DivX labs announced the availability of its DivX 6.1 codec, claimed to be three times faster than the previous version of the codec. According to benchmarks published by DivX, even a modest single CPU will run anywhere from 14 to 80% faster than the 6.0 codec depending on the quality mode selected. At the same time, brand new support for HT, SMP, Dual Core, and Dual Core + HT CPUs allows for gains of up to 300%.

Download DivX 6.1 codec as part of the DivX Create bundle here. A free 'no strings attached' 6 month trial of DivX Pro is included and you can still install the free DivX codec if you like (which has fewer features). If you're a registered user of DivX Pro 6 simply install the bundle over your existing copy to upgrade it. Your registration details will not be lost.

Changelog v6.1

New:

- Full support for single CPU, HyperThreaded (HT), dual CPU (SMP) and dual core processors. Encoding performance is improved up to 180% for HT CPUs and up to 250% for Dual Core + HT.
- Mutlithreading is enabled in the DivX decoder for DirectShow when the option to 'Reduce CPU spikes using one frame delay' is enabled and post-processing is applied.
- Optimizations have been added for processors supporting SSE2 extensions.
- A new "High Performance" encoding mode has been added.
- A new "1-Pass Target Quantizer" mode has been added.
- The codec now includes a Lanczos resize filter for very sharp resizing.
- The Feedback Window now displays VBV level and has variable axis for PSNR plots.
- The Feedback Window now contains controls for changing VBV bitrate, performance mode and psychovisual enhancement in real time during encoding.
- DivX High Definition profile now permits average bitrates of up to 6 Mbps. - MPEG quantization has been improved.
- Brightness, contrast, and saturation controls are now respected by the DivX decoder for DirectShow.
- The DivX decoder for DirectShow now respects the option to "Output YUV 4:2:0 when supported."
- It is now possible to exclude the Settings Manager by using RegEdit to add the process name to the list under: HKLM\Software\DivXNetworks\DivX\SMExclusions.

Changed:

- The performance of "Extreme Quality" and "Insane Quality" modes has been improved.
- "Fastest" mode now achieves better compression and produces video compliant with certified encoding profiles.
- Quarter-pixel motion estimation has been enhanced for performance and is now available in all modes from "Balanced" through "Insane quality" when "Unconstrained profile" is selected.
- Item descriptions in the encoder GUI have been improved for all languages.
- Generic MPEG-4 playback support has been improved.