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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."
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.
I don't know man, I think both DivX & Adobe have hidden costs even if both like you to view them as "open." I would put my money on Adobe coming through with better player/container support & marketing. On top of that, I don't know of any plans for DRM in Matroska.
So while this is great news for the people who want to put their home videos out there with software that doesn't support DRM (is the average user really going to care though?), I think that the MPAA & porn industry are going to be the deciders here (as they usually are).
My prediction: Flash 9 will become so pervasive that everyone will use that as a container instead of asking their users to download & install a DivX codec.
My work here is dung.
How is DivX, a video codec, going to support H.264, another video codec. If a video is in divx, then it's not in H.264, and vice versa. And you can already put a divx encoded video stream into an .mkv container. So what is new here?
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Remind me again, how does Matroska + H.264 automagically equals "Blu-ray Rips" and piracy in general?
Isn't that a bit like saying that Bittorrent automatically equals pirated software?
It's nice to see DivX (the company) back Matroska, but does anyone really use DivX (the codec) anymore? Their ASP codec is consistently inferior to Xvid, and so my faith that they will be able to develop a new AVC codec that bests x264 is not terribly strong.
Xvid seems to have taken over as the 'gray area' encoder of choice from what I've seen.
And do people still pay much attention to the actual "DiVX" people? Even when I used Divx it was all mplayer/mencoder, ffmpeg, vlc, etc.
I hate comments like this, they make a rather popular codec. It's not popular because of piracy, it's popular because it works well. It's like blamming the MP3 format for music piracy, before that it was casettes. If DivX/Xvid/Mp3 wasn't around piracy would exist in another format.
Come on, was the piracy spin really needed? Youtube uses them, DVD/Bluray players use them, MP3 players use them, heck Windows 7 is even including DivX, H.264 (though not sure if it's through the new DivX codec), and AAC support now. Hate to break it to you, but these codecs are used for a lot more things other than copyright infringement.
I know that Slashdot is US-centric, but it should be pointed out that in many other countries it is not illegal to download a copy of content that you already legally own.
I can't be bothered to learn how to properly rip HD content from a blu-ray when there are already experts who can do/have done it for me.
While DivX is hardly the codec of choice for encoding MPEG-4 ASP for sharing online in .avi files, it has created a recognisable symbol and set of guidelines for various boxes, from DVD players to PVRs to games consoles, to make use of and to show they support this format. If this development means that new boxes like these add support for the Matroska container and H.264 as part of getting to put that little 'DivX Certified' logo on the front, then maybe that does actually mean something.
DivX looks set to continue to be the video format of choice for 'grey' content,
Not sure what gray content you are referring to. I'm assuming this is about legal shades of gray, but there aren't any in terms of content (or at least not the ones you are probably talking about):
There is exactly nothing illegal about making copies of your own discs for personal use.
There is a law against distributing ripping software (the DMCA), but it doesn't sound like you're talking about that.
There is a law about distributing the content itself, but that isn't gray - it's illegal.
The only gray areas are content used for criticism and education.
'course - entirely possible I've misunderstood what "grey" is supposed to mean - maybe a hipster term for re-encoding or something.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
What I don't get about MKVs is that they take so much bloody horsepower, even in SD. I have a 1.5ghz Mac Mini I use as an HTPC. I've been able to play 480p and even some 720p HD on it with very few issues. However, I got a few SD MKVs. Both would stutter and choke on it. What the hell? Either VLC and MPlayer are very poorly optimized in MKV playback or that codec requires a ludicrous amount of horsepower to run. Quicktime with Perian managed to run it, but it appears there's a bug in Perian which will make the movie run at double speed while the audio remains the same if you watch it long enough. What's the deal? I've played back plenty of standard H.264 files just fine. What makes MKV so special?
MKV is a container format. It's not impossible for a container format to induce overhead, but in all likelihood that isn't the case.
The codec would be something like h264,xvid,indeo,theora,etc for video, aac, mp3,vorbis,wav,etc.
I don't know about Quicktime, but avi is horribly limited. Ogg seemed to have promise for a container format, but for whatever reason MKV came about with support for some killer features menus and vobsub format subtitle tracks. I have never seen an mkv with menu, but I have heard it exists.
It would be interesting to know the codecs involved.
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
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.
Somewhat tangential, but can someone explain why Matroska is the favorite container for ripped H.264 video? While I can appreciate that it is the 'open' alternative to the other formats it does not have significant technical advantages. However, open source ideology doesn't usually trump practical concerns in the ripping communities. Many devices and programs commonly used with ripped video, like media servers, media extenders, portable media players and many software players deal poorly with .mkv files. So why the heavy bias for .mkv as a container format instead of something like .mp4?
... or at least the ones that handle the media that can be read by the Xbox 360.
Please add MKV support to the Xbox 360. Don't touch anything else.
Thanks!
Pedro
----
The Insomniac Coder
It's not failed, not by a long shot. In fact, I'd say it's finally doing what mp4 never managed, that is killing AVI. Anime fansubbers would never use anything else these days - the only other container with reasonable softsub support is OGM, and that has a list of problems as long as my arm (if you want something tangible, it can't handle variable framerate). It's also the format of choice for high-quality rips of more regular content, both from new HD formats and even from DVDs - it has lower overhead, better tools, greater codec support, and is simply the best current container format by far. Of course there are a number of idiots who can't figure out how to play it, but that will be the case with any new technology.
I am trolling
MKV is superior container because it allows multiple streams within a single container, including multiple languages and subtitles. It *doesn't care* about the underlying codec's. For cripes sake, it supports DTS-HD out of the box without any special extensions. I have a feeling MKV is exactly what's needed right now. A lot of hi-def media devices are already supporting it, everything from China these days supports it.
You can imagine that media companies hate it simply because it doesn't allow lock in to a format.
And in case you don't get it, this is not not like an OGG VOBIS debate; this is about using open standards for data. You're making the equivalent argument that all documents should be in MS Office format because that's all you ever use.
MKV is here to stay simply because it's perfect for 2009.
A few years ago, forums were full of "How do I convert from h264 to DivX?"
Progress isn't instant. MKV is better, and the knowledgeable people are pushing it. It will likely catch on from sheer stubbornness... which will be good.
but the pirates do use it. its the defacto standard for scene released bluray rips in 720p and 1080p format, due to it being a convenient container for packaging multiple audio signals, subtitles and x264 encoded video and being all FOSS. its also a very popular format for anime, due mostly to its multiple audio and subtitle strengths.
the piracy scene decided on x264 mkv for various reasons but wide compatibility probably wasnt one of them. potential for wide compatibility, open standards and high quality were probably bigger concerns. im pretty sure there werent any hardware xvid players around when they decided that that was the best option for dvdrips.
the playstation 3 and xbox 360 can play x / h264 but not within the mkv container. this means its pretty simple and quick to convert on your pc, but more importantly it means that the console's hardware is fully capable of such playback, its merely a software limitation and this'll get sorted in time.
None of those use MKV.
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."
Took a while for that distinction to sink in. Here is another container format you'll be hearing about a lot more in the coming months. QAM and ATSC. QAM is only a signal modulation and can be used to stream any kind of container format--usually some variant of ATSC. Think of it, I guess, as like the low-level ethernet stuff--ethernet doesn't care if you use TCP/IP or IPX/SPX. ATSC is kind of like TCP/IP or IPX/SPX, it defines how information is sent over the low-level stuff, but for the most part it doesn't care what the information is (MPEG2, H.264). ATSC typically only carries MPEG2, but I guess it has been updated to carry H.264/MPEG4. I guess it can only carry AC-3 audio streams and not mp3.
If you really want to force yourself to learn about video and audio codecs and containers, force yourself to use ffmpeg on the command line for a while. It's docs and number of switches can seem daunting at first, but just remember what you are trying to do is tell it what codecs to use, what bitrates to use, and any modification to the video/audio stream (aspect ratio, resolution, framerate, etc). If you type "ffmpeg -formats | less", you'll get a list of what your version of ffmpeg can read and what containers and codecs it can write to. Keep in mind not every container can hold all the codecs; you'll have to consult wikipedia for that. The whole exercise will make you think about every aspect of your transcoding experience.
PS: is it me or does chrome have a horrible spellchecker?
It is not illegal to download content at all!
What is breaking a contract, is to actually give (offering is not enough) content to others (implicitly with no license), when the license under which you got it does not allow this.
And even if this happens, you still have to clarify how to handle that breach of contract. Only if you refuse to come to terms with the other party, you will end up in court. And then it's not only up to them to define what you have to do, to make that breach Ok. It's just as much up to you. And the judge watches that you two come to terms on a legal, and hopefully fair level.
Everything else is deliberate disinformation. Which of course is used to make you conform to their terms before going to court, and to manipulate the badly informed judge in court, so you won't get your part of the freedom, legality and fairness. And it's horrible, how many people here on Slashdot got already conditioned into that mindset, and are unknowingly spreading it.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
MKV is an excellent container format. It supports multiple subtitles, chapters, menus, multiple audio/video streams. Its just now gaining popularity, so people are right to want to convert it to play portably. The whole idea is that if divx has accepted it for divx 7 then, it will be compatible with the next generation.
I'd understand if MP4, M4V, MPG, or AVI were actually as GOOD and as OPEN as MKV, and MKV were closed or limited in licensing in any way, but none of this is the case. If people never pushed for new standards we'd all still be using animated gifs.
Face it: MKV is a great container format for doing everything a DVD can in less space, in a single file.
as the container format nobody wants.
It doesnt work on major brand portables, doesnt work in most standalone DVD players, nobody supports it .AVI/.mpg/.mp4 is available and far more accessible
Only a minority would download an obscure format and put up with re-coding hassle etc to get it displayed on their player of choice, why put up with the trouble when
And Divx supporting the matroska container will suddenly solve all those problems by providing a recognized "main-stream corporate" outlet which can screen and thereby add more permanence to the container format.
Matroska has had spotty to non-existent support on many american portables because it is constantly evolving*. Divx will act as a periodic filter through which more stable releases can be made. Once the format can be made fixed for a year or two at a time, you will see more support.
Note, however, that this does come at a price. This "main-stream" endorsement will put more pressure on the format to slow down its development. I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing, as the recent developments smack of "feature creep"
*current progress is in using dvd style chapters to connect multiple clips in "object oriented videos", which allows tv series which engage in a lot of footage re-use to save a little space and production cost
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!