Is XVID still used?

[kurkosdr]

Originally Posted by rwill

Configuration was:

./xvid_encraw.exe -i tos_720x300_8b.yuv -type 0 -csp i420 -w 720 -h 300 -framerate 24.0 -bitrate 900 -pass1 \
-full1pass -max_key_interval 300 -quality 6 -vhqmode 4 -bvhq -masking 2
./xvid_encraw.exe -i tos_720x300_8b.yuv -type 0 -csp i420 -w 720 -h 300 -framerate 24.0 -bitrate 900 -pass2 \
-max_key_interval 300 -quality 6 -vhqmode 4 -bvhq -masking 2 -o mpeg4.m4v

./y262.exe -in tos_720x300_8b.yuv -size 720 300 -threads 1 2 -profile main -level high -chromaf 420 -rcmode 1 \
-mpout stats.p1 -bitrate 900 -vbvrate 2000 -vbv 600 -quant 3 -quality 100 -frcode 2 -arinfo 1 -nump 18 -numb 2 \
-flatmat -videoformat 709
./y262.exe -in tos_720x300_8b.yuv -size 720 300 -threads 1 2 -profile main -level high -chromaf 420 -rcmode 2 \
-mpin stats.p1 -mpout stats.p2 -bitrate 900 -vbvrate 2000 -vbv 600 -quant 3 -quality 100 -frcode 2 -arinfo 1 \
-nump 18 -numb 2 -flatmat -videoformat 709
./y262.exe -in tos_720x300_8b.yuv -size 720 300 -threads 1 2 -profile main -level high -chromaf 420 -rcmode 2 \
-mpin stats.p2 -mpout stats.p3 -bitrate 900 -vbvrate 2000 -vbv 600 -quant 3 -quality 100 -frcode 2 -arinfo 1 \
-nump 18 -numb 2 -flatmat -videoformat 709 -out mpeg2.m2v

I was surprised by how good your MPEG-2 video looks for the bitrate, so I decided to analyse it, and I noticed that you used a 57-frame GOP on average. You can't do this on DVD-Video, DVD-Video uses a max GOP length of 18 for NTSC and 15 for PAL. This gave your encode a major efficiency boost that you won't get when encoding DVD-Video compliant MPEG-2.

So, to recap, the space-efficiency advantages of using Divx avi over DVD-Video are:
1. Ability to use widescreen at the low resolution of 640x360 (DVD-Video forces you to use a relatively high 720x576/480 resolution if you want widescreen)
2. Whatever efficiency gains MPEG4 ASP offers over MPEG2 due to the better coding tools
3. Further efficiency gains due to using a max I-frame distance of up to 240 (instead of 15 or 18 for DVD-Video)

Also, you can ship either an avi file or an ISO for Divx avi, with DVD-Video you must always ship an ISO (a pet-peeve of mine).

So, back to the original question: Is XVID still used? Answer: Yes, it is still used to make Divx avi files to upload to the internet, because most people don't want to download a 4GB file for SD content (when downloading video for their non-H264 devices).

I know, necroposting (don't care), but I was bored the other day at work and was browsing for car DVD players, and I noticed that they still sell car DVD players that don't support H.264 but do support Divx avi. Yes, in 2022!! And someone bought this player on 30 December 2021 according to Amazon reviews. So, the installed base of car DVD players that don't do H.264 but can do Divx avi is not diminishing but actually expanding! Why can't they support H.264? I guess H.264 needs a more powerful chip while MPEG4 ASP decoding is a standard feature on all DVD chips made for the past decade. Also, MPEG4 ASP royalties are lower or non-existent.

So, my point is, MPEG4 ASP in avi files is not going away. Good or evil, learn to love it. This means Xvid is not going away for quite a while either.