The Pinnacle codec looks like any other software DV (DV25) codec using the standard "dvsd" FOURCC. (Since AVI is a container format, there's a four-character code that identifies the codec used for a particular stream, so that it can be read. Some DV codecs use their own FOURCC.) It's written as a Video for Windows component, using Pentium/SSE instructions.

Slow. The "haze of fog" on this one is more prominent than in any of the other Codecs. Colors are more washed out and it gets worse for second generation too ... by a whole notch ... almost as if it's gradually going to black-and-white eventually. There are not many signs of artifacts though. (quote from Doom9's thread: "A small study of DV Codecs." - by ulfschack)

What DV codec is?

Basically, DV has both raw video and audio data. AVI and QuickTime are different container formats, which can have combinations of video and audio (and mixed video/audio) streams. So if you had the same DV stored in an AVI and QuickTime, large chunks would be identical between the two files (the actual DV data), while the bits at the beginning and sprinkled around (headers, descriptors, and markers) would be different.