Everything you wanted to know about MPEG-4 / DivX, but were hesitant to ask Part 5
The only real “threat” to MP3 today comes from the new Ogg Vorbis format.
This development is completely open source and free from the start and has great potential. Compared to MP3, Ogg Vorbis has better sound quality for the same file size. Its popularity is evidenced by the fact that Ogg Vorbis, like MP3, has gone beyond the computer and is compatible with some consumer audio systems.
Devices for playing MPEG-4
The undisputed leader was and continues to be the computer. The downsides associated with this way of watching movies are obvious. You cannot comfortably sit on the sofa with the remote control in your hands and enjoy watching. You have to wait for the download, the field of view is limited by the screen, 5.1 sound is not available to everyone, etc. Everyone can find many reasons in their settings why it would be nice to have a dedicated device for them.
A reasonable question arises: why, for example, a normal DVD player, is not equipped with the ability to play DivX? However, as you can see from the history of DivX, there is no unity in formats and solutions. This is the main challenge and the main obstacle for DivX to go beyond the computer industry. PCs are second to none when it comes to flexibility. The PC is limited only by the power of the processor and the perfection of the settings in the ability to find a way to play any combination of video and audio formats, as well as for any encoding settings, find a solution in the form of a codec or viewfinder settings.
Users of mobile applications or stationary solutions based on specialized chips do not have this luxury, they have to rely on the sagacity of the manufacturers and the ability to update software for new versions of codecs. Naturally, until now there is no single solution outside the PC that can read absolutely all formats.
Therefore, those who wish to view a “pirate” collection on the television screen using a stationary player will hardly find an ideal solution. The answer of the manufacturer will be: use one or another setting of the encoding program to obtain an acceptable result. As a general rule, this is a rejection of advanced MPEG4 functions such as QPEL, GMC when recording movies, as well as some restrictions on audio formats.
Either way, this shouldn’t be an obstacle when it comes to choosing a DVD player for home video enthusiasts as well as those looking for cutting edge technology with maximum capabilities.
DivX movies are not inferior in quality to DVDs, but they are much cheaper and more compact in production. Many modern camcorders and digital cameras offer the ability to create DivX video, and there are a large number of programs to process and record video in this format.
Now mobile devices can be found to play DivX. For example, a compact hard drive-based mobile player with a 3.8-inch screen from Archos, the review of which is available at iXBT.com. Or an MP3 player with a built-in Thomson Lyra display. Xoro also plans to introduce a similar player with a 5.8-inch widescreen.
But the locomotive of the market will remain stationary DVD players with improved functionality.
