DivX playback headed for the PS3

The press release is a bit short on details, but it's hard to miss the meat of the story: the PS3 is set to include DivX playback in the near future. Users will be able to add the feature for everyday media playback with a forthcoming update, and developers can start using DivX playback in their games with the latest version of the Development Kit. With all the rumors of DivX support coming to the 360 -- other Media Center Extenders already manage DivX and XviD -- it's hard to tell who will add the feature first, but perhaps we should instead be asking ourselves why it took this long for the both of them.

[Simon P @ Nov 13th 2007 11:08AM]

Hurrah!....and may i add, about bloomin time! i know the ps3 gets a lot of stick for the gaming catalog taking a bit of time to get going, but mine's been worth every penny to me as a media center and this will only help.

[EngadgetFanBoi @ Nov 13th 2007 2:01PM]

Exactly. I have two 60gb models, and I haven't purchased a single game yet!

But, I have to say, I'm amazed at the functionality that Sony continues to add to the PS3 via firmware updates. I never expected divx, but what a nice surprise!

[ethana2 @ Nov 13th 2007 2:20PM]

Two? Nice. So-- are you running PSubuntu on them or what?

The GPU and wireless are locked down by hypervisor, I understand. I won't buy one until that changes.

[NinjaTickets @ Nov 13th 2007 5:19PM]

Actually wireless isn't locked down its just a PITA to setup, but you're right the GPU and half of the RAM is locked down.

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 13th 2007 3:37PM]

"The GPU and wireless are locked down by hypervisor, I understand. I won't buy one until that changes."

Great, thanks for the NEXT reason I'm gonig to read on every forum as to why people won't buy it. First it was price, then games, not hypervisor?

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 13th 2007 3:38PM]

"The GPU and wireless are locked down by hypervisor, I understand. I won't buy one until that changes."

Great! Thanks for the NEXT reason I'm going to read on every forum as to why people won't buy it. First it was price, then games, now hypervisor?

[loz @ Nov 13th 2007 11:10AM]

About time. I always wondered why Sony DVD players etc support DivX, but other stuff doesn't. Now all we need is Apple to put it on their iPods/Touch/Phone. Never happen though.

[Kamalot @ Nov 13th 2007 11:22AM]

The 360 is getting DivX playback too as a part of the media extender upgrade.

http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39525

"Company presenter Kevin Hell was apparently caught off-guard when asked about how the Xbox 360 would interact with Microsoft's update to its Windows Media Extender feature that provided DivX support, at first confirming the addition outright but backtracking to say only that DivX was holding "discussions with Microsoft" over the prospect. The addition would provide enthusiasts with native support for many of their videos without having to use special software on the Xbox itself or a nearby PC to transcode videos on the fly."

[David Clark @ Nov 13th 2007 12:23PM]

I was happy to hear this news too since I've previously been a victim of Divx's hatred media center. It used to crash every other time I loaded a Divx file.

Nowadays I just use ffd and it handles it all flawlessly in M.C. on my computer.

[Scooter @ Nov 13th 2007 4:59PM]

"enthusiasts", such as ...almost everybody who has digital video files...
Presumably there will (continue to) be a delay while they sort out the details ($).

[Kurian @ Nov 13th 2007 11:25AM]

Who gives a crap.. I boot into Ubunto and what do we have??? VLC!!VLC!!!

[ethana2 @ Nov 13th 2007 2:23PM]

Spelled it wrong. And on Ubuntu, VLC uses the same frameworks everything else does, so you still have to install the codecs. The worst case scenario would be some proprietary codec that didn't have a PPC version or source. I don't know if we have open implementations for all the codecs out there, but pretty soon, some patents are going to start expiring... and things will get better, imo.

[mason g @ Nov 13th 2007 3:09PM]

correct me if i'm wrong, but i think vlc plays everything with internal splitters and codecs [and a little sprinkling of demonic power]. that's its own framework in itself

[Fruition @ Nov 13th 2007 11:28AM]

About bloody time.

[Generic @ Nov 14th 2007 5:09AM]

...which makes sense for games developers that have cut scenes in their games.

[Generic @ Nov 13th 2007 11:36AM]

...makes sense for games developers that have to embed cut scenes in their games...

[Hanousman @ Nov 13th 2007 12:02PM]

Why should developers use this completely non standard, proprietary and Microsoft MPEG4 based codec instead of ISO MPEG4 with H264 and AAC?

[Wwhat @ Nov 13th 2007 3:27PM]

Because based on volume they have 99.9% of the market?

[Alan Partridge @ Nov 13th 2007 11:37AM]

Divx for PSP please!

[holycow @ Nov 13th 2007 11:42AM]

PS3 era has begun!

[Julio @ Nov 13th 2007 12:05PM]

what about xvid?

[dj-kenpo @ Nov 13th 2007 2:24PM]

xvid is very similar to divx (as they were both once the same, insert flaming hatred of divx ceo ass here, and love for open source xvid there) so if it plays divx it will most likely also handle xvid, just like those standalone divx dvd players. the 2 I have bought handled xvid just dandy

[Temple @ Nov 13th 2007 3:08PM]

divx & xvid use mpeg4 asp so they should be compatible unless Divx codec their using limits it by fourcc id. With this update the PS3 should be able to play pretty much every MP4 file out there that is in a standard container.

Divx/Xvid was playable through the supported DLNA-server on the PS3 using programs like TVersity which would stream them from your PC. But native playback is 100% better then re-encoding it via your DLNA server.

[Jeebus @ Nov 13th 2007 12:08PM]

How about AVI?

[Jeremy @ Nov 13th 2007 4:31PM]

AVI is a container and it's supported. PS3 doesn't support DivX codec thought so, most of AVI's aren't played. It's important to put support of MPEG-4 AVI codec so almost all AVI files could be played on PS3. Now you understand, Jeebus?

[Zach @ Nov 13th 2007 12:18PM]

Divx/Xvid is so old school. ;-) Add HD mkv support and then we'll finally have something.

[cbhwr @ Nov 14th 2007 3:28PM]

I am prolly asking a stupid question, but what does Matroska do that the MPEG-4 container does not do - besides annoy and confuse a lot of people ?

/G

[Klaus Burton @ Nov 13th 2007 3:14PM]

MKV files can contain a plethora of different codecs, it is a much more versatile container which I think is why it is so successful. MP4 containers can't yet have AC3 audio which is a big reason to use MKVs, to get that clear, "uncompressed" surround sound

[g dog @ Nov 13th 2007 3:13PM]

the matroska container is a very clever animal. as well as supporting multiple audio and video streams [diffferent camera angles, different languages etc] it can also contain a text stream [subtitles], solve world hunger, and it streams nicer than avi with a lower overhead.

the only disadvantage is less software utilites work natively with it, to be safe you'd have to demux your mkv, apply your filters or transcode or whatever in raw or avi, and then remux into mkv.

[David Clark @ Nov 13th 2007 12:26PM]

I partially agree with Hanousman but for the most part, it's taken an effort from a proprietary group to get this codec available on many devices that are out there already (in terms of the DVD player market)

I guess it's a bipartisan issue where hardware makers love Divx and software people hate it.

[SikBug @ Nov 13th 2007 12:30PM]

It plays AVI's now I do believe. Dunno if it's done that for awhile or just since that last 2.0 update.

[Ry @ Nov 13th 2007 12:30PM]

But will it do DivX HD?

[Geoff @ Nov 13th 2007 12:39PM]

I'm with a few wondering if any hd feature will be supported... But definitely a step in the right direction. Took them long enough! But keep adding some more codec goodness sony, I still don't think ac3 or a52 is supported yet (and/or some others)..

[Carbonize @ Nov 13th 2007 1:06PM]

Seeing how Sony and PS3 fanboys are always going on about the storage capacity of Blu Ray why would developers feel the need to use DivX for ingame movies? I mean most movies these days are done using the games engine but why would you drop to DivX when you have better codecs such as h264 to use?

Hopefully this will push MS to get a move on with adding avi support.

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 13th 2007 3:46PM]

I really don't think they are adding it for games. (I kind of think that was thrown in there for the "fanboys" on both sides. There is a ton of (legal) content on the web in DivX format, so adding it is pretty much inevitable.

[James @ Nov 13th 2007 6:09PM]

Please point me to this "ton" of legal DivX content. And no, torrents of broadcast TV aren't legal.

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 13th 2007 7:28PM]

stage6 ( http://stage6.divx.com/ ) is a good place to start. Just because you have never found it doesn't mean it's not out there.

[Carbonize @ Nov 14th 2007 5:36AM]

Also I believe online rental services such as Netflix use DivX although I may be wrong on that one.

[sprint_tech @ Nov 13th 2007 1:24PM]

Thats awesome! So it can play DivX and also print on a Canon printer! Sweet

If only they had some decent games......

[Setan @ Nov 13th 2007 4:00PM]

Give it up...

[jason @ Nov 13th 2007 1:27PM]

I am glad that it's (potentially) coming to both consoles, but I am more excited for the PS3. Support for divx in PS3 means I can stream from my linux servers to my tv w/no messing w/VLC transcoding and all the CPU that would eat up =D

[Broken Haiku @ Nov 13th 2007 1:28PM]

Great news. And to those that talk about AVI support, AVI is not a video format, it's a container format. An .avi file can be anything from h.264 or MPEG2 to xvid or divx.

[Rob @ Nov 13th 2007 1:51PM]

I don't think the PS3 does wmv files yet. Right? I own the box, but I'd like to watch wmv's and last time I did it, it wasn't recognized.

[Jeff Foster @ Nov 13th 2007 2:15PM]

h.264 and AAC is the combo of choice here... i see little point to DivX support.

[Wwhat @ Nov 13th 2007 3:31PM]

You are so naïve, it's cute :)

[Jeff Foster @ Nov 13th 2007 3:43PM]

@Wwhat:
Your attempt at condescension, with absolutely no relevant information, is worthless.

I appreciate the effort though, using a diaeresis mark and everything...

[Andir3.0 @ Nov 13th 2007 3:51PM]

I think he means porn, because we all know that the world would stop tomorrow if the kids couldn't get their fix.

[ethana2 @ Nov 13th 2007 2:26PM]

I'm still waiting for the PS3 to be able to play ioq3 and crystal space based games and blend.

Open up that GPU, sony. Powerful machine you've got there. Stop crippling it.

[@a @ Nov 13th 2007 3:16PM]

But will it finally be able to playback HD Diggnation Podcasts?

[mongoos150 @ Nov 13th 2007 3:53PM]

THIS IS FANTASTIC!

I have been bitter over converting mass amounts of video files to mp4 (sometimes these conversions don't come out right, they look bad, audio doesn't come out properly) - this is the BEST thing that can happen to the PS3 for the average downloading tech head. Sure, the format is widely used in illegal downloading - but the fact that it's an overwhelmingly popular format (and has been demanded for such a long time) by users perhaps made this possible - not sure what encouraged Sony to decide to support .avi, but I won't question it! I'm actually surprised more users aren't posting on this thread, this has been HUGELY requested since day one!