PowerDVD Ultra Released - plays HD and BD

[stevebb]

$99 - no option upgrade from previous versions though.

I will be buying it now and seeing how the xbxox 360 add on perfoms !

 

[Singh400]

Nice one, thanks for the heads up. I'll be watching very closely

 

[stevebb]

here is what the readme says after install:

CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition Readme
12/05/2006

Thank you for using CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition!

This Readme file contains the latest information about CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition. For complete instructions on using CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition, please refer to the user's guide or online help.

This Readme is divided into the following sections:

What's New in CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition
Hardware Compatibility
General Playback Performance and Quality Issues
CLEV-2/CLPV-Related Issues
Technical Support

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What's New in CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition
Audio
New! - DTS-HD
New! - DTS-ES
New! - DTS Neo:6 (Discrete, Matrix)
New! - Dolby TrueHD
New! - Dolby Digital Plus
New! - ACC Decoder 5.1 Ch
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Virtual Speaker
Dolby Headphone
Dolby Digital EX
Dolby Pro-Logic IIx
CLMEI-2
CyberLink Virtual Speaker
CyberLink Headphone
MLP lossless
Pitch scaling technology
Audio equalizer presets
Audio visualizations
Direct 96/24 output
MP3, WAV
Video
New! - MPEG4 AVC H.264 High-Definition Video
New! - VC-1 High-Definition Video
New! - Adaptive CLEV-2 for video quality enhancement
DivX Decoder
CLPV - Non-linear stretch technology
Video smart de-interlacing
Playback Formats
New! - HD DVD-Video
New! - TwinFormat HD DVD
New! - BD-ROM (HDMV Format)
New! - BD-RE (BDAV Format)
New! - VCPS for DVD+R with content protection
New! - CPRM for DVD-R with content protection
DVD-Video
DVD-Audio
External subtitles
HD DVD files (HD DVD-Video) from any folder on your hard drive
Blu-ray Disc files (Blu-ray Disc Video) from any folder on your hard drive
DVD files (DVD-Video, DVD-VR, DVD+VR) from any folder on your hard drive
Advanced Features
New! - UPnP Support - Access your media from a Home Network
New! - Say-It-Again - Automatically repeats the last movie scene
New! - See-It-All - Automatically speeds playback to show as much of the movie as possible
New! - Read-It-Clearly - Moves subtitles from the viewing screen
New! - Freestyle User Interface offers 5 different ways of using CyberLink PowerDVD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hardware Compatibility
CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition offers complete multi-channel (4/6/7/8) and S/PDIF sound device support, including (but not limited to) devices from Analog Devices, Aureal, Creative, Cirrus/Crystal, CMedia, ESS, Fortemedia, KCTech, Philips/VLSI, Realtek, Sigmatel, SiS, TI, Yamaha, VIA, and any other sound device that supports the Microsoft WAVEFORMATEXTENSIBLE interface.

CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition offers support for popular sound cards including, but not limited to, the following:

Creative Audigy2 ZS
Intel High Definition Audio
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 6.1
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy
Creative Sound Blaster Live! 5.1 family
Hercules DIGIFIRE 7.1
Hercules GameTheater XP 6.1/7.1
M-Audio Revolution 7.1
Terratec Aureon 5.1/6.1/7.1 family
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
VideLogic Sonic Fury
It is recommended that you install the latest driver from the original card/device maker, not a Windows built-in driver, in order for multi-channel output to work properly.

CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition supports Microsoft DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) in display chips or integrated chipsets from ATI, Intel, NVidia, SiS, and VIA/S3. Acceleration functions include Inverse Discrete Cosine Transform, Hardware Motion Compensation and Subpicture Alpha Blending units.

HD DVD and Blu-ray movie disc playback is only possible with support of a secure graphics display solution from either nVidia or ATI. Please refer to CyberLink's system minimum requirements web page at http://www.cyberlink.com/ for more information.

If "Hardware Acceleration" is enabled, some systems might display subtitles incorrectly. This is because the display driver only supports an old format of the Microsoft DXVA interface. It is recommended that you install the latest driver from the original card/chip maker in order for this function to work flawlessly.

CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition is fully optimized for multimedia instruction sets, such as AMD 3D Now! Professional, Enhanced 3D Now!, 3DNow!, Intel Streaming SIMD Extensions 2 (SSE2), SSE, MMX, and the Hyper-Threading technology.

CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition is compatible with new BD-ROM, BD-RE, BD-R, HD DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+RW, DVD-Multi, DVD-Dual or DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drives with IEEE 1394, USB 2.0, ATAPI, SCSI or CardBus interface, as long as the drive conforms to the SFF8090 command set and SBP-2 (if applicable).

CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition is compatible with all Centrino, Socket 478, Socket 423, Socket 370, Slot 1, Socket A and Slot A chipsets from Intel, VIA, SiS, ALi, NVIDIA, and AMD. Also compatible with Transmeta Crusoe systems.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

General Playback Performance and Quality Issues
HD DVD-Video and Blu-ray playback requires a high performance PC platform. It is recommended that you use a system with at least Dual Core 3.2Ghz processors and 1GB RAM system memory. Discrete graphics solution is also required with at least 350Mhz clock rate with 256MB VRAM. (Check for detail supported graphics solution).

To enable audio effects such as Dolby Headphone, Dolby Virtual Speaker, SRS, CLMEI-2, DSP, and Dolby Pro Logic IIx decoder, or to play DVD titles with DTS digital surround tracks, it is recommended that you use a 400MHz or higher processor system and have at least 128MB of system RAM.

External subtitle loading: For loading external subtitles, you should name the subtitle file with the same file name as the playback video file.

DMA Mode:
It is HIGHLY recommended that you enable the DMA function of your DVD-ROM in order to reduce CPU loading when accessing DVDs. Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Windows ME all contain built-in DMA support. To enable the DMA setting, open the Control Panel, double-click System, then click the Hardware tab. Click the Device Manager button, then open the IDE/ATAPI controllers option. Double-click Secondary IDE Channel, then click the Advanced Settings tab. In the Transfer Mode drop-down box, choose DMA if available.

The CyberLink system diagnostics utility launches automatically after CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition is installed to help you activate the DMA option. However, only Windows XP shows the DMA status of your DVD-ROM drives since Windows XP enables DMA support during its setup process by default.

Display Issues:
To ensure that CyberLink PowerDVD works properly, please install DirectX version 9.0 or higher.

CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition requires the DirectDraw overlay surface for optimal playback performance and video quality. Almost all current display cards support this feature. If the DirectDraw overlay surface cannot be created, CyberLink PowerDVD Super-Ultra Edition will use a slower mode called the DirectDraw off-screen mode. The reasons why the DirectDraw overlay surface cannot be created can be because the color depth, desktop resolution, or the screen refresh rate is too high, leaving insufficient bandwidth to sustain the creation of an overlay surface, or else the display card requires the installation of the latest DirectX Runtime. If the DirectDraw overlay surface cannot be created, try lowering the desktop resolution, color depth, or refresh rate, then try again.

It is highly recommended that you NOT run CyberLink PowerDVD under 1024x768 resolution, since the resolution of HD DVD-Video/Blu-ray is greater than 1024x768.

HD DVD/Blu-ray Playback Capability and Limitation:
Due to the high computation requirement for HD DVD-Video and Blu-ray, you may experience some video quality drop, frame drops or lower performance on particular titles.
HD DVD and Blu-ray playback on external monitors via DVI/HDMI connectors requires HDCP capable display devices.
It is recommended that all non-critical applications be closed before beginning HD DVD/Blu-ray playback. Full CPU/GPU clock-rate shall be reserved for CyberLink PowerDVD HD DVD/Blu-ray playback.
Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is supported for commercial content playback. Occasional renewals of AACS keys are required. An Internet connection is required for this operation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CLEV-2/CLPV-Related Issues
To use CLPV, it is highly recommended that you use a graphic card with 8MB or more video memory.

CLPV and CLEV-2 are sophisticated video processing technologies that require higher CPU power. If both of these functions are enabled (especially in conjunction with other audio effects), it is recommended that you use at least a 1.0GHz system for optimal performance.

CLPV and CLEV-2 are implemented within a CyberLink proprietary video decoder, thus, they are not available when hardware video acceleration is enabled.

CLPV and CLEV-2 are not available under HD DVD-Video/Blu-ray playback due to the limitation of platform horsepower.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Technical Support
Solutions to your problems are available 24 hours a day at no cost on the CyberLink web site:

Note: You must first register as a member before using CyberLink web support.

Technical Inquiry Form

For your assistance, you may complete the Inquiry Form in the Support section of the CyberLink web site. The more accurate and detailed the information you provide, the better we can help to solve your problem.

General Support

Please visit the support section of the CyberLink web site to view all the support options that are available to you. In addition to frequently asked questions, the CyberLink web site also provides troubleshooting techniques, the latest in product news and other relevant information.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 2006 CyberLink Corp. All rights reserved. Dolby, Pro Logic, MLP Lossless, Surround EX, and the double-D symbol
are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.

 

[Singh400]

Thanks for the info. can't believe you brought it straight away. I like to try before I buy...

 

[mr.nick]

Thanks for the info. can't believe you brought it straight away. I like to try before I buy...

Maybe because there's no trial version yet

 

[Singh400]

Maybe because there's no trial version yet

I wasnt referring to the (official) trial. I like to try before I buy...permantly

 

[arfster]

I guess Nero and WinDVD will come out with their versions soon also, so I might wait a bit before deciding which - besides, I have genuine copies of all three, so whoever offers a cheap upgrade might get my business

 

[stevebb]

I guess Nero and WinDVD will come out with their versions soon also, so I might wait a bit before deciding which - besides, I have genuine copies of all three, so whoever offers a cheap upgrade might get my business

i too have bought version of them all but ive always liked pdvd it is only £50 after all. i have an issue with it though - it zooms in to the picture by 400% so i can only see the upper left quarter of the screen. i will be raising a call to them

 

[pRot3us]

I've bought this, works great

More info in this thread

 

[arfster]

i too have bought version of them all but ive always liked pdvd it is only £50 after all. i have an issue with it though - it zooms in to the picture by 400% so i can only see the upper left quarter of the screen. i will be raising a call to them

Yeah, I guess it isn't that much by itself, it's just a bit irritating having bought PDVD7, as well as part-paid for two previous versions bundled with hardware. I won't have much time over the next month for movie watching anyway, on top of which the HTPC is dissassembled at the moment - the PSU or motherboard got fried trying to power a 1.2metre satellite dish motor in nasty winds off a PCI card Oh well, was going to buy new soon anyway....

On top of that, early versions of all HD-DVD proggies are riddled with bugs

 

[originalbadboy]

Unfortunalty though the software is restricted to only running with the hardware listed on the Cyberlink site. If you have say an X700 (which is perfectly capable of displaying HD, with the right CPU), the software will not run HD-DVD discs. Thanks for that Cyberlink!

 

[arfster]

That's kinda daft, especially considering VC1 discs can run at <50% cpu on Cores, even without any graphics acceleration at all.

 

[Ballistix999]

Hmm tempted by this to give it a go..I know my general PC will run it (Intel Duo 2 6700 clocked to 3Ghz each core + 2x Nvidia 8800GTX cards). But I really want it to run on my Alienware Latpop and drive my new Sony Pearl at 1080p to see what that looks like.

The beta advisor software they have has yellow for the cards in the laptop, I've got 2x Nvidia GO7900 GS 512MB in SLI. But it's saying "yellow upgrade" for the cards. LOL. It's a bit mad on the spec front. But like others I'm not sure it's worth the risk for me if it's just going to be pants.

The laptop also has a single core Turion 64ML44 in it, maybe it's not up to the job...even though it's a top end Alienware...

Any views?

TT

 

[originalbadboy]

It wont work mate trust me ..... Unless the graphics drivers says green and the display card says green, the software will not run the discs full stop. Cyberlink have made sure of that!

 

[Ballistix999]

OK, no sale

TT

 

[itsfja]

It wont work mate trust me ..... Unless the graphics drivers says green and the display card says green, the software will not run the discs full stop. Cyberlink have made sure of that!

My graphics card is amber (no HDMI) - works fine - no fault found yet.

Regards,
Francis.

 

[Ballistix999]

Blue box on Laptop, didn't work. Trying other drivers over the next few days. Runs a storm on my PC though (2x Asus 8800GTX cards so it bloody well should). Didn't find my Creative X-fi card though :S. To be honest not sure on the decoding quality either. Will plug it into Pearl tomorrow.

CPU is at 30% when playing movies. (e6700 3Ghz Duo 2).

TT

 

[originalbadboy]

My graphics card is amber (no HDMI) - works fine - no fault found yet.

Regards,
Francis.

Fair enough, not personally seen orange at all on the advisor, which is just an 'upgrade recommendation'. What card is that exactly?

 

[Ballistix999]

I've been playing with this software and tbh it's a right royal pain in the backside. I've put the latest NVIDIA drivers on, which it supports, but if you try just one little tweak, overclock, ANY coolbits installation etc and it makes the driver unsupported. Which is just stupid.

Good luck with anyone that tries this, atm it's a pain to get working properly and you really must have their recommened spec or it judders or doesn't work. I'm just about to throw an FX60 into my HTPC with the passive Nividia XFX 5950 GT card that I have here to see if I can get the CPU usage down from 70-100% from an AMD 3500+...

TT

 

[originalbadboy]

I put in a support call to Cyberlink regarding turning off the driver checking feature and got this reply back..... (In broken engrish)

'we have already forwarded the issue to our concern department and they will be soon providing a resolution to resolve the driver checking issue of PowerDVD Ultra.'

Sounds like they will either provide a registry setting to turn it off, or a patch which will turn it off or allow you to turn it off (hopefully)

 

[Ballistix999]

Got it running now through the cinema room. So far so good with the FX AMD in there. I'd say it's just about keeping up with 1080p output to the Sony Pearl. I'll report back once I have more details of how it's running over a longer period of time.

TT

 

[Embarker]

Just tried this on my laptop.

Actually got it to play some 1080p video that i have - used to be jumpy on my laptop and take an age when skipping forward- silky smooth now.

Not tried it on the htpc yet nor with actually blu-ray or hd-dvd.

Has any one tried this with both a blu-ray and a hd-dvd drive in the pc?

 

[ancientgeek]

All I can say is welcome to Vista. Here's another thread about HDDVD.

 

[Embarker]

acientgeek,

the first link seems dead!?!

As for the second - what a find

 

[Steve.J.Davies]

use google to search for all these words
auckland vista cost

and then snag it from the google cache