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Format Description Properties
• ID: fdd000068
• Short name: AVI_DivX
• Content categories: moving image
• Format category: file format
• Last significant update: 2006-04-04
Identification and description 
| Full name | AVI (Audio Video Interleaved), DivX Video Codec |
| Description | File format that wraps a DivX video bitstream with other data chunks, e.g., audio. |
| Production phase | Generally a middle-state format (often used as the video source when producing lower-resolution streaming versions). |
| Relationship to other formats | |
| Subtype of |
AVI |
| May contain | DivX_3 video codec, not documented at this time. |
| May contain | DivX_4 video codec, not documented at this time. |
| May contain | DivX_5 video codec |
| May contain | WAVE audio (interleaved with video) |
| May contain | MP3_CBR (constant bit rate) audio (interleaved with video) |
Local use
| LC experience or existing holdings | |
| LC preference | See AVI |
Sustainability factors
| Disclosure | See AVI and DivX |
| Documentation | See AVI and DivX |
| Adoption |
AVI is widely adopted for video production and filemaking; the Ligos
Corporation FAQ for the competing Indeo codec includes this statement:
"Many video files being distributed over the Internet use the DivX AVI
format . . . ." In early 2006, Google began to offer downloadable videos,
including files in the AVI_DivX format (said to be DivX4 with MP3 audio). |
| Licensing and patent claims | See AVI and DivX |
| Transparency | See DivX |
| Self-documentation | See AVI |
| External dependencies | See AVI |
| Technical protection considerations | See AVI |
Quality and functionality factors (video)
| Normal rendering | Good support. |
| Clarity (support for high image resolution) | Moderate to good, given that this is a format typically used for compression and does not support interlaced video. Outcome will depend on the type and extent of compression, and the encoder used. High resolution work is limited in the Windows environment due to file size limits (2 GB with FAT 16 technology; theoretical 8 GB with later technologies). |
| Fidelity (support for high audio resolution) | See AVI |
| Support for multiple sound channels | See AVI |
| Functionality beyond normal video rendering | See AVI |
File type signifiers
| Tag type | Value | Note |
| Filename Extension | avi | |
| Filename Extension | gvi | Extension for files downloaded from Google Video. |
| Internet Media Type | See AVI | |
| Magic numbers | See AVI | |
| Microsoft FOURCC | DIVX, DIV3, DIV4, DX50 | Only the first of these FOURCC codes (DIVX) is listed at the Microsoft registry. The others are listed elsewhere, including a forum at DivX.com; presumably the numbered FOURCCs identify DivX versions 3, 4, and 5. |
| Microsoft FOURCC | goog | According to the Wikipedia (viewed April 4, 2006), the Google .gvi files "are just standard RIFF AVI files, with an extra list with the FOURCC 'goog' immediately following the header." |
Notes
Format specifications
URLs
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Useful references
URLs
• John McGowan's AVI Overview (http://www.jmcgowan.com/avi.html)
• John McGowan's AVI Audio and Video Codecs (http://www.jmcgowan.com/avicodecs.html)
• The Official DivX 5.1 Guide (http://www.divx.com/support/guides/DivXGuide51.pdf)
• DivX FAQ (http://www.divx.net.nz/support/faq.htm)
• Microsoft registry of FOURCC codes and WAVE format indicators (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwmt/html/registeredfourcccodesandwaveformats.asp). The archived 2001 version of this registry is at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/fourcc.mspx.
• Gary Kessler's File Signatures Table (http://www.garykessler.net/library/file_sigs.html).
• Google Video Wikipedia article (viewed April 4, 2006). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_video).
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Last updated Monday, 10-Apr-2006 15:27:27 EDT
