What is the DPS file format?
.dps files are used for customizing DivX Player GUI menus with alternative visual themes.
What do .dps files contain?
.dps files store their data in a compressed ZIP archive with a renamed extension, including:
- alternative GUI skins and button icons (PNG images),
- fonts,
- custom view skins,
- a
skin.dvldescriptor file.
What is stored in the skin.dvl file?
skin.dvl is a necessary element of any .dps package. It stores data in XML format that describes how the skin's image assets should be applied to the player interface. Without a valid skin.dvl, DivX Player will not recognise the skin.
Because .dps is a standard ZIP archive with a renamed extension, renaming .dps to .zip allows any archive tool such as 7-Zip to inspect or modify its contents.
Security concerns
Opening .dps files of unknown origin is considered a security threat and can cause damage to the operating system. There are documented cases where malicious software hidden inside modified skin files infected users' computers during installation. Install skins only from trusted, verified sources.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA DPS skin file is a ZIP archive with images and XML only - no executable code. It cannot run or harm the system by itself. Download only from reputable sources to avoid bundled adware installers that sometimes wrap skin downloads.
Format details
in a nutshell- Displaymate Evaluation Suite project file - DisplayMATE Technologies uses .dps for evaluation project/settings files (unrelated to DivX).
Programs that open DPS files
Windows3 apps
7-Zip
Open-source Right-click the .dps file > Open archive - browses contents as ZIP; rename to .zip first if needed. 
DivX Software (DivX Player)
Freemium In DivX Player go to Preferences > Appearance / Skins and load the .dps file. Technical details
deep spec| Container | ZIP archive (PKZIP-compatible) |
| Encoding | Binary (ZIP wrapper) + XML and PNG files inside |
| Compression | DEFLATE per entry |
| Magic bytes | 50 4B 03 04 ("PK") at offset 0 |
| Mandatory descriptor | skin.dvl - XML file mapping image assets to DivX Player UI elements |
| Image assets | PNG files for buttons, backgrounds, and icons |
| Typical file size | 50 KB - 5 MB depending on PNG artwork resolution |
| ZIP compatibility | Renaming .dps to .zip allows inspection by any archive tool |
| Integrity | ZIP CRC-32 per entry |
| Platform | Windows only (DivX Player) |
| Installation | Applied via DivX Player's skin settings dialog |
| Released | circa 2000 (DivX Player 2.x) |
| Latest version | DivX Player 10.x skin format (no version field in spec) |
DPS conversions
Community Q&A
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