We can't get Pirates OC At worlds end to play. Have tried 2 dif discs from Netflix. Have HP pc and their version of PowerDVD. Is there a better thread I should be posting on?

We can't get Pirates OC At worlds end to play. Have tried 2 dif discs from Netflix. Have HP pc and their version of PowerDVD. Is there a better thread I should be posting on?

Please describe the problem. What does it do? Are you able to see main menu?, etc.

Also please give your computer specification like CPU and speed, video card spec like chip set (NVIDIA or ATI) and RAM, etc. What is the model number of your HP computer?

This is a stupid question: Is the disk Blu-ray and does your computer have Blu-ray drive? Also is your video card and TV HDCP compliant?

Peter

I'm sorry if this is already answered but the thread is just so huge..

What is required of a motherboard to send out a correct signal from my HTPC with a blu-ray reader to my receiver, that can decode DTS-HD Master and Dolby TrueHD using the HDMI interface?

HDMI 1.3 or the onboard soundchip? or both? I'm currently looking for an m-atx socket 775 board with onboard graphics and sound that can handle both video and sound. I understand that with the new version of PowerDVD this will be possible, just want to make sure what is required of the hardware.

Thanks in advance.

I'm sorry if this is already answered but the thread is just so huge..

What is required of a motherboard to send out a correct signal from my HTPC with a blu-ray reader to my receiver, that can decode DTS-HD Master and Dolby TrueHD using the HDMI interface?

HDMI 1.3 or the onboard soundchip? or both? I'm currently looking for an m-atx socket 775 board with onboard graphics and sound that can handle both video and sound. I understand that with the new version of PowerDVD this will be possible, just want to make sure what is required of the hardware.

Thanks in advance.

I know the ATI cards will put out HDMI audio. How well I don't know but I'm just guessing that you can't do it from the mboard. How would you combine video and audio into the one cable? Wouldn't this make it a video card solution like the hd3450 or hd3850?

I'm sorry if this is already answered but the thread is just so huge..

What is required of a motherboard to send out a correct signal from my HTPC with a blu-ray reader to my receiver, that can decode DTS-HD Master and Dolby TrueHD using the HDMI interface?

HDMI 1.3 or the onboard soundchip? or both? I'm currently looking for an m-atx socket 775 board with onboard graphics and sound that can handle both video and sound. I understand that with the new version of PowerDVD this will be possible, just want to make sure what is required of the hardware.

Thanks in advance.

Yeah, you'll need HDMI 1.3a with audio capabilities. Right now there aren't any mobos or sound cards that can do it, but Auzentech is supposedly coming out with an extension for the X-Prelude, and the Intel G45 chipsets (to be released sooner rather than later in the year will also have that capability directly from the mobo. There are also nVidia chipsets with this, but I don't thin they've released them yet.

But also, your player should be able to bitstream HDMI audio, and right now none do it. Maybe PowerDVD 8 will.

I know the ATI cards will put out HDMI audio. How well I don't know but I'm just guessing that you can't do it from the mboard. How would you combine video and audio into the one cable? Wouldn't this make it a video card solution like the hd3450 or hd3850?

The ATI cards don't really do HDMI. They piggyback S/PDIF through the HDMI connector. I do the same with an nVidia 8600GTS (from MSI I think) and connecting the S/PDIF out of my mobo to the special S/PDIF input connector on my graphics card. It is still limited to S/PDIF, as are the ATI ones.

The ATI cards don't really do HDMI. They piggyback S/PDIF through the HDMI connector. I do the same with an nVidia 8600GTS (from MSI I think) and connecting the S/PDIF out of my mobo to the special S/PDIF input connector on my graphics card. It is still limited to S/PDIF, as are the ATI ones.

Good point.

HDMI output support
Supports all display resolutions up to 1920x10801
Integrated HD audio controller with up to 2 channel 48 kHz stereo or multichannel(5.1) AC3 enabling a plug-and-play cable-less audio solution

Still don't get how there can be an mboard solution if the HDMI cable carries both video and audio. Does this mean the video card will have to be integrated into the mboard and aren't those usually not the way to go?

The ATI cards don't really do HDMI. They piggyback S/PDIF through the HDMI connector. I do the same with an nVidia 8600GTS (from MSI I think) and connecting the S/PDIF out of my mobo to the special S/PDIF input connector on my graphics card. It is still limited to S/PDIF, as are the ATI ones.

What's the advantage to this. I have the Inferno too and don't have a mb spdif out into the Inferno but the Inferno seems to map correctly and DD and DTS work fine.

What's the advantage to this. I have the Inferno too and don't have a mb spdif out into the Inferno but the Inferno seems to map correctly and DD and DTS work fine.

That was kinda my point, there is not much advantage besides using a single cable. I think ATI advertising it as audio through HDMI and not saying clearly and conspicuously that it's S/PDIF-limited is misleading. They just bury the spec there like it's not important. When the HD2000 series came out, people were wondering for months (and it seems they still do with the HD3000 series) if the ATI cards did proper HDMI audio.

In my case, it works because I sometimes lug my HTPC to work and connect it to the 52" AQUOS, but like I said, I use an MSI 8600GTS with a S/PDIF input on the card to achieve the exact same goal (even better, cause there's no messing around with ATI drivers).

In fact, with a card like the Inferno, it's better to do plain old S/PDIF, since it has DTS Connect and Dolby Digital Live, and can even output Dolby Headphone through the PCM S/PDIF out. I wanted to connect my Inferno's S/PDIF to the graphics card, but it doesn't have coax S/PDIF.

I have PowerDVD ultra on my vista home premium HTPC. I recently got LG combo drive and downloaded AnyDVD HD. I am able to play bluray discs in PowerDVD Ultra while AnyDVD HD is filtering the drive to remove AACS.

I used AnyDVD to rip the bluray (Kingdom of Heaven) to hard drive in File Mode. I see the AnyDVD creating bunch of necessary files. I would like to used PowerDVD ultra to play the ripped movie from hard disk but it is not working. In PowerDVD, when I try to choose the 'source', it will not recognize the root of the ripped movie folder. Why is that? I can still play ripped SD DVDs in PowerDVD by pointing to the folder root.

BTW, I checked the Information about PowerDVD but could not find the version. How do I see what version of PowerDVD I am running?

I have PowerDVD ultra on my vista home premium HTPC. I recently got LG combo drive and downloaded AnyDVD HD. I am able to play bluray discs in PowerDVD Ultra while AnyDVD HD is filtering the drive to remove AACS.

I used AnyDVD to rip the bluray (Kingdom of Heaven) to hard drive in File Mode. I see the AnyDVD creating bunch of necessary files. I would like to used PowerDVD ultra to play the ripped movie from hard disk but it is not working. In PowerDVD, when I try to choose the 'source', it will not recognize the root of the ripped movie folder. Why is that? I can still play ripped SD DVDs in PowerDVD by pointing to the folder root.

BTW, I checked the Information about PowerDVD but could not find the version. How do I see what version of PowerDVD I am running?

When you first bring up PDVD, right click on the red screen and choose about. Left click on 'your computer name' under 'this product is licensed...'

I'm still a novice at this but I've seen where earlier versions like 3104 and 3319a are recommended.

When you first bring up PDVD, right click on the red screen and choose about. Left click on 'your computer name' under 'this product is licensed...'

I'm still a novice at this but I've seen where earlier versions like 3104 and 3319a are recommended.

Yeah, 3319a is the last build with which you're able to play from folder. What most of us do now is enable AnyDVD HD, and then rip the movie to an ISO file with ImgBurn, and then mount the ISO with Daemon Tools. PowerDVD will read it as a disc then.

Yeah, 3319a is the last build with which you're able to play from folder. What most of us do now is enable AnyDVD HD, and then rip the movie to an ISO file with ImgBurn, and then mount the ISO with Daemon Tools. PowerDVD will read it as a disc then.

Some of us still have troubles with the isos with 3730 though. I get unsupported disk errors or purple screens with BD isos, even those created in read mode. On an old install the problem automatically fixed itself, but on my latest it didn't. I stay with 3319a now and use standalones when needed. I plan to install PDVD8 whenit gets releases and should have the best of both worlds with 3319a and v.8 together.

First time trying to play blu-ray, using PowerDVD 7.3 3319a. I can play the .m2ts file fine, but when trying to play the folder or .iso disc mounted with daemon tools, it's all mosaic (protected?). I would like to be able to select language and use the .iso. Did a search and can't seem to find an answer. Any help appreciated. My PC has AMD athlon X2 4800+, 4G RAM, GeForce 7600GS. I have tried removing Region code with AnyDVD with no success.

First time trying to play blu-ray, using PowerDVD 7.3 3319a. I can play the .m2ts file fine, but when trying to play the folder or .iso disc mounted with daemon tools, it's all mosaic (protected?). I would like to be able to select language and use the .iso. Did a search and can't seem to find an answer. Any help appreciated. My PC has AMD athlon X2 4800+, 4G RAM, GeForce 7600GS. I have tried removing Region code with AnyDVD with no success.

Just wondering if you need anydvd hd with bluray support checked and running while you rip or need to use the anydvd ripper.

I always just run from the disc. Never understood why people take the time to rip to the hard drive but I KNOW it is a popular method.

For me its simple: Better Netflix throughput. When I get my netflix in the mail, I just rip to HD the same day, and return the next day. Then I can just take my time watching it without the pressure to return it to get my next movie. With turnaround times, weekends, and US mail holidays, I find lots of days where we're sitting there wishing we had a movie, and driving to the overpriced blockbuster down the street. Using the PC as a "temp buffer" I can get 18-20 discs a month on the 3 movie plan.
you should put a big flag up for the movie studios - "COME ARREST ME"....

you should watch your comments

you should put a big flag up for the movie studios - "COME ARREST ME"....

you should watch your comments

I don't share, sell, or copy. Just watch at my leisure and delete. Very similar to someone that watches everything they get the same night they receive it in the mail. My punishment is that I get "throttled" as a heavy netflix user, and rarely get the new releases first.


You avoided driving. Very green :p

- Rich

You avoided driving. Very green :p

- Richhaha

Yes.. I was just going to say... what was your reasoning for ripping to speed up "Netflix throughput" if they've slowed you down even more than even the standard 3 rental user for receiving new releases. Anyway, I remember watching too many movies too quickly in the past from Netflix, and wondered why I wasn't able to get any more movies except for old ones that I really didnt care to rent.

I don't share, sell, or copy. Just watch at my leisure and delete. Very similar to someone that watches everything they get the same night they receive it in the mail. My punishment is that I get "throttled" as a heavy netflix user, and rarely get the new releases first.

Yes.. I was just going to say... what was your reasoning for ripping to speed up "Netflix throughput" if they've slowed you down even more than even the standard 3 rental user for receiving new releases. Anyway, I remember watching too many movies too quickly in the past from Netflix, and wondered why I wasn't able to get any more movies except for old ones that I really didnt care to rent.

Yeah, I'm actually ok with missing new releases immediately, since I know I'll get to them eventually. It just means I can give a non-mainstream movie a chance that I probably wouldn't have otherwise, or let's something come for my daughter. We can't go to theaters anymore for new movies, so what's another couple of weeks. :)

I got a kind of weird question. Has anyone tried to run PowerDVD on a Mac, using BootCamp? If so, have you tried AnyDVD?

I got a kind of weird question. Has anyone tried to run PowerDVD on a Mac, using BootCamp? If so, have you tried AnyDVD?
works fine using bootcamp if the chipset is compatible - not on mac minis

I have a question about DTS-HD MA.... if the movie is 7.1 (ie. New Line releases), if PowerDVD8 does decode MA, will it downmix to my 5.1 speakers but still retain the MA audio? Or will it just default to the DTS core 5.1 when PDVD is set to 6 speakers? I know no-one currently knows, but what do standalone players do?

Is there a way to take screenshots of Blu-ray movies. Screen capture option for PDVD looks like its deliberately disabled. I'm using EVR under Vista.

works fine using bootcamp if the chipset is compatible - not on mac minis

Thanks, what do you mean incompatible chipsets though? The Mac mini is exactly what I had in mind, but not the current ones, they are due for an update soon I believe. Mac mini + Penryn = sweet way to try out a Mac without the Mac guilt (that's what I call it). Current minis are still Core 2 duo (Merom I believe), so how do you know which chipsets are compatible with PowerDVD? (Or did you mean compatible with Windows for running Bootcamp?)

Thanks, what do you mean incompatible chipsets though? The Mac mini is exactly what I had in mind, but not the current ones, they are due for an update soon I believe. Mac mini + Penryn = sweet way to try out a Mac without the Mac guilt (that's what I call it). Current minis are still Core 2 duo (Merom I believe), so how do you know which chipsets are compatible with PowerDVD? (Or did you mean compatible with Windows for running Bootcamp?)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13267602#post13267602

When i'm watching a hddvd in powerdvd and i hit stop, then play, the movie starts from the beginning. Is there some setting that will make it resume play from where it last stopped?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13267602#post13267602

I see what you mean now, but if AnyDVD HD is applied, I don't think it'd be much of a problem. I see also you asked this same question which went unanswered. I don't see why it wouldn't play HD discs anyway, if the CPU is powerful enough.

But my amp only support decode DTS and DD 5.1.

Is it possbile to play powerdvd and chosse the Dolby digital true HD down to DD5.1 to my amp?
My suitation is when I choose the Dolby digital true HD, my amp didn't detect any DD or DTS. Stereo only.
But I choose DTS HD Master, it can down to DTS and my amp can show DTS.

I know my config. cannot play Dolby digital true HD and DTS-HD Master. (My HTP-33 only can decode DD and DTS.)
But I just want to have DD or DTS when I playing movie.

My config:
AMD 3600+ @2.66
HD2600XT
Biostar 690g
ALC 888
Lite-on Blu-ray rom
Use optical connect to my Pioneer HTP-33

But my amp only support decode DTS and DD 5.1.

Is it possbile to play powerdvd and chosse the Dolby digital true HD down to DD5.1 to my amp?
My suitation is when I choose the Dolby digital true HD, my amp didn't detect any DD or DTS. Stereo only.
But I choose DTS HD Master, it can down to DTS and my amp can show DTS.

I know my config. cannot play Dolby digital true HD and DTS-HD Master. (My HTP-33 only can decode DD and DTS.)
But I just want to have DD or DTS when I playing movie.

My config:
AMD 3600+ @2.66
HD2600XT
Biostar 690g
ALC 888
Lite-on Blu-ray rom
Use optical connect to my Pioneer HTP-33

As far as I know, TrueHD does not carry a DD 5.1 "core" as the DTS-HD streams do with DTS. So for a TrueHD track, for now you'll have to have PowerDVD do the decoding into multichannel (by selecting 6 or 8 channels in the Audio options) and then downmixing to DTS or DD by getting an audio card that does DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live, output from PowerDVD to multichannel, and then let your audio driver output it through DDL or DTS Connect.

As far as I know, TrueHD does not carry a DD 5.1 "core" as the DTS-HD streams do with DTS. So for a TrueHD track, for now you'll have to have PowerDVD do the decoding into multichannel (by selecting 6 or 8 channels in the Audio options) and then downmixing to DTS or DD by getting an audio card that does DTS Connect or Dolby Digital Live, output from PowerDVD to multichannel, and then let your audio driver output it through DDL or DTS Connect.

But my onbroad sound ALC888 seem don't have DTS connect.
But I seem the spec. of the ALC888 can option add DTS connect.
I could like to ask is it possible to add-on the DTS connect to my onbroad sound?

Please describe the problem. What does it do? Are you able to see main menu?, etc.

Also please give your computer specification like CPU and speed, video card spec like chip set (NVIDIA or ATI) and RAM, etc. What is the model number of your HP computer?

This is a stupid question: Is the disk Blu-ray and does your computer have Blu-ray drive? Also is your video card and TV HDCP compliant?

Peter
Thanks for replying. I have an HP Slimline I think it is 3330. It has a BluRay player by Cyberlink but specifically for the HP. I went online and downloaded the update and it works fine now. The problem I was experiencing (with POC 3) was that it wouldn't go past the Menu. I would select "English" and it would act like it was going to continue, but I never got past a black screen. All is well now.

But my onbroad sound ALC888 seem don't have DTS connect.
But I seem the spec. of the ALC888 can option add DTS connect.
I could like to ask is it possible to add-on the DTS connect to my onbroad sound?

I doubt it. I just ordered a PCI sound card from newegg which should be here in a few days that does DD live and connect. I'll let you know how it turns out.

You can also choose the spdif option in PDVD and then choose the downmix of DTS once the video is playing. Not too cool to have to make all those option choices plus it does not retain them. At least not in the version I'm running.

I doubt it. I just ordered a PCI sound card from newegg which should be here in a few days that does DD live and connect. I'll let you know how it turns out.

You can also choose the spdif option in PDVD and then choose the downmix of DTS once the video is playing. Not too cool to have to make all those option choices plus it does not retain them. At least not in the version I'm running.

I was gonna suggest that too, but I think it doesn't work with TrueHD soundtracks, only with LPCM. With TrueHD, as soon as you select S/PDIF the track switches to 2-channel TrueHD.

I see what you mean now, but if AnyDVD HD is applied, I don't think it'd be much of a problem. I see also you asked this same question which went unanswered. I don't see why it wouldn't play HD discs anyway, if the CPU is powerful enough.

i'm pretty sure this was answered, if not on that thread else where - PDVD will not play back HD/BD on the mini PERIOD.

I doubt it. I just ordered a PCI sound card from newegg which should be here in a few days that does DD live and connect. I'll let you know how it turns out.

You can also choose the spdif option in PDVD and then choose the downmix of DTS once the video is playing. Not too cool to have to make all those option choices plus it does not retain them. At least not in the version I'm running.


Can you tell me which sound card had you bought?
I think DD True HD cannot downmix from PowerDVD.

But I had try to install the Nero ShowTime.
This player can downmix the True HD to DD, it sounds good.
I will try it more and report it later.

Can you tell me which sound card had you bought?
I think DD True HD cannot downmix from PowerDVD.

But I had try to install the Nero ShowTime.
This player can downmix the True HD to DD, it sounds good.
I will try it more and report it later.

It will work fine if your card does DTS Connect. You'll just need to set PowerDVD to multichannel out and let your card's driver do its DTS magic. It doesn't work when you set S/PDIF in PowerDVD, but even if it did, PowerDVD has a bug that sounds horrible (high-pitched ring) when you let it downmix to DTS.

It will work fine if your card does DTS Connect. You'll just need to set PowerDVD to multichannel out and let your card's driver do its DTS magic. It doesn't work when you set S/PDIF in PowerDVD, but even if it did, PowerDVD has a bug that sounds horrible (high-pitched ring) when you let it downmix to DTS.

Thanks your advices
But my MB doesn't have DTS connect.
I need to found other SW to downmix to DD.

If no another SW can do that, I think I need to buy a Sound card.

Hope NERO show time 4 can do it perfectly~

Thanks your advices
But my MB doesn't have DTS connect.
I need to found other SW to downmix to DD.

If no another SW can do that, I think I need to buy a Sound card.

Hope NERO show time 4 can do it perfectly~

Yeah, I was just saying that because you asked the other poster what sound card he bought. I was reiterating that a sound card with DTS Connect and DDLive would work indeed. If you need to buy one, make sure it has one of those features.

I'd be interested if anyone who has done some comparison between these. I don't have any BR/HD DVD player so I can't do it myself. But I have done comparison with SD playback.

My current equipment & setup:
Core 2 Duo OC 3.0Ghz with 2GB memory
LG BR/HD DVD Drive Combo
ATI Radeon XT2600 with 256MB DDR3
PDVD playing all movie
1080P Mits DLP RPTV
Phillip 1080P upconver DVD Player

PDVD play SD movie in 1080p(DVI->HDMI) vs Phillip 1080p up-converted DVD Player(HDMI->HDMI).
* Everything at default setting. The Phillip scores better in all category. Brightness, color vibrant, image clarity and sharpness, pixel jitter.

I tried to adjust the ATI and the setting on the DLP, just still cannot get it to anything close to the Phillip. Also play with setting on PDVD, like Theater mode vs vivid mode, etc. Didn't help much.

So it get me to wonder. What about the BR HD content? It does looks good, but how is it compare to the real HD player, like Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, etc?

I'm having an issue with my new setup when I try to play HD media.

After setting everything up I decided to hook up my xbox 360 HD DVD player to see how my HTPC handles HD content.

Everything starts off smooth, but once the actual movie starts the processor usage pegs at 100% and everything slows and skips. Ive tried 4 different HD DVDs all essentially do the same thing.

What baffles me is when I go to abc.com and stream an HD episode of Lost, all is well.

Any suggestions as to what I'm overlooking?

System:

Display: 42" LG Plasma
OS: Vista Ultimate w/ PowerDVD Ultra
CPU: Athlon X2 Brisbane 5000+ BE (Overclocked to a stable 3.05ghz)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AMD 690G chipset
Memory: Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 2 x 1GB
HDD: SAMSUNG HD250HJ 250GB 7200 RPM SATA

I'm having an issue with my new setup when I try to play HD media.

After setting everything up I decided to hook up my xbox 360 HD DVD player to see how my HTPC handles HD content.

Everything starts off smooth, but once the actual movie starts the processor usage pegs at 100% and everything slows and skips. Ive tried 4 different HD DVDs all essentially do the same thing.

What baffles me is when I go to abc.com and stream an HD episode of Lost, all is well.

Any suggestions as to what I'm overlooking?

System:

Display: 42" LG Plasma
OS: Vista Ultimate w/ PowerDVD Ultra
CPU: Athlon X2 Brisbane 5000+ BE (Overclocked to a stable 3.05ghz)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AMD 690G chipset
Memory: Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 2 x 1GB
HDD: SAMSUNG HD250HJ 250GB 7200 RPM SATA

#1 - HD streaming from ABC is not real HD. It's super compressed and not even close the to same bandwidth as a HDDVD/BD

#2 - Have you installed any MB utilities, like the ASUS ones (I assume GB has them too)? They tend to interfere.

#3 - Have you looked to see what is using CPU? Maybe it's not PDVD

#4 - Have you checked to see the encoding used? Sometimes these issues are specific to the encoding of the disc (e.g. VC-1).

#5 - What's the video card - is it on board? I think the 690 is woefully underpowered for HD playback, isn't it?

I'm having an issue with my new setup when I try to play HD media.

After setting everything up I decided to hook up my xbox 360 HD DVD player to see how my HTPC handles HD content.

Everything starts off smooth, but once the actual movie starts the processor usage pegs at 100% and everything slows and skips. Ive tried 4 different HD DVDs all essentially do the same thing.

What baffles me is when I go to abc.com and stream an HD episode of Lost, all is well.

Any suggestions as to what I'm overlooking?

System:

Display: 42" LG Plasma
OS: Vista Ultimate w/ PowerDVD Ultra
CPU: Athlon X2 Brisbane 5000+ BE (Overclocked to a stable 3.05ghz)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H AMD 690G chipset
Memory: Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 2 x 1GB
HDD: SAMSUNG HD250HJ 250GB 7200 RPM SATA

My initial recommendation is to bring down the CPU to it's default speed (no-overclocking). Just make note of your settings so that if this test doesn't work, you can go back to your regularly scheduled overclock.

CardNation,

Do you have a video card? Or are you using onboard video?

I have a similar setup and could only get some HD DVDs and Blurays to work correctly. The bitrate is just too high even for the overclocked 5000 on some discs. (mostly the AVC bluray)

I ended up getting the Sapphire 2600xt and everything runs great.

PDVD has always had the ability to timecompress audio up to 2x fast forward speed. I do this on my laptop fine using headphones, and I can get through movies faster if I'm in a time crunch.

On the HTPC though, it doesn't seem to be able to timecompress and send audio out SPDIF. Maybe it only can send passthrough SPDIF without processing the stream? My standalone JVC DVD player will timecompress and still send a downmixed stereo stream out the optical so I was expecting the same from PDVD. I don't mind the downmix because I only do this when I have the headphones late at night anyway (the wife hates sped up voices).

I realize this may be a rare usage, but just curious if anyone knows a magic setting to get timecompressed audion out spdif, or even downmixed stereo (mine gets grayed out when spdif is used).

I'd be interested if anyone who has done some comparison between these. I don't have any BR/HD DVD player so I can't do it myself. But I have done comparison with SD playback.

My current equipment & setup:
Core 2 Duo OC 3.0Ghz with 2GB memory
LG BR/HD DVD Drive Combo
ATI Radeon XT2600 with 256MB DDR3
PDVD playing all movie
1080P Mits DLP RPTV
Phillip 1080P upconver DVD Player

PDVD play SD movie in 1080p(DVI->HDMI) vs Phillip 1080p up-converted DVD Player(HDMI->HDMI).
* Everything at default setting. The Phillip scores better in all category. Brightness, color vibrant, image clarity and sharpness, pixel jitter.

I tried to adjust the ATI and the setting on the DLP, just still cannot get it to anything close to the Phillip. Also play with setting on PDVD, like Theater mode vs vivid mode, etc. Didn't help much.

So it get me to wonder. What about the BR HD content? It does looks good, but how is it compare to the real HD player, like Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, etc?

Yes a properly configged PS3 (BTB/WTW/Component over HDMI/1080p/24) will have superior quality and image flow plus stability better than any PowerDVD version, probably forever as it looks now.. PS3 gets better and better for every patch, PowerDVD works the other way around :confused:

First time trying to play blu-ray, using PowerDVD 7.3 3319a. I can play the .m2ts file fine, but when trying to play the folder or .iso disc mounted with daemon tools, it's all mosaic (protected?). I would like to be able to select language and use the .iso. Did a search and can't seem to find an answer. Any help appreciated. My PC has AMD athlon X2 4800+, 4G RAM, GeForce 7600GS. I have tried removing Region code with AnyDVD with no success.

Again, anyone knows the answer?

Yes a properly configged PS3 (BTB/WTW/Component over HDMI/1080p/24) will have superior quality and image flow plus stability better than any PowerDVD version, probably forever as it looks now.. PS3 gets better and better for every patch, PowerDVD works the other way around :confused:

Just curious if you have any objective data to back that assertion? Has any site like Secrets of Home Theater run any objective tests of picture quality between the two?

Well, boys and girls, get ready to throw your 3319a's into the trash bin. Slysoft has finally cracked BD+!

Well, boys and girls, get ready to throw your 3319a's into the trash bin. Slysoft has finally cracked BD+!

Well I still might keep 3319a around to play the files directly! Some times it is a lot quicker to just fire up the movie as opposed to going through the menus and the 7 previews!

By the way I have the PDVD version switcher program that let’s me switch back and forth between 3319a and the latest version with a single button click. That works like a charm!

Well, boys and girls, get ready to throw your 3319a's into the trash bin. Slysoft has finally cracked BD+!

Yeah! I've been a happy ANYDVD owner for years. Looks like its time to upgrade to the HD version.

Can you tell me which sound card had you bought?.

Auzentech. Hooking it up tonight.

I had a question about using HDMI Audio passthrough on a lot of the ATI cards with PowerDVD.

How do you set this up in PowerDVD? Using Zoomplayer I get DD and DTS passthrough just find over HDMI. but in powerDVD if I select Spdif I get no sound. If I select 6 or 8 channel I only get 2.0 PCM even on DD tracks.

Do you really need Dolby Dig Live and DTS connect to use HDMi passthrough in PowerDVD? Does Arcsoft work the same way?

ctiq21 I couldn't get DD/DTS bitstream with PDVD7 but PDVD8, Arcsoft, TheaterTek, WinDVD, WMP, etc. have no problems with it.

Hi, i have Vista x64 with new gigabyte 780 motherboard and the latest powerdvd ultra. I have the HDMI port connected to my Pioneer Reciever. When i try to play a blueray or hd dvd disk, i dont get the dd or dts tracks on my reciever, instead i get stereo sound. Under the audio properties in powerdvd, i only get spdif or speaker number and not HDMI. I tried both speaker number and spdif options but i get no sound. The weird thing is when i do the speaker setup in vista audio control panel and choose dd or dts i get audio and the pioneer reciever show each codec. Can you guys help me out?

Thanks

In Windows Media Player DD and DTS 5.1 show up fine on my Pioneer Reciever

Just curious if you have any objective data to back that assertion? Has any site like Secrets of Home Theater run any objective tests of picture quality between the two?
I guess this is what I was trying to find out per my original post. I'm sure there's got to be someone out there who has both BR HTPC and BR Player that can offer some honest and objective opinion.

Just got done hooking up the Auzentech for Dolby Live. WOW. Seems like a huge difference compared to old DVD 5.1 sound tracks. I will have to play with a side by side later. Currently testing this all out using the fifth element CDs.

Is it better to use 6 channel or 8 channel in PDVD when going to the DD Live or DTS connect?

From previous posts it is better to use the PCM track instead of the TRUEHD? Another WOW is this decoding of TrueHD uses 30 percent CPU over PCM.

During the FBI warnings there is an irratating buzz / whine. I doubt there is a way around it and hopefully it is just this DVD. I wonder why ANYDVD isn't killing that.

Is it me or do you notice movies with 1.8 aspect ratio appear to have better picture quality than movies with 2.3 aspect ratio? I have a four year old Sony XBR 60" LCD rear projection TV (16:9 or 1.8) with DVI input and HDCP compliant. It's a great TV. I really hate those black bars with 2.3 aspect ratios. I wish the studios made all movies with 1.8 aspect ratios. It defeats the purpose of having 16:9 (1.8) TVs and most DVD/Blu-ray movies are 2.3 aspect ratios. I just watched We Own the Night and the aspect ratio was 1.8 and the picture quality was awesome.

Peter

Just got done hooking up the Auzentech for Dolby Live. WOW. Seems like a huge difference compared to old DVD 5.1 sound tracks. I will have to play with a side by side later. Currently testing this all out using the fifth element CDs.

Is it better to use 6 channel or 8 channel in PDVD when going to the DD Live or DTS connect?

From previous posts it is better to use the PCM track instead of the TRUEHD? Another WOW is this decoding of TrueHD uses 30 percent CPU over PCM.

During the FBI warnings there is an irratating buzz / whine. I doubt there is a way around it and hopefully it is just this DVD. I wonder why ANYDVD isn't killing that.

You know, I've been doing multichannel with PowerDVD for a long time, and when I switched to Vista I found that setting PowerDVD to 8-channel, even if I only have 6 speakers, is better. If you got a test disc with discrete pink or white noise for each channel (like the THX Optimizer on some DVDs), you'll notice that with 6-channel set (and 6-channel input and ouput in your driver) you'll hear the rear channels as more diffused (with some of the other speakers working a bit, not being discrete), not equal to the fronts, as they should be. When you set to 8-channel (and 8-channel input, 6-channel out in your driver) everything sounds good, each speaker gets its individual noise test.

This was just posted in the Cyberlink Forums...sad news indeed.

Dear All,

The format war is over...it's official. HD DVD will not be supported in PowerDVD 8 Ultra. HD DVD users will have to stick with PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news to those that were hoping.

Dave

Looks like those of us that went format neutral are stuck. Personally, I think this is a very dumb move but Cyberlink has never had a great track record when it came to customer satisfaction or support.

And they'll still charge $100 US for the thing :rolleyes:

I just hope that dual installing PDVD8 and PDVD7 can be done easily without any hassle, I don't want to resort to hacks just so I can watch HD-DVD.

Well I still might keep 3319a around to play the files directly! Some times it is a lot quicker to just fire up the movie as opposed to going through the menus and the 7 previews!

By the way I have the PDVD version switcher program that let’s me switch back and forth between 3319a and the latest version with a single button click. That works like a charm!

God, don't get me started about the previews. Lionsgate's discs are ridiculous with the menu button being disabled. Disney is only a bit less annoying because the let you use the menu button, but none of them will let you just jump to the movie or where you left it. I think only non-java discs will let you do that.

Warner seems to handle the situation excellenly though, on the other hand, just like with their HD-DVDs. No trailers, not even the stupid video menus (in fact no menus at all!). I despise those video menus. Many of them have spoilers. Not everyone has bought the disc after watching the movie in theaters. Bourne Supremacy's HD-DVD is the worst example of that.

By the way. I'm also keeping 3319a, just in case, but 3730 is a big improvement in playback. I don't get hangs anymore when jumping around the movie, and of course compatibility with newer 1.1 titles.

And they'll still charge $100 US for the thing :rolleyes:

I just hope that dual installing PDVD8 and PDVD7 can be done easily without any hassle, I don't want to resort to hacks just so I can watch HD-DVD.

For dropping hd-dvd support am gonna download powerDVD 8 from newsgroup i aint paying £60-£70.

For dropping hd-dvd support am gonna download powerDVD 8 from newsgroup i aint paying £60-£70.

amen
what a ridiculous thing to do

This was just posted in the Cyberlink Forums...sad news indeed.

Looks like those of us that went format neutral are stuck. Personally, I think this is a very dumb move but Cyberlink has never had a great track record when it came to customer satisfaction or support.
For those of us who simply buy / rent the movies that we want to see, some movies simply aren't available on Bluray. Some of those movies are just a little bit popular, such as the Bourne series. Until ALL major releases are available on Bluray, I don't see any excuse for them dropping HD DVD support.

For dropping hd-dvd support am gonna download powerDVD 8 from newsgroup i aint paying £60-£70.
Rather than taking the 2 wrongs (might) make a right approach, how about support another company? At this point Arcsoft seems to be supporting HD DVD. The Arcsoft software still has some issues, but I'm not sure how it could be much worse overall than PDVD.

I don't know if this is such a big deal, though. If they allow PowerDVD 8 and 7.3 to coexist peacefully, then it's not much of a problem. Price-wise, you'll pay the same however it goes, and HD-DVD as a format is not gonna make any improvements. 7.3 is perfectly capable of getting you all of HD-DVD's features I believe. I haven't had any major problems with HD-DVD, and whatever I did have, it was fixed later on (like Pan's Labyrinth audio). By the time we arrived at 3730, I don't think there were any bugs with HD-DVD. The only thing I can think of that may be a problem is 7.1 DTS-HD MA audio tracks, but really how many HD-DVDs have that? (Only I can think of off the top of my head is Pan's Labyrinth).

Rather than taking the 2 wrongs (might) make a right approach, how about support another company? At this point Arcsoft seems to be supporting HD DVD. The Arcsoft software still has some issues, but I'm not sure how it could be much worse overall than PDVD.

I gladly would if Arcsoft's player worked on x64. WinDVD doesn't have a trial worth testing as well. These companies are basically forcing us into piracy.

These companies are basically forcing us into piracy.
:confused: now THAT is absurd....

:cool:

So is PDVD 8 released yet?

And is ArcSoft's player stable at all? Everything posted here says it's still a disaster, as far as I can tell?

I don't know if this is such a big deal, though. If they allow PowerDVD 8 and 7.3 to coexist peacefully, then it's not much of a problem. Price-wise, you'll pay the same however it goes, and HD-DVD as a format is not gonna make any improvements. 7.3 is perfectly capable of getting you all of HD-DVD's features I believe. I haven't had any major problems with HD-DVD, and whatever I did have, it was fixed later on (like Pan's Labyrinth audio). By the time we arrived at 3730, I don't think there were any bugs with HD-DVD. The only thing I can think of that may be a problem is 7.1 DTS-HD MA audio tracks, but really how many HD-DVDs have that? (Only I can think of off the top of my head is Pan's Labyrinth).

loads of disks still have problems if I remember correctly

I posted asking if they are going to make things easy on us to use both the new and old version at the same time...but I doubt it.

Oh well, time to use a different program. I have too many HD DVDs to just toss them aside.

:confused: now THAT is absurd....

:cool:
Agreed. There ARE options - switch back to 32 bit Windows, get a standalone player, etc. But piracy definitely isn't the answer as it just makes the problem even worse in the long run. Besides, if the software sucks, why would you want to get an illegal copy of it anyway?

Besides, if the software sucks, why would you want to get an illegal copy of it anyway?

A wise statement.

I couldn't find any release notes....

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/updates_112_ENU.html

I couldn't find any release notes....

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/updates_112_ENU.html

List of Updates:

* Supports Blu-ray Disc Profile 1.1.
* Improves BD-J compatibility to enhance interactivity with some BD-ROMs.

I gladly would if Arcsoft's player worked on x64. WinDVD doesn't have a trial worth testing as well. These companies are basically forcing us into piracy.

Well, I took the plunge and purchased WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray to test out the HD playback features. Unfortunately, I ran into deinterlacing issues with HDDVD playback which were exactly the same as with PDVDU. The difference was that with PDVDU there is a bit more finite control over deinterlacing and I was able to fix it with a few changes in the configuration. WinDVD wasn't as flexible...suffice it to say, I'm calling to get a refund. I probably won't look into other software until I do a hardware upgrade or I purchase a movie which doesn't playback properly.

Eric

why would HD DVD need deinterlacing?

are you on Vista x64?
does it play from HDD? files? folders? mounted isos?

thanks

Is it me or do you notice movies with 1.8 aspect ratio appear to have better picture quality than movies with 2.3 aspect ratio? I have a four year old Sony XBR 60" LCD rear projection TV (16:9 or 1.8) with DVI input and HDCP compliant. It's a great TV. I really hate those black bars with 2.3 aspect ratios. I wish the studios made all movies with 1.8 aspect ratios. It defeats the purpose of having 16:9 (1.8) TVs and most DVD/Blu-ray movies are 2.3 aspect ratios. I just watched We Own the Night and the aspect ratio was 1.8 and the picture quality was awesome.

Peter

Those of us with projectors and 2.35:1 constant height setups would strongly disagree. Fortunately I think most directors and studios also diagree. The visual impact of cinemascope is something I'd hate to see go away just to "get rid of the black bars".

Those of us with projectors and 2.35:1 constant height setups would strongly disagree. Fortunately I think most directors and studios also diagree. The visual impact of cinemascope is something I'd hate to see go away just to "get rid of the black bars".

That may be true for projectors but there are way more 16:9 TVs than projectors in the consumer market. I would think majority of TV watchers would prefer 1.8 over 2.35.

Peter

That may be true for projectors but there are way more 16:9 TVs than projectors in the consumer market. I would think majority of TV watchers would prefer 1.8 over 2.35.
Well, to take your argument to an extreme, there are WAAAAAY more 4:3 TVs than 16:9 TVs in peoples' homes right now, so I guess everything should really be 4:3...

I prefer original aspect ratio - I really don't care if there are black bars or not. In most cases, people I've talked to actually prefer original aspect ratio once they understand WHY the black bars are there. The wider aspect ratios give movies a grander scale, something that can't be duplicated in a 1.78 aspect ratio. If you don't like the black bars, use a stretch mode - that's what those modes are there for.

Well, to take your argument to an extreme, there are WAAAAAY more 4:3 TVs than 16:9 TVs in peoples' homes right now, so I guess everything should really be 4:3...

I prefer original aspect ratio - I really don't care if there are black bars or not. In most cases, people I've talked to actually prefer original aspect ratio once they understand WHY the black bars are there. The wider aspect ratios give movies a grander scale, something that can't be duplicated in a 1.78 aspect ratio. If you don't like the black bars, use a stretch mode - that's what those modes are there for.

OK.

What about my original question? Do you notice picture quality difference between 1.8 and 2.35 aspect ratios on 16:9 TVs? Lately, I noticed that picture quality appears to be better from 1.8 aspect ratio movies than 2.35 aspect ratio movies on my 16:9 TV. That's from about six Blu-ray movies I have seen so far. I believe two of them were 1.8 aspect ratios and they looked quite a bit better than 2.35 aspect ratio movies.

Peter

loads of disks still have problems if I remember correctly

Hmm, I don't know, I haven't had any problems that I can remember with 3319a and many U.S. HD-DVDs, except for that Pan's Labyrinth one, which was fixed by 3516, and 3730 now has played everything I've thrown at it including blu-ray pretty much perfectly. I have AnyDVD HD though, and I guess I am also a bit lucky with my system then.

OK.

What about my original question? Do you notice picture quality difference between 1.8 and 2.35 aspect ratios on 16:9 TVs? Lately, I noticed that picture quality appears to be better from 1.8 aspect ratio movies than 2.35 aspect ratio movies on my 16:9 TV. That's from about six Blu-ray movies I have seen so far. I believe two of them were 1.8 aspect ratios and they looked quite a bit better than 2.35 aspect ratio movies.
Quite frankly, I don't worry about picture quality to that degree. I get the best equipment I can afford, calibrate it, and then watch the movies and TV shows that I want to watch based on their content. I watch the movie for the movie itself, not for the nth degree of picture quality.

It's also a somewhat meaningless test to use different movies to compare the picture quality of different aspect ratios because too many other factors are involved. I don't remember what your basis was for making the statement in the first place, but the quality difference you perceive may simply be from the movie using more of the screen and being effectively bigger. Sort of how a bigger screen gives more impact than a smaller screen with the same source material.

OK.

What about my original question? Do you notice picture quality difference between 1.8 and 2.35 aspect ratios on 16:9 TVs? Lately, I noticed that picture quality appears to be better from 1.8 aspect ratio movies than 2.35 aspect ratio movies on my 16:9 TV. That's from about six Blu-ray movies I have seen so far. I believe two of them were 1.8 aspect ratios and they looked quite a bit better than 2.35 aspect ratio movies.

Peter
For movies shot on super-35 and matted to 2.35 (which seems to be how many if not most 2.35 movies are), there is indeed less resolution in the finished product compared to a 1.85 movies.

Movies shot with anamorphic lenses do not throw away resolution due to cropping. But it seems Hollywood is mostly using matted super-35 because it makes post-production easier and it also make sit possible to use "open-matte" transfers for 4:3 formats.

Quite frankly, I don't worry about picture quality to that degree. I get the best equipment I can afford, calibrate it, and then watch the movies and TV shows that I want to watch based on their content. I watch the movie for the movie itself, not for the nth degree of picture quality.

It's also a somewhat meaningless test to use different movies to compare the picture quality of different aspect ratios because too many other factors are involved. I don't remember what your basis was for making the statement in the first place, but the quality difference you perceive may simply be from the movie using more of the screen and being effectively bigger. Sort of how a bigger screen gives more impact than a smaller screen with the same source material.

Yep, I agree that might be part of it, but 1.85:1 movies do have more resolution (of course provided everything else is equal and the master's resolution is up to it). It simply has more lines to resolve the picture. For any given object that occupies the same percentage of the height of the frame, the object will have more lines/pixels defining it.

If the director or cinematographer wants to fit an object or subject just about so it can be seen in its entirety onscreen, then the taller frame will have more resolution on that object. That's the way usually movies are framed, the objects onscreen will tend to be bigger on taller aspect ratios, since the purpose behind 2.35:1 movies is to fit more to the sides, rather than 1:85 movies to fit more vertically.

But as far as pixel quality goes, they should have the same capabilities, and you just have to compare two perfect transfers like Ratatouille (2.35:1) and Corpse Bride (1.85:1), you'll be hard-pressed to see any differences in pixel-level quality.

Thanks for the clarification. I know six Blu-ray movies I have seen so far is not enough for comparision.

Peter

List of Updates:

* Supports Blu-ray Disc Profile 1.1.
* Improves BD-J compatibility to enhance interactivity with some BD-ROMs.

It looks like it's probalby a waste of an update. I can confirm that it doesn't fix the Across the Universe problem, and from what I've read in the Slysoft forum, it doesn't do anything for the other known disc incompatibilities either.

That may be true for projectors but there are way more 16:9 TVs than projectors in the consumer market. I would think majority of TV watchers would prefer 1.8 over 2.35.

Peter

One reason studios went to cinemascope is to differentiate movies from "TV", and it appears that is continuing as it seems to me more and more movies I rent are 2.35:1 AR. It'll be a sad day if directors start catering to the lowest common denominator.

As for the difference in quality, my guess is that's a perceived difference due to the fact that the 1.85 movie is taller, and we're more sensitive to differences in height than width. Plus those films will probably be brighter by using more pixels. I don't see a difference in other qualities such as sharpness, color, contrast, etc.

Yep, I agree that might be part of it, but 1.85:1 movies do have more resolution (of course provided everything else is equal and the master's resolution is up to it). It simply has more lines to resolve the picture. For any given object that occupies the same percentage of the height of the frame, the object will have more lines/pixels defining it.Yes, however the 1.85:1 frame on the original film is roughly 65% of the height of the anamorphic 2.40:1 frame. (.446" vs .690"). Since vertical resolution is the most significant component perceived by the human eye, the 2,40:1 transfer starts off with considerably more vertical resolution in the source. Note that this applies ONLY to 35mm anamorphic photography and NOT to Super35.

Vern

Yes, however the 1.85:1 frame on the original film is roughly 65% of the height of the anamorphic 2.40:1 frame. (.446" vs .690"). Since vertical resolution is the most significant component perceived by the human eye, the 2,40:1 transfer starts off with considerably more vertical resolution in the source. Note that this applies ONLY to 35mm anamorphic photography and NOT to Super35.

Vern

Yeah, but I was talking exclusively about 1.85:1 and 2.35:1 movies in 1080p, as in high-def discs. I probably should have been clearer about that, now that I look back. I assumed the masters were of high enough resolution that it wouldn't matter, and everything else the same. I am not much well-versed in film formats, but I do understand what you're saying though.

Has anyone used the HQV HD-benchmark test patterns with PowerDVD or Arcsoft TMT?

With the film resolution loss test I am finding that PowerDVD is applying motion adaptive deinterlacing the 1080i60 source instead of restoring it to 1080p24. This is both with inverse telecine enabled and disabled in the Nivdia control panel. A few weeks ago I was able to get the first version of Arcsoft TMT (105) to display this test pattern correctly in XP.

PowerDVD version: 3730a
GPU: Nvidia 8600GTS.
OS: Vista.

Just curious if you have any objective data to back that assertion? Has any site like Secrets of Home Theater run any objective tests of picture quality between the two?

It's simple, just compare the two for yourself. You don't need to read any "tests" just watch the obvious difference in quality with your own high-tech measurement tools; - Your Eyes!

A correctly configured PS3 (BTB/WTW/Component over HDMI/1080p/24) has everything working for it, a HTPC with PowerDVD, everything against it for producing top image quality and flow...

I prefer original aspect ratio

This is exactly how I feel...

Kind of funny thinking about how upset Terry Giliam was over the Tideland transfer being done at 1.77:1 instead of its original 1.85:1... (1.77 is really close to 16:9)

I am curious, does anyone know if 2.35 movies can be done in an anomorphic fashion, to maintain the complete vertical resolution of the HD transfer?

The point I was trying to make is that Blu-ray (as well as HD-DVD) players output the highest resolution possible meaning the pictures are obviously sharper than DVD players. Sometimes I get upset when studios make crappy contents that sometimes picture quality of Blu-ray movies are no better than DVD and it defeats the purpose of owning expensive Blu-ray players (or HTPC with PowerDVD).

I like movies with good stories, but I also like sharp pictures.

Peter

I am curious, does anyone know if 2.35 movies can be done in an anomorphic fashion, to maintain the complete vertical resolution of the HD transfer?

Possible, but not part of the BD spec.

Originally Posted by aaraaf
I am curious, does anyone know if 2.35 movies can be done in an anomorphic fashion, to maintain the complete vertical resolution of the HD transfer?

Possible, but not part of the BD spec.

When I found this out about both HD-DVD and BD I couldn't believe it, offer the best consumer mediums to date and not include anamorphic compression! :confused:

But is there hope? We are talking about Blu-Ray, it is not like they haven't changed the spec before!!! :eek:

Ok... afte struggling for weeks to get my Digital Cable Tuner to work with my HTPC, I went out and bought a blu ray drive. The drive plays well with PowerDvd in stand-alone mode, but Vista doesn't recognize I have software thats capable of playing Blu-Ray. When "Play DVD" is selected, the pop-up "CANNOT PLAY DISC. nO PROGRAM IS INSTALLED TO PLAY BLU-RAY WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER".

Any ideas?

Ok... afte struggling for weeks to get my Digital Cable Tuner to work with my HTPC, I went out and bought a blu ray drive. The drive plays well with PowerDvd in stand-alone mode, but Vista doesn't recognize I have software thats capable of playing Blu-Ray. When "Play DVD" is selected, the pop-up "CANNOT PLAY DISC. nO PROGRAM IS INSTALLED TO PLAY BLU-RAY WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER".

Any ideas?

Windows Media Center will not autolaunch a HD player. I found this in a thread somewhere, but cannot explain how it works for I have no idea. I have not yet used it either:

Taken from ThegreenButton: This works for BluRay too.

here are the instructions for hddvd, extracted from a web site, cant find the original url
after the initial disappointment wore off I did some searching and found an Article by Peter Dampier on the Media Center Sandbox blog. This article was meant for companies like Cyberlink to show them how to register HD DVD (and blue ray) disks with Vista Media Center. I was still disappointed that there was no way to play back HD DVD movies directly in the Media Center shell but at least this blog posting showed how I could at least register HD DVD with Vista Media Center.

To accomplish this create an XML file with the code below in it.

<application title="PowerDVD" id="{00807177-139D-4796-9730-8F114D23C253}" companyname="Cyberlink" companylogourl="http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/ps/cllogo.gif" description="HD DVD App">

<entrypoint id="{00807177-139D-4796-9730-8F114D23C253}" RUN="C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PowerDVD.exe" title="PowerDVD Ultra" description="HD DVD Player">

<category category="AutoPlay\HD DVD"/>

</entrypoint>

</application>

If you installed PowerDVD to another location edit the path to match your system. Next from a command prompt (if you have user account control enabled make sure it's an elevated command prompt) and run C:\Windows\ehome\RegisterMCEApp.exe /allusers <xml file>, replace <xml file> with the path and name to the xml file you created earlier.

Now when you insert a HD DVD disk with Vista Media Center in full screen mode, it will minimize and launch PowerDVD Ultra and begin playback of the disk.

Now, say you have a disk already inserted and you don't want to get up to re-insert it. Create a file named PowerDVD.mcl with the code below in it.

<application
Title = "PowerDVD Ultra"
Run = "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PowerDVD.exe"
BGColor = "RGB(63,24,172)"
Name = "PowerDVD Ultra"
CompanyName = "Cyberlink"
StartImage = "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\AVSettings\StartImage.png "
ThumbnailImage = "C:\Program Files\CyberLink\PowerDVD\AVSettings\Thumbnail.png"

>
<capabilitiesRequired
directX="True"
audio="False"
video="False"
intensiveRendering="True"
console="False"
/>
</application>

Again if you installed to a different location edit the file to point to your install. Move the file to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Media Center Programs. If Media Center was running close it and re-open it and now in the more programs sections is a link to fire up PowerDVD Ultra.

Windows Media Center will not autolaunch a HD player. I found this in a thread somewhere...

I can offer an improved version of this, where the icon Blu-ray will appear in the TV menu:

1. Download attached blu-ray logo
2. Save the following text as file blu-ray-app.xml - use notepad. Modify imageUrl <path>.
<application title="PowerDVD Ultra"
id="{00807177-139D-4796-9730-8F114D23C253}"
companyname="CyberLink"
description="Blu-ray Application">
<entrypoint id="{00807177-139D-4796-9730-8F114D23C253}"
RUN="C:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PowerDVD.exe"
title="blu-ray disc"
description="Blu-ray Disc Player"
imageUrl="<path>\blu-ray.png">
<category category="Services\TV"/>
<category category="AutoPlay\HD DVD"/>
<category category="AutoPlay\Blu-ray"/>
</entrypoint>
</application>

3. Register Blu-ray and HD-DVD application with VMC. Start -> Run: cmd. At the command prompt, type (modify <path>):
C:\Windows\ehome\RegisterMCEApp.exe /allusers <path>\blu-ray-app.xml

To unregister (if needed), run:
C:\Windows\ehome\RegisterMCEApp.exe /u /allusers <path>\blu-ray-app.xml

4. Start VMC, and you should have Blu-ray icon in the TV menu

When I found this out about both HD-DVD and BD I couldn't believe it, offer the best consumer mediums to date and not include anamorphic compression! :confused:It's designed for 16:9 displays, just like anamorphic DVDs, so in that sense it does include the feature.

I doubt you'll ever see variable aspect ratio control on BD media; anamorphic DVDs did not have it either.

I am curious, does anyone know if 2.35 movies can be done in an anomorphic fashion, to maintain the complete vertical resolution of the HD transfer?

Well, you'd need a wider (ideally I guess about 2,538 pixel-wide for 1:1 of the vertical resolution) monitor to take advantage of it, but I think it would be a neat idea too. But it may or may not be implemented in BD specs, who knows, but even then it would only be applicable pretty much to computer screens.

No need for anamorphic IMO. When you have bigger black bars you only lose viewing area not pixel density. The solution is a bigger display of course. ;)

Anyone have any idea what I'm missing.

I can't get I am Legend to play, or 30 Days of Night, or Vacancy. Only thing they have in common is they are Sony releases.

I get to the menu to "Play Movie" and can't get it to go and actually play.

I can't click on the menu, and get no response from the right-click popup "play" option either.

I have latest "Java" and version 3730 of full PDVD Ultra.

update: I tried updating to version 3730a and it totally messed up. Wouldn't remove old version and wont install new version. Man this continues to be a real bummer of a program.

Anyone want an LG GGC-H20L and full version of PDVD Ultra.... never used and dropped only once? :rolleyes:

Anyone have any idea what I'm missing.

I can't get I am Legend to play, or 30 Days of Night, or Vacancy. Only thing they have in common is they are Sony releases.

I get to the menu to "Play Movie" and can't get it to go and actually play.

I can't click on the menu, and get no response from the right-click popup "play" option either.

I have latest "Java" and version 3730 of full PDVD Ultra.

update: I tried updating to version 3730a and it totally messed up. Wouldn't remove old version and wont install new version. Man this continues to be a real bummer of a program.

Anyone want an LG GGC-H20L and full version of PDVD Ultra.... never used and dropped only once? :rolleyes:

If your cursor is on the play hit Enter. Use your arrow keys to move about the menu. I am assuming you are using a keyboard?

Anyone have any idea what I'm missing.

I can't get I am Legend to play, or 30 Days of Night, or Vacancy. Only thing they have in common is they are Sony releases.

I get to the menu to "Play Movie" and can't get it to go and actually play.

I can't click on the menu, and get no response from the right-click popup "play" option either.

I have latest "Java" and version 3730 of full PDVD Ultra.

update: I tried updating to version 3730a and it totally messed up. Wouldn't remove old version and wont install new version. Man this continues to be a real bummer of a program.

Anyone want an LG GGC-H20L and full version of PDVD Ultra.... never used and dropped only once? :rolleyes:

I had the same problem uninstalling previous version to install later version. What I did was I did the System Restore (I don't remember why) to the point before I originally installed PDVD and that was a mistake because I was not able to install the newer version because it kept say that it cannot uninstall the previous version. So I did a clean install of Windows MCE 2005, installed the latest 3730a and all is well. PDVD has a crappy install/uninstall utility. Did you run System Restore recently?

I watched "I am Legend" last night and it played flawlessly.

Peter

I have PDVD 7.3 3319a and am having major problems getting anything other than stereo sound. I am running s/pdif coax from my built in motherboard soundcard to a receiver.

Before you ask, these are not HD audio tracks. This even happens with regular DVDs although utlimately I should be able to play most BD discs in 5.1. I've gotten 5.1 sound to play using kmplayer on x.264 files but not on PDVD.

I keep thinking it must be a setup option I'm missing but I see very few audio options. Does anyone have any ideas on what settings I need to look at or how to diagnose this problem?

Also, are there any special settings to make in PDVD? Setting up kmplayer was quite an ordeal with codecs and such. Are there any additional codecs or settings to use in pdvd or do I just need to get my audio straightened out and hit play?

Hi I have just build my HTPC but it will not play blue ray movie.

My set up :

GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H 780G RT
AMD Athlon X2 BE-2400 Brisbane 2.3GHz 2 x 512KB L2
HD 500G|WD 7K 16M SATA2 WD5000AAKS
2 GB ram
Case Antec fusion
Samsung 245BW connected dvi to dvi
BD-rom drive Sony BDU-x10s
Win xp pro sp2

Blue ray disc that I have tried:

Sample blue ray disc (included with bd-rom) play ok
bought Mr. and Mrs. Smith play to main menu
rented Babel play ok
rented Pirates of the Caribbean play to main menu

I have tried Power dvd ultra (latest upd.), win dvd 9 , total media theatre.
I have tried different bd drive (Lite-on)
I have tried this on another 2 pc both with amd 3800+ but one with ati hd2400 and one with nvidia 8500.

Could someone help me, I am totally confused. Am I doing something wrong?
Thank you

The point I was trying to make is that Blu-ray (as well as HD-DVD) players output the highest resolution possible meaning the pictures are obviously sharper than DVD players. Sometimes I get upset when studios make crappy contents that sometimes picture quality of Blu-ray movies are no better than DVD and it defeats the purpose of owning expensive Blu-ray players (or HTPC with PowerDVD).

I like movies with good stories, but I also like sharp pictures.

Peter

I'm with you! I've been lucky that the Blu Rays I've picked up have mostly been phenomenal transfers... but Stargate looks really, really dull on all of the internal scenes. It almost looks like an early version of a digital film noise filter.

If it had been my first HD experience, I would have been upset.

EDIT: Watching the movie again this weekend, MOST of the movie is a really good transfer. Just some of the early internal stuff and some of the dark areas. The desert scenes and camp scences are actually really nicely transfered, as well as the internal stuff on the spaceship.

As such, King Kong was my first HD film, and it's still what I go to when tweaking... there is sooooooo much detail and the disc runs really well.

Thanks a million guys, that did it.... hover over PLAY with the mouse, and hit enter. I should have stickied that in my BRAIN, it is now.

On the I am Legend, when I installed new version, the default had "interlacing" on and that caused the weird 1 frame every 5 secs behavior. By setting it to NO INTERLACING in the setup menu video advanced section, all was well. Again, I should have checked that, makes me feel stooopid that I need to keep holding this program's hand all the time. :rolleyes:

Thanks a million guys, that did it.... hover over PLAY with the mouse, and hit enter. I should have stickied that in my BRAIN, it is now.

On the I am Legend, when I installed new version, the default had "interlacing" on and that caused the weird 1 frame every 5 secs behavior. By setting it to NO INTERLACING in the setup menu video advanced section, all was well. Again, I should have checked that, makes me feel stooopid that I need to keep holding this program's hand all the time. :rolleyes:

Why didn't the mouse click button work? I would have never thought of what you did by hitting the Enter button. Do you have remote control? It's much easier to use.

Also, how did you install the latest version when you said it wouldn't remove the old version and install the new version? I ended up reinstalling Windows!

Peter

Has anyone had any problems seeing menus in I Am Legend? I go to the top menu and it just goes to the special features area. I get no chapter select or audio options popup menu.

Shouldn't the top menu get you to this area?

There was another post over at the Cyberlink forums regarding PowerDVD Ultra 8. PDVD 8 will co-exist with earlier versions of the software as it gets installed in a separate directory. This way both can be used. It has been doubly confirmed that HDDVD is not supported at all in version 8. Here is what I find quite assinine...it was also stated that both version will be supported. For how long the older version will be supported is the question.

Has anyone had any problems seeing menus in I Am Legend? I go to the top menu and it just goes to the special features area. I get no chapter select or audio options popup menu.

Shouldn't the top menu get you to this area?

I have been seeing something like that in other movies. I think the studio assumes you have remote control and use the chapter or audio buttons on the remote control. I have Harmony remote control and I mapped the audio, sub-titles and eject buttons.

Peter

Pete, I did what Aesculus said and it worked. i never would have thought of it myself.... on the mouse/hit enter thing.

I used system restore to go back to the future. I am using an XP pro install on a spare IDE drive, that is solely for the purpose of doing this until I get all the bugs worked out.

I am Legend acted up agai though, I will try installing the video drivers again.

So I use a system restore point for before PDVD at all, and can go back to it if needed.

Im using AnyDVD HD trial at the moment, Ive got 10 days left, and Ill be buying it before the time is up. So Im 3730a PDVD and 6.4.00 AnyDVDHD.

I have two monitors... 24" and 42" and HDCP makes me disconnect the 24 if I want to play a movie, AnyDVDHD removes this constraint, so I wont wear out my connectors. Im not into ripping, etc but maybe someday.

For now I just want to be able to play my movies/rentals without a hassle.

Pete, I did what Aesculus said and it worked. i never would have thought of it myself.... on the mouse/hit enter thing.

I used system restore to go back to the future. I am using an XP pro install on a spare IDE drive, that is solely for the purpose of doing this until I get all the bugs worked out.

I am Legend acted up agai though, I will try installing the video drivers again.

So I use a system restore point for before PDVD at all, and can go back to it if needed.

Im using AnyDVD HD trial at the moment, Ive got 10 days left, and Ill be buying it before the time is up. So Im 3730a PDVD and 6.4.00 AnyDVDHD.

I have two monitors... 24" and 42" and HDCP makes me disconnect the 24 if I want to play a movie, AnyDVDHD removes this constraint, so I wont wear out my connectors. Im not into ripping, etc but maybe someday.

For now I just want to be able to play my movies/rentals without a hassle.

Make sure there are no fingerprints on disk otherwise it can cause stuttering. It happened on a rental 3:10 to Yuma and some scenes were stuttering. I cleaned the disk and it solved the stuttering problem.

I did use System Restore back to before PDVD (it was OEM at the time) and it would not let me install the retail 3730a, so I re-installed Windows and all is well. Never had any issues since then. I am using AGP graphics card.

My gear:

Windows MCE 2005
Asus P4C800 Deluxe MB
3 GHz Pentium 4 with HT, FSB 800 MHz
2 GB Corsair RAM
Two 250 GB SATA Western Digital HD
Two VBox DTA-150 tuner 2.1.705.0 driver
Sapphire AGP HD 3850 (Radeon) with Sapphire's CCC driver
NVIDIA PureVideo Decoder 1.02-223
Lite-On Dual layer DVD burner drive
Lite-On Blu-Ray drive
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 3730a
Linksys WiFi-G
Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse
Logitech Harmony 880 Remote Control
Silverstone LC13 HTPC case
Antec 1000 Watts power supply
Sony KDF-60XBR950 60" LCD rear projection TV (use DVI cable)
Rabbit Ears indoor antenna (amplified).

Peter

Interesting news from Bit-tech.net:

There's also an Ultra version available at a later date with full bitrate HD audio support, DTS 5.1 (why is this Ultra only?) and it's also the only version with HD DVD support.

These will replace the current DVD 7(.3) Ultra which retails for the same price as the Dexlue, although if you want HD DVD support you’ll be limited to using this older version or the all encompassing and expensive PowerDVD 8 Ultra, because the Deluxe model is Blu-ray only.
http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2008/03/24/cyberlink_powerdvd_8_and_media_show_4/1

We will have to wait and see now, we are getting conflicting information.

Thanks a million guys, that did it.... hover over PLAY with the mouse, and hit enter. I should have stickied that in my BRAIN, it is now.


Actually I don't think you needed to move the mouse over the Play button and in fact this probably did nothing. Play was already in context (you need to use the arrow keys to move to another position). The Enter worked because your context was already on Play.

I can offer an improved version of this, where the icon Blu-ray will appear in the TV menu:

1. Download attached blu-ray logo
2. Save the following text as file blu-ray-app.xml - use notepad. Modify imageUrl <path>.
<application title="PowerDVD Ultra"
id="{00807177-139D-4796-9730-8F114D23C253}"
companyname="CyberLink"
description="Blu-ray Application">
<entrypoint id="{00807177-139D-4796-9730-8F114D23C253}"
RUN="C:\Program Files (x86)\CyberLink\PowerDVD\PowerDVD.exe"
title="blu-ray disc"
description="Blu-ray Disc Player"
imageUrl="<path>\blu-ray.png">
<category category="Services\TV"/>
<category category="AutoPlay\HD DVD"/>
<category category="AutoPlay\Blu-ray"/>
</entrypoint>
</application>

3. Register Blu-ray and HD-DVD application with VMC. Start -> Run: cmd. At the command prompt, type (modify <path>):
C:\Windows\ehome\RegisterMCEApp.exe /allusers <path>\blu-ray-app.xml

To unregister (if needed), run:
C:\Windows\ehome\RegisterMCEApp.exe /u /allusers <path>\blu-ray-app.xml

4. Start VMC, and you should have Blu-ray icon in the TV menu

I love you man! In a very platonic sort of way... :D

Make sure there are no fingerprints on disk otherwise it can cause stuttering. It happened on a rental 3:10 to Yuma and some scenes were stuttering. I cleaned the disk and it solved the stuttering problem.



I was stutter free with 3730 until I tried the movie The Guardian. Its stutters all the way through big time.

I was stutter free with 3730 until I tried the movie The Guardian. Its stutters all the way through big time.

Did the movie come with True HD sound? If so, it can cause the CPU usage spike to 100%. Try select other audio option.

Peter

I love you man! In a very platonic sort of way... :D

Great, glad I could help ;)

Did the movie come with True HD sound? If so, it can cause the CPU usage spike to 100%. Try select other audio option.

Peter

I am using the DD 5.1 track. It runs about 70-80% with a few spikes to high 80's. Its stutters all the way through consistantly.

Interesting news from Bit-tech.net:


http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2008/03/24/cyberlink_powerdvd_8_and_media_show_4/1

We will have to wait and see now, we are getting conflicting information.

Extremely interesting article. Well, we'll have to wait and see. If it's true, I find it a bit backwards that they wouldn't include HDDVD support from the get go. I'll keep my fingers crossed that HDDVD support will be actually part of the Ultra package down the road. Personally, taking it out is more of a cash grab to get people to upgrade in the near term and then get people to double dip to get HDDVD support back into the product.

I am curious, is there anything wrong with the current version which would mean I have to upgrade to the newer version?

I am about to take the plunge, buy the rest of the components, and go HD...

The lossless audio support that we first covered a while back has been put back to the release of 8.5 at around the August-September time frame. Again, Cyberlink was keen to stress that this will be a free update if you already own PowerDVD 8.

Would this also affect analog out? Or just HDMI?

I thought PowerDVD 8 would give us full DTS-HD Master Audio.

Does seem to be a strange decision, no HDDVD support. I'd like to see a poll of HTPC users here to assertain the breakdown of HDDVD vs Bluray in current systems, as well as % library makeup.

Seems to me that HDDVD was the big bite among HTPC users.... aka: PowerDVD's principle customers... since the cost of HDDVD drives was affordable, and Bluray drives had been very expensive. So I'd assume at the moment more users have more HDDVD titles than Bluray, and this move by Cyberlink would abandon the bulk of customers who've been buying and using PowerDVD 7 ultra.

Since the code is all done, why WOULDN'T you just include it in the product? It makes no business sense. Sure you can avoid some support costs, but since when have they been particularly "support" oriented anyway, hell they charge $$ for it, it is a profit center, why would you care?

Just makes no sense. Might as well drop SD DVD support too, afterall, Bluray is the only use for this now anyway, right Cyberlink?

I am using the DD 5.1 track. It runs about 70-80% with a few spikes to high 80's. Its stutters all the way through consistantly.

During lunch I rented The Guardian. So far I have been watching for 30 minutes and it has been playing flawlessly. Maybe your video card driver may needs to be updated. I like the movie so far. Thanks for suggesting. :cool:

The only movie that stuttered the whole time is Resident Evil:Extinction. This movie is probably the most problematic Blu-ray movie. Many people have posted complaints. I don't think the studio made it correctly. It has True HD audio and CPU spiked to 100% almost all the time. It also has other audio options but they are foreign language and it still stutters.

Peter

Would this also affect analog out? Or just HDMI?

I thought PowerDVD 8 would give us full DTS-HD Master Audio.

Sigh, this is sucking already :( I thought I'd be able to watch I Robot, Independance Day etc with full MA sometime soon, looks as though I will just be watching em in normal DTS. Lame....

Interesting news from Bit-tech.net:


http://www.bit-tech.net/bits/2008/03/24/cyberlink_powerdvd_8_and_media_show_4/1

We will have to wait and see now, we are getting conflicting information.

That article gets so many things wrong or contradicts itself too many times. It doesn't seem that the person who wrote it has "used it for years" as he/she says. Wondering about why the Deluxe is not better than the Ultra? Telling us about this "new feature" of dual-subtitles? The article even contradicts its own chart with features. The Deluxe seems to be just like the current Deluxe version, no HD discs support at all (no bluray). The HD version is the Ultra as per the chart, and as it has always been. It seems the Ultra is the one that will support bluray, and if HD-DVD support is coming, it's gonna be on the Ultra as well. Deluxe probably won't support HD at all. I don't trust that article at all.

Sigh, this is sucking already :( I thought I'd be able to watch I Robot, Independance Day etc with full MA sometime soon, looks as though I will just be watching em in normal DTS. Lame....
....your soooo right, this is indeed bad news.
Maybe I`m wrong here, but I thought it was possible to get DTS-MA on the line-outputs from the new soundcards ?
Well, I do hope this MA is going to happend before I will need a hearing aid:-(

Reading that article, I see nothing at all of interest in PDVD-8, looks like a bunch of bloatware crap to try to justify upgrading when what they should really be doing is focusing on getting the core functionality right. MoovieLive? MovieRemix? L-A-M-E.

I completely agree, actually seeing it makes me want to go the opposite direction and hope for a small BD player.

Reading that article, I see nothing at all of interest in PDVD-8, looks like a bunch of bloatware crap to try to justify upgrading when what they should really be doing is focusing on getting the core functionality right. MoovieLive? MovieRemix? L-A-M-E.

I completely agree, actually seeing it makes me want to go the opposite direction and hope for a small BD player.

I really wish SlySoft would just make a BD player already. It would solve a lot of problems at once.

I keep reading that Slysoft used to make a media player, which one was it?

Reading that article, I see nothing at all of interest in PDVD-8, looks like a bunch of bloatware crap to try to justify upgrading when what they should really be doing is focusing on getting the core functionality right. MoovieLive? MovieRemix? L-A-M-E.

Right now, with the latest PowerDVD 3730 build, and starting since 3516 (previously there were 3), we're getting FOUR unnecessary processes/crapware/bloatware running at startup, plus one process running piggybacking PowerDVD.exe (CLHelper.exe). I shudder to think what more bloat they could trojan-horse into our PCs.

From my experience PDVD and ArcSoft both call home when starting a disk.

No matter what I set on PowerDVD, nothing changes! I can change "Enable hardware Acceleration (NVIDIA PureVideo), Video enhancement modes, Any single De-interlacing method ({6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}, etc etc etc, smart, or none) but once I start a HD-DVD or or BluRay, it goes back to its original settings.

Here is what it displays (Notice I picked an 1080i HD-DVD source in order to show a source one that should enable a DeInterlacer....my Plasma has a resident 1920x1080 resolution.) The only difference from a 1080p source is "NV12" instead of "NV24" (which is better?)

"Dsplay Information:
Video Mode: Interlaced
Display Mode: DirectShow
FourCC Code: NV24
Surface Type: Hardware Video Accelerator (DxVA)

Hardware Information:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ running at 2401 MHz
3DNow! Technology: Not Detected
Enhanced 3DNow! Technology: Not Detected
3DNow! Professional Technology: Not Detected
IA MMX Technology: In Use
IA Streaming SIMD Extensions: In Use
IA SSE 2: In Use
Video Accelerator: DirectX VA (in use)
Multispeaker Audio Device: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek (not in use)
SPDIF Output Device: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek (in use)
"

I should note that I played around with the DirectX SDK (but uninstalled it because of the lack of Graphedit anymore.) I even uninstalled my display drivers, ran RegClean in safe mode, then installed the 169.25 WHQL version. In addition, I uninstalled the old "PureVideo" (not HD) driver.

I also played around with the NVidia control panel ("Use NVidia Control Panel Settings" and Inverse Telicine) with no affect.

Oh, and DECCHeck.exe also has no affect..

Finally, DXVA Checker is showing the exact same set of guids for each FourCC code! (YUV2 all the way down to S342.)

I swear I was able to change this before? Is there something I can do to "clean" my system so I can try other acceleration/de-interlacing methods?

Oh I'm running Vista 32 SP1 and a legit Powerdvd 7.3 3730 build.

I suppose it is not the end of the world. I am obviously enabling the Purevideo HD processor as my CPU is at 4% or show during playback. But part of the reason I bought a computer system is to be able to manipulate the thing (and when I was able to do so, I saw advantages with some of the different filters/codecs.)

Thanks as always guys!

From my experience PDVD and ArcSoft both call home when starting a disk.

PowerDVD used to show ads in the config window, that's why since a long time ago, I always block it in the firewall.

Hardware: ASUS P5E-VM-HDMI, Intel E8400, 2Gb DDR2, Pioneer BDC-S02, Xbox 360 HD-DVD Addon
Software: Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit, AnyDVD HD 6.4.0.0, PowerDVD Ultra 7.3 build 3730a, Media Player Classic, CoreAVC Pro 1.6.5, CCCP Codec Pack.
Drivers: Intel X3500 15.7.3

I'm having a weird problem with PowerDVD Ultra when playing back HD-DVD's on my HTPC.

When I load up a HD-DVD in PowerDVD I get the menu systems fine (few exceptions when the disc requires an internet connection and just stalls, fix is to block PowerDVD in Windows firewall) and I can also play the main movie fine.

However the problem occurs when I try and playback any of the extras contained on the disk. PowerDVD goes black (also switches to full screen if PowerDVD is windowed) and then dies and Windows Vista reports the video card drivers has stopped responding and has been restarted.

It doesn't seem to matter what HD-DVD I put in as soon as I try and play any extra content on the drive.

It has occured on the previous version of PowerDVD as well.

I've tried it with and without AnyDVD HD, just in case any of its tricky was causing issues.

I haven't tried it with the 15.8 Intel drivers as they produce a very jerky playback experience on my setup.

If I try the same thing with a Blu-Ray title it plays the extras seemingly fine, mind you I only have 3 Blu-Ray's at present and 19 HD-DVD's.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Anything I should try?

Anything at all, kinda pissing me off as I want to watch some of the extras ;(

Hi all,

I recently received my copy of Independence Day on blu-ray and my PC won't play it! I have an ATI HD 2400, Vista, PowerDVD Ultra with the latest updates, and a HLDS Blu-ray, HD DVD ROM / Super Multi-DVD+/-RW Hybrid Drive.

I have about 30 blu-ray and HDDVD titles and they all play just fine in PowerDVD, but ID4 won't! I've read that it's a BD+ title, and I think it may be the only movie I have in that format. Unless The Simpson movie is BD+, because that movie plays fine.

I opened a support ticket with Cyberlink last night and there has been no reply yet.

When I play this disc, a screen with a blue/light-blue gradient appears, then nothing else happens. I wonder if the player is choking on the disc's BD-J. I've ripped the disc to my HDD with AnyDVD and mounted it as an ISO to a virtual drive. Exact same thing happens when attempting to play the mounted copy!

Can anyone help?

Thanks...

Hi all,

I recently received my copy of Independence Day on blu-ray and my PC won't play it! I have an ATI HD 2400, Vista, PowerDVD Ultra with the latest updates, and a HLDS Blu-ray, HD DVD ROM / Super Multi-DVD+/-RW Hybrid Drive.

I have about 30 blu-ray and HDDVD titles and they all play just fine in PowerDVD, but ID4 won't! I've read that it's a BD+ title, and I think it may be the only movie I have in that format. Unless The Simpson movie is BD+, because that movie plays fine.

I opened a support ticket with Cyberlink last night and there has been no reply yet.

When I play this disc, a screen with a blue/light-blue gradient appears, then nothing else happens. I wonder if the player is choking on the disc's BD-J. I've ripped the disc to my HDD with AnyDVD and mounted it as an ISO to a virtual drive. Exact same thing happens when attempting to play the mounted copy!

Can anyone help?

Thanks...

Simpsons does have BD+, but it's an older title. ID4 came out just last week, didn't it? This could get interesting. Are you using the latest AnyDVD with proper BD+ removal (6.4.0.0 or 6.4.0.1 beta)?

Simpsons does have BD+, but it's an older title. ID4 came out just last week, didn't it? This could get interesting. Are you using the latest AnyDVD with proper BD+ removal (6.4.0.0 or 6.4.0.1 beta)?

Thanks for the reply, Andy. Yeah, ID4 just came out. I received it via Amazon pre-order.

I'm sure I have the latest version of AnyDVD as well. I downloaded it yesterday specifically to see if I could run ID4 as a mounted ISO. I checked all the protection removal boxes before running the rip.

Here's what AnyDVD reports:
-------------------------------------
Summary for drive F: (AnyDVD 6.4.0.0)
HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW GGC-H20N 1.01 E 00081007197AU85946
Drive (Hardware) Region: 1

Media is a Blu-Ray disc.
Total size: 24438784 sectors (47732 MBytes)
Video Blu-Ray label: ID4_US_V2
Media is AACS protected!
Media is BD+ protected!
Removed AACS copy protection!
Removed BD+ copy protection!
BD+ Firmware warning removed!
-------------------------------------

I found these other two posts from the same user reporting the exact same issue, and his posts seem to indicate that it's a problem with PDVD:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13367388#post13367388
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13367921#post13367921

I tried to rollback to the version that's on my disc as he did, but the version that's on my disc wouldn't accept the ID4 disc at all without running a software update, which brings me back to square 1. Also, still no reply from Cyberlink support.

I've seen other posts from people claiming that their ID4 discs took up to 15 minutes to load to the first menu on their standalone blu-ray consoles. I'm gonna let PDVD sit there for a while and see if the disc menu appears after a few minutes. Might as well give that a try as I wait for a response from support.

Any thoughts from wiser forum members will be appreciated...

-R

I have had a tech support ticket with cyberlink for months now. For audio I had a S/PDIF connection from the PC to a processor that only supports DD 5.1. When I play a Blu-ray that does not have a DD 5.1 track PDVD Ultra does not re-encode the audio to DD 5.1 instead it outputs it as 2 channel PCM. I was told that the latest version 3730a would fix this. It did not. In fact it made things much worse. Now when I play a Blu-ray disc without a DD 5.1 audio track I get no audio at all. And when I exit PDVD Ultra I get no windows sounds until I reboot the PC. Cyberlink support is absoultly the worse that I have ever seen.
Nero Showtime with the Blu-ray upgrade does convert the sound to DD 5.1 but some titles cause Nero to hang. Spiderman 3 use to hang Nero but they fixed that one with the latest release. But now Rush Hour 3 hangs.

Thanks for the reply, Andy. Yeah, ID4 just came out. I received it via Amazon pre-order.

I'm sure I have the latest version of AnyDVD as well. I downloaded it yesterday specifically to see if I could run ID4 as a mounted ISO. I checked all the protection removal boxes before running the rip.

Here's what AnyDVD reports:
-------------------------------------
Summary for drive F: (AnyDVD 6.4.0.0)
HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW GGC-H20N 1.01 E 00081007197AU85946
Drive (Hardware) Region: 1

Media is a Blu-Ray disc.
Total size: 24438784 sectors (47732 MBytes)
Video Blu-Ray label: ID4_US_V2
Media is AACS protected!
Media is BD+ protected!
Removed AACS copy protection!
Removed BD+ copy protection!
BD+ Firmware warning removed!
-------------------------------------

I found these other two posts from the same user reporting the exact same issue, and his posts seem to indicate that it's a problem with PDVD:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13367388#post13367388
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13367921#post13367921

I tried to rollback to the version that's on my disc as he did, but the version that's on my disc wouldn't accept the ID4 disc at all without running a software update, which brings me back to square 1. Also, still no reply from Cyberlink support.

I've seen other posts from people claiming that their ID4 discs took up to 15 minutes to load to the first menu on their standalone blu-ray consoles. I'm gonna let PDVD sit there for a while and see if the disc menu appears after a few minutes. Might as well give that a try as I wait for a response from support.

Any thoughts from wiser forum members will be appreciated...

-R

I forgot to ask which PowerDVD build you have. Right-click on the PowerDVD window, then about... and then click on your name below "This product is licensed to:" You'll see the build number on "DVD Version".

Also, this seems like another super bloated 1.1 profile disc. If it is, for proper playback you should have at least build 3730.

I forgot to ask which PowerDVD build you have. Right-click on the PowerDVD window, then about... and then click on your name below "This product is licensed to:" You'll see the build number on "DVD Version".

Also, this seems like another super bloated 1.1 profile disc. If it is, for proper playback you should have at least build 3730.

Thanks again for the feedback, Andy.

My version is 7.3.3516a.0

Note that I'm running an OEM version of DVD Suite Ultra that came with my PC. From what I understand, the auto-updates for PDVD are the same as the retail version.

Thanks again for the feedback, Andy.

My version is 7.3.3516a.0

Note that I'm running an OEM version of DVD Suite Ultra that came with my PC. From what I understand, the auto-updates for PDVD are the same as the retail version.

That might explain it. The updates are not the same. Profile 1.1 support started with 7.3.3730 (a.k.a. "3730"). The OEM version right now just doesn't support 1.1 well, or at all with some discs, as you have seen.

By the way, I have read that you could get 3730 from support if you complain enough, so you might wanna try that. I haven't verified it myself though.

My Lite-On Blu-Ray drive came with OEM PowerDVD 7.3 (I never checked the exact version). It worked at first for earlier Blu-Ray movies. But it had serious issues with newer Blu-Ray movies and I didn't want to want for an OEM update, so I bought and downloaded the retail 3730a and it solved the problem.

I can watch just about any Blu-Ray movies except Resident Evil:Extinction. This movies stutters continously even with AnyDVD-HD and I think the studio built the movie incorrectly. Many people complained about this movie.

Peter

Add me to those who are having difficulties with Power DVD. Just added an LG combo drive and an HD3450 card to a Dell 530s, but like others in this thread, ID4 does not play, I cannot select play on 3:10 to Yuma, and I cannot get multichannel sound out of HDMI, only two channel audio.

Add me to those who are having difficulties with Power DVD. Just added an LG combo drive and an HD3450 card to a Dell 530s, but like others in this thread, ID4 does not play, I cannot select play on 3:10 to Yuma, and I cannot get multichannel sound out of HDMI, only two channel audio.

3:10 to Yuma plays perfectly with my HTPC, Lite-On Blu-Ray drive and Power DVD Ultra 3730a. What version Power DVD do you have? It seems anything earlier than 3730 will have problems with newer Blu-Ray movies.

Peter

3:10 to Yuma plays perfectly with my HTPC, Lite-On Blu-Ray drive and Power DVD Ultra 3730a. What version Power DVD do you have? It seems anything earlier than 3730 will have problems with newer Blu-Ray movies.

Peter

3516a (the updated OEM version). What's your audio? I might have to spring for the paid upgrade...

My Lite-On Blu-Ray drive came with OEM PowerDVD 7.3 (I never checked the exact version). It worked at first for earlier Blu-Ray movies. But it had serious issues with newer Blu-Ray movies and I didn't want to want for an OEM update, so I bought and downloaded the retail 3730a and it solved the problem.

I can watch just about any Blu-Ray movies except Resident Evil:Extinction. This movies stutters continously even with AnyDVD-HD and I think the studio built the movie incorrectly. Many people complained about this movie.

Peter

The Guardian BD behaves exactly the same way. Cyberlink claims they are working on a fix for this stuttering.

3516a (the updated OEM version). What's your audio? I might have to spring for the paid upgrade...

I do not have fancy audio setup since I am hearing impaired. I am using simple stereo setup. Someone else will have better answer about the audio part. The video part is pretty nice.

Peter

The Guardian BD behaves exactly the same way. Cyberlink claims they are working on a fix for this stuttering.

The Guardian plays perfectly in my system. I just watch it last night.

Peter

OK, these are pretty well-known issues and fairly old ones too, but I understand it's unreasonable to read the whole thread.

First of all most of these movies mentioned are profile 1.1 movies (RE:Extinction, Sunshine and 3:10 to Yuma among other newer ones, very possibly ID4 too). In many blu-ray movies, TrueHD tracks have a higher CPU usage. In the case of RE:E, it is extreme to the point of loading many modern CPUs to 100%. Check your CPU usage when playing that movie, that's probably the source of the stuttering. Change to any of the DD tracks (no English ones though, so it's just to test) and CPU will go down considerably.

Also, profile 1.1 movies won't play well or at all with anything older than 3730. In fact, 3730 was released mainly for 1.1 compatibility. And yes, this means OEM users are screwed for now.

And OEM PowerDVD does not seem to do multichannel decoding. It will only do bitstream of regular DD and DTS streams. You can get away with that with most movies, as DD+ and DTS-HD both include a "core" DD or DTS stream that you can get through S/PDIF, but you'll need to decode that somewhere else, most probably an external decoder/receiver. If you select S/PDIF in PowerDVD, you'll hopefully get the "core" streams, but it's an all-the-planets-need-to-be-aligned sort of thing. And with TrueHD tracks it plainly doesn't work. Again, this is for the OEM version.

The retail version does multichannel decoding like at like 80%. IT can't handle DTS-HD MA at all, it seems, and I don't know if it can do TrueHD 7.1, there aren't many movies with that.

None of these versions can do HDMI bitstreaming at all. If you have one of the few mobos that support it (like G35 ones), then PowerDVD still decodes multichannel as usual (and presumably downsampling to 48/16 if applicable) and then your mobo takes that multichannel and outputs it via HDMI. So PowerDVD doesn't even know if HDMI is being used.

That might explain it. The updates are not the same. Profile 1.1 support started with 7.3.3730 (a.k.a. "3730"). The OEM version right now just doesn't support 1.1 well, or at all with some discs, as you have seen.

By the way, I have read that you could get 3730 from support if you complain enough, so you might wanna try that. I haven't verified it myself though.

Man, you're a godsend! Nothing I've read in the Cyberlink support docs indicated that the updates for OEM version are lagging behind. Considering that their support is non-responsive, I'm not sure how I can get them to give me the latest update. I'll see what I can swing, but at this point I'm tempted to pay for the retail version.

Despite the fact that this could cost me, I'm glad to know there's a solution, so thanks again.

First of all most of these movies mentioned are profile 1.1 movies (RE:Extinction, Sunshine and 3:10 to Yuma among other newer ones, very possibly ID4 too). In many blu-ray movies, TrueHD tracks have a higher CPU usage. In the case of RE:E, it is extreme to the point of loading many modern CPUs to 100%. Check your CPU usage when playing that movie, that's probably the source of the stuttering. Change to any of the DD tracks (no English ones though, so it's just to test) and CPU will go down considerably.


You are correct about the CPU usage. In my system the CPU usage spiked to 100% through out RE:E movie. Changing to different audio settings did not help at all. Which is why I blamed the studio for possible making this Blu-ray movie incorrectly. My system spec is just below the minimum requirement set by Cyberlink and I have not had one issue with many Blu-ray movies (i.e. 3:10 to Yuma, Sunshine, The Guardian) except RE:E. Hopefully Cyberlink's next release will reduce CPU usage but I doubt it.

Peter

OK, these are pretty well-known issues and fairly old ones too, but I understand it's unreasonable to read the whole thread.

First of all most of these movies mentioned are profile 1.1 movies (RE:Extinction, Sunshine and 3:10 to Yuma among other newer ones, very possibly ID4 too). In many blu-ray movies, TrueHD tracks have a higher CPU usage. In the case of RE:E, it is extreme to the point of loading many modern CPUs to 100%. Check your CPU usage when playing that movie, that's probably the source of the stuttering. Change to any of the DD tracks (no English ones though, so it's just to test) and CPU will go down considerably.

Also, profile 1.1 movies won't play well or at all with anything older than 3730. In fact, 3730 was released mainly for 1.1 compatibility. And yes, this means OEM users are screwed for now.

And OEM PowerDVD does not seem to do multichannel decoding. It will only do bitstream of regular DD and DTS streams. You can get away with that with most movies, as DD+ and DTS-HD both include a "core" DD or DTS stream that you can get through S/PDIF, but you'll need to decode that somewhere else, most probably an external decoder/receiver. If you select S/PDIF in PowerDVD, you'll hopefully get the "core" streams, but it's an all-the-planets-need-to-be-aligned sort of thing. And with TrueHD tracks it plainly doesn't work. Again, this is for the OEM version.

The retail version does multichannel decoding like at like 80%. IT can't handle DTS-HD MA at all, it seems, and I don't know if it can do TrueHD 7.1, there aren't many movies with that.

None of these versions can do HDMI bitstreaming at all. If you have one of the few mobos that support it (like G35 ones), then PowerDVD still decodes multichannel as usual (and presumably downsampling to 48/16 if applicable) and then your mobo takes that multichannel and outputs it via HDMI. So PowerDVD doesn't even know if HDMI is being used.


Thanks, that explains pretty much everything.

So, what's the consensus on the best, for now, software player? TMT?

Authoring a title at an extremely high video and or audio bitrate as long as it is within the specs does not constitute making the BD disc incorrectly. With HD playback, there is no such thing as having a PC that is too powerful. If you have stuttering, it is usually, but not always indicative of a performance issue in your PC.

Vern

Authoring a title at an extremely high video and or audio bitrate as long as it is within the specs does not constitute making the BD disc incorrectly. With HD playback, there is no such thing as having a PC that is too powerful. If you have stuttering, it is usually, but not always indicative of a performance issue in your PC.

Vern

Um, no. It is usually an issue with PDVD, the video drivers, or some other driver. At least the stuttering issues we've seen so far.

For example, on the G35 MB, almost all the stuttering issues are related to PDVD 3730 and the G35 drivers. If you back down to 3319a, the stuttering goes away. In all cases, the CPU is underutilized.

For example, ASUS has a bunch of utilities that PDVD seems to hate, and it causes stuttering until you turn off/uninstall the ASUS utilities. One symptom is CPU utilization, but it's merely a side effect of bad interaction between PDVD and the ASUS utilities.

There are tons more examples on other MB's and video cards of stuttering being a side effect of bad coding, most likely in the way PDVD interacts with video and other drivers.

Even a low-end 2.4Ghz CPU is generally more than adequate for HD playback.

Thanks, that explains pretty much everything.

So, what's the consensus on the best, for now, software player? TMT?

TMT still has audio probms such as Dolby TrueHD 5/7.1 lossless and other hidef audio formats if you are using any digital output. It can cause in some cases the lost of the center channel or extrmely low volume (Across the Universe BluRay). But it works with analog fine.

TMT will not play back some HD DVD rips on HDD if you have modified the file structure like removing everything except the movie.

Over all PDVD is still the most matured SW for HDM playback IMO. Esp if you can install 3319a and 3730a and use the switcher ultility that was posted in this thread to switch PDVD versions. 3319a plays back HDD rips and 3730a plays most BluRay profile 1.1 titles. Exception I found right now is Across The univrese...real nightmare to get playing with PDVD or TMT. PDVD will not get pass the menu and TMT screws up the audio. I have to remux the movie just to play it which also change the lossless audio to standard DD 640 just so I can play the movie.

Well, just for the record, PowerDVD 3730 is working pretty well for me. I don't think I have the need for 3319a anymore since the BD+ owning of AnyDVD HD 6.4, but I'm still keeping the dual install just in case, and for testing. 3730 has also added some minor fixes (or "features" if you will), like the ability to turn on/off subtitles (not changing though) without having to go through the stupid sloooow menus of HD-DVDs, via right-clicking, just with like DVDs and blu-ray (though those let you change them too). Also they did a half-assed fix of some hotkeys: PG UP/Down do 5-sec skip back/forward with DVDs and blu-ray, but nothing with HD-DVD previously. Now, only PG Down works for HD-DVD (!). Maybe in 3730a they added "PG Up functionality"? Or maybe they'll charge us for that extra button!

Anyway, my gripes with this program aren't so much about playback (I blame the AACS crowd and the stupid BD profile system), but about the bloat (4 processes trojan-horsed into the startup) and the dumb interface for HD-DVD.

Hello Andy,

I am curious. Have you play Resident Evil:Extinction in your HTPC with PDVD 3730 or 3730a? If so, did it have issues?

Peter

Has anyone had any problems seeing menus in I Am Legend? I go to the top menu and it just goes to the special features area. I get no chapter select or audio options popup menu.

Shouldn't the top menu get you to this area?

Figured it out. Mapped Ctrl+p to Girder which displays the pop up menu. HD DVDs you just use the up arrow, but apprarently some blu rays need this button instead of Top menu to see Scene Selections, language, etc.

Hello Andy,

I am curious. Have you play Resident Evil:Extinction in your HTPC with PDVD 3730 or 3730a? If so, did it have issues?

Peter

I have had no problem playing back RE:E on my system. When I watched it, it was with PDVDU 3730 retail version. In fact, I have had zero issues since 3730 was released. It has played back all HDDVD/BD media I've thrown at it so far.

I have had no problem playing back RE:E on my system. When I watched it, it was with PDVDU 3730 retail version. In fact, I have had zero issues since 3730 was released. It has played back all HDDVD/BD media I've thrown at it so far.

I should have asked to describe your HTPC system. For those who do not have issues with RE:E, please tell us your HTPC system. Here's mine:

My gear:

Windows MCE 2005
Asus P4C800 Deluxe MB
3 GHz Pentium 4 with HT, FSB 800 MHz
2 GB Corsair RAM
Two 250 GB SATA Western Digital HD
Two VBox DTA-150 tuner 2.1.705.0 driver
Sapphire AGP HD 3850 (Radeon) with Sapphire's CCC driver
NVIDIA PureVideo Decoder 1.02-223
Lite-On Dual layer DVD burner drive
Lite-On Blu-Ray drive
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 3730a
Linksys WiFi-G
Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse
Logitech Harmony 880 Remote Control
Silverstone LC13 HTPC case
Antec 1000 Watts power supply
Sony KDF-60XBR950 60" LCD rear projection TV (use DVI cable)
Rabbit Ears indoor antenna (amplified).

Thanks,
Peter

It's designed for 16:9 displays, just like anamorphic DVDs, so in that sense it does include the feature.

I doubt you'll ever see variable aspect ratio control on BD media; anamorphic DVDs did not have it either.


I wasn't referring to a variable aspect ratio, but rather, the process of using as much of the 1920x1080 space as possible to store an anamorphically compressed picture... much like the DVD spec that allows for a 33% vertical stretch when the image is stored.

So are you telling me that the BD spec already does this, they compress the picture to use more of the 1920x1080 pixels for a movie... I didn't think they did? (but hey, I can learn so... show me! :))

I'd be interested in knowing is exactly which Blue-ray/HD-DVD movies will not play on the latest OEM release of PowerDVD Ultra?

So far I haven't found any that won't play, but we've only watched about 20 titles so far. Will 3:10 to Uma actually play? I've heard conflicting stories. Is Independence Day the only one that multiple people have confirmed will not play?

I'm not even 100% certain I have the latest version installed. It "autochecks" for updates every now and then and hasn't found any updates since about Christmas (unless they are applied quietly in the background).

Considering that Blue-ray certification of players required support or upgradability to support BD+, BD 1.1, etc. for all players sold over the past 6 months or something, I won't be impressed if I find out we're stuck without 1.1 or BD+ support (or something) and are forced to purchase new software.

I'd be interested in knowing is exactly which Blue-ray/HD-DVD movies will not play on the latest OEM release of PowerDVD Ultra?

So far I haven't found any that won't play, but we've only watched about 20 titles so far. Will 3:10 to Uma actually play? I've heard conflicting stories. Is Independence Day the only one that multiple people have confirmed will not play?

I'm not even 100% certain I have the latest version installed. It "autochecks" for updates every now and then and hasn't found any updates since about Christmas (unless they are applied quietly in the background).

Considering that Blue-ray certification of players required support or upgradability to support BD+, BD 1.1, etc. for all players sold over the past 6 months or something, I won't be impressed if I find out we're stuck without 1.1 or BD+ support (or something) and are forced to purchase new software.

I broke down a purchased the full retail version and it solved my problem with Independence Day. Thanks to Andy to cluing me in.

HT Slider, I believe my OEM copy updated itself twice since purchasing my PC, but it only did so after prompting me. I assumed incorrectly that Cyberlink was pushing the same updates out to all Ultra users, but not so. I'm annoyed that I had to spend the money, but considering all the freebees I've had over the years (plus my ability to actually afford the software I use now), it's not such a bad thing.

I have at least 25 blu-ray and HDDVD titles and all of them played perfectly with the updated OEM version, until ID4, that is. The retail version fixed that instantly for me. Note that I don't have 3:10 to Yuma.

I have reported about Blu-ray Resident Evil:Extinction being the only movie that cause continous stuttering. Someone mentioned that True HD sound may have cause to spike the CPU usage. I have AD1895 (or AD1985?) sound chip on motherboard. The motherboard and driver are about 4 years old. I am hearing impaired and sound is not important. I am unable to find newer sound driver for this audio chip.

Do you think sound chip or driver this old may have caused some kind of conflict with PDVD and raise the CPU usage.

Thanks,
Peter

Peter,

Your Pentium 4 3.0 GHz is most probably the problem there. I did play RE:E, but with 3319a, but I just barely didn't have suttering. My HTPC has a Pentium Dual-Core E2160 (Allendale) overclocked to 2.25 GHz (from 1.8 GHz). The Allendale chips are basically Conroes (Core 2 Duo) with just less L2 cache and lower base FSB, so they are still pretty powerful. The Pentium Dual-Cores E2140 through E2200 are absolutely great processors for overclocking, and probably the very best bang for buck when you overclock. And pretty easy to overclock too, since they have higher multipliers than the older Conroes and even more so than the newer 333MHz FSB Conroes and Wolfdales (the new 45mm Core 2 duos), and they perform the same for most of applications that aren't L2 Cache-critical.

Anyway, my CPU was spiking in the 90%'s, so if yours is at 100% and stuttering, it maybe won't go down even if you change audio from TrueHD. There is something going on with that disc that I believe has nothing to do with high-bitrate video/audio as someone else implied. It may be some profile 1.1 "feature" or some stuff to make it just annoying for HTPC users deliberately (but I'm a cynic).

So that said, I did have problems with playback, but it wasn't stuttering, but hang-ups when skipping around and a point in the movie where it completely froze (the start of one of the latter chapters). These are profile 1.1 bugs that supposedly were fixed with 3730, and movies like Sunshine also have.

I had two problem areas. Froze then skipped then played. But using TMT
AMD 64/2 5200

I forgot to mention that I had OEM PowerDVD 7.3 Blu-ray edition that came with Lite-On Blu-ray drive and RE:E did NOT stutter. But it had other serious issue like if I click on Next/Prev chapter or FF/RW, it locks up. As long as I didn't touch these buttons except Pause, it played well. It tells me Cyberlink did something wrong with the latest version, 3730a.

Peter

I forgot to mention that I had OEM PowerDVD 7.3 Blu-ray edition that came with Lite-On Blu-ray drive and RE:E did NOT stutter. But it had other serious issue like if I click on Next/Prev chapter or FF/RW, it locks up. As long as I didn't touch these buttons except Pause, it played well. It tells me Cyberlink did something wrong with the latest version, 3730a.

Peter

Those problems do seem profile 1.1-related. It could be the case, though, that to play profile 1.1 movies properly it requires more CPU usage, which is reasonable, since I think one of the "features" of 1.1 is picture-in-picture stuff and other BD-J bloat. I could have happily done without any of that stuff. I would have been happy with just the DVD style of cramming extras in the disc. Hell, I would even have wanted movie-only discs (a la Superbit) if they were cheaper. No need for no stinkin' interactive "features" or pointless extras.

Those problems do seem profile 1.1-related. It could be the case, though, that to play profile 1.1 movies properly it requires more CPU usage, which is reasonable, since I think one of the "features" of 1.1 is picture-in-picture stuff and other BD-J bloat. I could have happily done without any of that stuff. I would have been happy with just the DVD style of cramming extras in the disc. Hell, I would even have wanted movie-only discs (a la Superbit) if they were cheaper. No need for no stinkin' interactive "features" or pointless extras.

Makes sense. Since this profile 1.1 is new technology, I would not be surprised if the studio remakes RE:E to correct their mistakes (if they made it incorrectly).

I would not upgrade my system until future Blu-ray movies begin to cause problems consistently. So far many other Blu-ray movies that others have serious issues that I do not have like Sunshine, The Guardian, 3:10 to Yuma all played perfectly in my system. Good thing I only rent movies. I don't have the need to own them because I usually don't want to watch same movies twice.

The PIP should not increase CPU usage if PIP feature is not used. I read this somewhere but I don't remember where.

Peter

I broke down a purchased the full retail version and it solved my problem with Independence Day. Thanks to Andy to cluing me in.

HT Slider, I believe my OEM copy updated itself twice since purchasing my PC, but it only did so after prompting me. I assumed incorrectly that Cyberlink was pushing the same updates out to all Ultra users, but not so. I'm annoyed that I had to spend the money, but considering all the freebees I've had over the years (plus my ability to actually afford the software I use now), it's not such a bad thing.

I have at least 25 blu-ray and HDDVD titles and all of them played perfectly with the updated OEM version, until ID4, that is. The retail version fixed that instantly for me. Note that I don't have 3:10 to Yuma.

+1

I upgraded today ($80 for the same product... really???) and now ID4 AND 3:10 to Yuma play...

Figured it out. Mapped Ctrl+p to Girder which displays the pop up menu. HD DVDs you just use the up arrow, but apprarently some blu rays need this button instead of Top menu to see Scene Selections, language, etc.

Thank you for pointing this out. I added this to my Logitech Harmony remote control. It's really a cool feature.

Peter

Just purchased LG GGC H20L.
Came bundled with PowerDVD 7.3
Updated player firmware to 1.02
Prompted by software for update download and it looks like its version 7.3.3304.0.

First HD title I put in will not play. Says no disk in drive. American Werewolf in London. Not a good sign.

Is this bundled version of the software different? Anyone else have a problem with this movie?

Later, Conrad.

Just purchased LG GGC H20L.
Came bundled with PowerDVD 7.3
Updated player firmware to 1.02
Prompted by software for update download and it looks like its version 7.3.3304.0.

First HD title I put in will not play. Says no disk in drive. American Werewolf in London. Not a good sign.

Is this bundled version of the software different? Anyone else have a problem with this movie?

Later, Conrad.

I don't have LG drive but I read that their drives have issues with Power DVD. Take a link at the following link and it will show updates designed for LG drives.

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_ENU.html

Peter

I don't have LG drive but I read that their drives have issues with Power DVD. Take a link at the following link and it will show updates designed for LG drives.

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_ENU.html

Peter

There is no problem with compatibility. The bundled version is OEM and doesn't support a lot of the newer titles. The retail version is at 3730a now. With version 8 around the corner, I don't expect 7.x to get anymore updates other than minor compatibility to playback blu-ray 1.1 titles.

I don't have LG drive but I read that their drives have issues with Power DVD. Take a link at the following link and it will show updates designed for LG drives.

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_ENU.html

Those are just updates for the various OEM versions of PowerDVD, nothing to do with problems with the LG drives.

Those are just updates for the various OEM versions of PowerDVD, nothing to do with problems with the LG drives.

One thing that is confusing is how Cyberlink states these updates (http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_ENU.html) are to step from specific versions to other specific versions.

If I recall correctly my system is currently running 3514. With the auto-update check, it states that it is fully updated, but checking that link above, there is a patch to bring the OEM version from 3516a to 3516b.

How are we supposed to upgrade to 3516b if we are currently at 3514?

My drive is a GGC-H20L.

There is a firmware update available for Lite-On DH-401S Blu-ray drive:

http://us.liteonit.com/us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=242&Itemid=191&limit=1&limitstart=2

It does not say what the update is for. Anyone has this drive and willing to be a guienna pig? :D

I wonder if it would help reduce the stuttering from Resident Evil:Extinction movie. Too bad I returned the disk.

Peter

One thing that is confusing is how Cyberlink states these updates (http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_ENU.html) are to step from specific versions to other specific versions.

If I recall correctly my system is currently running 3514. With the auto-update check, it states that it is fully updated, but checking that link above, there is a patch to bring the OEM version from 3516a to 3516b.

How are we supposed to upgrade to 3516b if we are currently at 3514?

My drive is a GGC-H20L.

I think there are a couple of misunderstandings here (though I could be wrong, sorry if you've already tried the following). First of all, you can just download the update, and it will most probably just install. Don't trust the audo update "feature".

Secondly, I'm farily sure that there is no build 3514. How are you getting the build you got?

I think there are a couple of misunderstandings here (though I could be wrong, sorry if you've already tried the following). First of all, you can just download the update, and it will most probably just install. Don't trust the audo update "feature".

Secondly, I'm farily sure that there is no build 3514. How are you getting the build you got?

I checked the build by checking the file information on several of the PowerDVD files. I just confirmed again and most of the files state they are version 3514 but some of them state they are 3516 (doesn't say a or b). For some reason PowerDVD doesn't seem to have anything that displays the version information and believe me I searched through absolutely everything, spending literally a good hour on it. Unless Cyberlink decided to hide the version through some hidden menu or something, there is no way to get it from running PowerDVD.

Based on the file versions and assuming that the auto-update feature only updates files that need changing, I suspect this says I'm actually running some flavor of 3516, not 3514.

I have downloaded the update, but to be honest with PowerDVD being so flaky and it being able to play the movies that we have bought or rented so far, I don't really want to try applying the update (we do often end up with a blank screen when we hit "play", but if I skip chapters forward and then back these troublesome Blue-ray movies have all played eventually).

As soon as we get a movie that won't play I'll try manually applying the update.

I did just now run the built in update checker again and it shows no updates available (but as you say, it may not work that well).

One thing I hate about Cyberlink software is it is so incredibly clunky and apparently hacked together that I have absolutely no confidence with anything to do with PowerDVD. The worst thing (IMO) is how it installs a ridiculous number of semi-functional codecs; all of them with high merit settings so they take over everything.

For example, when I first installed it, it broke all sorts of things, including the ability to watch TS files in Media Player, the ability to trans-code TS files into dvr-ms files, the ability to play certain divx videos, and a bunch of other things. After an absolutely enormous amount of research and experimenting with Graphedit and DirectShow merit registry settings I finally managed to drop the merit on the problem Cyberlink codecs and increase the divx, Microsoft mpeg-2, and other codec merits to finally get absolutely everything working again, including keeping PowerDVD Ultra fully functional. Without doing this there were a bunch of Cyberlink codecs that would try to run (the biggest problem was the mpeg-2 codec) and crash every single time, bringing down things like FireSTB, Media Center, Media Player and TSConverter. I even tried different versions of PowerDVD, but they all had crash prone codecs that would install.

I'm fairly certain that if I install a new version of PowerDVD that I'll have to make the registry merit changes again (and who knows what else it might break...).

I have powerdvd 7.3 build 3319 and it's been working fine since I installed it 3 or 4 days ago. Today I put a blu-ray disc in and got error 80040265. When I get this error the screen flashes about 5 or 6 times and I get the driver failed, reloading error in vista 64 (which I always get, even when it was working).

No blu-ray disc will play, even from the hard drive. regular dvd's are fine. Any idea what's going on? I've tried reinstalling and no luck.

I checked the build by checking the file information on several of the PowerDVD files. I just confirmed again and most of the files state they are version 3514 but some of them state they are 3516 (doesn't say a or b). For some reason PowerDVD doesn't seem to have anything that displays the version information and believe me I searched through absolutely everything, spending literally a good hour on it. Unless Cyberlink decided to hide the version through some hidden menu or something, there is no way to get it from running PowerDVD.

Based on the file versions and assuming that the auto-update feature only updates files that need changing, I suspect this says I'm actually running some flavor of 3516, not 3514.

I have downloaded the update, but to be honest with PowerDVD being so flaky and it being able to play the movies that we have bought or rented so far, I don't really want to try applying the update (we do often end up with a blank screen when we hit "play", but if I skip chapters forward and then back these troublesome Blue-ray movies have all played eventually).

As soon as we get a movie that won't play I'll try manually applying the update.

I did just now run the built in update checker again and it shows no updates available (but as you say, it may not work that well).

One thing I hate about Cyberlink software is it is so incredibly clunky and apparently hacked together that I have absolutely no confidence with anything to do with PowerDVD. The worst thing (IMO) is how it installs a ridiculous number of semi-functional codecs; all of them with high merit settings so they take over everything.

For example, when I first installed it, it broke all sorts of things, including the ability to watch TS files in Media Player, the ability to trans-code TS files into dvr-ms files, the ability to play certain divx videos, and a bunch of other things. After an absolutely enormous amount of research and experimenting with Graphedit and DirectShow merit registry settings I finally managed to drop the merit on the problem Cyberlink codecs and increase the divx, Microsoft mpeg-2, and other codec merits to finally get absolutely everything working again, including keeping PowerDVD Ultra fully functional. Without doing this there were a bunch of Cyberlink codecs that would try to run (the biggest problem was the mpeg-2 codec) and crash every single time, bringing down things like FireSTB, Media Center, Media Player and TSConverter. I even tried different versions of PowerDVD, but they all had crash prone codecs that would install.

I'm fairly certain that if I install a new version of PowerDVD that I'll have to make the registry merit changes again (and who knows what else it might break...).

Yeah, I understand your frustration. I don't have much trouble with codecs, though. ffdshow lets you more or less manage them, and then for the rest I use something like Radlight Filter Manager. I don't transcode stuff though. I just watch movies and videos.

Anyway, to see the build of PowerDVD, right-click on the PowerDVD window, then about... and then click on your name below "This product is licensed to:" You'll see the build number on "DVD Version".

As previously mentioned, though, you won't be able to play profile 1.1 movies well or at all with any of the current OEM builds.

Yeah, I understand your frustration. I don't have much trouble with codecs, though. ffdshow lets you more or less manage them, and then for the rest I use something like Radlight Filter Manager. I don't transcode stuff though. I just watch movies and videos.

Anyway, to see the build of PowerDVD, right-click on the PowerDVD window, then about... and then click on your name below "This product is licensed to:" You'll see the build number on "DVD Version".

As previously mentioned, though, you won't be able to play profile 1.1 movies well or at all with any of the current OEM builds.

The codec that PowerDVD was messing up the worst was the mpeg-2 codec. All I have installed is DivX, HDTVPump (for TS files), and the Nvidia mpeg-2 codec (because it supports certain .TS streams that the MS mpeg-2 codec doesn't). Part of the problem is we record the transport streams from ExpressVu and they use a slightly uncommon mpeg-2 flavor that the PowerDVD mpeg-2 codec doesn't support. I also found that the PowerDVD divx codec couldn't handle some of the divx videos I have. Personally I don't even know why Cyberlink insists on using such high merit settings on their codecs. Why should they be used over everything else installed on the system?

Why in the heck would Cyberlink hide the product information under a hidden click on the person's name??? There is yet another perfect example of the sort of clunky software Cyberlink produces.

How can we find out which movies are profile 1.1? Is there an internet site somewhere or something that lists them?

Those are just updates for the various OEM versions of PowerDVD, nothing to do with problems with the LG drives.

LG is in there:
PowerDVD Update for LG-ODD: This update is for LG-ODD customers who purchased an HL-DT-ST drive models GGW-H20L or GGC-H20L. This downloadable update will upgrade version 3516a of CyberLink PowerDVD to 3516b.
click here
2007-07-06 PowerDVD Update for LG-ODD: This update is for LG-ODD customers who purchased an HL-DT-ST drive model BD-RE GGW-H10N only. This downloadable update will upgrade version 2605 of CyberLink PowerDVD to 2911.
click here
2007-07-06 PowerDVD Update for LG-ODD: This update is for LG-ODD customers who purchased an HL-DT-ST drive model BD-RE GBW-H10N only. This downloadable update will upgrade version 2605 of CyberLink PowerDVD to 2911.

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_ENU.html

There is a firmware update available for Lite-On DH-401S Blu-ray drive:

http://us.liteonit.com/us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=242&Itemid=191&limit=1&limitstart=2

It does not say what the update is for. Anyone has this drive and willing to be a guienna pig? :D

I wonder if it would help reduce the stuttering from Resident Evil:Extinction movie. Too bad I returned the disk.

Peter

I have one in a usb case. I'll let you know.

Will have to connect via sata as firmware reports it's only for ATAPI

Is this a 'safe' upgrade, you know doesn't break or disable anything in PowerDVD? :o

My reason for asking is 3730 is wrking just fine...

Thanks

Is this a 'safe' upgrade, you know doesn't break or disable anything in PowerDVD? :o

My reason for asking is 3730 is wrking just fine...

Thanks

I'm wondering the same thing, but I'm not too worried about them breaking anything. It's just a hassle for me to install this program and get rid of the trojans every time.

LG is in there:
To reiterate, those updates do not fix any problems with the LG drives themselves. Those updates are to upgrade the OEM version of PowerDVD that came with those drives to a newer version of PowerDVD. Firmware updates from LG would potentially solve any issues with the drives. Software updates are being confused with firmware updates - 2 very different things.

They are specific to the drives via Cyberlink, not saying they're firmware as the drive has it's own updater. Nice to see Cyberlink with some attention to hardware.

Peter,

Your Pentium 4 3.0 GHz is most probably the problem there. I did play RE:E, but with 3319a, but I just barely didn't have suttering. My HTPC has a Pentium Dual-Core E2160 (Allendale) overclocked to 2.25 GHz (from 1.8 GHz). The Allendale chips are basically Conroes (Core 2 Duo) with just less L2 cache and lower base FSB, so they are still pretty powerful. The Pentium Dual-Cores E2140 through E2200 are absolutely great processors for overclocking, and probably the very best bang for buck when you overclock. And pretty easy to overclock too, since they have higher multipliers than the older Conroes and even more so than the newer 333MHz FSB Conroes and Wolfdales (the new 45mm Core 2 duos), and they perform the same for most of applications that aren't L2 Cache-critical.

Anyway, my CPU was spiking in the 90%'s, so if yours is at 100% and stuttering, it maybe won't go down even if you change audio from TrueHD. There is something going on with that disc that I believe has nothing to do with high-bitrate video/audio as someone else implied. It may be some profile 1.1 "feature" or some stuff to make it just annoying for HTPC users deliberately (but I'm a cynic).

So that said, I did have problems with playback, but it wasn't stuttering, but hang-ups when skipping around and a point in the movie where it completely froze (the start of one of the latter chapters). These are profile 1.1 bugs that supposedly were fixed with 3730, and movies like Sunshine also have.I have an AMD 5600+ with 2GB DDRII-800 and the stuttering on RE3 makes it unwatchable. This happens on other BD movies with TrueHD. If I switch to a DD+ track, no stuttering. RE3 only has a TrueHD track so that was not an option. Interestingly, I don't have the problem with HD DVD/TrueHD.

I have an AMD 5600+ with 2GB DDRII-800 and the stuttering on RE3 makes it unwatchable. This happens on other BD movies with TrueHD. If I switch to a DD+ track, no stuttering. RE3 only has a TrueHD track so that was not an option. Interestingly, I don't have the problem with HD DVD/TrueHD.

Stuttering from a powerful computer tells me that either Power DVD is buggy or the movies were not built correctly. I vote for buggy Power DVD.

What other movies contain TrueHD with Blu-ray?

Peter

To be honest, I can't remember which ones I tried. I just remember the fiasco I had with RE3. It had the worst stuttering and froze at several points in the movie. I gave up on BluRay several weeks ago and went back to regular DVDs and Netflix streamed movie. I got tired of my wife falling asleep while I was trying to fix playback issues so we could simply enjoy a movie.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was also running a 2400Pro.

To be honest, I can't remember which ones I tried. I just remember the fiasco I had with RE3. It had the worst stuttering and froze at several points in the movie. I gave up on BluRay several weeks ago and went back to regular DVDs and Netflix streamed movie. I got tired of my wife falling asleep while I was trying to fix playback issues so we could simply enjoy a movie.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was also running a 2400Pro.

I'm sure this is posted somewhere else in the forums but at least early reports are that the old HD2400 series of cards didn't quite have enough juice to for HD playback and I read somewhere that they also had UVD issues so HW acceleration was a bit buggy. Maybe someone else can chime in and correct me.

I personally was able to playback RE:E without any issues on my system.

I'm sure this is posted somewhere else in the forums but at least early reports are that the old HD2400 series of cards didn't quite have enough juice to for HD playback and I read somewhere that they also had UVD issues so HW acceleration was a bit buggy. Maybe someone else can chime in and correct me.

I personally was able to playback RE:E without any issues on my system.There was one movie that would spike my CPU at 100% when playing TrueHD (analog out) and switching to the DD+ track dropped the CPU usage to 40-50%. So I pretty much ruled out the video card as the issue.

the 2400 pro was not powerful enough to do the more complicated deinterlacing for HD video, if I remember correctly, but for regular 1080p movies it was OK. I actually had it for a while and it worked OK, but I never tried interlaced content.

I have no issues with the 2400 Pro playing HD content. As I said, it was only select BluRay discs and only when playing the TrueHD track.

Stuttering from a powerful computer tells me that either Power DVD is buggy or the movies were not built correctly. I vote for buggy Power DVD.

What other movies contain TrueHD with Blu-ray?

Peter

I have "Stomp the Yard" (somebody gave it to me to try out the BD capabilities on my new LG drive) and it spiked my CPU and made it pretty much unwatchable. After reading the comments here regarding TrueHD audio, I went and checked the Audio options and switched it from TrueHD to LPCM. It now plays perfectly smoothly and and CPU bounces between 60-85%.

I have an A64 3000+ and a 2600XT. I am running 3730, but I tried it with 3319a also and got the same results. I have not tried to set it to SPDIF with TrueHD to see if it makes a difference, I guess that's my next experiment.

So it's the end of March - where's PDVD 8?

To be honest, I can't remember which ones I tried. I just remember the fiasco I had with RE3. It had the worst stuttering and froze at several points in the movie. I gave up on BluRay several weeks ago and went back to regular DVDs and Netflix streamed movie. I got tired of my wife falling asleep while I was trying to fix playback issues so we could simply enjoy a movie.


Been there. Done that :)

Hi all,

A few posts back I detailed my experience with the OEM PDVD Ultra not playing Independence Day blu-ray. I subsequently purchased the retail version, which fixed the problem (thanks again to Andy o). Before doing so, I contacted support. Today I received their reply, and interestingly, the response is quite misleading. They say nothing about the fact that the OEM version is lagging behind the retail version in its ability to play some BD 1.1 titles.

For your amusement, here is their response:
-----------------------------------------------------
Thank you for contacting CyberLink Online Support.

We understand your concern related with PowerDVD Ultra version software.

In response to your concern, we want to inform you that PowerDVD Ultra software is unable to play some specific Blu-ray DVDs which have been encoded by using latest technology.

Please note that "Independence Day" is one of such Blu-ray DVDs.

We have already escalated this issue to our R & D Department and they are expected to release a patch for resolving this issue very soon.

Therefore, we suggest you to keep visiting our website for any further updates regarding the availability of this specific patch.

We deeply regret the inconvenience caused to you so far.

Please feel free to contact us back for any further clarification or for any assistance related to CyberLink Products.

Thank You and Best Regards

To be honest, I can't remember which ones I tried. I just remember the fiasco I had with RE3. It had the worst stuttering and froze at several points in the movie. I gave up on BluRay several weeks ago and went back to regular DVDs and Netflix streamed movie. I got tired of my wife falling asleep while I was trying to fix playback issues so we could simply enjoy a movie.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was also running a 2400Pro.

The stuttering in most cases (for RE:E) is due to the CPU, while the freezing due to the older PowerDVD versions not supporting profile 1.1. Profile 1.1 support came weeks after the release of 3:10 to Yuma, if I'm not mistaken, which came out a week after RE:E. Support for profile 1.1 started with PowerDVD 3730, but the fact that you could still play some 1.1 movies like RE:E and Sunshine but badly, gave PowerDVD and/or those movies the reputation of being buggy. Since 3:10 to Yuma was totally unplayable, it didn't suffer that fate, and PowerDVD 3730 fixed it and indeed I've played it without a hitch. I'll recommend everybody who has had trouble with these movies before to try 3730. Unfortunately the OEM versions are still on 3516b and not up to Profile 1.1. You OEM guys should complain I guess (not that some of you haven't done so already).

About the stuttering due to CPU, I see the Athlon X2 5600 is comparable to a Core 2 Duo of about 2.13 to 2.4 GHz (in-between the older E6400 and E6600 as per Anandtech's testing), so if L2 cache does not play a major role, you could be maxing out your CPU, it is very possible. As I said before, RE:E in my Pentium Dual-Core E2160 OC'd to 2.25GHz (effectively a Core 2 Duo with 1MB L2 cache) was peaking in the 90%'s, so it's not unreasonable that your CPU might just peak at that point. The fact that when you switched to DD the CPU usage came down suggests that you're just crossing the limit. By comparison, Peter's Pentium 4 was peaking at 100%, and even changing to DD didn't make it better.

I personally don't think there's an error in the disc's pressing, I think everything is intentional. Blu-ray players compliant with profile 1.1 do play the movie correctly if I'm not mistaken. A set amount of CPU power is not really a requirement for good playback of any movies, so more is always better. I think that's also the reason why some bluray movies take minutes to load in some older players, but not in our HTPCs.

So it's the end of March - where's PDVD 8?

I'd rather have a good working HD disc-supporting version of PowerDVD 6. Version 7 was a bloatfest compared to that. I can't even play regular DVDs with version 7 on our craptacular Celeron at work, but PowerDVD 6 does it easily.

Stuttering from a powerful computer tells me that either Power DVD is buggy or the movies were not built correctly. I vote for buggy Power DVD.

What other movies contain TrueHD with Blu-ray?

Peter

Spiderman 3 has both TrueHD and LPCM soundtracks

I'd rather have a good working HD disc-supporting version of PowerDVD 6. Version 7 was a bloatfest compared to that. I can't even play regular DVDs with version 7 on our craptacular Celeron at work, but PowerDVD 6 does it easily.

That would be nice, but there's no way CyberLink is going to devote much/any time to old versions. So we need PDVD 8 if we want things improved.

That would be nice, but there's no way CyberLink is going to devote much/any time to old versions. So we need PDVD 8 if we want things improved.

Hehe, yeah I know, I was just dreaming out loud. From what we've seen PowerDVD 8 is even more bloated, but if they don't add to the 4 processes they put in our startups, that's fine with me... I just got my quad-core Q6700 delivered! Though this one is not going to the HTPC, the E6600 I got now is moving there, and my Pentium Dual-Core is going into the closet (or ebay, but maybe it's not even worth to sell it).

I´m happy that I don´t need the new versions from Cyberlink.
My PC will only handle HD-DVD in the future and they worked with the 7...
Versions, on my System 2911 is working best but I´m not happy with the picture quality which was improved in later versions.

I´m trying for weeks now to get 3319a to run, but I don´t get it.

So I even tried it again yesterday and I did install a hole new windows XP32just to make sure everything is new and clean.
After I have installed Powerdvd7.3 3319a everything works,
BlueRay and HD-DVD
Ater I installed Reclock it is all over (1.6 or latest Beta)!
When the options are set (hopefully correct) in Reclock/Powerdvd at least all BlueRays are giving out sound and Reclock is starting too, so everything perfect. I use analog output so in Powerdvd I set the Soundoption to 6-Channel.

My probleme now is that HD-DVD will not give out any sound when reclock is started.
When I disable the option in Reclock "use Reclock as default device..." then I get the correct sound but Reclock is not on
The option in Reclock "use for Powerdvd" seems to have to function on my system.

What is so different in the Playback BlueRay and HD-DVD with Reclock?
It is so frustrating now, so many hours just for the toilet

Powerdvd 2911 doesn´t have any problem with sound and Reclock so it has to be an error in 3319a I think but I still don´t understand it, 3319a is one of the most used versions and I´m sure almost everyone is useing it with Reclock and it seems to work on everyone else systems.

What could I possible configured wrong in Reclock that Powerdvd 3319a and only HD-DVDs don´t give out any sound?

I'll see if I remember them from memory. I have the four of them disabled, just wiped out from my startups entries, and so far it's running fine both in Vista 32 and XP. brs.exe was just added starting from build 3516.

- brs.exe
- pdvdserv.exe
- richvideo.exe
- language.exe

I don't know exactly which but from recent builds there's also the CLHelper.exe process running alongside PowerDVD, but it only runs when you run the program, not at startup. It must be good, though, 'cause it's a helper!

If you wanna disable them, you can do it through msconfig, or even better, you can use the autoruns.exe utility from www.sysinternals.com (will redirect to Microsoft's Sysinternals website).


I couldn't figure out why ANYDVD was causing PDVD to launch after a restart or resume. Here is their reply and I'm off to disable these buggers:

A program called PDVDServ.exe causes powerdvd to annoyingly ignore the
Windows settings and autolaunch every time a disc is changed.

It does that even if you disabled drive notification in Windows.

Simple remedy: delete (yes terminally delete) "PDVDServ.exe" from
powerdvd's program directory - c:\programs\.....

There will be no warning messages or anything resulting in this file
missing - only peace...

It's probably the same thing, but in your startup Windows will be still calling that nonexistent file, so it's probably better if you just disable its startup through msconfig or (recommended) the autoruns utility. I haven't had the need to delete the file, but I suppose it doesn't hurt after disabling it.

It's probably the same thing, but in your startup Windows will be still calling that nonexistent file, so it's probably better if you just disable its startup through msconfig or (recommended) the autoruns utility. I haven't had the need to delete the file, but I suppose it doesn't hurt after disabling it.

yeah, I just disabled them.

Hehe, yeah I know, I was just dreaming out loud. From what we've seen PowerDVD 8 is even more bloated, but if they don't add to the 4 processes they put in our startups, that's fine with me... I just got my quad-core Q6700 delivered! Though this one is not going to the HTPC, the E6600 I got now is moving there, and my Pentium Dual-Core is going into the closet (or ebay, but maybe it's not even worth to sell it).

my Pentium Dual-Core is going into the closet (or ebay, but maybe it's not even worth to sell it)

Hey I might offer to pay the shipping... :D

What is it?

my Pentium Dual-Core is going into the closet (or ebay, but maybe it's not even worth to sell it)

Hey I might offer to pay the shipping... :D

What is it?

Almost every outdated (even not so outdated, but just replaced with better) system I have I convert to become file servers. Esp for HDM. I norm just move the system in most cases to a cheap tower case ($35-$50) and recycle the HTPC/gaming case if its still decent. I just use up all the IDE/SATA ports. Thats about 6-11 drives with most ATX mobo's.

Almost every outdated (even not so outdated, but just replaced with better) system I have I convert to become file servers. Esp for HDM. I norm just move the system in most cases to a cheap tower case ($35-$50) and recycle the HTPC/gaming case if its still decent. I just use up all the IDE/SATA ports. Thats about 6-11 drives with most ATX mobo's.

You know, I've thought about that, and also it'll be a great excuse to go into the Linux world. And I guess I can save some energy 'cause I have GB's of torrent files running 24/7 (nothing illegal of course!) in my main PC which is probably a little too powerful for that kind of stuff what with the overclocking and now the quad-core and everything.

my Pentium Dual-Core is going into the closet (or ebay, but maybe it's not even worth to sell it)

Hey I might offer to pay the shipping... :D

What is it?

Whoops, sorry, a GREAT idea has dawned upon me for its use (actually it was dawned on me to be remembered by Tinker above:D). If you need one, you'll be hard-pressed to find any other kind of processors with more bang for the buck, especially for overclocking. Right now I'd go for a 45nm Wolfdale though, if I was going for a dual core.

You know, I've thought about that, and also it'll be a great excuse to go into the Linux world. And I guess I can save some energy 'cause I have GB's of torrent files running 24/7 (nothing illegal of course!) in my main PC which is probably a little too powerful for that kind of stuff what with the overclocking and now the quad-core and everything.

The only draw back is the power usage. I am running 2 servers right now 24/7 and they do use a lot of power. 1st one was built as a dedicated DVD server (13 IDE drives, mostly 320gb and optical) with dual PSU, the second I put together because I need a quick HDM server and its now full and out of controllers/disk room to add any more drives (9 IDE/SATA all 500gb drives and optical). I am in the process of converting an AMD 64 X2 4200 with the ASUS A8N deluxe mobo since it has 8 SATA and 4 IDE controllers (11 drives and optical) to be my 3rd server (HDM), cpu over kill but hey its a older S-939 system. Going to use 750/1000 GB drives for this one. Now just have to get maybe a 4U rack or a cheap tower case or I may even use my hugh almost useless Mozart TX monster tower cube as the server case for this build.

OOPs getting OT....

The only draw back is the power usage. I am running 2 servers right now 24/7 and they do use a lot of power. 1st one was built as a dedicated DVD server (13 IDE drives, mostly 320gb and optical) with dual PSU, the second I put together because I need a quick HDM server and its now full and out of controllers/disk room to add any more drives (9 IDE/SATA all 500gb drives and optical). I am in the process of converting an AMD 64 X2 4200 with the ASUS A8N deluxe mobo since it has 8 SATA and 4 IDE controllers (11 drives and optical) to be my 3rd server (HDM), cpu over kill but hey its a older S-939 system. Going to use 750/1000 GB drives for this one. Now just have to get maybe a 4U rack or a cheap tower case or I may even use my hugh almost useless Mozart TX monster tower cube as the server case for this build.

OOPs getting OT....

Man, that's WAY out of my league. I just download some foreign TV shows and stuff like that. I was thinking more like just a small computer running Linux and Azureus 24/7 with one 750 GB drive (I think those are the most bang for buck right now aren't they) to start with, a cheap µATX mobo with integrated video I guess, and not much more, probably Wireless N or maybe Gigabit Ethernet (that's probably better I guess, but for streaming video Wifi is OK). I am thinking about a fanless 300W or 400W PSU that I already have. It should be enough for my purposes.

So... back on topic I guess. Thanks for the suggestion.

Whoops, sorry, a GREAT idea has dawned upon me for its use (actually it was dawned on me to be remembered by Tinker above:D). If you need one, you'll be hard-pressed to find any other kind of processors with more bang for the buck, especially for overclocking. Right now I'd go for a 45nm Wolfdale though, if I was going for a dual core.


No worries, I was just thinking of a 'mid-life' kicker for another machine I have...

Wondering if anyone has experienced the PowerDVD "black screen" when trying to play a Blu-Ray movie? I just got the LG Combo Drive, and this is my first Blu-ray disc.

I put in a Blu-Ray movie ("Becoming Jane"), start up PowerDVD build 3730a, and the previews and other pre-movie junk plays just fine, but when I press the Menu button, the drive stops running and I get a blank screen.

Following the same steps, I CAN play the movie with PowerDVD build 3319a. I searched around a bit, but didn't find any answers on 3730a. Any ideas?

My specs:
E6300 Core2duo
Gigabyte 8500GT (HDCP compliant)
2 Gigs G.Skill DDR2-800
Abit AW9D-Max mobo
LG Combo Blu-ray/HD DVD
PowerDVD 3319a AND 3730a
Nvidia 163.69 forceware drivers
Connected to Panasonic plasma via HDMI

The cyberlink advisor is checking out my rig and is reporting that I don't have a HDCP-compliant display, with I do, a sony HS10 connected via the digital cable,.

Also says that my software drivers are not supported... They are the latest ATI drivers , 8.471.00 , running my Radon x1950GT card...
I have run the check a few times after rebooting and the drivers pass about 1 out of 5 checks...

I am ready to pull out what little hair I have left so someone please help save me from going Bald! :)

Since you don't have an HDCP compliant video card, the advisor can't tell if you have an HDCP compliant display.

The x1950GT is an older card which doesn't have the required HDCP capabilities.

You'll have to upgrade to a current generation video card that sincludes HDMI/HDCP support.

The ATI 8.3 drivers work fine, with the right video card.

Vern

Use AnyDVD HD.

Since you don't have an HDCP compliant video card, the advisor can't tell if you have an HDCP compliant display.

The x1950GT is an older card which doesn't have the required HDCP capabilities.

You'll have to upgrade to a current generation video card that sincludes HDMI/HDCP support.

The ATI 8.3 drivers work fine, with the right video card.

Vern

Actually, it's very possible it's the drivers. I had both a 2400 pro and a 2600 pro that gave me HDCP trouble with PowerDVD and the Cyberlink Adviser, but only with my PC monitor (NEC 2690) and not with the Sharp 52" LCD at work, which made me blame the monitor, but in fact it was the drivers. The Adviser was even blaming the monitor, giving a green to both the drivers and the card, but then I updated the drivers one time to the new ones (I think 7.7 or 7.8 at that point) and everything was fixed. By that time, though, I'd already RMA'd my cards and bought a 8600GTS.

By the way, my other PC didn't have any trouble, and my X1900GT is perfectly HDCP-compatible, so I think the X1950 should be as well, though I don't know how much of that depended on the card manufacturer as opposed to the chip itself.

Since you don't have an HDCP compliant video card, the advisor can't tell if you have an HDCP compliant display.

The x1950GT is an older card which doesn't have the required HDCP capabilities.

You'll have to upgrade to a current generation video card that sincludes HDMI/HDCP support.

The ATI 8.3 drivers work fine, with the right video card.

Vern
Here are the specs on this card... It shows it to support HDCP

Chipset: Radeon X1950 GT
Engine Clock: 500 MHz
Video Memory: 256MB GDDR3
Memory Clock: 1.2 GHz
Memory Interface: 256-bit
Bus: PCI-Express x16
RAMDAC: 400 MHz
Pixel Pipelines: 12
Pixel Shader Processors: 36
Max. Resolution: 2560 x 1600
Connectors: Dual DVI (Support Dual VGA); TV-out (HDTV ready)
Thermal: Fansink
ATI CrossFire Technology Support
Support HDCP - High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection
Microsoft DirectX 9.0, Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL Support
Built for Microsoft Windows Vista

So if that is correct it leaves the driver problem.... I went to the ATI site and downloaded the curent drivers so I have no idea what to do about that...

This HTPC is a rebuild of the older one I have been running for years... I have been really happy with the HS10 and the HTPC... and I was using Power strip to output the 1 to 1 pixel resolution at 1366 x 768.

For this rebuild I wanted Blue Ray so I beefed up the computer big time... a quad core CPU, 4 gigs of memory ,. 750 gig hardrive... ect... I also threw a copy of Vista Ultimate on it and then discovered that Vista will not let me use the 1366 powerstrip setings :( SO I am back to XP.... I am fully patched, running net 2.0 and service pack 2 XP... Latest ATI drivers and a clean install of the OS....

I just got everything runnning good and the Powerstrip setting going on this build. But if you guys think it would help I could pull the 1950 and throw in a Nvidia 8600 GTS video card....

You'll probably be better off buying AnyDVD HD with that money. You can try it out for 21 days before you buy it. I've had no trouble with my X1900GT, which is older than yours, but this HDCP fiasco just isn't worth the blind trial-and-error tinkering.

I have an activation key with no place to enter it. Ater my dnld of PDVD Ultra I can't find it!!!! Their tech support says they'll get back to me within a couple of days.

I've got a new rebuild with Vista U sp1./ Q6600/ LG HD-DVD & BD burner / ASUS P5E VM HDMI out to an Integra TX 9.8.

I'm dying to play a hi def movie.

I'll pay ya to tell me where that program went.

BTW I downloaded it a second time just in case. Still can't find it.
BTW2 I clicked on run not save.

Did it not run the install after downloading? If not, try "Save" instead of "Run" and remember where you save it. I recommend that anyway.

You'll probably be better off buying AnyDVD HD with that money. You can try it out for 21 days before you buy it. I've had no trouble with my X1900GT, which is older than yours, but this HDCP fiasco just isn't worth the blind trial-and-error tinkering.


I already have it sitting here so all I am loosing is my time.. Which I have wasted a lot of this week :(
I loked at the any dvd software you speak of and I have a question for you about its use... I am looking to make this super simple for the wife to use. Does it require anything other that ploping in the disk and hitting play?

I already have it sitting here so all I am loosing is my time.. Which I have wasted a lot of this week :(

This is why we shouldn't put up with crap products that don't work. The most important thing wehave in limited supply, is time.

I already have it sitting here so all I am loosing is my time.. Which I have wasted a lot of this week :(
I loked at the any dvd software you speak of and I have a question for you about its use... I am looking to make this super simple for the wife to use. Does it require anything other that ploping in the disk and hitting play?


ANYDVD is great. Set it and forget it.

Just remember to remove the services that power DVD installs that cause problems as noted a few posts above.

I have an activation key with no place to enter it. Ater my dnld of PDVD Ultra I can't find it!!!! Their tech support says they'll get back to me within a couple of days.

I've got a new rebuild with Vista U sp1./ Q6600/ LG HD-DVD & BD burner / ASUS P5E VM HDMI out to an Integra TX 9.8.

I'm dying to play a hi def movie.

I'll pay ya to tell me where that program went.

BTW I downloaded it a second time just in case. Still can't find it.
BTW2 I clicked on run not save.

No, no never click on Run, no matter what the idiot tech support guy says! Just save it and run it separately. Next time.

Anyway, what browser and OS are you using? Probably you still have the file(s) in your Temporary Internet Files folder, but with 100MB files you never know. If you're using Firefox, though, I fear it might be harder to retrieve the file. If you're using IE, just go to your Temporary Internet Files folder (Tools -> Internet Options. Right there on the "General" tab, under "Browsing History", click on the Settings button, and then click on "View files". You'll have an explorer window with your recently accessed Internet files and if you check the sizes of the files you'll hopefully will see the ones you want (hint: it's the 100MB+ ones).

If you're using Firefox, the only 2 ways I know of to retrieve them, would be if you keep a history of your downloads and just open the downloads window. I think that'll give you the opportunity to download again, and maybe it'll even read the files from the cache. The other way is to access the cache directly. Go to the address bar in FF and type "about:cache" (without quotes) and then go to disk cache to check out whatever you have over there. It's a bit cumbersome to work with as you'll see, so for future reference, there's a great little extension called CacheViewer that'll make it easier.

Hope it works, though you shouldn't have much trouble getting to download it again I guess.

I already have it sitting here so all I am loosing is my time.. Which I have wasted a lot of this week :(
I loked at the any dvd software you speak of and I have a question for you about its use... I am looking to make this super simple for the wife to use. Does it require anything other that ploping in the disk and hitting play?

As mentioned above, just leave it be on your computer and it'll be OK, but I'd add that you have to keep up with the updates, which is a breeze. It'll tell you that an update is available, and you'll just click on the balloon and it will take you to the download website. Just install the new version on top of the older one, it'll take less than a minute, it's a small download and AnyDVD doesn't take a lot of resources to be running (almost none at all). Make sure you get the HD version though.

Vladd, simple enough, save worked. BUT, not impressed yet. Tried three disks.

1. Played my old version of the Eagles Farewell Tour DVD and the HD DVD version and I'm hard pressed to tell the difference. I know the audio is DTS 5.1 on both. (20-30% CPU usage)

2. Bourne Ultimatum doesn't even play. I get a dialog box saying "A critical component of the player requires periodic updates". It's eleven minutes old!!!! Also while the disk is in the rest of the functions in the PDVD UI don't work. Three finger salute worked though. (does have DD True HD)

3. Tried BEOWULF. This DB says "Fail to enable HDCP... (error code 0110). Ran their advisor for HD DVD. Says green for everything except:

yellow- CPU... it's a freaking Q6600 (12 minutes old)

yellow- CPU-hardware acceleration- no hdwr decoder (using ASUS mb P5E VM HDMI w/o video card for now)

red- Video Connection Type: Digital (w/o HDCP)

BTW, everything in my HT is now HDMI cabled.

YIKES!!!

Do you guys remember a time when the quality was lower but everything worked?

BTW2 One of the best things I did recently was to buy an OPPO 980H dvd player so we can actually WATCH movies on the weekend.

Vladd, simple enough, save worked. BUT, not impressed yet. Tried three disks.

1. Played my old version of the Eagles Farewell Tour DVD and the HD DVD version and I'm hard pressed to tell the difference. I know the audio is DTS 5.1 on both. (20-30% CPU usage)

2. Bourne Ultimatum doesn't even play. I get a dialog box saying "A critical component of the player requires periodic updates". It's eleven minutes old!!!! Also while the disk is in the rest of the functions in the PDVD UI don't work. Three finger salute worked though. (does have DD True HD)

3. Tried BEOWULF. This DB says "Fail to enable HDCP... (error code 0110). Ran their advisor for HD DVD. Says green for everything except:

yellow- CPU... it's a freaking Q6600 (12 minutes old)

yellow- CPU-hardware acceleration- no hdwr decoder (using ASUS mb P5E VM HDMI w/o video card for now)

red- Video Connection Type: Digital (w/o HDCP)

BTW, everything in my HT is now HDMI cabled.

YIKES!!!

Do you guys remember a time when the quality was lower but everything worked?

BTW2 One of the best things I did recently was to buy an OPPO 980H dvd player so we can actually WATCH movies on the weekend.

Make sure you download the latest advisor if you care. I used to fail this test with a similar config and I pass on the new advisor.

I am running OEM version ...for some reason I cannot see the display device tab to enable display on secondary device see help file

I have the projector as secondary so want it to play there?



Click on Configuration , select the Video tab, click Advanced..., and then select the Display Device tab.

In the Preferred Display Device section, select whether you want to use your Single/primary device or Secondary device as your main movie viewing device.

If you select Secondary device, click select the 4:3 aspect ratio or 16:9 aspect ratio option to specify your screen's resolution. Usually, the default will suffice. If the default does not match your output device, select an option from the Others drop-down box.

Click OK when you are finished.

I have an AMD 5600+ with 2GB DDRII-800 and the stuttering on RE3 makes it unwatchable. This happens on other BD movies with TrueHD. If I switch to a DD+ track, no stuttering. RE3 only has a TrueHD track so that was not an option. Interestingly, I don't have the problem with HD DVD/TrueHD.

for some reason that problem goes away, or gets grealy lessened for me if i run AnyDVD HD in the background. Perhaps it will help for you, although so far it seems like only me, but your issue sounds 100% exactly like mine and some other people's might not quite.

I actually just deleted a "repeat" question mistaking it for another board, but since it was not answered, please bear with a duplicate question:

I can play BluRay/HD-DVD, but I'm *stuck* on the NV24 FourCC code (PureVideo HD on WHQL 169.25 8600GT.) Nothing I do in either the NVidia nor PowerDVD settings seem to have any effect (e.g. "Hardware Acceleration" re-enables and all color settings have no effect....) DXVAChecker is showing identical GUIDS for processor devices for each of the FourCC codes. Is it possible that my DirectShow filters are messed up from my DirectX SDK monkeying or is this by design? (Unfortunately I cannot GraphEdit a BluRay and I'm on Vista, thus limiting update/repair options for DirectX 10)

(Sorry for the repeat question, but I have been searching in vain for an answer to this for a while now!) Thanks a lot in advance!

Nope that is normal. I can't turn off Hardware Accerlation either with my 8800 GT. When I asked PowerDVD-Support about this they told me it can't be changed in the newer version because it's a default setting. It sucks big time.

Anyone else getting stutter in 47.952 or 48.000 Hz?

I can get perfectly smooth playback at 23.976 Hz but not any of the above.

Using 780G onboard with HA enabled.

Just got Elton 60, PDVD says it has LPCM at 4.6Mbps? HighDefDigest etc say it has 24-bit PCM... is PowerDVD reading the bitrate properly? Eitherway, can't complain about the sound :cool:

Anyone else getting stutter in 47.952 or 48.000 Hz?

I can get perfectly smooth playback at 23.976 Hz but not any of the above.

Using 780G onboard with HA enabled.

Have you tried Reclock? If 23.976 is working, why not just use that?

I am running OEM version ...for some reason I cannot see the display device tab to enable display on secondary device see help file

I have the projector as secondary so want it to play there?

In my version of PDVD 7.3319OEM, dual display configuration is greyed out, but I never use it. I change the display configuration under control panel/display in XP. PDVD is very picky about dual displays as I haven't been able to use two displays even under clone mode with Nvidia. And it mentions under help that dual display is disabled for HD viewing just like taking snapshots of the movie with software.
With earlier movies I could just drag the PDVD screen to my second display - a projector - and start play and expand to full screen. With newer movies, I must make the projector the primary display under control panel/display. Then start PDVD and the movie. On a side note, ensure your audio settings on your sound card matches the output of PDVD. I have experienced crashes when audio is not aligned. Remember to revert before shutting down. Use of Anydvd HD may bypass the above.

Which is faster?

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 Yorkfield 2.5GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor: Retail (includes heat sink/cooling fan) for $299.99 from NewEgg

or

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor: Retail (includes heat sink/cooling fan) for $209.99 from NewEgg

Both are 45nm process.

Thanks,
Peter

Thanks for the response Cap.T! ...I should not complain, everything looks and runs perfectly. (Purevideo HD must be working since my processor is running at 3% or so.)

Plus I turned off "PC Mode" on the hdmi input on my plasma and can still set it to not overscan (i.e. I now have many display options on the tv itself.)

Oh and I run three monitors including the plasma. I don't even attempt dual-view for HD...heck consider yourself lucky if it works with a single monitor! I use this program called "Ultramon" which allows me to set a hotkey to immediately switch my configuration to plasma-only.

As far as reclocking, the plasma is running fine on 60mhz, but I want to play with reclocking (my plasma can run at 72mhz)

In my version of PDVD 7.3319OEM, dual display configuration is greyed out, but I never use it. I change the display configuration under control panel/display in XP. PDVD is very picky about dual displays as I haven't been able to use two displays even under clone mode with Nvidia. And it mentions under help that dual display is disabled for HD viewing just like taking snapshots of the movie with software.
With earlier movies I could just drag the PDVD screen to my second display - a projector - and start play and expand to full screen. With newer movies, I must make the projector the primary display under control panel/display. Then start PDVD and the movie. On a side note, ensure your audio settings on your sound card matches the output of PDVD. I have experienced crashes when audio is not aligned. Remember to revert before shutting down. Use of Anydvd HD may bypass the above.

Thanks for the response I use the secondary display and it works fine just wanted pdvd to start on that secondary display...used girder to shift window it works some times hence though I could use the pdvd to send it there more reliably. Might make projector primary and make a hot key to switch it back and forth.

So if I start and drag it to secondary ie projector it works. But I do not have any later titles.

Not sure what you mean on the audio front... I use reclock and spif out ... that works ok using 23.962 or what ever for Bluray. Also I have Anydvd hd.

I could just switch to primary using girder....in the end this software is a little weak in this area.