Why do people use TheaterTek?

[KraGorn]

Until I started lurking here I'd never heard of TheaterTek's DVD player ... I've always used PowerDVD and tried others. Since TT doesn't offer an evaluation version and isn't excactly cheap I'm dubious.

Is TT really any different from the more widely known players?

[buns]

Im fairly sure most people are going to tell you it is a better player..... if someone like Jeff uses it, then its the bees knees, no question.

Ad

[KraGorn]

Okay, I'll show my ingnorance ... all a DVD player has to do is decode the video and spit out the audio via the SPD/IF .. how much difference can there be between players? AFAIK decoding is deterministic, ie. there's only one way any coded stream can decode and pusihng a digital audio stream is simply byte-shifting out the interface.

I'm bemused.

[Rob.Screene]

Agreed. The on-screen graphic are nice and the remote control is dandy.

Pity folks have noticed the "chroma bug" and "chroma interlacing bug" in many, many hardware and software DVD players' mpeg2 decoders though. I don't know enough to know if most engineers cut corners or if the mpeg2 spec is apparently vague in a few places, hence the different implementations.

cheers,
rob.

[Gary Lightfoot]

Some decoders are better than others - you can see differences in quality between software players, and some have more flexible options too which make them better to use with projectors for instance.

TT uses the Sonic filters IIRC and many say they're the best for quaility. I use PowerDVD XP and that is better than WinDVD in my set-up anyway.

Gary.

[SeaneyC]

TT uses the sonic filters, and to my eyes, they're the best i've seen so far out of NVDVD, Power DVD and WinDVD, but i've not tried PDVD or WinDVD 5 yet.

TT do a 7 day trial, but it's not a "free trial" as such. You pay for it, and can ask for a refund before the week is over.

[SeaneyC]

Originally posted by KRaGorn
Okay, I'll show my ingnorance ... all a DVD player has to do is decode the video and spit out the audio via the SPD/IF
I'm bemused.

To be honest, that's the biggy for me, out of all the codecs i've tried, i've been VERY surprised about how different the codecs are. PowerDVD 4 was virtually unwatchable compared to WinDVD and Sonic/TheaterTek codecs.

Power DVD is rumoured to have the best sound output, but i can tell no difference between Sonic with all the fancy bits turned off and Power DVD

[KraGorn]

Originally posted by SeaneyC
TT do a 7 day trial, but it's not a "free trial" as such. You pay for it, and can ask for a refund before the week is over.

Bizarre way for someone to test a product. .

It seems to me that my current set-up ... R9700 into a Tosh 28" TV ... isn't capable of showing any differences, certainly PowerDVD and NDVD were indistinguishable with my Ti4400 although in retrospect WinDVD was softer to my eyes at least.

I think I'll wait till I get a PJ or plasma before trying this novel trial.

Thanks all.

Originally posted by KRaGorn
Bizarre way for someone to test a product. .

Agreed but it is, apparently, a condition of TT licencing the Sonic decoder pack that they may not make available a free trial version.

Originally posted by KRaGorn
It seems to me that my current set-up ... R9700 into a Tosh 28" TV ... isn't capable of showing any differences, certainly PowerDVD and NDVD were indistinguishable with my Ti4400 although in retrospect WinDVD was softer to my eyes at least.

I think I'll wait till I get a PJ or plasma before trying this novel trial.

Fair enough. I can certainly see the difference between WinDVD and TT on my set-up but the main reason for using TT is the interface and aspect ratio control - leagues ahead of WinDVD for HTPC use.

_

[adesonic]

I have tried WINDVD, Power DVD and TT, bottom line - I see a noticeably better picture with TT than the other 2 (on my plasma). Interestingly, I used to get a solarisation/ color depth problem intermittently on dimly lit scenes with power DVD, TT has completely eliminated this problem (not entrely sure how!)

[KraGorn]

I've just had an e-mail exchange with TT where I discovered this is one of those packages with Draconian anti-piracy ... you have to activate every time you re-install and God help you if the company has gone out of business, you're left with a useless product.

I avoid this sort of customer-hostile practice like the plague .. I won't be using TT therefore unless they change policy or find a workround

[Jeff]

Yep, the activation key is a pain and it's the main reason I didn't touch TT when it was first released, but since there aren't any viable alternatives I eventually went for it and haven't looked back since. You need to bare in mind that Cineplayer which TT is based on has an even worse protection scheme, so its not like you can get around this by using something like Zoomplayer and Cineplayer decoders. WinDVD and PowerDVD lack the features needed for an HTPC solution as well as lacking in quality.

[owenw]

If you're looking for a cheapo way of getting TT annnd need a decent sound card to output DD5.1 / EX / dts etc. go to Digital Connection https://www.dcpuraty.com/store/Produ...Code=MAREVO71T
They are doing the m-audio Revolution 7.1 soundcard with TT bundled in for $139 +delivery.
I got one sent over in 2-3 days.
The soundcard usually retails for $99 on its own and TT is normally around $60 (if memory serves)
hth,
Owen