The inventor of DivX wants to break into the video market demand. On the Apple model, its DivX Networks company prepares an online kiosk. But Jerome Rota must convince Hollywood that its format is not the favorite codec pirates.
In 1999, the French Jerome Rota creates compression format / decompression (codec) video DivX, from work done around the MPeg 4. A year later he flew to California where he founded the company DivX Networks in San diego. Today, this format is considered the "MP3 of video". But it's a double-edged reputation, because they are the first exchange network users peer-to-peer who overwhelmingly chosen to encode movies.
DivX Networks wants to shed that image of "piracy format" to seduce Hollywood and become the number one format for video on demand services, VOD. Luckily, the studios would now be in a good mood, especially with the 20 million DivX compatible DVD players sold in 2004 as explained Jerome Rota, head of product strategy DivX Networks, visiting Europe for the CeBIT.
ZDNet.fr: What are today the structure and business model of DivX Networks?
Jerome Rota: We are expanding. We employ 150 staff and the end of 2004 we moved into larger premises, still in San Diego, those formerly of MP3.com. Of these 150 employees, approximately 40% are technical, 40% in trade and marketing, and the rest to technical support and supervision.
Financially, we are profitable for two years. The company is not publicly listed, but we envision. The majority of our revenue is derived from royalties paid by DivX Certified product manufacturers. Philips, Pioneer, JVC, Samsung, or Toshiba Kiss Technology thus produce top players able to play DivX encoded videos.
In addition, Roxio software, Cyberlink or Intervideo also use our size and they pay for it.
You now try to seduce Hollywood. How to convince movie studios when its product is mainly its fame to the films illegally traded on the Net?
We enjoyed a reputation acquired from users of peer-to-peer systems and we benefit again. It was not calculated, but this marketing weapon proves double-edged. Our product is known and used by many people, but of course not the way the movie studios want. So Hollywood has reservations vis-à-vis the DivX.
Fortunately we have the strengths to convince them. Especially against competing products such as Windows Media 9 from Microsoft. The main, but not least, is the cost. Our royalties are considerably lower than the competition. Same for the hardware components to be used to play DivX.
A chip of a standalone player decoding our compression format costs around $ 10. By comparison, it will take $ 50 to decode the future high definition DVD format Blu-Ray, an image quality that our size already achieves cheaply. Hollywood wants an adequate machine park connected to televisions. However, with our prices, ours is expanding at great speed.
In 2004, 20 million DivX Certified devices have shipped worldwide. This represents a tremendous increase compared to 2003 when the figure was less than 1 million. In Europe, four DVD players in ten DivX Certified
Have you developed a DRM system associated with the DivX format, principal claim studios?
Yes, even if it is true that we have not made much noise around. Yet from the beginning of our work on DivX format, we have sought to incorporate a DRM system. It is now available on all certified products. This DRM DivX, unlike other systems, does not bind a file to a machine, but a user account managed online. If the PC is formatted, so you do not lose your rights.
However the account himself is associated with the machines. The user can enter up to six unique identifiers DivX players to their account. This identifier can for example be displayed on the screen on DVD units.
In the United States, already more than 75 online service providers to use video on demand DivX format with its DRM technology. Two of the major US film studios are planning to do the same.
By the end of the year we will also launch our own video download service, inspired by the model of the iTunes Music Store. Our negotiations with the studios also carry on this project. Our main development focus is to impose on these emerging video services on demand.
What are the main changes in DivX 6.0, the next version of your codec?
DivX 6.0 will provide all the functions currently available on DVD. This will make it possible to create a menu for selecting the audio option, the chapter that you want to watch or go directly to potential bonus. Chaptering is also added to DivX 6.0. Same for the integration of multiple audio tracks and subtitles. Functions already offered by various additional modules, often mutually incompatible. We decided to do everything possible to standardize flat in DivX 6.0.
The new version of codec our offer, moreover, a curtailment gain of approximately 33% on previous drafts. Finally, it will be optimized for high definition movies. A picture quality that will soon be entering the DVD but we offer today.