DivX 4.0 Beta 3 Bundle (including The Playa, DivX Codec 4.0b3, and The Validator) ========================================================== Playa Version: 0.6.2 DivX Codec Version: 4.0 Beta 3 The Validator Version: 1.1 README file updated on: 2001-08-01 (c) Copyright DivXNetworks, Inc. All Rights Reserved. "DivX" is a trademark of DivXNetworks, Inc. Table of Contents ----------------- 1. Introduction 2. Installation instructions 3. DivX encoding and decoding 4. Using the Validator 5. Known issues 6. What's new in the Playa 7. What's new in the DivX codec Introduction ------------ **The Playa** The Playa is the media player of choice for DivX content. New features include higher performance and visual quality, progressive download so you can playback before the download is complete, and the ability to play broken AVI files. From the people that brought you DivX(tm) video technology. **The DivX Codec** The DivX(tm) codec v4.0 is the latest and greatest release of DivX, the best compression technology for high-resolution movies. The DivX codec (short for COmpression-DECompression) is becoming the standard for high quality video over IP networks because it hits the sweet spot between superior visual quality and small file size. With a broadband connection, you can download a full-length feature film in the time it takes to have a pizza delivered! **The Validator** The Validator will check the directory of your choice for "Authentic" DivX files. If it truly is a DivX file it will rename the file extension to *.divx. Why? Well there is a ton of content encoded in DivX and we know that this content is hard to find through search engines because right now it uses the *.avi file extension which could really be any codec. We also know that there are individuals who actually place "DivX" in the name of their files when they are truly not DivX so that you will be more inclined to download it, since "DivX" is known now as content that is encoded with High Quality. Well we want to make sure that content that is truly is DivX is easy to find and that the DivX name lives on. Installation instructions ------------------------- To install the Playa, Codec and Validator, you should follow the following simple steps: 1. Copy the installer program (DivX4Bundle.exe) to a location on your hard drive (e.g., C:\temp). 2. Run the installer program by double-clicking on the deainstaller.exe icon. 3. Follow the instructions of the installer program to install the The Playa. 4. Done! The Playa, CODEC, and Validator should be installed in your Systems directory. **What files are installed?**: The Playa installer will install the following files on your system: * ThePlaya.exe (DivX Player executable) * divx.dll (DivX Codec) * divxdec.ax (DivX Decoder Filter) * Help.chm (DivX Help File) * Validator.exe (Validator executable) * README.txt (This README file.) * License.txt (License agreement for the CODEC.) **Uninstalling the DivX Codec**: To remove the DivX Codec from your system, you should use the "Add/Remove Programs" control panel in Windows. To this by selecting "Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs" from the Windows Start menu. In the listbox that is presented to you, choose "DivX 4.0 Beta Codec" and click "remove." DivX encoding and decoding -------------------------- How do I use this thing? Please refer to the Help File included in the installer. You can find the help file in Start -> Programs -> DivX -> DivX Codec -> Help Using the Validator ------------------- Just double click the validator on your Programs menu and the Validator will do the rest. It will, upon request, rename all files with a DIV3, DIV4, and DIVX FOURCC code to use a *.divx extension. This removes the ambiguity associated with the *.avi extension. Known issues ------------ Please send submit all bugs to http://www.divx.com/feedback. What's new in The Playa ----------------------- **Features of The Playa:** * CPU usage reduced * S3 video cards display bugs fixed * MicroDVD subtitles support finished * GDI Leak bug corrected * Improved Streaming of AVI files * Right click pauses in fullscreen * Various minor bugs corrected **Bugs fixed in The Playa 0.6.2 release:** * GDI memory leak under windows 98 fixed **Bugs fixed in The Playa 0.6.1 release:** * Removed "all" memory leaks * Reduced skin browser size * Corrected a bug where the last 2 seconds of audio weren't playing. * Corrected a bug where really short clip wouldn't play audio * Corrected a display bugs on ATI video cards * Added option to chage subtitles fonts * Various minor bugs What's new in the DivX(tm) codec -------------------------------- **Features of DivX 4.0:** * Improved decoder performance * Higher encoding performance, almost 4 times faster than previous versions * Multi-pass encoding and 2 different variable bit rate modes * Improved visual quality * Highly scalable codec from 16x16 to 1920x1280 (i.e. HDTV). All even integer dimensions are acceptable * Support for popular encoding/editing applications * Plays all DivX content ** Bugs Fixed in the DivX 4.0 (Beta 3) release:** * DivX decoder registered itself for 3.x formats even if user answered "No" when installing * Found one more bug in 3.x decoder * Fixed problem with quality loss when encoding at height not multiple of 16 and low resolution * Fixed crash when encoding on Pentium II / Celeron machines (accidentally introduced in beta 2) * Fixed noise problems in playing 3.x content * More accurate 2-pass VBR * Rearranged controls in encoder config dialog ** Bugs fixed in the DivX 4.0 (Beta 2) release:** * DivX DirectShow filter did not work on Windows NT 4.0 * Encoding was broken at very high bitrates. You would receive scrambled picture if you tried to encode either in quality-based VBR at quality level >=95% or in two-pass VBR at bitrates roughly higher than 1500-2000 Kbps * Decoder was crashing in some cases on Pentium II and Celeron machines (a few SSE instructions were accidentally put into MMX YUV->RGB conversion routines) * Decoder was crashing with post-processing level 6 or 7 and 16*N < height <= 16*N+8 * Fixed on obscure DivX 3.x decoder incompatibility issue * DivX decoder filter was crashing when used by BSPlayer (http://bsplayer.cjb.net) * There was a parameter in encoder settings, which was called "crispness" in the configuration dialog and "frame dropping" in the help file. It is now correctly called "frame dropping" in the configuration dialog. * In the help file, on the page about post-processing, there was a duplicate paragraph, written in a slightly different way. This duplicate paragraph has been removed. * The "About" dialog box of the codec showed an unreadable character after the word "DivX." On machines with installed Russin it is a trademark symbol, but there are lots of machines out there which do not have Russian fonts. :-) This has been fixed. * Added brightness, contrast, and saturation sliders * Encoder now stores its settings in the registry