DivX Create v6.1 (Codec)

Thanks go to
tommy_vercetti for posting the news that DivX has been updated with dual core support. This from the DivX website:

Today, we're excited to announce that the DivX 6.1 codec is finally here! It sports a ton of new features and enhancements, perhaps the most impressive being a massive improvement in encoding speed. According to our benchmarks, even a modest single CPU will run anywhere from 14 to 80% faster than the 6.0 codec depending on the quality mode selected. At the same time, brand new support for HT, SMP, Dual Core, and Dual Core + HT CPUs allows for gains of up to 300%!

If you've been waiting for an excuse.. err.. "reason" to go dual core it's just arrived! But enough of this small talk, let's delve into the details...

Download: DivX Create (incl v6.1 Codec) 12.5 MB (Shareware, $19.95)

Download: DivX 6.0 Bundle (incl v6.0 Codec) 10.9 MB (Freeware)

View: DivX Web site

New:

Full support for single CPU, HyperThreaded (HT), dual CPU (SMP) and dual core processors. Encoding performance is improved up to 180% for HT CPUs and up to 250% for Dual Core + HT.

Mutlithreading is enabled in the DivX decoder for DirectShow when the option to 'Reduce CPU spikes using one frame delay' is enabled and post-processing is applied.

Optimizations have been added for processors supporting SSE2 extensions.

A new "High Performance" encoding mode has been added.

A new "1-Pass Target Quantizer" mode has been added.

The codec now includes a Lanczos resize filter for very sharp resizing.

The Feedback Window now displays VBV level and has variable axis for PSNR plots.

The Feedback Window now contains controls for changing VBV bitrate, performance mode and psychovisual enhancement in real time during encoding.

DivX High Definition profile now permits average bitrates of up to 6 Mbps.

MPEG quantization has been improved.

Brightness, contrast, and saturation controls are now respected by the DivX decoder for DirectShow.

The DivX decoder for DirectShow now respects the option to "Output YUV 4:2:0 when supported."

It is now possible to exclude the Settings Manager by using RegEdit to add the process name to the list under: HKLMSoftwareDivXNetworksDivXSMExclusions.

Changed:

The performance of "Extreme Quality" and "Insane Quality" modes has been improved.

"Fastest" mode now achieves better compression and produces video compliant with certified encoding profiles.

Quarter-pixel motion estimation has been enhanced for performance and is now available in all modes from "Balanced" through "Insane quality" when "Unconstrained profile" is selected.