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Consumer Electronics

DivX 7 to add MKV Support to Windows 7 and XBOX 360 / PS3

There’s some more great news on the Windows 7 multimedia front. As we reported last week, Windows 7 will have various video formats working straight out of the box, without the need for codec installs. This also adds native UPnP streaming to devices such as the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has thus far left out the all important Matroska container format, which is an open source file format that is arguably more robust and versatile than any other format.

However, DivX have just announced some more details on Project Remoulade, which will become DivX 7 when it is finally released. The latest beta adds Matroska support based on Microsoft’s Media Foundation architecture. This means that with DivX 7 installed, all of Windows 7′s multimedia apps (Media Player and Media Center) will work properly with MKV files, including thumbnails, and automatic streaming/transcoding to UPnP and MCE players including the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3. 

Now I know that most people who are into the MKV scene already have their favourite players, codec packs, splitters, and probably already have a UPnP server set up if they stream to a console. But this is a breakthrough for those who want to see Matroska succeed. Without this type of mainstream support, it was only ever going to be a niche solution for hobbyists and pirates. Now that users can simply install one program and have everything working right out of the box, Windows is finally realizing its potential as a good multimedia solution. UPnP is finally becoming “Plug and Play”.

It should be noted that while it will be automatic, transcoding is certainly not the best solution to stream to your multimedia player. You will certainly lose a significant amount of quality, and CPU cycles and power will be wasted. Currently, Matroska files can be “remuxed” into an identical file that sits in a container format that is compatible with the PS3 or XBOX 360, which is a somewhat more complicated, but better solution than transcoding. Perhaps the Playstation 3, as an official DivX enabled product, will receive DivX 7 and Matroska support in a System Update one day. If anything, this is a positive sign pointing in that direction.

You can download a preview of DivX 7 now (32 bit only), by applying for a labs account and signing into the project page.

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  • Dieter

    Maybe I’m missing something, but as far as I know Win7 RC1 has full support for .mkv files. I’ve verified that they work out of the box in media center, and stream perfectly to an xbox360 extender.

    • http://www.hardcoreware.net/ Carl Nelson

      You’re definitely missing something (or more accurately, doing something extra) because MKV most certainly will not work in Windows 7 without installing a splitter (such as Haali or DivX 7). Out of the box, Windows Media Player will not play MKV files.

  • mnkyboy

    @Carl Nelson

    How are you streaming MKV to the Xbox 360 via WMP 7 when the Xbox 360 doesn’t support MKV files??

    • http://www.hardcoreware.net/ Carl Nelson

      It uses WMP12, not WMP7. WMP12/Windows 7 will transcode video files on the fly, so the XBOX 360 doesn’t have to support these files to play back the video. Quality will be lost, and for advanced users there are certainly better solutions. But for people who want to “plug and play” this is a great added feature.

  • mnkyboy

    @Carl Neslon,

    Ahh, I see. Didn’t know that WMP12 transcodes now, I will have to try that out. Currently I have to make a .mp4 container using the video from the MKV and converting the audio to AAC. This keeps the original video but lowers the quality of the audio to 2.1.

    Is there a better way to do this?

    • http://www.hardcoreware.net/ Carl Nelson

      I’m not sure about the XBOX 360, but with the MP3 you can remux it to an MPEG file. This retains both the video and audio codec (even .TS files and DTS audio) so is very useful. I use mkv2vob. This won’t work for the 360, but there is probably a way to retain 5.1 AAC on the 360, since it supposedly supports that codec.

      • mnkyboy

        Yea, Xbox 360 supports 5.1 only with WMA. Sucks…

  • mnkyboy

    Just tried adding a MKV file to my WMP 11 library. No luck, doesn’t show up on my Xbox 360 either. What are you using to allow MKV files to be seen by WMP11 and transcoded?

    • http://www.hardcoreware.net/ Carl Nelson

      Did you sign up for the DivX 7 beta?

      • mnkyboy

        I didn’t know about Divx 7 beta. So that adds extra support to WMP11? I have to check that out.

        Thanks.

        • http://www.hardcoreware.net/ Carl Nelson

          That’s what this whole blog post is about! lol

  • mnkyboy

    LOL, yea. Im a bit confused on which Divx app to install. When I goto Divx site, they have banners about MKV with Divx Connect, which is not a free app. So the free Divx 7 is what gives this support as described in your blog post?

    • http://www.hardcoreware.net/ Carl Nelson

      Yes, the blog post tells you how and where to get it. But you might want to wait for the final release :)

  • http://labs.divx.com Porfitron

    Hey All,

    We just posted an update to our DivX Tech Preview – MKV on Windows 7. It’s available at http://labs.divx.com, and you have to register for a Labs account in order to participate in this preview. Also, the forums on the tech preview may have answers to some of the questions you have (or, we’re still working on answers to those questions).

    Thanks for any feedback!

    –Porfitron

  • mremulator

    You Guys really should check out PS3 Media Server… works with Xbox 360 also :-)

  • Paul

    WMC on win 7 with divX 7 installed
    MKV looks shit when stream to my 360 (wmc)
    how do i improve the quality?
    will 360 get the divX7? upgrade?

  • will75

    Using Windows 7 RC1 combined with divx 7 I am still unable at this point to stream mkv files that use DTS audio, no issues with other audio types. Now with divx 7 do you still have to split mkv files to 4gig or less to stream to the 360. Thanks a great deal to anyone that knows these answers.

  • OldJoe81

    I second the above comment on PS3 Media Server (http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3217), just installed Win7 and will see how I fare on the new OS. A program written by a guy who decided there wasn’t anything that did all the jazz we need to play all the variety of movies there are on the PS3 with fannying around.
    So if a file doesn’t play natively it gives you a phantom folder full of transcoded version. Plays 1080p MKV, WMV, AVI ‘s without a problem to the PS3, 5.1 sound, only thing you’ll struggle with is streaming it wireless at 1080p stutters but that’s the network bandwidth, stick it on a cable and it plays flawlessly. I could finally delete the PS3 Compatible HD folder I had, the video’s I could always get the picture to play and no sound now worked perfectly. There’s a plugin to access the IMDB info on a film (http://ps3mediaserver.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2126), all on the PS3 in the form of another phantom folder. You can turn options like the subs off, change video settings and reset the media server directly on the PS3 without touching your PC. It’s good.
    On the reason I’m here, I’ve been looking at the new media center in Windows 7 and it looks awesome. I’ve not really looked at the last few versions so I’m not sure how much of a leap they’ve made. It’s really like you imagine a media server should appear, works nice to start with but…… I had it working fine and dandy, then tried to get the metadata updated and high res posters on them all, I think it’s the posters but it now runs like a dog in the movie browser. I’ll see.

  • Will

    Disregard – newbie here.
    The PS3 server said unable to locate PS3 so I misguidedly “assumed” that it could not see the 360 either. After I posted I checked my 360, the file itself won’t play, however, there was another option on the 360, a transcode folder that also contained the file I wanted to watch – that file worked.
    My old system would be to d/l the mkv, convert to AVI (which sometimes my 360 couldn’t play), then convert to DVD and then burn – it was a two day deal. Now I can d/l the MKV and stream it straight to my 360 – awesome.


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