Any new DVD DivX players which handle packed bitstream smoothly?

[tzikeh]

Has anyone found a DVD DivX player that doesn't have the jumpy problems with the newer bitstream packing? I have the Philips DVP5960, and I tried to upgrade the firmware, but it screwed up. Philips says they won't give me my money back; my only option is to exchange it for the same model. Obviously, I don't *want* the same model as it doesn't do the job.

I'm on a Mac, so I can't use this site's recommended unpacking or testing software.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

(region-hackable a plus)

[Ai Haibara]

Squash gave you one software alternative, here - use the OS X version of Avidemux.

Another software alternative, if you don't mind installing the Mono framework, is the command-line version of MPEG4 Modifier. More on that here: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=117553

ffmpegx probably has some provisions for packed bitstream, but I'm not sure - you should probably ask in the ffmpegx forum here on VideoHelp, if you're interested.

[tzikeh]

I know about the Avidemux, but I'm hoping that there's a player out there which might save me the trouble. I posted mainly to find out if people were finding newer players could handle the packing.

[Ai Haibara]

In regard to the players, I'm not sure, really. It's always been easier for me just to unpack videos before I create any discs I'm going to use with my players. However, since my sister has a PS3, which has just added DivX/Xvid support, I can say that it seems to support packed bitstream, at least in the videos I've thrown at it. I couldn't recommend it for someone just looking for a DivX/Xvid set-top player, though.

[tzikeh]

Avidemux is also for Macs running on Intel chips, which mine is not.

[Ai Haibara]

I could've sworn I saw some PPC builds floating around, somewhere. Oh, well.

(Edit: Yeah, I vaguely remember experimenting with a build on my old G3 some time ago, and I think I'd grabbed it from their main site. As you noticed, it only seems to be offering Intel builds, now...)

Just checked their forums, and I saw some posts regarding compiling PPC executables, but it looks like a rather complex process.

[tzikeh]

what, exactly, is unpacking? Is this akin to demuxing? I have FFMPEGX and MPEGStreamclip and FCP and Toast, so I'm sure that some combination of these pieces of software will get me where I want to go, but first I need to know exactly what unpacking entails.

[Ai Haibara]

No, it's not the same as demuxing. I'm not entirely sure what the full technical explanation of packed bitstream is... I've been running a search of the VH forums for a decent explanation, since it's not in VH's glossary, but here's the best I've been able to find, so far: https://forum.videohelp.com/topic324797.html