TheaterTek Vs PowerDVD 4 XP

J

Jonny1973

Guest
Would I notice a huge ($60) leap in picture quality by moving from PowerDVD 4 XP to TheaterTek???

My PC has an Nvidia GeForce2 MX card but I might move onto an ATI Radeon at some point.
 
No way will you notice a huge leap in quality. Theatertek is better (at least on my Radeon 9000) but you aren`t going to get a huge leap just by switching software. I would buy a radeon first, and then buy theatertek, because IMO the radeon will give you a bigger leap than buying theatertek.

Having said that, I`m glad I bought theatertek, it`s still worth the money

Chris
 
Yeah, got to second what Chris as just said.
 
Personally I don't rate PowerDVD's picture quality as there is very clear 'blocking' on areas of the same colour (I am using an 8 foot screen). So I'd bet on TT being better. I'll be getting it shortly to try myself. Currently I use WinDVD, definitely better than PowerDVD for pq.
 
I tried out all the big software DVD packages and of them all, the latest version of TheatreTek gives the best picture quality, WinDVD would be a fairly close second. PowerDVD 4 was ok but not great.

Obviously a lot depends on your setup and as always, YMMV.

Apart from picture quality (pq), where TT really beats its rivals is in its built-in aspect ratio control - nothing else can touch it!
Regards,
Paul
 
Using Zoomplayer as a front end for any other player (ATI, WinDVD) or combination of players gives excellent AR control as well as many other features.

Well worth a try if you're already happy with your player.

I use to combine the ATI player video with WinDVD audio.
 
Hi,

what about the ATI DVD player? I am building [finishing] my PC and have copies of PowerDVD, WinDVD and the ATI player. Was just going to try them all to see which was best. I have a Rad 9000.

Would TT be better than all these?
 
Not sure about the very latest TT, but TT and ATI both used the same video renderer, so the image quality would be identical.

The ATI player provides excellent picture quality, but people often have problems with it giving full DD/DTS pass through. The best I ever got was DPL via the spdiff in my set-up IIRC.

I found that if you're going to use Zoomplayer with the ATI video and another players audio, then install the ATI player, but *don't* run it. It can interfere permanently with the sound output, and I think I had to reinstall from scratch to get the audio to work with anything else.

WinDVD version 2.8 is not bad, and it gives its best picture using hardware motion compensation. Later versions don't seem to have quite as good picture quality (except maybe the very latest version which I haven't seen), but the sound seems to be better.

If you use Zoom player, then install the ATI player (don't run), then install WinDVD (for example) then install Zoomplayer.

Register the DVD filters selecting CinePlayer V4 and WinDVD audio for default wavout device, and you should be all set.

ZP even allows you to run random trailers before it plays the DVD in the drive. :)
 
Do any software DVD players eliminate the 3:2 pull-down stutter on R1 discs???

Are some better than others?
 
I find by running NTSC disks at 72hz eliminates any stutter - 24 fits into 72 quite nicely, so there's no need for 3:2 pull down.

75 works well for PAL as PAL disks just speed up the film by 4% to get the framerate up to 25 so that it fits into 50hz.

Depending on your display, 75hz may look better than 50. It's easier to use because it's a refresh rate that is available without having to use Powerstrip.

HTH

Gary
 
Johnny,
If you like your software to run straight out of the box with the minimum of fuss go for TT, if you are an avid tweaker zoom's for you.
Me personally have tried them all,TT has it all superb graphics good sound & a user interface 2nd to none (for simplicity) i don't think you'll be dissapointed.
Cheers.
Tim.
 
Originally posted by Gary Lightfoot
I find by running NTSC disks at 72hz eliminates any stutter - 24 fits into 72 quite nicely, so there's no need for 3:2 pull down.

The refresh rate on my projector is fixed at 60Hz
 
Interesingly one of the guys who develops for the cinemaster filters (cinemavideoguy) on the AVSforums/TT forums says that you are better to run your projector in non- 24fps multiples.

If you go on to the TT forums and search for this guy you will see a topic relating to this.

So 60hz may not be a problem as it isn't on my Z1.
 
I think it depends on the projector.

My Davis DLS8 runs stutter free at 72hz for NTSC and at 75hz for PAL, and the colour wheel can be heard to change speed when I change the frequency I feed it. Using the wrong frequency gives a noticeable stutter on panning shots.

Some projectors have fixed frequency panels/chips so will convert any other frequencies to match, in some cases, anything other than this frquency will lead to tearing. The HT1000 is a prime example.

Some pjs are better than others in doing this, and hopefully in a week or two, I'll be seeing the HT1000, Z1 and some others (Sims maybe), so I'm hoping to be able to try my htpc on them too.

The Z1 certainly looks like a bargain machine like the AE100 was, only with a better spec. :)

Gary.
 

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