DVD to DivX ;)- Page 1

This is the best way to convert DVD movies to (usually) a single CD. How can this be possible? With DivX ;) codec we compress Video to mpeg4v3 and the sound to mp3 (or MS audio).  This gives us the possibility to get MUCH better video and sound quality than VideoCD, at a smaller file size. A great way to backup those favourite DVD's you paid 30 bucks for.

- What is DivX ;)?
You all might knew the term "DivX" from past since it was a DVD Rental system by the same name that emerged about a year ago. However don't mess it with DivX ;)..Actually DivX ;) is nothing else but hacked Microsoft Mpeg4 codecs in order to be used with AVI files since original MS Mpeg4 codec were restricted to ASF use only!.

- Why i should care about it?
Mpeg4 codec gives you a great video quality and produces low filesize avi. In simple words you can have two hour movie compressed with DivX and fit in one CD with very good sound and video quality.

- How good it this Mpeg4 codec compared to original DVD and VCD standard?
I think you can place Mpeg4 in the scale of 50(VCD) and 100(DVD) at 75.

- Will it play at my stand alone DVD player?
Nope! DivX ;) is not playable to any standalone player since it uses Mpeg4 codec. I guess soon manufactures will support Mpeg4 decoding and then you will stand alone players which will support DivX ;) standard.

- What are the platforms which DivX ;) is supported?
Mostly Windows and MAC

- What are the minimum requirements for playback it?
Because DivX ;) uses heavy encoding techniques for audio and video, you will need a quite powerful PC to play them well. If you want to play it at the highest possible quality, you might need a P3 or K7. Of course you can also use 'low' or 'normal' quality decoding, which will work on lower spec machines. But keep in mind you at least will want a P2-300mhz+ PC.

- Where I can read more about Mpeg4 technology?
http://www.iis.fhg.de/amm/techinf/mpeg4/index.html
http://www.licensing.philips.com/mpeg/
MPEG-4 Overview document