or other filesharing networks will instantly recognize the MKV file format in combination with the H.264 codec as a popular way
Now, unless you are aware of a completely legit interpretation of the words "Blu-ray rips on filesharing networks" that I am not aware of...
DivX makes an announcement that thier DivX player can now support a format that even Media Player Classic can play with an open source codec?
First off, MKV is a container which can add features to an encoded video stream such as chapters, subtitles, additional audio streams etc.
The corresponding DivX container (Introduced with DivX6) is far inferior with its limited support for audio codecs and its insistence on DivX video encoding profiles.
DivX the codec is simply a MP4 based video/audio encoder.
You can wrap virtually any video or audio format in an MKV container and it should work just fine. I see no reason why DivX encoded movies could not be wrpped in an MKV container!
I have never tried to encode DivX into an MKV container for several reasons:
1. DivX is not the best MP4 Codec out there, XviD is better and freely availiable (It is a fork of the original OpenDivX).
2. DivX started bundling thier codecs with all sorts of crapware some time ago which really tuned me off the codec.
3. x264 is already availiable for high definition encoding.
4. DivX encoding will cost you money with the Pro version.
5. It is bloatware.
Basically DivX are trying to make money by charging inexperienced users for functionality that is already freely availiable.
If you want to watch virtually every availiable format without problems with a choice of video players I suggest the Combined Community Codec Pack (http://www.cccp-project.net/).
Or you can go ahead and pay the ignorance tax that is DivX.
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.
The short answer is that AVI does not have proper support for the b-pyramids in H.264. You can put H.264 into AVI but this involves putting the b-frames into the same packets at the i-frames and this causes the timecodes and seeking to get messed up. Additionally AVI only allows a single audio track, which is a problem for multiple-language releases. Also many AVI players can not handle VBR audio properly. Subtitles are another issue. So yes, there are significant techinical reasons for using MKV instead of AVI.
I'm big supporter, and user, of x264, but I always thought MainConcept was the slightly better H.264 codec.
This codec comparison is a year old now, but I've always used these generally yearly tests as a yard stick. MainConcept and X264 are the clear winners, with MainConcept probably slightly ahead overall. If you're short on time, just start reading at page 30.
Brought to you by the author of such childrens' classics as "Some Kittens can Fly!" and "All Dogs go to Hell."
MKV also supports variable frame rate encodings, which is very useful for encoding animation.
FLV was never a streaming container in the first place. In fact, being nothing more than a unmanaged HTTP download that you watch while it still loads, it's a very crappy way of "streaming" data. I can do that with most formats, by downloading them to the disk, and then playing them in my favorite media player. I did this with MP3s since 1999.
I did not even have to re-download it, every time I wanted to play it.
FLV can't even come close to MKV in things of media containers. MKV supports multiple streams of video, audio, subtitles, or in fact anything that you can think of (eg a stream for some special effects device), stream tags, timecodes, cues, stereoscopy, stretching/compressing, attachments (eg cover, background information, reviews), segment linking and chapters. Oh, and of course, because it's EBML, you can add your own "tags" and functionality as you like, without affecting the compatibility to old programs. And it's made for very flexible streaming.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
There is exactly nothing illegal about making copies of your own discs for personal use.
In the US, at least, the DMCA would beg to differ with that interpretation, for media protected by an anti-circumvention device. That would be pretty much anything relevant today aside from audio CDs.
Xfce: Lighter than some, heavier than others. Just right.
I have 1000 DVD's all "tagged and bagged" in my media center.
It's all tied together through the home network so that a
number of "thin clients" attached to TV's and any computer
attached to the home network can see all of that.
That is VERY convenient.
I don't have any BD-ROMs yet, but I will. They will get
sucked into the media center like everything else. They
might even end up as MKVs.
HELL, based on this news it might end up shuffled around
so that it's in MKV rather than AVI.
BTW, every one of those ripped DVDs is within reaching
distance of where I am sitting presently.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.