DivX is a digital media company that enables consumers to enjoy a high-quality video experience across all types of devices.
Their digital video technologies cover PCs, television and mobile devices.
David Holland gave us a demonstration of the DixTV a platform for media streaming at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
LG has launched the first DivX HD 1080p certified Blu-ray player.
The BD390 – originally displayed at CES in January – has an 802.11n WiFi module and support for DivX streaming from a DLNA server.
It includes BD-Live support, 7.1-channel audio output, 1GB of inbuilt memory and a USB 2.0 socket.
The BD390 also features support for Netflix, CinemaNow, NetCast, and YouTube streaming, and comes bundled with Nero MediaHome Essentials to connect the player to household PCs and media servers.
In April, LG announced that its new range of HDTVs will be capable of playing full DivX HD 1080p videos.
While DivX support may not be on everyone’s wish-list it will certainly appeal to the more tech-minded consumer.
With DivX 7, a full two-hour HD film can be compressed to around 8 GB – so capable of being stored on a double-layer DVD.
It also sets LG’s latest high-def player apart from the competition – certainly not a bad thing in today’s busy marketplace.
Simon Kang, CEO and President of LG Home Entertainment, said incorporating support for DivX HD 1080p video is a key product differentiator.
The player is available now for USD $399.95.
LG Electronics’ new range of HDTVs will be capable of playing full DivX HD 1080p videos.
The company says the upcoming models will be the first device series capable of doing this – enabling consumers to play DivX HD videos from a PC or the Internet through a USB slot.
With the DivX 7 software package, users can compress a full HD movie onto a USB stick or SD card, or several on a standard DVD.
While HD video requires a plenty considerable of storage space, LG says the DivX technology allows approximately two hours of high-quality DivX HD video on an 8GB media card.
Simon Kang, chief executive officer and president of LG Home Entertainment TVs Company, said that as people expand their DivX HD video collections they are looking for more convenient ways to watch them on their TVs.
"We’ve given them the ultimate convenience by building support for DivX HD playback into our digital TVs," he said.
More than 200 models of LG digital TVs have been DivX Certified, including the LH50, LH70, LH85, PS70 and PS80 series.
In addition, a wider variety of innovative LG TVs are now DivX Certified for playback of full DivX HD.
LG says its new line of TVs will be available in late May in the United States, and within the next eight days in Europe.
Netflix puts more emphasis on video-streaming with new appointment and partnerships
Netflix has hired Bill Holmes, a five-year veteran of digital-media company DivX, to help build its video-streaming business.
Holmes is to head its business-development efforts as it continues to try to boost sales from its video-streaming service.
His appointment is the latest in various moves by the company to build on its 8.4 million subscriber base with its streaming services.
It has entered onto a partnership with LG to produce a new Blu-ray Disc Player with direct internet access to the Netflix film catalogue.
Netflix, the largest U.S. movie-rental service via mail, said that it brought on Holmes to help embed software into more devices that will allow customers to stream content from Netflix.
Holmes negotiated licensing agreements with companies such as Qualcomm, Matsushita and SanDisk when he was with DivX.
Reed Hastings, Netflix CEO, said: “Bill Holmes will lead the ever-increasing effort by Netflix to develop more partnerships with great consumer electronics companies as we enter the era of Web-on-TV.”
The LG Blu-ray Disc player that instantly links to Netflix’s 12,000-title streaming service will go on sale this month.
The BD300 has firmware and hardware that will enable it to stream movies directly from the Netflix online video rental service.
Although it has full 1080p high resolution capability on Blu-ray, the Netlflix service will only provide standard definition movie streams initially..jpg)
However, the BD300 does offer 1080p upscaling for standard definition content via the HDMI output connection.
The BD300 also has the latest Profile 2.0 specification, which allows full access to all interactive and online content that may be available in relation to specific Blu-ray Discs.
In July, Netflix expanded its partnership with Microsoft that allows customers to stream Netflix’s movies and TV shows through Microsoft’s Xbox 360 videogame console.
In May, Netflix introduced a set-top box allowing customers to stream from an inventory of about 10 per cent of its 100,000 titles.
Later that month, Hastings said products such as Netflix Player by Roku, which had to be back-ordered within three weeks of its introduction, would double the company’s subscriber base within a decade.
Holmes started the DivX Certified program with the San Diego-based company, whose revenue jumped 43 per cent last year to US$84.9 million.
That program, which tracks all components containing devices either produced or licensed by DivX, encompasses more than 100 million devices made by companies such as Sony, Samsung and Toshiba.
Broadcom’s high definition chip brings HD DivX certified video into the living room
DivX has announced the high-definition DivX certification of Broadcom Corporation’s BCM7405 system-on-a-chip (SoC) solution.
The BCM7405 provides advanced internet provider (IP) functionality and improved video and audio performance for satellite, cable and IP set-top boxes (STBs).
It can support the playback of DivX 1080p content, and other key integrated features for digital television content such as recording, playback, time-shifting and trick modes.
The HD certification is the latest addition to Broadcom’s stable of SoCs. These include the BCM7452 and BCM7403, which have already achieved standard-definition (SD) DivX Certification.
Aidan O’Rourke, senior director of marketing, IPTV set-top box products for Broadcom, said DivX was a key player in high-quality digital content distribution and consumption.
“We are pleased to continue collaborating with them to support our shared customers’ goals of supporting the widest selection of video and audio content formats,” he said.
DivX technology significantly reduces the file sizes of digital video, and its certification enables consumers to play DivX video content on a range of entertainment devices such as digital video recorders, portable media players, digital televisions, Blu-ray DVD players, and mobile phones.
This improved compression makes it easier to move and share high-quality content between devices, improving the entertainment experience for consumers.
Kevin Hell, DivX’s chief executive officer, said Broadcom’s new DivX certified chip illustrated the digital media company’s commitment to ensuring a high-quality video experience across any device.
“Working with Broadcom has afforded us the opportunity to meet the rising demand for our high-definition solution in the emerging product categories of digital televisions and set-top boxes,” he said.
Watching high def content downloaded from the Internet is going to get a whole lot easier for viewers in Japan.
A liquid crystal display high-definition television made by byd:sign Corporation is to be the first with DivX Certification sold in the Japanese market.
The video format will let viewers watch digital content from PCs on the HDTV – rather than on a PC monitor.
Katsumi Iizuka, chief executive officer of byd:sign Corporation, said DivX videos had enabled consumers to enjoy high-quality content through the internet.
“DivX Certification enhances our HDTV features and gives added value,” he said. “We plan to provide more valuable entertainment to our customers in working with DivX high quality content and devices in the future.”
Kevin Hell, chief executive officer of DivX, said the DivX certified LCD TV would allow the Japanese market to easily transfer high-definition videos directly to their TVs.
“DivX is the only video format that offers consumers an easy and flexible way to move video content across devices, guaranteeing interoperability between the PC, TV, DVD players, mobile phones, and more,” he said.
“Byd:sign’s compact LCD HDTV is a prime example of the simple transferability of high-quality content in an open, digital system.”