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Can the new Sigma Designs Xcard support DiVX 5.0?

CZroe

CZroe

Lifer
Sigma Design's (Makers of the famous Hollywood Magic DVD/MPEG decoder cards) new Xcard claims hardware support for DiVX file 4.02 or later. This card was anounced BEFORE DiVX5, and I'm wondering if anyone happens to know if it supports DiVX5 also. Judging with DiVX's past reputation shunning reverse compatability, I'm a little worried about pre-ordering this thing... Most DiVX files are 3.11 🙁
 
DivX ;-) 3.11a is somewhat incompatible with 4.0 because they are made by different groups. The first version was made by some crackers who never registered the name, so the new Divx group took the oportunity w/ DivX 4.0. I imagine that it will work fine with DivX 5.0 fine.
 
DivX 3.x was essentially a cracked Microsoft CODEC. 4.x was the first one done "from scratch" and 5.x is of course the most recent iteration. I would assume that the Xcard is compatible with the 5.x codec since www.divx.com was recently shilling for the thing on their web site.

On a related note, I thought the Xcard was supposed to be out by now but I can't find a single review of the thing. What's up w/ that?
 
They have delayed the release to workout the bugs. I'm a bit leary of the X-card though because Sigma's driver support is the worse I've ever seen. With the constant updating of the Divx standard I don't think they'll be able to keep up. They have sigma runs their own newsgroup server in case you need more info.
 
The Xcard is a MPEG4 accelerator so it probably supports Divx4-5(which is suppose to be ISO MPEG4 compatible)but I doubt it supports .avi's with mp3 audio because that's not MPEG4 standard. Standard audio for MPEG4 files is AAC so if you re-encode your audio using a AAC encoder and mux the audio and video with MP4Creator you should have a ISO compliant MPEG4 stream. Here's a link to a guide that shows you how to do the above.

P.S. The Xcard probably won't support Divx3.11 encoded files because Microsoft would sue the sh!t out of them if they did.
 
If a hardware card came out that made divX movies run with better quality and low CPU usage, I think a LOT of people would drop 3.11 and start supporting that card.
If it's fairly inexpensive - it'll be THE thing for divX traders to have. If it works....
 
I doubt it will make Divx files look better but it will cut cpu usage and if the TV-Out is as good as Sigma's old H+ the guys behind TVTool we soon be looking for new jobs.
 
I think most people in "the community" do use 5. Besides the high price, bad software and redundancy, the thing about the Xcard that would prevent me from buying is lack of compatability with *all* movies. There are a lot of different A/V codecs and transports in use and upcoming. The necessary CPU & video card with HQ TVO cost less than Xcard and will have no compatability issues. The only thing it really has going for it is the remote which are otherwise a bit fidgety to setup.
 


<< I doubt it will make Divx files look better >>

Of course it will. Have you seen MPEG files on a GOOD TV yet using the H+? MUCH better than VGA. I DON'T mean using it to watch MPEGs on the monitor (It'll be washed-out and rescaled)

<< The necessary CPU & video card with HQ TVO cost less than Xcard and will have no compatability issues >>

Have you SEEN a Hollywood+ in action? The difference between its MPEG-OUT is like night and day when compared to any VGA conversion! Using TV-OUT can not be seen in any way as a replacement for a Hollywood+. Also, I thought their card is considered the standard for PC-DVD compatability? I've had more compatability-related playback problems w/ ATI players... I geuss that means that using TV-OUT DOESN'T eliminate compatability issues (Though you could always try multiple players and one is bound to work). I think it is because my card is defective, but after upgrading to XP, very few MPEGs will work in the player, even some that used to work before (Perhaps they're corrupted and Media Player doesn't care). If it is NT/XP-related, perhaps it is the NT/XP compatability that is what is giving it a bad name for compatability (Though all my DVDs still work)...
 
Diable: Does that technique simply redub the audio and not convert/degrade the video in any way? Because that's what I'm looking for... Something that can convert DiVX to standard MP4 without loosing video quality (Or outputting to GBs of RAW video!) 😀
 
What's interesting about this card is that it looks like it has a feature connector -- I hope Sigma writes drivers that allow a user to choose because using a pass-thru cable and the internal feature connector. I have tried the Hollywood Plus but took it out because I couldn't stand the degradation caused by the pass-thru connector.

 
Yeah pass-through only was a bad idea. Even the crappier first-gen cards had internal connectors. Some of 'em had progressive TVO too... but only 24 bit color. Does Xcard have progressive? Can't be bothered to read cause I ain't gonna buy one anyway.
 
StormRider: I didn't take it out, but I noticed the same thing and quit using pass through. Taking the whole card out defeats it's primary purpose! Excellent TV & Audio out... And neither requires pass-through...
 
The X-Card is out and currently shipping. Here's a review from the sigma newsgroup:

So far......i'm not impressed. Here are the bugs I found in just 15
minutes.

Installation ran perfectly from driver to application.


Cannot select the default drive. It uses windows default drive. My dvdrom
is secondary slave so it won't run that drive and there is no setup to
change it.
So i am not able to give u guys my opinions on visual quality of dvd
playback yet.

So far i am unable to get the player to autoplay svcds/vcds. The
application software is a mess. Very confusing. Looks like my software is
stuck on 'file' mode. Won't refresh.


****WILL NOT PLAY DIVX 3.11****
you will receive an error message that this player only support divx 4 and
above
So those of you w/ divx+.........hold on to your cash. At least that plays
divx 3

cpu utilizatized is low......around 4-15%

there is no smooth forward/rewind.........only 10 second intervals.....one
click will take you 10 seconds forward or back.

You cannot change the aspect ratio of divx files played. If you have
widescreen divx, it will pan&scan for you........no exceptions (so far).

For subtitled anime divx collector's like myself.........here's the big one.
Your subtitles will be slightly cut off on the bottom of the screen. This
was the same issue when i used divx+. It looks like 1/10 of the picture has
been cropped on all 4 sides. So i know alot of people will bitch about this
one.

Feel free to ask any issues i have not addressed.

Looks like i have to go back to H+ till things settle down.

toddo
xp build 2600
previously H+ rev A
asus cusl i815
p3 733
512 pc133
toshiba dvdrom
plextor 12x burner



 
I'm gonna have to subscribe to that newsgroup so I can ask him what a "divx+" is and where can I get one... 😀
 
A divx+ is a hacked H+ card that can be used to play divx-encoded files on your TV. It doesn?t accelerate the files so if you have TV-Out on your graphics card you don?t need one.
 
Thnx man!
I have an H+.
Any more info about the mod? Or is it something only a rework-pro can pull off?
 
Divx+ not a hw hack, just a software utility. Their newsgroup is server is: news.sigmadesigns.com
Alot of useful info is on their about the H+ and X-Card. There's a ton of bugs with the X-Card, I'll definitely be holding off on it till they fix them.
 


<< Divx+ not a hw hack, just a software utility >>

Still sounds like it'll make excelent use of the TV-OUT hardware...
Unless it has to do some sort of "on the fly" MPEG conversion...
 
Out of all the searchng I did before getting al the peices together, I couldn't find any alternative players, then I found THIS page... Player hacks, region hacks, and macrovision diabling! :Q WOW! I LOVE my Hollywood+ 🙂
 
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