DivX H.264
From CCCP
Contents |
DivX H264 decoder is a free multi-threaded H.264 decoder for Windows. It comes as part of the DivX 7 for Windows package (info page, direct download). It's very similar to CoreAVC in terms of playback performance, compatibility and stability, so if your CPU is too slow to play your H.264 videos with ffdshow, it's worth trying this.
Note that CCCP Staff have only had a quick look over the installer, and it seems to do a little bit of calling home (DivXConnectionTester.exe), as well as install an auto-updater no matter what. Nothing that's (obviously) more Big Brother-y than other software installers though.
How to use DivX H.264 Decoder instead of FFDShow
Install the decoder
- Download the "DivX Plus Codec Pack" packa (info page, direct download)
- Run the installer:
- On the component selection screen, uncheck everything but the "Divx Plus Codec Pack" entry:
- Finish the installation, making sure you don't install all the crapware they bundle:
Disable FFDShow's decoder
- Open the CCCP Settings app (Start -> Programs -> Combined Community Codec Pack -> Settings), and untick H.264/AVC:
- Click 'Next', then 'Finish' to save.
You're Done!
- Optional step: remove the annoying DivX logo from appearing at the start of all your movies by poking the DivX codec config in Start -> Programs -> DivX Plus -> Codec Settings.
Alternate Manual Install for Experts
If you don't want all the junk that Divx still installs even when you tell it to only install the decoder filter, you can manually register the decoder:
- Install to a test machine (eg a VM)
- Copy C:\Program Files\DivX\DivX Plus DirectShow Filters\DivXDecH264.ax to your main machine. Put it somewhere permanent.
- Register the filter. Run this command: regsvr32 C:\path\to\DivXDecH264.ax. (Make sure you substitute the real path.)
- Open the config window like so: rundll32 C:\path\to\DivXDecH264.ax Config.
- Make changes to CCCP as above.
