Image Converter Video Converter Audio Converter Document Converter
Pricing Guides Formats API
Log In
DIVX vs H264

DIVX vs H264

A detailed comparison of DivX Video and H.264 Raw Stream — file size, quality, compatibility, and which format to choose for your workflow.

Convert DIVX → H264 Convert H264 → DIVX
DIVX

DivX Video

Video Files

DivX is a video codec and container format based on MPEG-4 ASP that gained popularity in the early 2000s for compressing DVD-quality video to CD-size files. DivX-certified devices and players still support the format worldwide.

About DIVX files
H264

H.264 Raw Stream

Video Files

H.264 raw stream is an elementary bitstream containing only the video data encoded with the H.264/AVC codec without any container. It is commonly used as an intermediate format in video processing pipelines and for hardware encoder output.

About H264 files

Strengths Comparison

DIVX Strengths

  • Massively efficient for the early-2000s era — 700 MB for a full movie was revolutionary.
  • Universal desktop playback via Windows Media Player + DivX codec pack.
  • Spawned a hardware ecosystem — DivX-certified DVD players.
  • Open-source fork XviD keeps the format alive.

H264 Strengths

  • Universal hardware decode on every device since ~2010.
  • 40-50% smaller than MPEG-2 at equal quality.
  • Mature ecosystem with dozens of encoders (x264 is the open-source gold standard).
  • Every browser, phone, TV, and car infotainment supports H.264.
  • Supports everything from 144p vertical phone video to 8K HDR masters.

Limitations

DIVX Limitations

  • Patent-encumbered (MPEG-4 Part 2 patents).
  • Obsolete — H.264 and HEVC compress 2-3× better.
  • Quality degrades noticeably on fast-motion scenes.
  • Tied to the aging AVI container and its 4 GB file size limit.

H264 Limitations

  • Patent-encumbered — encoding royalties apply for commercial use.
  • 30-50% larger than H.265/AV1 at equivalent quality.
  • Raw .h264 bytestreams have no timecode — containers (MP4/MKV) add that.
  • High profiles decode slowly on pre-2010 hardware.

Technical Specifications

Specification DIVX H264
MIME type video/x-divx video/h264
Extensions .avi (container), .divx (branded) .h264, .264, .avc (raw bytestream)
Codec MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile —
Typical container AVI —
Open-source fork XviD (patent-free) —
Standard — ITU-T Rec. H.264 / ISO/IEC 14496-10 (AVC)
Typical containers — MP4, MKV, MOV, TS, FLV
Profiles — Baseline, Main, High, High 10, High 4:2:2, High 4:4:4

Typical File Sizes

DIVX

  • 90-min movie (700 MB DivX target) ~700 MB
  • 45-min TV episode (DivX rip) 350-500 MB

H264

  • 1080p 30fps @ 5 Mbps (1 min) ~37 MB
  • 4K 60fps @ 35 Mbps (1 min) ~260 MB
  • HD streaming (1 hour, 6 Mbps) ~2.7 GB

Ready to convert?

Convert between DIVX and H264 online, free, and without installing anything. Encrypted upload, automatic deletion after 2 hours.

Convert DIVX to H264 Convert H264 to DIVX

Frequently Asked Questions

DIVX (DivX Video) is a video container format that bundles one or more video streams, audio tracks, and optional subtitles into a single file. The container format determines how metadata is organised and which codecs can live inside; the visual quality itself depends on the codec (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1) rather than the DIVX wrapper. It is part of the video files family.

H264 (H.264 Raw Stream) is a video container format that bundles one or more video streams, audio tracks, and optional subtitles into a single file. The container format determines how metadata is organised and which codecs can live inside; the visual quality itself depends on the codec (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1) rather than the H264 wrapper. It is part of the video files family.

VLC, MPV and PotPlayer play nearly every DIVX file on desktop. Browser support varies: modern Chromium, Firefox and Safari play common containers via the HTML5 <video> tag, but niche DIVX variants may fail. If a device refuses your DIVX, convert to MP4 with our DIVX to MP4 converter for universal playback.

VLC, MPV and PotPlayer play nearly every H264 file on desktop. Browser support varies: modern Chromium, Firefox and Safari play common containers via the HTML5 <video> tag, but niche H264 variants may fail. If a device refuses your H264, convert to MP4 with our H264 to MP4 converter for universal playback.

Upload your DIVX to KaijuConverter and pick MP4, MOV, MKV, WebM, or any other target. Our pipeline uses FFmpeg under the hood and stream-copies when codecs are compatible (no quality loss) or transcodes at high-quality defaults otherwise. Conversion runs server-side; both files delete within two hours.

Only when the target requires re-encoding. If the codecs inside DIVX match what the target container supports, FFmpeg stream-copies the streams and the output is bit-identical to the source. Transcoding uses transparent quality defaults (CRF 20–23 H.264) and produces output indistinguishable from the original at normal viewing distance.