XviD Video Codec

CNET Editors' review

If you've ever tried to compress a video file, you know that such files are already pretty dense and don't have much room to compress further, and also that video playback quality tends to suffer the more a file is compressed. But that doesn't mean you don't have options when you need to compress video for storage or bandwidth needs. XviD Video Codec is a free, open-source MPEG-4 codec that's specifically designed to maximize compression without sacrificing video quality. Its algorithms remove the parts of a video file that don't affect the viewer's perception of quality, making XviD the closest thing to a ZIP archive tool for video.

When you install XviD, you can associate it with DivX, 3VIX, and other MPEG files. If you've installed codecs before, it was probably part of a "pack" that may have provided only a minimal user interface, if any. But XviD Video Codec is much more than a codec: it's a full package of tools. We clicked XviD's Start Menu folder with low expectations but were surprised to see a full menu of options, including both Encoder and Decoder Configuration tools, an Uninstaller, an update checker, a cool Mini Converter, and an Advanced menu offering yet more tools, including a calculator and a stats tool.

We started with the Encoder. The Main Settings offer many levels of MPEG-4 encoding, single or twopass encoding, and the ability to add more items to each. A slider let us choose between maximum quality and maximum compression. We could also configure Zones and Quality Presets, and some advanced options on the Other Options sheet.

Since we were most interested in XviD's compression capabilities, we ran it out to max compression and applied it to some video files. XviD worked quickly, depending on our settings, of course (for instance, Real Time quality took significantly longer than General Purpose for similar files). XviD was able to compress our files to sizes we've never been able to achieve before, though of course not ZIP levels; again, there's not much "give" in media files. But XviD not only reduced our video files but also left them still watchable.

Publisher's Description

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All User Reviews
  • All versions:

    3.8 stars

    out of 67 votes

    • 5 star: 31
    • 4 star: 14
    • 3 star: 10
    • 2 star: 3
    • 1 star: 9
  • Current version:

    3.0 stars

    out of 4 votes

    • 5 star: 2
    • 4 star: 0
    • 3 star: 0
    • 2 star: 0
    • 1 star: 2
  • My rating:

    0 stars

    Write review

Results 1-4 of 4

  • 5.0 stars

    "first class"

    November 20, 2012  |   By noelmcadams

    Version: XviD Video Codec 1.3.2

    Pros

    plays what i want it to play does what it says on the tin

    Cons

    none yet dont think there will be

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  • 1.0 stars

    "Test failed, I do not use it again until it fixed it."

    November 1, 2012  |   By odin0

    Version: XviD Video Codec 1.3.2

    Pros

    It plays many different file formats.

    Cons

    No full DVD feature, it reads DVD extremely slow. It caused a lot of problems to the WMP codec setup.

    Summary

    A lot of problems. First I tried youtube, not playing, 2nd I tried many different format files it was ok. 3rd I tried DVD then problem started, such as slow reading, no dvd full feature. I compared with VLC, VLC has no problem. I installed it to two computers both of them almost the same problems. I uninstalled it. My desktop stopped playing DVD with WMP and PowerDVD 12. PowedDVD stuck and WMP got message of Digital Copyright Codec problems (cannot remember the exact message but something like this). I did system restore both of them. The laptop has no problems to play DVD. The problem I found on the desktop WMP was the codec setup. In WMP option-advance-codecs all of them were disabled. I re-setup it like the laptop then I am able to play dvd.

    It was wasting my time and gave me a lot of confusion. Some of the codecs are still disabled.

    Updated on Nov 1, 2012

    I am so sorry I posted in the wrong groups my post must be for UMPlayer. I would like to delete it but I do not know how to do it.

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  • 1.0 stars

    "Doesn't work!"

    July 26, 2012  |   By Nafis123

    Version: XviD Video Codec 1.3.2

    Pros

    N/A SINCE I WASN'T ABLE TO USE IT

    Cons

    DOESN'T WORK MY ANTI-VIRUS DEEMED IT UNSAFE SO IT WONT EVEN LET ME DOWNLOAD IT!

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  • 5.0 stars

    "It works well"

    October 22, 2011  |   By SJSF

    Version: XviD Video Codec 1.3.2

    Pros

    I compressed an 8.04 GB video file to a 4.80 GB file using this program without noticing any loss of quality.

    Cons

    It can be a very slow process if the file is too big.
    It has an unimpressive GUI & a bunch of confusing configuration shortcuts.

    Summary

    The shortcut of the program will be created inside the Xvid folder in the start menu along with a bunch of other Xvid shortcuts. The shortcut to the actual program is called Xvid MiniConvert.

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Results 1-4 of 4

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