DivX video codec confirmed for Xbox 360

[HEXUS]

In a JP Morgan conference DivX's new CEO, Kevin Hall has unwittingly let slip that Microsoft are indeed working to add the Divx MPEG-4 video format to the Xbox 360.

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[SiM]

Why don't they just add decent codecs and containers (xvid, h.264, mkv, avi)?!?! Why bother with this divx nonsense?

[charleski]

Free open source projects like ogg and mkv are actually a legal minefield for manufacturers as they would need to be checked thoroughly for IP infringements before they could be used, unless you're such a small outfit that no-one's going to bother. I would imagine that the 360 doesn't have the buffer limitations of cheap divx decoders, so they will have full xvid support as well. Licensing the code from divx gives them legal guarantees and a limitation of IP liability.

I think we all know the real reason that it's taken so long for divx/xvid support to come to the 360, this is certainly one area in which the console wars have finally yielded real benefits for consumers.