Jeremy Charette
12-22-2007, 01:00 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071218-divx-support-arrives-long-overdue-from-sony-microsoft.html' target='_blank'>http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071218-divx-support-arrives-long-overdue-from-sony-microsoft.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The newest firmware update for Sony's PlayStation 3 was released today, and while many gamers may groan at the inclusion of voice filters for online communication, the big news is the support for the Blu-ray 1.1 spec as well as the ability to play back DivX files. For a system that Sony wants to be at the heart of your entertainment center, adding support for one of the most popular video file formats is a large step in the right direction. But we're left with one more question for both Sony and Microsoft: what took you guys so long to support DivX?"</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/images/DivX_logo_color.png" /><br /><br />While most people outside the industry were surprised by Sony and Microsoft's support of the DivX codec (given its seedy past), I was expecting it. DivX has done a great job of marketing it as a legitimate alternative to more mainstream codecs such as WMV and Quicktime. They've created strategic partnerships with various content publishers and hardware manufacturers, and DivX is supported on everything from DVD players to cell phones now. Given DivX's ability to obtain huge compression ratios with minimal loss of quality, this is a big win for consumers. Now, what's the next great codec going to be?