Below are emails that Ben Davey sent me regarding a new DivX hardware player he and his company is working on. If you have any suggestions, please email Ben Davey.
Hi,
Here is an update on our efforts to produce a standalone DivX player/recorder.
Currently the development of a functional prototype machine is nearing completion.
There are still, however a few problems to sort out in the machines software,etc.
First of all we are having problems patenting the unit due to what it will mainly
play back and record - DivX. Microsoft threatens legal action if we continue to
bundle software that is capable of creating/reading files which were made with
hacked versions of their patented codecs. So unfortunately, it may be decided
to only bundle certified media codecs such as the new, apparently secure Windows
Media Technologies 4.1 format (.wmv). Due to the machines specifications, however,
it will be possible to playback new formats (including DivX) through our innovative
idea of placing codecs and the CD they are encoded to... This brings limitless
possibilities and will mean that the consumer will not have to buy a new machine
if better compression standards are released.
Secondly we are having a few minor problems encoding to CD in realtime.
We hope for this Problem to be sorted out soon.
Is it possible to ask your sites visitors if they have any ideas for quality presets
which would be good on the machine? Click here to submit your suggestions.
Cheers,
Ben Davey
Hi
I am the main developer for my company, and i fell in love
with the format after visiting your site.
We are still in the process of doing research for the player.
Basically all it is, is a stripped down computer with video
specialised components, playback buttons and a LCD panel on the front
of the machine which gives format information,etc.
It will almost definately feature a ricoh based DVD-ROM/CD-RW, and the
unit will be capable of capturing and recording video to CD on the fly
at near-laserdisc quality on the fly, however if the user can choose
from a number of quality presets.
outputs are similar to that of a conventional DVD player :
- SCART out/in
- RCA Analog Audio/Video out/in
- S - Video in
- Coaxial digital Audio out/in
- 2x USB ports
The player will also be able to play .avi's using any compression
codec, providing it is available on the disc in the form of a self
extracting file.
We are also hoping to provide an optional USB DSL package (including
keyboard) for users to connect to our e - commerce site, where they
are able to search for and view / record to cd any television program
(encoded in div/x or wmv ) or movie over the age of 1 1/2 yrs for
free. Unfortunately to make the concept legal we will have to include
intermissional advertisements in order to pay for the
programmes/movies that are shown. We hope to achieve support and
contribution from several large television networks.
If anyone has any comments or suggestions into our research process,
please feel free to send them.
Cheers,
Ben Davey