DivX 4.02 Bundle (including The Playa, DivX Codec 4.02) ======================================================== Playa Version: 0.6.4 DivX Codec Version: 4.02 README file updated on: 2001-10-19 (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 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 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 0.6.1 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 **Bugs fixed in The Playa 0.6.2 release:** * GDI memory leak under windows 98 fixed **Bugs fixed in The Playa 0.6.4** (The Playa 0.6.3 was not released publicly.) * Ctrl-Alt-Del crash bug fixed 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 **Change Log:** -- Changes since 4.01 -- * Fixed more problems with decoding 3.x * Increased Encoding Performance * New Post-Processing/Deringing Algorithm. Very noticeable improvement in video playback quality. * Fixed known AMD related bugs. * Minor MPEG-4 Compliance changes. -- Changes since beta 1 -- * DivX DirectShow filter was not working 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 / Celeron machines ( a few SSE instructions were accidentally put into MMX YUV->RGB conversion routines ) * Decoder was crashing with postproc level 6 or 7 and 16*N < height <= 16*N+8. * Fixed one 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 config dialog and 'frame dropping' in help file. It causes a lot of confusion. * In the help file, on the page about postprocessing, there was a duplicating paragraph, written in slightly different ways. * 'About' dialog box of the codec showed an unreadable character after the word 'DivX'. On machines with installed Russian it is a 'TM' sign, but there are lots of machines out there which do not have Russian fonts :-) * Added brightness, contrast and saturation sliders. * Encoder now stores its settings in the registry. -- Changes since beta 2 -- * 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 -- Changes since beta 3 -- * Fixed more problems with decoding 3.x * Removed last SSE instruction from YUY2->YV12 MMX conversion function * Added sanity checks for log file contents * DirectShow filter was not applying brightness/contrast/saturation settings when starting playback * Reverted DirectShow filter overlay operation to beta2 style due to reports about decreased performance on some computers * Fixed few problems in 2-pass VBR ( sorry guys! ) * Fixed memory leak at highest postproc levels * Fixed bug with coding as 'skipped' macroblocks that differ only in chrominance * Fixed buffer overflow in decoder * Purple areas were appearing sometimes near right edge of picture ( bug in encoder ) * Added support of log file format version 2 ( should add minimal ability for external programs to control 2nd pass ) * Encoder assumes that 1 kbps = 1000 bits per second * Crash with YUY2 output, height=16*x+2, width!=16*x * More fixes for decoding 3.11 with non-16*x dimensions -- Changes since 4.0 -- * Fixed more problems with decoding 3.x * Incompatibility of codec with Vidomi encoder * Incorrect bitrate achieved during capture in '1-pass' mode with AVI_IO capture application * A few bugs in decoder implementation MPEG-2 inverse quantization ( not really used now, but necessary to claim that decoder is 100% compliant with MPEG-4 simple profile ) * Slightly improved accuracy of RGB->YUV MMX/SSE conversions * Increased version number ( 4.0 -> 4.01 ) * Some cleanup in help file, topic 'deinterlacing' * most important: hopefully fixed problem with some DivX 3.11 clips fading to green between keyframes. For information about commercial licensing please email licensing@divxnetworks.com