Xvid

On this page, you’ll learn what Xvid is, its history, and how to view Xvid files without error.

Xvid, or XviD, is a rarely-used video codec developed by a group of volunteer developers. It is based on the MPEG-4 standard, specifically MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile (ASP). Files encoded by Xvid commonly use the .avi extension.

The Xvid codec originated from the OpenDivX project which was a part of Project Mayo. OpenDivX was developed by DivXNetworks as an open-source implementation of the MPEG-4 standard.

Disagreements among the developers at Project Mayo over licensing and control led to a split in the OpenDivX codebase. This split resulted in the creation of Xvid, with a focus on maintaining it as a genuinely open-source project.

Xvid adopted the GNU General Public License (GPL), ensuring that it remained free and open-source software.

Its cross-platform compatibility and open-source nature quickly made Xvid a popular video codec for file sharing and DVD backups.

However, with the emergence of more advanced video codecs, such as H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), and VP9, the use of Xvid gradually declined.

Xvid is an open-source codec that uses the popular MPEG-4 encoding technology, which means that Xvid-encoded files can be played by a large number of players and devices, including DVD and Blu-ray players, MPC-HC, and VLC. Alternatively, you can convert Xvid to a more popular codec like H.264 and still keep the .avi wrapper or you can convert Xvid AVI to other mainstream formats such as MP4, MKV, etc.

WonderFox Free HD Video Converter Factory is perfect for this conversion. Free yet powerful. You can throw a video or audio file in any possible format and then convert it to MP4, AVI, H.264, H.265, AV1, MP3, Android, YouTube, and more formats. No watermarks and no ads! It also includes tools for editing, compressing, and downloading.

The entire conversion only takes 3 steps to complete! ❶Import > ❷Set Format > ❸Convert

Download, install, and launch the powerful free video converter and try it today!

Download for Free

Download for Free