Software Choices for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD on the PC?
Written: Feb 25 '08 (Updated Mar 15 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Easy to use, can use MCE remote, fast and smooth playback, excellent video quality
Cons: Broke XviD/DivX playback, some buttons are confusing (no text description), slow response to remote inputs
The Bottom Line: There are certainly some improvements to be made on PowerDVD 7 Ultra, but currently, there aren't many choices when it comes to Blu-Ray/HD-DVD playback on the PC.
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| nad_masters's Full Review: CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra |
After buying the LG Super Multi Blue GGC-H20L Combo Drive, I needed software to allow it to do its magic. The included OEM version of PowerDVD worked okay, but was feature-limited. Specifically, it was only able to do 2.0 stereo and did not give anyone with a surround sound system any love. Also, Cyberlink does not give out any updates for their OEM software. For a constantly updating platform like Blu-Ray, that is a no-no. This makes the OEM version useless except for old Blu-Ray titles and people who only have stereo speakers.
Being familiar with PowerDVD from the past, I decided to go with their full version PowerDVD 7 Ultra, which supports HD-DVD and Blu-Ray playback.
Installation
Installation is a breeze. You just run the installer that you downloaded (web purchase) and type in the serial they provide you with. I found that after installing, there is already an update for it. The update was pretty big, actually. The update upgrades the software to build 3370, and it is about a 100 MB download. Installing the update looks as if it was reinstalling the entire program all over again.
Once installed, you're pretty much ready to play.
Interface
The interface for PowerDVD 7 Ultra hasn't changed much from the previous versions. If you have used all of PowerDVD's software, number 7 won't give you much trouble.
One thing I liked about this version is that the controls stay on the bottom of the playback window this time around. Previously, the controls is a separate window and floats. While this version allows you to detach the controls from the playback window, the fact that it is attached by default, as well as attached in windowed mode seems much more user friendly to me.
The controls are attractive as well. The status display still mimics the display on a real player, providing info such as playback mode and elapsed time. The buttons are clear and concise, providing the ability to play, pause, stop, skip forward and backwards. Thanks to Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, there is a new button to invoke the pop-up menu. There are a few buttons that makes you wonder what they do, since the only thing that may give a clue as to what they do is a small pictorial. Hovering the mouse button does not pop up a text to describe it. The only way to find out what it does is to go ahead and click on it, and hope it doesn't do anything bad. Fortunately, there really isn't anything you can do with these buttons that is not reversible.
When you right-click on an area in the playback window, the familiar large context menu pops up. You can access all of the features, controls, and settings from this menu. It can get confusing at times, but for veteran PowerDVD users, this feels right at home.
PowerDVD 7 Ultra allows the use of Micrsoft's Windows Media Center Remote to tame it. Basic buttons such as stop, play, pause, skip, and volume works just fine. However, the DVD menu button does not. In fact, hitting the DVD menu brings up Windows Media Center, which is no fault of Cyberlink. It's the way Microsoft set it.
The real issue here is Windows Media Center integration. PowerDVD does not integrate with MCE 2005 (Windows Media Center Edition 2005) or VMC (Vista Media Center). There is no plug-in to allow the user to invoke PowerDVD from inside Windows Media Center. There is a community-made plug-in that allows for this, but you'd still need a mouse to close PowerDVD to go back to the MCE/VMC interface.
The Nitty Gritty
Picture quality is excellent, and is comparable to a good stand-alone up-converting progressive DVD player. PowerDVD uses their own software codec to decode DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD materials. It also decodes and plays DivX and XviD files with it's own built-in codecs. But that also where there are issues. I found that after installing PowerDVD 7 Ultra, VMC could not play any of my DivX or XviD files. Trying to play using WMP11 (Windows Media Player 11) will produce a "Acquiring Codec" message on the lower left hand corner. However, it would quickly acquire it since WMP11 didn't really need to download it (it's already installed), and the movie would automatically play. Also, on the playlist, the video being played would have a red X as if there was an error, but the movie plays just fine with video and audio.
It's a strange behavior, and no matter what codec I uninstall and try, the behavior is the same. I've tried the official XviD codec and ffdshow, and it's the same thing. I decided to use WMP11 to play my videos for now, since I need Blu-Ray playback capabilities. This is not an ideal solution for a remote-driven HTPC (Home Theater PC).
The codec used by PowerDVD takes complete advantage of nVidia's Purevideo GPU decoding. This lessen the load on the CPU as well as provide smoother playback and a cleaner picture. I have an nVidia GeForce 8500GT, which have Purevideo HD decoding capabilities built onto the GPU itself. It is using the newest driver (169.21) as of this writing. The built-in codec used in Vista Media Center is also Purevideo enabled, and does a good job for DVD and recorded HDTV playback. However, it cannot be used for Blu-Ray and HD-DVD decoding. The reverse is true - the PowerDVD MPEG codec does not work if you set VMC to use it (using a 3rd party utility). So it's good to keep VMC using it's current codec. Both are Purevideo enabled, so rest assured that your hardware is being utilized correctly.
Playing back Blu-Ray is so intensive, that even with Purevideo, my Intel Pentium Dual-Core E2180 running at 2.0 GHz each core was pegged at around 80% utilization on both cores! Spiderman and Pirates of the Caribbean (both bitrates are between 20 to 36 Mbit/sec) demanded a lot of CPU, while certain movies with less bitrate (The Departed at around 8 to 12 Mbit/sec) only utilize around 30% to 50% of both cores. It's obvious that the codec used in PowerDVD is multi-threaded, and thank goodness that it is!
Ripping a Blu-Ray title and playing back using an older version of ffdshow proved that it was only single-threaded. One core was pegged at 100% while the other was pretty much idling. Consequently, playback was jerky as if watching a slide show. It was also apparent that version of ffdshow did not take advantage of Purevideo hardware decoding.
Playback
DVD playback is just as good as previous versions of PowerDVD. This is no surprise as Cyberlink's PowerDVD has been around for as long as DVD-ROM drives hit PCs. CPU utilization is low, so playback is smooth. The controls for DVD playback is straight forward. Unfortunately, Cyberlink decided to adhere to the publisher's wish to not allow skipping or fast forwarding of certain materials. This wasn't the case with the older versions of PowerDVD.
However, the real meat and potatoes is the HD playback capabilities. Unfortunately, I do not have any HD-DVD to test with. With the "death" of HD-DVD, I won't be starting any HD-DVD collection any time soon. If they ever go on clearance at fire-sale prices, I may pick up a few to test, as I am curious if there are any differences between HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.
With Blu-Ray, it takes a while to load (about 10 to 15 seconds or so), but it may be just the drive. With Pirates of the Caribbean, after the disc spins up and loaded itself, there is yet another screen that says "loading" that is obviously from the disc itself as the text for "loading" is stylized. Once loaded, picture quality is phenomenal. Text and subtitles are clear, and details are much cleaner. After watching a few Blu-Ray movies, Watching DVDs feel like watching the movie through a dirty screen. There seems to be a slight lag in response when using the MCE remote. The pop-menu is so vivid that it seems like it pops right out of the screen!
When trying to play back Spiderman before the update, PowerDVD would complain that it needs the update. It would not let you play any of the Spiderman movies (I have the trilogy). The problem with the bundled OEM version is that Cyberlink does not provide updates for it, which is what prompted me to purchase the full version in the first place. However, the full version works like a charm, and Spiderman looks absolutely stunning. You are able to see the detailed texture on his costume as well as Venom.
Conclusion
PowerDVD 7 Ultra has a lot going for it. It supports all of the audio tracks (including Dolby TrueHD), detailed configurations for audio and video settings, as well as an excellent performing codec for the intensive decoding of HD content. The new look and integration of the on-screen controls are much cleaner and easier to use, though some of the buttons could use a small text pop up to describe what it does.
While being on the cutting edge is fun it does come with some gotchas. For example, the uncanny quirk that breaks XviD videos from playing in VMC (as well as MCE - I was able to reproduce the problem on my laptop running Windows Media Center 2005). Another annoyance is that Cyberlink did not include any sort of integration with both MCE 2005 and VMC. This is crucial to people who have a MCE or VMC HTPC. This is the market where you will find early adopters of Blu-Ray and HD-DVD drive purchase (which also means this is the same market that would buy Cyberlink's software). Not being able to integrate with any of Microsoft's Media Center interface is a big no-no. Remote response could be better, since it does feel a bit laggy.
But it does play back Blu-Ray movies as long as you have the drive to do it with. I'm sure it will play back HD-DVD movies just fine as well (I don't have any to test as of this writing).
My recommendation: If you did not jump into the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD bandwagon yet, let the software mature before you add this capability to your current HTPC. If you can't wait, you're better off with a stand-alone set-top player. If you are an early adopter and want to jump in like I do (and don't mind the wait for better software), PowerDVD 7 Ultra is a good software to start with.
Another take: Arcsoft made a DVD/Blu-Ray/HD-DVD software player that (according to others) integrates well with both MCE 2005 and VMC. However, there are also some issues with their software as well (such as the center and right channel is swapped when using an X-Fi sound card). Arcsoft's product is called TotalMedia Theater. People who have used it says that it also provides smooth playback as well. I may download the 15 day trial. Who knows? I might convert!
Recommended:
Yes
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nad_masters
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Location: Chicago, IL, USA
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