Chicago (IL) - DivX is joining the high-definition era: Following its first H.264 decoder, the company today announced the alpha version of its first H.264 encoder. The software is part of what eventually will become Divx 7 and beta testers are invited to try out what the company has come up with so far.

According to Divx, the command line-based alpha 1 version is the second software to come out of its Project Rémoulade, is already multithreaded and will create H.264 video bitstreams that are compatible with the draft profile for DivX 7 H.264 HD video. Beta testers can use AVI files as well as the AVISynth frameserver as input.

Divx has posted detailed instructions how to install and use the encoder, including all of the software’s current limitations - for example that video output is not compatible with Apple’s iPod and iPhone.

Video enthusiasts interested in testing the software will need additional software to transform the raw H.264 bitstreams provided by the encoder into an MKV container. Divx also recommends additional software to serve video into the encoder.

Also worth noting is that Divx 7 will have sharp constraints on video format sizes in order to support "a wide range of consumer electronics." The picture dimensions have to be at least 320 x 240 pixels. The dimensions cannot exceed 1280 x 720 pixels if the frame rate is greater than 30 Hz.

The software can be downloaded from the DivX website.