3. MPEG Above All

MPEG has become the compression format par excellence, whether for audio, MPEG1 layer 3 (MP3), or MPEG4 for video. There are various compression CODECs of which the best known remains the DivX (versions 4 and 5) but another format, XviD, is becoming more common. Since the AV320 uses an operating system that can be upgraded, it is very simple to upgrade the equipment merely by upgrading the firmware. This also makes it possible to correct any bugs or to add new functionalities. Upgrades can be downloaded for free from the Archos site.

The 300 series uses a Texas Instruments processor dedicated to audio and video decompression and compression. It is more powerful than previous versions and now enables video playback with a maximum resolution of 640 x 368 at 25 images per second. As for sound, the AV320 is able to decode stereo sound in MP3 of 30 through 320 kbits/s in CBR (Constant Bit Rate) or VBR (Variable Bit Rate) mode.

In addition to being an audio and video player, the AV320 is capable of reading image files in JPEG and BMP formats. There is only one restriction that should be mentioned, which is that the device cannot display JPEG format images in progressive mode.

However, the slideshow functions make it possible to display a sequence of images at an adjustable speed. While displaying the slideshow, you can play an audio file to set your slides to music.