DivX

DivX is a video codec created by DivXNetworks, Inc. (http://www.divx.com (http://www.divx.com)). It is not to be confused with DIVX, a failed DVD rental type system employed by the US retailer Circuit City.

DivX is known for its ability to compress lengthy video segments into small sizes and has been the center of controversy because of its use in the replication and distribution of copyrighted DVDs.

Some new DVD players (e.g. from KiSS Technology, Revoy, Xoro, Lite-On and Scott) are already able to play DivX movies.

DivX 3.11 and earlier versions generally refer to a video codec not made by DivXNetworks, Inc. but rather was a hacked version of the Microsoft MPEG-4 layer video codec. The Microsoft codec was created for the compression of .asf files but was altered to allow compression to .avi files in the "DivX" codec.

The current version of the DivXNetworks, Inc. (version 5) is available through their web site for Windows, Linux, and Macintosh operating systems.

DivX is neither Free Software nor Open Source, but free MPEG-4 implementations do exist.

See also:

• XviD, MPEG-4 implementation which is Free Software
• 3ivx