Do I really need DivX?

[Chris23]

I am looking to buy a new DVD/HDD recorder & one of the differences cited here regards whether they have DivX or not. The problem is that whilst I have read the Wikipedia entry and searched the forum I still don't know if it is going to matter to me! I gather this ignorance is why Panasonic don't include it in the UK spec. Count me in as ignorant.

I live in a rural area with poor Broadband speed so streaming TV etc over the internet will not happen.

I do want to buy a camcorder in the near future & note mpeg4 is used by some as a compression & that this is somehow connected to DivX. I want to be able to store & burn DVD from camcorder footage.

I do download the odd .avi file & might want to playback some burnt on my computer DVD/RW drive.

What exactly am I going to be unable to do if I don't have DivX?

Chris

[MuksC]

avi files are the most common files encoded with divx.

if you download movies/programmes from the internet, and want to watch them on your dvd player/recorder, it needs to be divx compatible.

if you don't download stuff, or do but only watch them on your computer, then it won't matter. i personally don't download stuff so don't need divx. if someone lends me a disc with avi files (movies or things like Lost or Prison Break) then i just watch it on my computer, it's no problem for me and no great loss.

it's not the end of the world if you don't have divx compatibility. if you're not already downloading and watching downloaded material then it won't matter.

[NX3]

Given your not sure what it is I'd say you won't miss it.

divx or xvid are compression codecs that are used in containers e.g a AVI file. AVI is just a contrainer, the stuff inside can be lots of formats. mpeg4 and divx are similar technologies but again depending on whose codec the mpeg4 uses, well it more likely to not be compatible with a dvd recorder.

It just nice to watch downloaded shows on CD or DVD on a big TV rather than on a computer. Though I've got my PC hooked up to my TV so get the best of both worlds

Many cameras use mp4 which needs to be quicktime or h264 codes not divx / xvid codes and almost no dvd players / recorders play them yet anyway.

[foneman]

Chris23: as said Divx is really just a term for 'computer generated video' that has stuck because it was the first technique to compress DVD-video to a small enough size the make downloading and managing it a good proposition... for example, 'Pitch Black' is 104 mins long(plus 46 mins of extras), about 7 Gbytes on disc... divx will bring this down small enough to fit on a CD...

B U T !! have a close look at the quality, fast action scenes, particularly the dark scenes... you will find that they dissappear into a 'grey fog'... something has got to go, when you remove 90% of the data.... yes, peeps may say that it looks great on a computer screen, But that usually has a far greater performance, and only 15 to 19 inches of screen to fill... once that is played on a TV screen twice the size, all those bad features look even bigger!!

yes, it may be 'free'... And I have seen quite a few of them ruined by the 'grey fog', to say nothing about various other things that are done by the piraters of said films - chopping off the top and bottom of the film, to save filesize... a few 'just finishing' at least 10 mins before the actual end... one where the *audience* drowned out most of the soundtrack!! - also one where it was a 'before release' cut, nicked from a studio!! (you could even see the 'bad edits'!!)

With 'full quality' DVDs now on sale for less than £10, do you really want to reduce your viewing experience???

I remind peeps this part of the forum is about DVD stuff... there are a lot of players that will do all kinds of other stuff, on the proper forum!!

[NX3]

I think this is going off topic about piracy. As with anything you get good and bad. I've got Unforgiven (Client Eastwood movie) on DVD first edition and the quality is shockingly bad. Its been released again since and the did a proper conversion. The point I'm making, as is foneman, just because something is in a given format it doesn't make it good or bad. You'll find bad divx, good divx at high bitrates, bad dvds, good dvds and I'm sure you can get good / bad HD or Blue-ray disc.

To your question, do you want to watch them on a PC or TV....thats about it really.

[Chris23]

Thanks everyone.

I hadn't realised that it was a topic about piracy!

I can't really see that I am going to want DivX from what you have all told me. As I said at the beginning large downloads are not really possible here & I hate poor quality (smaller download) on a big screen anyway.

Thanks again.

Chris

[foneman]

no, it's not really about that,Chris... but that is how it started.... as they say, it is NOT the gun that kills someone, but the person that uses it!!!

I really put the blame on the movie companies greed.. If they sold *first release* films at a very cheap price, that would mean it would not be at all profitable for the pirates!!
And if they also provided a **reliable** way to get copies(eg, if when you buy the DVD, you can then get *another* backup copy at a very cheap price, so the kiddies can 'scratch that up' the way they normally do) then I am sure sales would massively increase due to ease of use....

but no... they just keep blindly putting on protection(god know how much that costs!!!) and the geeks out there have already cracked the latest stuff!!

[drdiggs]

I would never EVER buy another DVD player that does not play DivX.

DivX to me has been on of the best things ever for me. I can rip a Cd with a bunch of internet files and pop it right in and it plays. Love it.

I have 3 players in this house that DONT have DivX and I wish they all did.

[foneman]

... and I guess you have at least an 8Meg service, or dont mind waiting overnight for it to download??

- please read the first post.... also note that if you just want a player, try these topics...

DVD players

search for Divx in 'Home Entertainment Players'

[Gavtech]

Originally Posted by drdiggs

I can rip a Cd with a bunch of internet files and pop it right in and it plays.

I have something that saves me all the trouble of doing any of that.

It's called broadcast television.

[drdiggs]

Originally Posted by Gavtech

I have something that saves me all the trouble of doing any of that.

It's called broadcast television.

They dont usually air my home videos etc on Broadcast TV, just not that popular yet

[foneman]

pah!! 'broadcast TV' wont 'pause' while you dash to the 'loo.... and you cant skip past the ads, either!!

[MuksC]

Originally Posted by drdiggs

They dont usually air my home videos etc on Broadcast TV, just not that popular yet

it's only a matter of time!

[marty2005]

DivX video is what mp3 is to cd.

[belgrade]

DivX video is what mp3 is to cd.

I have something that saves me all the trouble of doing any of that.

It's called broadcast television.

The people who want divx aren't stupid. we do know its inferior to dvd quality.
But if you want to watch shows like heroes s2, then you need divx (if you want to watch them on your telly)

And broadcast television won't five us heroes s2 etc etc for quite a while...