Divx ;-) - The Best MPEG-4 Codec Under Windows 98/2000
A special software codec is necessary for playback of the recorded MPEG-4 sequences. Even though the files put out by Flask Mpeg have the ending .AVI they are definitely MPEG-4 files. Currently Divx is the best codec, which is available as Freeware under DivX ;-). The audio/video drivers for MPEG-4 playback are added as plug-in to the existing Microsoft player (included in the operating system of Windows 98 SE or Windows 2000).
Divx is currently the best software codec for MPEG-4.
The software codec (Divx is shown in the picture) is accessed during playback of a MPEG-4 file.
The Divx codec can be adapted to the individual requirements. But be careful: The CPU load is always very high.
This picture shows both the MPEG-4 codecs for video that are found in the system control.
One thing must be made very clear at this point: Playback of MPEG-4 encoded video movies requires very sophisticated hardware. In our test we used a system containing an AMD Thunderbird with 800 MHz and 128 MB of memory. After all, at full screen playback (1024 x 768 x 16) of the video encoded with 720 x 576, the CPU load under Windows 2000 was almost at 80 percent. However, friends of socket7 platforms are going to be disappointed: When we tested it with an AMD K6-2/450 the playback was not smooth.
Encoding MPEG-2 files with the FlaskMpeg program requires even more computing power. Completely converting a DVD video into MPEG-4 format usually takes about 10 hours. Again, the speed greatly depends on the processor used. Otherwise the system requirements for converting video from MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 format are relatively low.
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Requirements For Copying DVDs
PC system with DVD-ROM drive (country code perhaps enabled)
Processor from 450 MHz, because of high computer power requirements
Windows 98 or Windows 2000
Flask Mpeg and Divx software codec
This image shows the details of a video film encoded in MPEG-4. This file runs over 108 minutes with full resolution, only takes up 698 MB and thus fits on a CD-ROM.
High picture quality despite high resolution: This sequence is from a movie and has a data rate of 110 kB per second.
