NEC chips to include DivX Plus HD support
By Richard Lawler 
posted Aug 21st 2009 8:19PM
posted Aug 21st 2009 8:19PM
Expect even higher quality DivX playback from Blu-ray players, HDTVs and other devices, now that NEC has signed a deal to implement DivX Plus HD (aka h.264 in an MKV container with AAC audio) support in its EMMA chipset family. The company has already signed up chipmakers Sigma and Trident, anything rocking the appropriate logo should be able to handle content at resolutions up to 1080p, or older DivX encoded files, so feel free to plug those USB sticks and network cables into home theater equipment anywhere.
This will revolutionize how I watch my illegally ripped DVDs.
Why? Are you planning to upscale them before you recompress them? ;-)
As always, it's the audio that suffers so that people can more easily fling things across our limited bandwidth infrastructure.
AAC is a pretty good codec. I think the number of people who can tell the difference between 128kbps AAC and the CD it was ripped from is very, very, small (much smaller than those who can tell the difference when using MP3 or AC-3 at the same bitrates), and HE-AAC reduces the bandwidth without noticeably impacting on the quality even further. AAC has full support for surround (discrete 48.16 if you have that many speakers and subwoofers!) and supports 24bit and 96kHz audio. About the only downside is the lack of hardware support in most receivers (becoming less of an issue with HDMI taking over from S/PDIF) and the patents situation.
It's also an open standard, and while patented, no royalties are due for creating, distributing, or playing content, only making encoders and decoders, unlike AC-3 or MP3.
I'd like to see a genuinely patent free codec that does surround sound, but AAC is probably the next best thing at the moment.
Rob.
I have streamed 30mbps AVC with lossless 24/48 LPCM over Ethernet to my PS3, and it plays flawlessly. FLAWLESSLY. There is absolutely no sacrifice in quality whatsoever. I've never seen a single stutter on the many, many Blu-rays with lossless audio I've streamed.
What are you using, 10baseT still? (Posts like yours make me wonder if I'm the only person on EHD that actually streams HDTV over a network.) Sheesh.
Maybe you're talking about 10baseT? Or Wireless G. Even then, if you stream HD content WITHOUT AUDIO AT ALL, G still can't provide the bandwidth needed for just the video.
I wish people would actually use technologies before making blind statements attacking it.
Sheesh.
-Pie