Official: DivX Technology to be Added to PLAYSTATION 3 Options

[PS3Scene]

Official: DivX Technology to be Added to PLAYSTATION 3 Posted by XanTium | 13-11-2007 13:43 EST

From the press release: [QUOTE] DivX, Inc. today announced that DivX video technology will be integrated into PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3™) from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE). The popular computer entertainment system will be added to the ecosystem of devices that currently support DivX video playback. To date, over 100 million DivX Certified products have been shipped into the market, and it is anticipated PS3 will significantly expand that number. "We are excited to work with Sony Computer Entertainment to bring DivX to PS3," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "Our technology will expand the multimedia functionality of PS3 by enabling users to enjoy access to the broad library of content in the DivX digital media format." Products that bear the DivX Certified logo have undergone a rigorous testing program to ensure a high-quality DivX media experience that includes reliable video playback and excellent visual quality. DivX is currently working to certify PS3 and deliver a superior digital media technology to consumers in the near future. Current PS3 end users will be able to add DivX functionality to their systems via a separate system software update at a forthcoming date. PS3 game title developers will be able to utilize DivX's decoder technology by updating the system software of PS3's Software Development Kit to version 2.00, which was released by SCE on November 2nd. [/QUOTE]

[cerealkillajme]

Good news for Sony. Glad to see someone was smart enough to add DivX into their system. Hopefully it will take off and M$ will be left kicking themselves thinking they should have just let us have our DivX.

[grim_d]

i dont understand the big deal with divx? if i have something to watch i buy the dvd then put it in my dvd player.

do people really have THAT many homemade movies..hmm.

[throwingks]

This was a smart play by Sony.

This puts Microsoft is a tough position.

1. Allow streaming Divx
   • Hurt their own movie sales (Xbox Live!)
   • Maybe anger some movie studios that would be willing to provide more movies to the Live catalog
2. Don't allow Divx
   • Let PS3 have the upper hand
   • Anger current and future customers

i dont understand the big deal with divx? if i have something to watch i buy the dvd then put it in my dvd player.

do people really have THAT many homemade movies..hmm.

People may or may not have obtained the movies the right way. Both Microsoft and Sony are in the business of making money. If there is a market for streaming Divx, then 1 of them will make it happen. Now, Microsoft has to weigh the profits vs. cost of this, and they will make a decision too.

[d-range]

i dont understand the big deal with divx? if i have something to watch i buy the dvd then put it in my dvd player.

do people really have THAT many homemade movies..hmm.

People transcode their DVDs to divx/xvid to fit more of them on e.g. an external drive and still keep decent video quality. I used to do that a lot myself because its just more convenient than swapping discs all the time. Not saying that a lot of people won't use it for movies they get from usenet etc. but divx support does actually serve a purpose.

[badbrains]

This is awesome. Now if only M$ gets it together and supports this as well.

[lordsnipe]

This is good .. hopefully it puts pressure on M$ to do the same and everyone benefits.

PS3 game title developers will be able to utilize DivX's decoder technology by updating the system software of PS3's Software Development Kit to version 2.00, which was released by SCE on November 2nd.

I thought the PS3 with it's almighty and superior Blu-Ray didn't need compression

[Kamasutra318]

I've already moved on to the superior H.264, but it's good to see that I'll be able to play some of my older stuff without transcoding. I mostly used Xvid though, so I hope the decoder is optimized for both.

[bucko]

I always thought if Divx was allowed it would be some type of downloadable content because don't Divx take license fees of every device that has the divx logo/software on them?

Sony must be paying them quite a bit to support this, wonder how MS will deal with it.

This post has been edited by bucko: Nov 14 2007, 07:51 PM

[twistedsymphony]

...Sony must be paying them quite a bit to support this, wonder how MS will deal with it.

Not necessarily, if Sony supports Divx that improves Divx's install base which means more people will use it for other things.

Also I think the license is only required for encoding... not decoding, I could be wrong though (I don't use it so I wouldn't know)

[Martinchris23]

Here's hoping that MS take their thumb outta their arse and do likewise with the 360.

[ludacrisvp]

If I remember correctly wasn't DIVX made from modifying Microsoft's version of the MPEG-4 codec?
I may be wrong but I thought I heard that somewhere and that is one reason Microsoft is very anti-DIVX.