divX

DivX is a brand of video compression technologies and software developed by DivX, LLC. The core product is the DivX video codec family, historically used to compress video into small file sizes while preserving visual quality, often within the AVI container. In the early 2000s, DivX gained widespread popularity on the internet for distributing video content due to its favorable quality-to-size ratio and broad availability in consumer media players.

The DivX codec lineage began with MPEG-4 Part 2 based encoders (the early DivX 3.x through 6.x series) and evolved to include support for newer standards. With DivX 7 and later releases, the suite added support for H.264/AVC video, improved encoding tools, and the DivX Media Format (DMF), a packaging approach compatible with several containers and audio codecs. The software ecosystem also included products such as DivX Player, DivX Web Player, and DivX Converter, providing playback, streaming, and transcoding capabilities across Windows and macOS, and later on mobile platforms.

Today, DivX remains a recognized brand in video technology, though it occupies a smaller share of the market and competes with open codecs and modern standards such as HEVC and AV1. The DivX format is primarily used in niche applications and by enthusiasts, while mainstream distribution has shifted toward more widely adopted formats and streaming platforms.