Editing DivX (section)

==History==
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The "DivX" brand is distinct from "[[Digital Video Express|DIVX]]", which is an obsolete video rental system.<ref name="DIVX">{{cite web|title=The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time |url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/125772-7/the_25_worst_tech_products_of_all_time.html |date=26 May 2006 |access-date=5 April 2010 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080703122019/http://www.pcworld.com/article/125772-7/the_25_worst_tech_products_of_all_time.html |archive-date=July 3, 2008 }}</ref> The winking [[emoticon]] in the early "{{nowrap|DivX&nbsp;;-)}}" codec name was a [[tongue-in-cheek]] reference to the DIVX system. Although not created by them, the DivX company adopted the name of the popular {{nowrap|DivX&nbsp;;-)}} codec. The company dropped the [[smiley]] and released DivX 4.0, which was actually the first DivX version to [[trademark]] the term ''DivX''.<ref name="trademark1">{{cite web | title=DivX Trademarks | url=http://www.divx.com/en/company/trademarks | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526182217/http://www.divx.com/en/company/trademarks | archive-date=2010-05-26 }}</ref><ref name="trademark2">{{cite web | title=An Intellectual Property Case Study | url=http://davidgrossman.name/Publications-Patents/DIVX%20IP%20Case%20Study.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081030043210/http://davidgrossman.name/Publications-Patents/DIVX%20IP%20Case%20Study.pdf | archive-date=30 October 2008 | access-date=17 July 2008 }}</ref>

{{nowrap|DivX&nbsp;<!--THE SMILEY REALLY BELONGS HERE-->;-)<!--DO NOT REMOVE THE SMILEY-->}} (not DivX) 3.11 Alpha and later 3.xx versions refers to a [[hacker (hobbyist)|hacked]] version of the [[Microsoft]] ''MPEG-4 Version 3'' video codec (not to be confused with [[MPEG-4 Part 3]]) from Windows Media Tools 4 codecs.<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.virtualdub.org/docs_codecs.html
 |title=VirtualDub documentation: codecs
 |access-date=8 August 2009
 |website=www.virtualdub.org
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.fourcc.org/codecs.php
 |title=Video Codec Definitions
 |access-date=8 August 2009
 |website=www.fourcc.org
 |archive-date=23 May 2009
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523080617/http://www.fourcc.org/codecs.php
 |url-status=dead
 }}</ref> The video codec, which was actually not MPEG-4 compliant, was extracted around 1998 by French hacker [[Jerome Rota]] (also known as Gej) at Montpellier. The Microsoft codec originally required that the compressed output be put in an [[Advanced Systems Format|ASF]] file. It was altered to allow other [[container format (digital)|containers]] such as [[Audio Video Interleave]] (AVI).<ref>{{cite web
 |url=http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/term.cfm/divx
 |title=DivX&nbsp;;-)
 |access-date=7 April 2010
 |website=AfterDawn
}}</ref>  Rota hacked the Microsoft codec because newer versions of the Windows Media Player would not play his video portfolio and résumé that were encoded with it. Instead of re-encoding his portfolio, Rota and German hacker Max Morice decided to [[reverse engineering|reverse engineer]] the codec, which "took about a week".<ref name="napTrap">{{cite web
 |title       = Escaping the Napster trap
 |url         = http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/03/15/divx_part1/index.html
 |access-date  = 15 March 2001
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20021215232639/http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/03/15/divx_part1/index.html
 |archive-date = 15 December 2002
}}</ref>

In early 2000, Jordan Greenhall recruited Rota to form a company (originally called DivXNetworks, Inc., renamed to DivX, Inc. in 2005) to develop an MPEG-4 codec, from scratch, that would still be backward-compatible with the Microsoft MPEG-4 Version 3 format. This effort resulted first in the release of the "OpenDivX" codec and source code on 15 January 2001. OpenDivX was hosted as an open-source project on the Project Mayo web site hosted at projectmayo.com<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.projectmayo.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030320172758/http://www.projectmayo.com/ |archive-date=2003-03-20 |title=Project Mayo |date=20 March 2003 |access-date=19 January 2010}}</ref> (the name comes from "[[mayonnaise]]", because, according to Rota, DivX and mayonnaise are both "French and very hard to make."<ref name="napTrap" />). The company's internal developers and some external developers worked jointly on OpenDivX for the next several months, but the project eventually stagnated.

In early 2001, DivX employee "Sparky" wrote a new and improved version of the codec's encoding algorithm known as "encore2". This code was included in the OpenDivX public source repository for a brief time, but then was abruptly removed. The explanation from DivX at the time was that "the community really wants a [[Winamp]], not a [[Linux]]." It was at this point that the project [[fork (software)|forked]]. That summer, Rota left the French Riviera and moved to [[San Diego]] "with nothing but a pack of cigarettes"<ref name="divxCeo">{{cite web | title=DivX CEO on Video, YouTube, iPod | url=http://www.redherring.com/Home/20135 | access-date=8 December 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205094020/http://www.redherring.com/Home/20135 | archive-date=5 February 2008 }}</ref> where he and Greenhall founded what would eventually become DivX, Inc.<ref name="napTrap" />

DivX took the encore2 code and developed it into DivX 4.0, initially released in July 2001. Other developers who had participated in OpenDivX took encore2 and started a new project—[[Xvid]]—that started with the same encoding core. DivX, Inc. has since continued to develop the DivX codec, releasing DivX 5.0 in March 2002. By the release of version 5.2.1 on 8 September 2004, the DivX codec was substantially feature-complete. Changes since then have tended to focus on speed, and encouraging wider hardware player support, while the company has also focused its time on the formats and next generation codecs.

In February 2011, DivX was acquired by [[Rovi Corporation]], upon completion of its acquisition of [[Sonic Solutions]].<ref name="divxRovi">{{cite web | title=Digital Entertainment Provider Rovi Acquires Sonic Solutions | url=http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=141928 | access-date=23 December 2010 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101227041547/http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=141928 | archive-date=27 December 2010 }}</ref> In 2014, [[Blackstone Group]] and [[Parallax Capital]] acquired DivX from Rovi for $75 million. On January 5, 2015, it was announced that [[IPTV]] company [[NeuLion]] would acquire DivX for $62.5 million.<ref name="mcn-neuliondivx">{{cite web|title=NeuLion Buys DivX For $62.5M|url=http://www.multichannel.com/news/tv-everywhere/neulion-buys-divx-625m/386616|website=Multichannel News|access-date=5 January 2015}}</ref> In February 2018, a deal was finalized to sell certain DivX assets, intellectual property and subsidiaries from NeuLion, Inc. to [[Fortress Investment Group]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2018/02/12/1339475/0/en/NeuLion-Closes-Transaction-With-An-Affiliate-of-Fortress-Investment-Group.html|title=NeuLion Closes Transaction With An Affiliate of Fortress Investment Group|work=GlobeNewswire News Room|access-date=2018-02-23|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[DivX, Inc.|DivX, LLC]] continues to operate from their headquarters in San Diego and release new versions of DivX Software for Windows and macOS.