Quality loss in converting from DIVX to XVID?

[fwtong]

I have a bunch of files that I want to convert from DIVX to XVID. Will there be any quality loss if I do this? The reason why I'm doing this is that the PS3 doesn't seem to like files encoded in older versions of DIVX. Since I haven't purchased the more recent DIVX codec, I was thinking of encoding it to XVID, which the PS3 doesn't seem to have a problem with.

Thanks

[mats.hogberg]

I have a bunch of files that I want to convert from DIVX to XVID. Will there be any quality loss if I do this?

Yes. Will it be noticable? Maybe. Use AutoGK or AviReComp, set the target bitrate somewhat higher than source bitrate to compensate somewhat for the inevitable quality loss when reencoding.

/Mats

[FulciLives]

I've found that XviD doesn't always work as well as DivX with the PS3 even when it has been encoded "correctly". You might want to stick with DivX just to be safe. You can download the newest version for free and then use autoGK or avi.NET etc.

Also there is a program called PS3 VIDEO 9 that can convert to MP4 which is native to the PS3 ... could try that also.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Ai Haibara]

What version of DivX do the videos use? The PS3 is only confirmed to not allow DivX 3, which is a different codec than DivX 4 and up. I don't think I've seen a problem with DivX 4/5/6 videos, so far.

If in doubt, you can always try burning to a rewritable disc, and see if the PS3 has any problems with the videos.

[FulciLives]

Has there been any word on subtitle support for DivX on the PS3 because I haven't been able to get SRT nor IDX/SUB to work with any DivX files yet (well actually they were XviD but they worked sans the subtitles).

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Ai Haibara]

I haven't seen anything in regard to subtitle support. After a quick search, it doesn't look like the PS3 is Ultra certified (yet, they claim), so it probably won't play xsubs in a .divx file, either.

Though during the search, I did pass a couple of claims - one claiming the PS3 may have problems with DivX/Xvid over 720x resolution, and another claiming the PS3 may have problems with the AVIs if their resolutions aren't divisible by 16. I'm not sure about either of those claims, though. It'd really be nice if Sony published the list of requirements for a DivX/Xvid AVI to play on the PS3. Save me a lot of guesswork and experimentation... :/

[fwtong]

I'm not sure what version of DIVX was used to encode because I didn't do it. I just know that it's not compatible because it stops about 8 secs into the video. I did a test encode to XVID and it worked fine for a few minutes (didn't stick around to watch the entire video). But I'll try encoding into MP4. If I have to re-encode, might as well make it native anways.

Thanks for all the help

[Ai Haibara]

Run the videos through a utility like GSpot or MediaInfo. They should be able to provide you with more information about the video.
(Videos encoded with DivX 6 will identify as being encoded with DivX 5, however, because 6 seems to use the same FourCC identifiers as DivX5.)