MPG to DivX Converter

Convert MPG to DivX: What This Page Actually Does

DivX is an implementation of MPEG-4 Part 2 Advanced Simple Profile — the codec generation that replaced MPEG-1 on data DVDs and in DivX-certified set-top players in the early 2000s. This page re-encodes the MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video inside your .mpg program stream into MPEG-4 Part 2 with MP3 audio, and writes the result as an AVI stream under a .divx filename. Two things below are worth reading before you convert: the extension needs a rename, and the quality controls on this page do not behave the way an x264 user expects.

How to Convert MPG to DivX

1. Upload Your MPG File: Drag and drop, or click "Add Files", to add a .mpg or .mpeg file. Batch uploads run one file after another with the same settings applied to each.
2. Choose a Compression Mode: File Compression opens on Quality Preset at "Very High (Recommended)", which targets a multiple of the source bitrate rather than a fixed quality. The other modes are Specific file size, Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, Constant Quality and Constraint Quality. For a predictable result, Constraint Quality or Constant Bitrate are the two that behave the way their names suggest.
3. Set Resolution and Audio (Optional): Video resolution starts on "Keep original"; the other choices are a percentage, a height preset, Width, Height, or Width × Height. Audio Codec defaults to MP3, with AC3, MP2, AAC, Vorbis, WMA and several PCM variants available. Trim cuts to a start time and duration so you only encode the part you want.
4. Convert, Download, Rename: Click Convert and download the file, then change the extension from .divx to .avi. Files upload over an encrypted connection, are processed on our servers, and are deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Walk-through: the Quality Controls, and Which One to Trust

MPEG-4 Part 2 is not a CRF codec, so the three quality-flavoured modes on this page behave very differently from what the labels imply.

• Quality Preset does not target a quality level here — it multiplies the source video's bitrate. The default, Very High, asks for 1.32× the incoming bitrate, which is why converting a modest MPG at the default setting often produces a larger file than the one you uploaded. Medium (0.9×) is the first rung that actually shrinks anything.
• Constant Quality is the mode to avoid on this target. It is designed around CRF, which MPEG-4 Part 2 does not implement, and in our measurements it left the encoder unconstrained — the output did not respond to the value you typed.
• Constraint Quality is the one that works. It sends the number from the quality field to the encoder as a quantiser and applies your Max bitrate as a ceiling, giving you real, repeatable control.

The field in those two modes is labelled CRF, but for MPEG-4 Part 2 it is a quantiser scale running 1–31 where lower is better — the inverse of the x264 habit where 18–23 is "good". Treat 2–6 as high quality, 8–14 as a reasonable compromise, and anything above 20 as heavy compression. We measured the spread on a 10-second 720p clip through this pipeline: quantiser 2 produced a 23.5 MB file and quantiser 23 produced a 2.28 MB file from the same source. Do not carry an x264 value of 23 over to this page expecting "fine, slightly compressed" — here it is the bottom of the scale.

MPG vs DivX

Common Problems and How to Fix Them

• Nothing opens the .divx file — rename it to .avi. There is a genuine DivX Media Format that uses the .divx extension, but that is a feature-rich AVI derivative with chapters and menus; what you have is a plain AVI, so the .avi name is the accurate one.
• The output is bigger than the MPG — the default Quality Preset asks for 1.32× the source bitrate. Drop to Medium or lower, or switch to Constraint Quality and set the quantiser yourself.
• The quality slider seems to do nothing — you are probably in Constant Quality. Switch to Constraint Quality, where the value is actually applied.
• The width or height came out one pixel off — MPEG-4 Part 2 needs even dimensions, so an odd value is rounded down. Type even numbers to keep control of the result.
• The picture looks stretched after resizing — an anamorphic DVD source stores non-square pixels; any resize forces them square and discards that flag. Keep "Keep original", or set Width × Height to the display size (854×480 for a 16:9 DVD, 640×480 for 4:3).
• Fine horizontal lines during motion — the source is interlaced and nothing in this conversion deinterlaces it. Deinterlace in an editor before uploading if it matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why won't my downloaded .divx file open?

Because most systems have no handler registered for that extension. The bytes are a standard AVI carrying MPEG-4 Part 2 video and MP3 audio, so renaming the file to .avi makes it open in VLC, MPC-HC, mpv, Windows Media Player and any editor that reads AVI. The rename changes nothing inside the file. Note that DivX's own DivX Media Format also uses a .divx extension for an extended AVI variant with chapters and menus — that is not what this produces, which is another reason to use the plain .avi name.

Is this a "real" DivX file that a certified player will accept?

It is genuine MPEG-4 Part 2 ASP video — the same codec family a DivX-certified device decodes — but it is encoded by an open-source MPEG-4 encoder rather than by DivX's own, and we do not stamp the stream with the DX50 FourCC that DivX 5 and later write. Software players ignore the tag entirely. A hardware player that keys on the DivX FourCC may be fussier, so if you are feeding a certified set-top box, test one short clip before you commit a whole library. Staying inside the Home Theater profile limits — 640×480 at 30 Hz with MP3, MP2 or AC3 audio — gives you the best odds.

The quality field says CRF. Is 23 a good number?

No — on this target it is close to the worst setting. MPEG-4 Part 2 has no CRF; the field maps to a quantiser scale of 1 to 31 where lower means better quality, so 23 sits near the bottom while 2 sits at the top. That is the opposite of x264, where 23 is the sensible default and the scale runs 0–51. If you have copied a value out of an x264 workflow, cut it down hard: 2–6 for high quality, 8–14 for a good size/quality balance.

Why is my DivX file larger than the MPG I uploaded?

Because the default Quality Preset multiplies the source bitrate instead of targeting a quality level, and its default rung asks for 1.32× what came in. MPEG-4 Part 2 is more efficient than MPEG-1, so at an equal bitrate it looks better — but you did not ask for an equal bitrate, you asked for 32% more. Pick Medium (0.9×) or lower, or move to Constraint Quality or Specific file size where the target is explicit.

Which compression mode should I actually use?

Constraint Quality for most jobs: set the quantiser in the range that suits your material and a Max bitrate as a ceiling, and the result is consistent from clip to clip. Constant Bitrate is the right choice when a device or disc budget dictates a number. Specific file size is convenient when the goal is "fit this on a disc". Quality Preset is fine as long as you understand it is bitrate-relative, and Constant Quality is the one to leave alone here.

Will converting MPG to DivX improve the picture?

No. Both are lossy, the MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 source has already discarded detail, and re-encoding adds a second generation of loss on top. What you gain is compatibility with hardware that decodes MPEG-4 Part 2 but not MPEG-1, and smaller files at a comparable look. If the source is Video CD material at 352×240, no setting on this page will make it sharper — pick a high quality level so you at least do not make it visibly worse.

Does the audio get re-encoded too?

Yes. MPG soundtracks are usually MPEG-1 Layer II or Dolby AC-3, and the default output here is MP3, so the audio passes through a second lossy encode. If your player handles it, selecting AC3 under Audio Codec keeps a Dolby track that DivX-certified hardware also supports, and avoids a format change on top of the re-encode. There is no pass-through mode — the server always re-encodes both streams.

Should I pick DivX, Xvid, or just MP4?

Choose DivX only when you have specific hardware that asks for it. MPG to Xvid is the same MPEG-4 Part 2 generation with a different name and behaves identically on this site. For everything else — phones, smart TVs, browsers, editors — MPG to MP4 with H.264 compresses better, plays almost everywhere, and needs no rename. If you specifically want an AVI file without the extension confusion, MPG to AVI writes the container directly.