DivX 4.0 Beta for Window is out !

[Leon]

Info from labDV: http://www.labdv.com/en/index.htm and from our French colleagues from Planete-Numerique: http://www.planete-numerique.com/

New features:
* Improved decoder performance
* Higher encoding performance, almost 4 times faster than previous version
* Multipass encoding and 2 different variable bit rate modes
* Improved visual quality
* Highly scalable codec from 16x16 pixels to 1920x1280 pixels
(i.e. HDTV). All even integer dimensions are acceptable.
* Support for popular encoding/editing applications
* Plays all DivX content

Available for download from http://www.divx.com/features.php

Some reports that old DivX files play bad with the news DivX , so you may use a FourCC changer to manage to play old 3.11 DivX with MS-MPEG4 codecs (available from http://www.labdv.com/en/software/softlist.htm#codecs)

Leon

[lafamar]

Leon, thanks so much for your information.
A little question:
When TMPEGenc will has a improve encoder performance as DivX 4.0 (Beta) says: "higher encoding performance, almost 4 times faster than previous version" for our happiness in making VCD's and SVCD's ?
Anybody knows? It's a dream or not?
Tks all.

[Chopper Face]

I think the problem there is that .mpg doesn't keep getting uglier and uglier like div-x does. I'm quite afraid of this new codec.

[Leon]

TMPG main goal (set by the author, Hori) is QUALITY so speed isn't his main focus, I'd be more supporting affordable dual 2GHz PCs !!!

I'm not afraid by this new DivX, the Alpha code was very slow, quite unusable, but the picture was OK with Alpha code and they say better with Beta code, from my experience, the quality is the same, good.

I'm more concerned by DivX future, majors have MP4 ready technology (Philips, C-cube) and work on MP7 (interactivity and other stuff not present in MP4). The DivX tool in the bundle is to rename .avi to .divx so I more afraid we go to incompatibility with AVI, DivX, MP4, MP7 so the only durability is for MPEG-2 (6Mbps and higher).

So I use DivX only for movie with a 1-or-2-year life and MPEG-2 for family movies I want to keep to the next Millennium

Leon
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/lelab/