[MEncoder-users] lavs encoding and divx compatibility

[Stjepan Brbot]

On Sun, 2009-02-01 at 23:16 +0000, Jakub Misak wrote:
> Stjepan Brbot <stjepan.brbot <at> zg.t-com.hr> writes:
> 
> > 
> > Hi,
> > 
> > according to the specification my standalone DVD + DivX player Samsung
> > DVD-V6500 does support:
> > 
> > * Supported CODEC formats: DivX3, DivX4, DivX5 (GMC 1WP)
> 
> The player vendors are very good at confusing people. The term "codec formats" 
> per se is nonsense, as it confuses three different things - codecs (software 
> products), formats (specifications) and FourCCs (four character codes in AVI 
> files). Your player simply supports MPEG-4 (and MS MPEG-4) video with certain 
> parameters.
> 
> > But it does not reproduce DivX created with mencoder when video codec is
> > lavc (mencoder -ovc lavc).
> 
> Firstly, MEncoder does not produce DivX, because DivX is a company and a brand 
> name. MEncoder does not produce a company or a brand name, MEncoder produces 
> video files. In your case, it produces an AVI/MPEG-4 file, that is, AVI 
> container with MPEG-4 ASP video inside.

I know that DivX is registered TM of DivX Inc. And I know that Mencoder
produces video files. But DivX is today almost synonym for video format.
When Samsung wrote that this device supported DivX it didn't mean that
it supported DivX Inc company but video format. However thanks for your
philosophy lamentation. :-)


> Now, like Grozdan said, FourCC is important in AVI files, so try changing it. 
> FMP4 is not widely supported.
> 
> > According to mencoder documentation lavc encoding actually produce DivX
> > coded movies.
> 
> No, it does not produce DivX encoded movies and the documentation does not say 
> that. Just like you can produce a MEncoder encoded movie only with MEncoder 
> (and not with anything else, like Adobe Premiere, for example), you only 
> produce DivX encoded movies with the DivX cocdec ...

In mencoder documentation on Internet one can find chapter 9.3 called:

"9.3. Encoding two pass MPEG-4 ("DivX")" and statement.

Two pass encode of the second track a DVD to an MPEG-4 ("DivX") AVI
while copying the audio track.

mencoder dvd://2 -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:vpass=1 -oac copy -o /dev/null
mencoder dvd://2 -ovc lavc -lavcopts vcodec=mpeg4:mbd=2:trell:vpass=2 -oac copy -o output.avi

So we could talk about DviX this and that but this is is OK. 

And thank you Jakub for your effort.