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Warner Bros. to Offer DivX Downloads
Posted by John Mahoney at 11:00 PM on October 14, 2008
Already the format of choice for, ahem, somewhat clandestine distribution of digital video files, DivX has now officially partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute video in the format. Sony beat WB to the punch by about 9 months, and we'll have to wait even longer for Warner to come around to HD DivX, which won't be ready until September of next year. SD downloads are expected to become available this month. Full details follow.
Warner Bros. Licenses Content for Distribution on DivX Certified(R) Consumer Electronics Devices
Agreement Enables Retailers to Offer Premium Content in DivX(R) Format for Playback on Variety of Devices
SAN DIEGO & LOS ANGELES —(Business Wire)— Oct 14, 2008 DivX, Inc. (NASDAQ:DIVX) and Warner Bros. Entertainment today announced an agreement that will enable online retailers to offer Warner Bros. titles in the high-quality DivX® standard definition format in October 2008 and high definition format in September 2009 for playback on DivX Certified® consumer electronics devices.
The wide-ranging agreement covers all titles available for digital distribution in the Warner Bros. catalogue including current and back-catalogue major motion pictures and television programs. All titles offered in the DivX format are compatible with a variety of DivX Certified devices from major consumer electronics brands, including DVD players, Blu-ray devices, gaming consoles and more. The agreement allows retailers who sign additional agreements with DivX and Warner Bros. to offer Warner titles in the DivX digital media format.
"Using the DivX secure format is in keeping with our overall digital distribution strategy," said Jim Wuthrich, Senior Vice President, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. "The visual quality, security and widespread interoperability of the DivX format offers an excellent means for consumers to enjoy Warner Bros.' content whenever and wherever they desire."
"Warner Bros. offers an extremely compelling catalogue of premium, high-quality content enjoyed by consumers all over the world," said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX, Inc. "We're very excited to work together to offer consumers premium content on any DivX device, from the PC to the living room and on the go."
For more information about DivX, visit www.divx.com. To learn more about Warner Bros. Entertainment visit www.warnerbros.com.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
WMC
Posted October 15, 2008 12:18 PM
My original Xbox running XBMC happily opens Matroska, and so long as whatever is inside isn't really hi-def, will play it with no worries at all. Popcorn Hour does it in hi-def, I understand, as will anything else reasonably new running XBMC (hacked Apple TV, for example).
strider_mt2k
Posted 12:28 AM 15/10/08
Hmm.
I simply ripped my DVDs to DivX files because I saw the potential of cool portable devices capable of utilizing them coming my way and wanted a fairly easy and small container for 'em.
They aren't DVD quality. My portables don't have that resolution anyway! -but they look damn good, and are sized for carrying. -roughly 700mb per, unless I like the movie or it's a long one, then I bump 'em up to 1GB.
On a 16GB SD card it makes for being able to carry some favorites around on my netbook, which is all I was shooting for.
I wonder how much DRM will be on these things and what the quality will be, but it's still a cool idea.
strider_mt2k
helfrez
Posted 12:20 AM 15/10/08
I still don't understand the fascination with Matroska. It looks good and all..but NOTHING supports Matroska containers. They migt as well be packing movies in theora. I end up demuxing to VOB 99% of the time to watch in my divx player or stream to my ps3/psp.
helfrez
Pazu
Posted 12:16 AM 15/10/08
DivX security? Here comes DRM infested files...
Pazu
BadBoyNDSU
Posted 12:08 AM 15/10/08
1. Xvid is codec of choice for underground SD content.
2. x264 in a Mastroka container is the choice for underground HD content.
BadBoyNDSU
speakerwizard
Posted 12:59 AM 15/10/08
@BadBoyNDSU:
Hell yeah on x264, i mean DIVX!!??? egh
speakerwizard
mfusion
Posted 12:51 AM 15/10/08
any particular september of next year? or just "a september"?
mfusion
Scaramanga
Posted 1:35 AM 15/10/08
Personally, I prefer H.264 MP4 to Divx these days, just by the fact its compatible with more devices (like iPods, etc). For 'clandestine' users it doesn't really matter anymore what format its in as long as its got no DRM.
Scaramanga
Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude
Posted 1:15 AM 15/10/08
This just reminded me how much I miss Stage6...
Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude
HonusWScruggs
Posted 1:10 AM 15/10/08
@strider_mt2k: What do you use for the rip?
HonusWScruggs
gokieks
Posted 2:01 AM 15/10/08
@helfrez: It's a PC-centric format, and the draw is that it's a container and nothing more, which gives much more control than any other format.
There was a time when nothing other than computers supported MP3s, or DivX AVIs, or any other number of formats which began life only usable on computers. But nowadays just about every new device under the sun supports MP3s, and plenty of standalone players support DivX/Xvid AVIs.
gokieks
jtan
Posted 2:21 AM 15/10/08
@Jrsy is the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another du...:
oh man nostalgia....
jtan
lpranal
Posted 2:14 AM 15/10/08
@speakerwizard: I believe divx is working on encoding in h.264 for DIVX 7
lpranal
BadBoyNDSU
Posted 4:36 AM 15/10/08
@gokieks: I have a custom built low-end HTPC. Problem solved.
BadBoyNDSU
diamonddnice
Posted 5:20 AM 15/10/08
@helfrez:
100% agree. Mastroka is not useful and nothing plays it. I too always have to demux it or convert files with ripbot for 8 fricken hours. Then they are compatible with my 360. No idea why the net nerds want to force a container when they could at least just use mp4 and make them useful. Reminds me of all the fools crusading for minidiscs.
diamonddnice
spider2544
Posted 5:03 AM 15/10/08
cant wait till they overcharge for this, and then DRM it to hell so i cant use it on anything.
spider2544
diamonddnice
Posted 7:42 AM 15/10/08
@Ph0Xy:
maybe but what may happen in a few years doesn't help now. i will say i have $1500 50 in plasma. I don't want to watch a movie on a small computer screen. Even so with screens that small i really don't need an 8GB 1080p download or really even 4 GB. I've reencoded hd mkvs to under 2GB and they look excellent on a computer screen. So it may be for computers but, one, it's not what i want, and two, it seems like a waste to have files that big for such a small screen.
diamonddnice
Ph0Xy
Posted 7:11 AM 15/10/08
@helfrez:
VLC?
MPlayer?
Media Player Classic?
PowerDVD?
Don't these all support MKV?
And if you mean for other systems, well all the releases are mainly for the computer. Let's not forget that couple years ago, nothing could run XviD and other formats either, without conversion.
Ph0Xy
Ph0Xy
Posted 7:09 AM 15/10/08
@BadBoyNDSU:
Seriously, I almost raged at their ignorance when I read that DivX was the codec of choice.
If you knew the rules, it clearly says that every release has to be in XviD and never in DivX.
And like you said, x264 for HD. There's also x264 in AVI container for HQ releases.
Ph0Xy
TLC-BobTheBuilder
Posted 2:02 PM 15/10/08
@diamonddnice: I use pleanty of Mastroka x264 codecs for HD content straight to my xbox 360. I think you might be needing to look for some different codecs to stream to your xbox, because I stream flawlessly on wireless.
TLC-BobTheBuilder