PowerDVD Ultra (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray)

[hryuk]

Which 4617 patch broke playback without anydvd, the oem or the retail? The oem would display "HD+BD 6CH" and the retail would display "Deluxe".

Same story with 4617 OEM on ATI 4850 - "Fail to enable HDCP" message after a few seconds of playback. Rolling back to an older version takes care of the problem, but makes some disks not playable.

I am also observing this cryptic message in the System event log:

ati2mtag 52240
CPLIB :: Command - Failed MAC verification

I sent an email to ATI about this and they told me that my motherboard drivers are misconfigured, which I don't buy.

[originalsnuffy]

Since my "instance" of powerDVD is stable...and I have not bought any discs in a while, forgive me for not being up to date.

I am contemplating buying a blu ray drive for the HTPC (currently uses the xbox 360 hd dvd drive).

Can I have a dual install of powerDVD? The idea is to leave the current version alone for hd playback. The second would be an updated version for BD playback purposes. If you can install it twice, how do you do it so that the installation does not over-write the other version?

Thanks.

[vladd]

You can't have a dual install unless you have PDVD7 and purchase the full PDVD8.

[Tinker]

There use to be a Powerdvd switcher program (Switcher.exe) that let you switch two installed versions. But can't seem to find it anymore.

Stop using it after I converted to using ISO's from HDDs.

[nosurrender]

Hello!

I have got a problem using PDVD 7 and 8 (newest patches) with SPDIF-output.
No matter what I choose in the options tab (DTS-Mixing, AC3-Mixing, no Mixing at all), I don't get any sound output.
The funny thing is that it works without a problem when I use Arcsoft TMT (DTS 1536kbit/s is being outputted).
Is there a special trick I have to use in order to get SPDIF-output with PDVD?
Thanks in advance!

Regards, nosurrender

[720p]

nosurrender,

I've lost dd/dts on pdvd & arcsoft if that's any consolation:D

[nosurrender]

Unfortunately that's no consolation at all.;)
In my case Arcsoft is working just fine, it's only PDVD which is making issues...

Regards, nosurrender

[jruser]

The retail patch from post 7478 has one side effect.

If you install the full version you get when you buy the program, you have to enter your serial before you can use the program.

If you install the full version, and then install this patch, it seems that you never have to enter a serial or activate. In the past, the patches have required the currently installed version to be activated. Most of the past patches however did not uninstall the entire program and install from scratch.

[JustABDFan]

The retail patch from post 7478 has one side effect.

If you install the full version you get when you buy the program, you have to enter your serial before you can use the program.

If you install the full version, and then install this patch, it seems that you never have to enter a serial or activate. In the past, the patches have required the currently installed version to be activated. Most of the past patches however did not uninstall the entire program and install from scratch.

That patch is supposed to be for retail versions, but it does not seem to have the proper checks to prevent installation on top of an oem build, this is the flaw that is being utilized to gain use of the equivalent of a retail build. license wise, oem users should use the oem 4617 patch posted first, as LG did not provide a full retail version bundled with their drives BUT people will do what they choose, and some have chosen to exploit the flaw to their benefit.

[warre1]

That patch is supposed to be for retail versions, but it does not seem to have the proper checks to prevent installation on top of an oem build, this is the flaw that is being utilized to gain use of the equivalent of a retail build. license wise, oem users should use the oem 4617 patch posted first, as LG did not provide a full retail version bundled with their drives BUT people will do what they choose, and some have chosen to exploit the flaw to their benefit.

On the other hand that may not be mistake since Powerdvd ultra 7.3 retail is not on sale anymore.

[kowal]

I am having the same problem with power dvd8 ultra and radeon 4670

After playing a few seconds of low(?) resolution logo intro, it stops and says to switch to VGA display due to HDCP issues.

Running Cyberlink BD advisor gives a grey (not red) indication for the ATI 3650, indicating it is unknown. Everything else is ok, including the ATI driver.

I believe the HD 3650 should be HDCP capable, it was released only 2 months ago.

[none74]

One more note about installation. You can go from original OEM to most up to date NON oem, without going to the 6 channel sound version, then back to get 6 channel sound, then forward again to the non-oem version... In other words, if you don't do the installs in order, no worries, just go back for the 6 channel sound...

[Kolibri]

I am having the same problem with power dvd8 ultra and radeon 4670
Interesting. Which OS are you running by the way? I am running WinXP Pro SP3.

Currently struggling a bit with Cyberlink support, not entirely convinced at the moment they have the magic answer ... judging from the responses so far. I do see, however, that it must be somewhat chaotic handling a million questions from all sort of people with all sort of equipment.

[JustABDFan]

One more note about installation. You can go from original OEM to most up to date NON oem, without going to the 6 channel sound version, then back to get 6 channel sound, then forward again to the non-oem version... In other words, if you don't do the installs in order, no worries, just go back for the 6 channel sound...

If what jruser said is correct, you don't even need an oem installer...any powerdvd 7.3 installer would work, no key necessary. I did not purchase retail 7.3 so I don't have a key or a full installer for it to try it, but if all you need to to install any version of 7.3 and then patch in with the 4617 retail patch, they SERIOUSLY dropped the ball with that. As far as I know there isn't a trial version of 7.3 to be had, but I would love to know if you could go from a trial to a full retail with no key.

Edit: the retail version would be full 8 channel sound so you wouldn't need to go back for 6 channels when you get 8.

[warre1]

Edit: the retail version would be full 8 channel sound so you wouldn't need to go back for 6 channels when you get 8.

My version says in about box: audio output capability 8
audio decoder capability 6
and version type: OEM/RETAIL

is that now retail version? (at least used to be LG ODD OEM before this latest patch)

[--Sclaws]

I downloaded 4617 from a link a few pages back...tried running this update (currently I have retail 7.3.4407) but the installer wants to fully uninstall and reinstall PDVD. Is this what others are seeing?

[JustABDFan]

My version says in about box: audio output capability 8
audio decoder capability 6
and version type: OEM/RETAIL

is that now retail version? (at least used to be LG ODD OEM before this latest patch)

I don't think so, The oem scrolls "PowerDVD HD+BD 6CH" if you have the 6 channel oem, and "PowerDVD Deluxe" if you have retail.

4617 OEM Patch: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/BD_HD/Tov4/powerdvd/DVD080917-02/CyberLink_PowerDVD.exe
apply 4407 oem patch prior to this to have 6 channel audio

4617 Retail Patch: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/BD_HD/Tov4/powerdvd/DVD081031-09/CyberLink_PowerDVD.exe
Should have full 8 channel audio

[JustABDFan]

I downloaded 4617 from a link a few pages back...tried running this update (currently I have retail 7.3.4407) but the installer wants to fully uninstall and reinstall PDVD. Is this what others are seeing?

That's what it looked like it did for me, If you started with retail you should end up with retail if you used the retail patch.

[warre1]

I don't think so, The oem scrolls "PowerDVD HD+BD 6CH" if you have the 6 channel oem, and "PowerDVD Deluxe" if you have retail.

4617 OEM Patch: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/BD_HD/Tov4/powerdvd/DVD080917-02/CyberLink_PowerDVD.exe
apply 4407 oem patch prior to this to have 6 channel audio

4617 Retail Patch: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/BD_HD/Tov4/powerdvd/DVD081031-09/CyberLink_PowerDVD.exe
Should have full 8 channel audio

It is then, cause it scrolls "Powerdvd Deluxe Version". (retail version has been installed in this same machine before, if that has anything to do with it)

[jnporter]

Could somebody do me a favor and post the file size of the 4617 Retail and the size of the 4617 LG OEM patches? I have it as retail @ 102 MB and LG OEM @ 83.1 MB. I have both versions on different machines and don't want to hose both my PDVD 7.3 installs. Thanks very much!

[jruser]

Could somebody do me a favor and post the file size of the 4617 Retail and the size of the 4617 LG OEM patches? I have it as retail @ 102 MB and LG OEM @ 83.1 MB. I have both versions on different machines and don't want to hose both my PDVD 7.3 installs. Thanks very much!

You have it backwards.

[Kolibri]

Currently struggling a bit with Cyberlink support, not entirely convinced at the moment they have the magic answer ... judging from the responses so far.
Answering my own question on this PDVD and HDCP issue, haven't really got any help from Cyberlink yet, although they are very quick in replying I must say.

I am running PDVD 7.3 Ultra OEM that came with my LG BD/HD-DVD drive. When starting PDVD the first time, a window close to the taskbar pops up with a LG logo saying critical updates should be installed. Originally I did this in good faith. Not anymore.

I uninstalled PDVD and reinstalled the same OEM version. This time I have rejected all requests for upgrade, and now BD playback works as it should with the ATI HD 4650 graphic card. Which is still marked as "Unknown" by BD advisor.

I see there have been some notes about LG-ODD OEM upgrades available from Cyberlink. I tried installing it, but it complained that I needed a retail version which I don't have. It messed up my original installation, requesting a key (of diffferent length compared to the one shown by my OEM version during its installation). Had to uninstall/reinstall again. I haven't investigated it further, I am sort of happy that I can actually do BD playback.

Only stereo headspeakers and SPDIF usage at the moment. I have a feeling there is more fun ahead when trying to get this to work with surround over HDMI...

[--Sclaws]

Just updated to 4617 on Vista 32-bit...PDVD now thinks my 3870 is non-HDCP compliant. Tried to play the BD of 'Futurama - Bender's Game' with AnyDVD disabled and got the warning about non-compliance. Drivers are the 8.10 cats.

On my other computer, same OS, same version of PDVD, but nVidia video cards (GTX 280 w/180.42 drivers), the disc plays fine!

[Knight_2000]

I was wondering if anybody here knows of a way to make PowerDvd open in a different display other than the primary. I ask about this because i run a 3 display setup where my 3rd display is my 42" Lcd and its only used for media center. The problem is when i want to play a blue ray powerdvd always opens on my display # 1 and i have to be dragging it to the 3rd display in order to watch the movie. It would be so nice if i could make powerdvd to launch wherever it was left last time.

Thanks

[JustABDFan]

Just updated to 4617 on Vista 32-bit...PDVD now thinks my 3870 is non-HDCP compliant. Tried to play the BD of 'Futurama - Bender's Game' with AnyDVD disabled and got the warning about non-compliance. Drivers are the 8.10 cats.

On my other computer, same OS, same version of PDVD, but nVidia video cards (GTX 280 w/180.42 drivers), the disc plays fine!

It looks like cyberlink broke HDCP for ati cards in the 4617 patch. Submit a trouble ticket and roll back to 4407 in the mean time.

[JustABDFan]

It is then, cause it scrolls "Powerdvd Deluxe Version". (retail version has been installed in this same machine before, if that has anything to do with it)

If its retail you should have 8 channel decode and output. How do you find that information? I want to look at what mine says. I checked the "about..." right above the exit in the context menu but it just showed me Powerdvd 7.3, the build number and copyright, the box below had some other copyright text but nothing about audio decoder or output.

[Aesculus]

4617 fixed the repeater bug for me but I cannot get any sound from the HDMI input. Also now if I select HDMI as the audio option it locks up on some of my BD disks. So for me they are making progress, but not ready yet.

[none74]

I "upgraded" to the latest PDVD7 from the OEM included with my LG drive, now it won't playback via HDMI on my brand new ASUS mobo with native HDMI output from the Nvidia 9300 chipset to my completely HDCP compliant SXRD Sony HD tv...What the f/'' is Cyberlink doing ???

[xradman]

Could somebody do me a favor and post the file size of the 4617 Retail and the size of the 4617 LG OEM patches? I have it as retail @ 102 MB and LG OEM @ 83.1 MB. I have both versions on different machines and don't want to hose both my PDVD 7.3 installs. Thanks very much!

You have it backwards.

Why would the OEM patch be bigger than the full retail package?

[warre1]

If its retail you should have 8 channel decode and output. How do you find that information? I want to look at what mine says. I checked the "about..." right above the exit in the context menu but it just showed me Powerdvd 7.3, the build number and copyright, the box below had some other copyright text but nothing about audio decoder or output.
you must click your name in about box for this information to show.

[grendel19]

Have a strange audio bitrate issue, hopefully someone here can help. I have Powerdvd 8 Ultra installed with the latest patch, along with Reloaded 3.0 (thanks MKANET). Setup is XFX Geforce 8200, AMD 4850e, 2GB ram. Nvidia HDMI driver 1.0.0.23. Last WHQL Nvidia Geforce driver (not the 180.xx betas). HDMI out to Onkyo 605. AnyDVD is installed, not the latest version though.

Was playing Bourne Identity HD DVD over the weekend with the LG GGC. The bitrate shown in the information display of Powerdvd says DDPlus 5.1 256kps. I know the DDPlus track should be 1.5mps.

Audio is outputted via HDMI (or custom stretch with Reloaded 3.0) and PCM Output.

Any ideas? I had the same problem with Transformers HD DVD also before.

[PC Vidman]

Thanks to all who have posted info and links. I have updated from LG oem to 4470 to 4617 and am able to play BD "The Recruit" with DD 5.1 (my speaker set up is 5.1 so I don't need more than that) from either disc in drive or AntDVDHD rip to ISO (via Virtual Clone Drive). This will serve my needs. FYI audio and video via Radeon 4670 HDMI, Vista 32 bit.

[billqs]

PC- Which version of the patch did you use? Was your ATI card dropped from the HDCP compliant list with the 4617 patch?

[frg]

Have a strange audio bitrate issue, hopefully someone here can help. I have Powerdvd 8 Ultra installed with the latest patch, along with Reloaded 3.0 (thanks MKANET). Setup is XFX Geforce 8200, AMD 4850e, 2GB ram. Nvidia HDMI driver 1.0.0.23. Last WHQL Nvidia Geforce driver (not the 180.xx betas). HDMI out to Onkyo 605. AnyDVD is installed, not the latest version though.

Was playing Bourne Identity HD DVD over the weekend with the LG GGC. The bitrate shown in the information display of Powerdvd says DDPlus 5.1 256kps. I know the DDPlus track should be 1.5mps.

Audio is outputted via HDMI (or custom stretch with Reloaded 3.0) and PCM Output.

Any ideas? I had the same problem with Transformers HD DVD also before.
Don't worry, the actual bitrate is still there, as well as the quality! ;)

The problem lies within the few last versions of PowerDVD 7, that are unable to display the correct bitrate with DD+ tracks.

And Cyberlink doesn't seem to be in any hurry to correct this bug.
After all HD DVD is officially dead... :D

[stranx44]

For everyone who experiences similar issues, you need to update Virtual Clone Drive to the latest edition for .iso's to still work perfectly...

This version of PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra is PERFECT for me, it has BOTH HD DVD and BD support, plays iso's, and will still play back .m2ts files if you want to do it that way from a BD folder(instead of converting to iso....for time reasons...).

I've tried discs with DTS-HD-Master audio, and I get 6 channel analog output, as well as Uncompressed 5.1 channel and True HD, everything seems to be working the way it should have a year ago when they started selling this program !

Are you saying if you play the bare .m2ts files, you will be able to hear DTS-HD audio, since it think its embedded in the .mpls descriptor? I know it doesn't work in 4407 build.

[vladd]

Are you saying if you play the bare .m2ts files, you will be able to hear DTS-HD audio, since it think its embedded in the .mpls descriptor? I know it doesn't work in 4407 build.No you won't. You will hear the DTS Core but not the DTS-HD.

[Dr.2K]

Sorry but I have not been keeping up with powerdvd updates and feature, but my question is does the current version of powerdvd still unable to play ripped BD movies from a hard drive?

[bk1987]

Sorry but I have not been keeping up with powerdvd updates and feature, but my question is does the current version of powerdvd still unable to play ripped BD movies from a hard drive?

its been a long time since pwr dvd was able to play files from the hdd i think 3319a was the last version but all you need to do is convert the files to iso and mount them with daemon tools or virtual clone drive both free, you could use imageburn to create the iso, and if you have AnyDVD HD, it will create the iso's if you choose

[PC Vidman]

PC- Which version of the patch did you use? Was your ATI card dropped from the HDCP compliant list with the 4617 patch?

4617 Retail Patch: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload...k_PowerDVD.exe

Don't know the answer to the list question.

[Dr.2K]

its been a long time since pwr dvd was able to play files from the hdd i think 3319a was the last version but all you need to do is convert the files to iso and mount them with daemon tools or virtual clone drive both free, you could use imageburn to create the iso, and if you have AnyDVD HD, it will create the iso's if you choose

Yes, I know this and I still use the older version for HDD backup and replay. But was just wondering if powerdvd finally came around and made it so BD was playable again on their newest releases. But I think I will give the ISO option a try again. Which seems to be a better player now, still powerdvd or arcsoft?

[bk1987]

Yes, I know this and I still use the older version for HDD backup and replay. But was just wondering if powerdvd finally came around and made it so BD was playable again on their newest releases. But I think I will give the ISO option a try again. Which seems to be a better player now, still powerdvd or arcsoft?

for me pwr dvd is better i could never get arcsoft to work correctly, right now i like wmp i play the .m2ts files after remuxing the disk to extract just the main movie using tsMuxer or TsRemux

[Hoober]

Has anyone gotten the latest PowerDVD 8 Ultra build to play HD-DVD with the hack? I upgraded, installed the requisite files, but I get a crash to desktop when trying to play an HD-DVD disk.

[Tonvanrijn]

Seeing how long this thread has already grown I didn't find the courage to read it all through, so I apologize if this has already been asked.
I have PDVD 7.3 Ultra, the version that stills plays from the hdd, alongside 8. For some reason, don't ask me why, I uninstalled 7.3 and found that I couldn't reinstall it anymore. When I run the setup it looks like it is installed, but nothing has happened in reality. There is no folder etc.
Luckily I had made a complete system backup a few days ago with Ghost, so I could restore everything, but I wonder why I am not able to reinstall 7.3 again after uninstalling.
Does anybody know ?
Thanks in advance.

[Laserfan]

For some reason, don't ask me why, I uninstalled 7.3 and found that I couldn't reinstall it anymore.Clearly it failed to completely un-install; probably registry entries left behind. Be thankful you have a backup to restore from. And if you use Windows, you should also leave System Restore enabled! I resisted it for a long time for the hdd space it took up, but for the last year or so I've been running it and it's saved my behind more than a couple of times.

[xzener]

I just recently had the same issue. I rebooted and it installed fine.

Good luck.

[Xavier]

Has anyone gotten the latest PowerDVD 8 Ultra build to play HD-DVD with the hack? I upgraded, installed the requisite files, but I get a crash to desktop when trying to play an HD-DVD disk.

Power DVD 8 Ultra does not support HDDVD which is why I am sticking with PowerDVD 7 Ultra. Today for some unknown reason the audio is not working on it with the nVidia 9300 motherboard!

[xradman]

I have the LG OEM version of PowerDVD 7.3 from LG GGC-H20L that I have upgraded to 4407. I tried the 4617 patch in the above links, and the retail version now ask for activation number and OEM version says it needs full retail version in order to upgrade. Where do you get an activation number?

[xradman]

PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra (4407) with the latest version of AnyDVD HD will not play TF1 Region B version of Kill Bill: Volume I. It gets stuck at the menu with no way of selecting the main feature or jumping to the appropriate title.

Is there a thread to report movies that PowerDVD has a problem with?

[Aesculus]

PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra (4407) with the latest version of AnyDVD HD will not play TF1 Region B version of Kill Bill: Volume I. It gets stuck at the menu with no way of selecting the main feature or jumping to the appropriate title.

Is there a thread to report movies that PowerDVD has a problem with?

I have the same problem with the NA region (A?) of 5th Element and Iron Man using HDMI. If I am using SPDIF, all is OK. Have not tried others. This is with 4617. Could not even get this far with 4407 on HDMI with the repeater bug.

[sleater]

4617 broke my HDCP compliance with ati 4850 as well.

Anyone find a solution other than reverting to 4407 or earlier?

It'd be nice to have a more competant bluray+hd dvd solution on htpc.

[Aesculus]

4617 broke my HDCP compliance with ati 4850 as well.

Anyone find a solution other than reverting to 4407 or earlier?

It'd be nice to have a more competant bluray+hd dvd solution on htpc.
FWIW I just updated my audio, display and INF files for my G35 mobo and all is working for me with 4617. Now if I could only get DD HD formats to work, I would be done with BD and PDVD.

[JustABDFan]

I have the LG OEM version of PowerDVD 7.3 from LG GGC-H20L that I have upgraded to 4407. I tried the 4617 patch in the above links, and the retail version now ask for activation number and OEM version says it needs full retail version in order to upgrade. Where do you get an activation number?

You may need to uninstall completely then install from the cd, update to oem 4407 then oem 4617 to get it working. The oem serial number is automatically put in when you install it from the cd.

They may have fixed the 4617 patches so they only work on the versions they were intended for. I will redownload the patches and md5 check them against the ones I downloaded before. It wouldn't be the first time, there were about 4 "2021" patches for powerdvd 8.

[Kolibri]

4617 broke my HDCP compliance with ati 4850 as well.

Anyone find a solution other than reverting to 4407 or earlier?

It'd be nice to have a more competant bluray+hd dvd solution on htpc.

Please see my post 7492 with comments on this issue. It may be of relevance to your problem. The post also refers to another post with a link to 4407 patches. Not sure that the 4407 (BD+HD) patch works though, I believe I tried that way back without resolving anything. Turned out Cyberlink instructions also were to use the BD only patch.

[xradman]

You may need to uninstall completely then install from the cd, update to oem 4407 then oem 4617 to get it working. The oem serial number is automatically put in when you install it from the cd.

They may have fixed the 4617 patches so they only work on the versions they were intended for. I will redownload the patches and md5 check them against the ones I downloaded before. It wouldn't be the first time, there were about 4 "2021" patches for powerdvd 8.

I had to do that couple times before realizing that 4617 patch wasn't going to work. If you find that the 4617 patch has been changed, I would appreciate it if you could post your version. Thanks.

[gsr]

You may need to uninstall completely then install from the cd, update to oem 4407 then oem 4617 to get it working. The oem serial number is automatically put in when you install it from the cd.
Would anyone happen to have a link to the oem 4407 patch?

[Kolibri]

Would anyone happen to have a link to the oem 4407 patch?

See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=15039416&postcount=7483; that would be for PDVD 7.3. You should probably select the BD build (if for LG OEM).

[RGBlues]

I have PDVD-7.3 Ultra, 3319a on my HTPC. I can play all movies with no issues. What are the advantages of upgrading to the 4407 patch? Is the picture or sound any better. I am running 2ch audio.

Also what does PDVD-8 Ultra offer over PDVD-7.3 Ultra?

TIA.:cool:

[originalsnuffy]

My new LG drive comes with a version of PowerDVD; I assume its 8.x.

I am afraid to load the DVD unless I can verify a key point....

If I install 8.x; will it over-write my 7.x stable version? Is there some kind of trick I need to know about for a dual install?

Thanks.

[gsr]

See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=15039416&postcount=7483; that would be for PDVD 7.3. You should probably select the BD build (if for LG OEM).
Thanks for that. I have both a retail license and a pair of OEM licenses (I bought 2 of the LG drives). My drives are GGC-H20L's, so I'll want the BD+HD version. I downloaded both LG and the retail versions so I'll have whatever I need.

[JustABDFan]

I had to do that couple times before realizing that 4617 patch wasn't going to work. If you find that the 4617 patch has been changed, I would appreciate it if you could post your version. Thanks.

I checked both patches and the md5 sums are the same as the files I downloaded last week. I'm at a loss to understand why the patch behaves differently on your system.

[JustABDFan]

My new LG drive comes with a version of PowerDVD; I assume its 8.x.

I am afraid to load the DVD unless I can verify a key point....

If I install 8.x; will it over-write my 7.x stable version? Is there some kind of trick I need to know about for a dual install?

Thanks.

8 should install in a different directory than 7 as others have had them both installed at the same time. You may have an issue with both versions trying to load when you put a disc in though, not sure how autoplay would work with both installed at the same time.

[jdubbs23]

I have the latest version of PowerDVD Ultra (2217 update) and recently bought Incredible Hulk (Blu-Ray). The disc plays fine, but I am like many here that enjoys the convenience of archive and backing up my discs. The backup appears to go fine (have done it 3 times), loads with my Virtual Clone drive, and PowerDVD starts up and takes me to main menu of the movie.

At this point I can click Play, and the menu screen goes away and then PowerDVD crashes, with Vista reporting that "PowerDVD has stopped working."

I haven't seen any problems in my limited research regarding PowerDVD and this movie, nor any problems with AnyDVD and this movie.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

[sleater]

Please see my post 7492 with comments on this issue. It may be of relevance to your problem. The post also refers to another post with a link to 4407 patches. Not sure that the 4407 (BD+HD) patch works though, I believe I tried that way back without resolving anything. Turned out Cyberlink instructions also were to use the BD only patch.

Thanks for that. I downgraded back to 4407 and all is well for the time being. Does anyone know what specific BD titles 4407 does not support and 4617 does? I will be waiting for the next 'patch' that hopefully recognizes the newer ati cards are actually hdcp compliant.

[originalsnuffy]

Just ABDFan;

Thanks for your post. That does raise the question...how does one turn off autoplay in PowerDVD?

[jmonier]

That does raise the question...how does one turn off autoplay in PowerDVD?

It's under Player/Advanced/File Association near the bottom.

[stranx44]

Upgraded to 4617 patch and seem to be having some audio sync issues (slightly off phase to video). I never had this before in 4407, so was wondering if anyone else was experiencing this?

[originalsnuffy]

Turns out that PowerDVD 7.3 does not show some of the file association menus under Vista, at least with my version. Fortunately, there is a control panel that makes fairly straight forward to change associations. I just turned the associations off. Then of course, I discovered that my new hard drive came with 7.3, not 8.0 as I was assuming! So this discussion was not fully relevant anyway.

[L33Tz06]

Upgraded to 4617 patch and seem to be having some audio sync issues (slightly off phase to video). I never had this before in 4407, so was wondering if anyone else was experiencing this?

Same here. Skipping chapters seems to reset it though.

[Wapkaplet]

Not sure if I should post this as it's own topic but here goes:

I've got Zoom Player 6 and PowerDVD 7.3 loaded on my system. In that configuration I can go into Zoom Player's Smart Play feature and select the filter I want to use to decode h264 content. Then, when a file is playing I can look at the filters and see that it's using Cyberlink PowerDVD7 or ffdshow or CoreAVC.

Installing PowerDVD 8 kills this functionality. Once it's installed, I can go into smart play and select filters. I can even select the PowerDVD 8 filter, as Zoom Player recognizes it as registered on the system. However, when I play a video file, the player always reverts to ffdshow, no matter which filter I select.

Uninstalling PowerDVD 8 resolves this issue, and allows me to once again pick and choose between all available filters.

Any thoughts?

[jmonier]

Not sure if I should post this as it's own topic but here goes:

I've got Zoom Player 6 and PowerDVD 7.3 loaded on my system. In that configuration I can go into Zoom Player's Smart Play feature and select the filter I want to use to decode h264 content. Then, when a file is playing I can look at the filters and see that it's using Cyberlink PowerDVD7 or ffdshow or CoreAVC.

Installing PowerDVD 8 kills this functionality. Once it's installed, I can go into smart play and select filters. I can even select the PowerDVD 8 filter, as Zoom Player recognizes it as registered on the system. However, when I play a video file, the player always reverts to ffdshow, no matter which filter I select.

Uninstalling PowerDVD 8 resolves this issue, and allows me to once again pick and choose between all available filters.

Any thoughts?

That's certainly strange. I have PDVD8 installed alongside ZP and I get whatever filter I have selected (and I use the PDVD8 filter for AVC files in ZP).

Unfortunately, I have no idea what might be different in your setup. You might try the Inmatrix ZP forum.

[Ludvig]

Upgraded to 4617 patch and seem to be having some audio sync issues (slightly off phase to video). I never had this before in 4407, so was wondering if anyone else was experiencing this?

Same here. Skipping chapters seems to reset it though.

On wich titles,please ?

[stranx44]

On wich titles,please ?

This was on Hancock, but any titles would happen. After further debug, it was corrected by reinstalling my nVidia 9300 HMDI audio drivers.

[Donnacha]

Not sure if I should post this as it's own topic but here goes:

I've got Zoom Player 6 and PowerDVD 7.3 loaded on my system. In that configuration I can go into Zoom Player's Smart Play feature and select the filter I want to use to decode h264 content. Then, when a file is playing I can look at the filters and see that it's using Cyberlink PowerDVD7 or ffdshow or CoreAVC.

Installing PowerDVD 8 kills this functionality. Once it's installed, I can go into smart play and select filters. I can even select the PowerDVD 8 filter, as Zoom Player recognizes it as registered on the system. However, when I play a video file, the player always reverts to ffdshow, no matter which filter I select.

Uninstalling PowerDVD 8 resolves this issue, and allows me to once again pick and choose between all available filters.

Any thoughts?

Do you have PDVD 7.3 and PDVD 8 installed at the same time? I don't think the latest versions can live with each other on the same machine. I could be wrong! Maybe that is causing the problem?

[Wapkaplet]

Do you have PDVD 7.3 and PDVD 8 installed at the same time? I don't think the latest versions can live with each other on the same machine. I could be wrong! Maybe that is causing the problem?
Nope, uninstalling PowerDVD 7 (prior to PowerDVD 8 installation) did nothing to resolve the problem.

[JustABDFan]

Thanks for that. I downgraded back to 4407 and all is well for the time being. Does anyone know what specific BD titles 4407 does not support and 4617 does? I will be waiting for the next 'patch' that hopefully recognizes the newer ati cards are actually hdcp compliant.

I think the recent Fox releases that have the new variation of BD+. Futurama: Bender's Game, Space chimps, Meet Dave, X-files, and a few others. All the other recent releases should work unless theres' a new MKB that 4407 doesn't have a certificate for.

As for the ATI hdcp problem, all we can do is file a support ticket and hope enough people do to make Cyberlink notice and fix it. I use an nvidia card so I haven't had the issue and i hope (crosses fingers) when Cyberlink does fix the ati issue it won't break hdcp on nvidia cards.

[HT Slider]

Last night my wife and I tried to watch a Bluray movie for the first time in over a month and discovered PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra now locks up whenever trying to play a movie with a DD5.1 sound track (we first tried to watch Get Smart). We've been using PowerDVD, with exactly the same settings and version for many months without any problems so this must be triggered by some other update, unrelated to PowerDVD (even though it could still easily be a bug in PowerDVD).

After upgrading from 4102 to 4407 to 4617 and finding all have the same problem, I finally (after my wife had given up and gone to bed) discovered if I selected 6-channel audio (in PowerDVD), instead of SPDIF, that PowerDVD is able to play these movies again - except with slightly reduced audio quality (now using DTS Connect to encode into DTS for our Yamaha A/V receiver to decode, instead of simply passing the original DD5.1 audio stream out the SPDIF port).

Searching the web I discovered I am not alone, except there has been no comments (that I found) in this main PowerDVD thread about this problem. Here is one thread discussing the issue: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1087065

Can anyone shed some light on this issue? Is it caused by a Vista update (there have been quite a few updates auto-installed)? Is it caused by the new Realtek/Gigabyte audio driver (2.00; I was running 1.97 when PowerDVD last worked)? Is it caused by the new Catalyst driver (8.11; I was running 8.09 when it last worked)?

The other annoying piece to this puzzle is SPDIF pass through still works flawlessly with all of the other applications we use. We use Media Center to watch HD recordings with DD5.1 audio every day without issue (the DD5.1 sound track is output directly through SPDIF). Media Player also outputs DD5.1 over the SPDIF port properly.

[HT Slider]

Another issue that I've always had with PowerDVD Ultra is whenever a protected HD movie is played, Vista's Aero mode gets temporarily turned off.

I had always assumed there was some sort of incompatibility with PowerDVD and Vista that would be fixed in a PowerDVD update, but have recently been told that at least some people do not experience this with the PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra that we are running. Even with the very latest patch installed (4617), this problem occurs on my HTPC.

Last night I tried to figure out a way to install PowerDVD cleanly with a newer version, but everything I tried failed. The only way I can install it is by first installing the Cyberlink HD Pack (with the license) and then updating PowerDVD to the latest version.

Does PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra break/disable Vista Aero on everyone's installation?

[vladd]

Another issue that I've always had with PowerDVD Ultra is whenever a protected HD movie is played, Vista's Aero mode gets temporarily turned off.

I had always assumed there was some sort of incompatibility with PowerDVD and Vista that would be fixed in a PowerDVD update, but have recently been told that at least some people do not experience this with the PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra that we are running. Even with the very latest patch installed (4617), this problem occurs on my HTPC.

Last night I tried to figure out a way to install PowerDVD cleanly with a newer version, but everything I tried failed. The only way I can install it is by first installing the Cyberlink HD Pack (with the license) and then updating PowerDVD to the latest version.

Does PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra break/disable Vista Aero on everyone's installation?You can force PDVD to play nice with Aero: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14803596#post14803596

[HT Slider]

You can force PDVD to play nice with Aero: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14803596#post14803596

Does that work with PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra? The posts specifically talk about PowerDVD 8.0.

[vladd]

Yes, it works. The registry key is under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Cyberlink\PowerDVD instead of HKLM\SOFTWARE\Cyberlink\PowerDVD8 though.

[ES_Revenge]

Anyone having problem downloading updates from Cyberlink?

I haven't updated my PDVD in a while and I tried playing a copy of The Incredible Hulk recently and it just freezes up when trying to play it. (No other movies I have do this.)

So I decided to update it to the 4407 shown on the website here:
http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_en_US.html
thinking that would help...

But clicking on the download button (which takes you to http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/support/download/download.do ) just takes me to an "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" error.

I've been trying for weeks, it never works :confused: Is there anywhere else to download the update? This is getting stupid. I hate Cyberlink! :mad:

Edit: nm I kept trying and it finally worked!

[billqs]

Does anyone know if the ATI HDCP error in 4617 extends to the 3x00 series? I have read the forum and realize the 4x00 series is affected. So far I've not had anything refuse to play. I played Iron Man perfectly the other day (using AnyDVDHD in the background).

Thanks

[HT Slider]

Last night my wife and I tried to watch a Bluray movie for the first time in over a month and discovered PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra now locks up whenever trying to play a movie with a DD5.1 sound track (we first tried to watch Get Smart). We've been using PowerDVD, with exactly the same settings and version for many months without any problems so this must be triggered by some other update, unrelated to PowerDVD (even though it could still easily be a bug in PowerDVD).

After upgrading from 4102 to 4407 to 4617 and finding all have the same problem, I finally (after my wife had given up and gone to bed) discovered if I selected 6-channel audio (in PowerDVD), instead of SPDIF, that PowerDVD is able to play these movies again - except with slightly reduced audio quality (now using DTS Connect to encode into DTS for our Yamaha A/V receiver to decode, instead of simply passing the original DD5.1 audio stream out the SPDIF port).

Searching the web I discovered I am not alone, except there has been no comments (that I found) in this main PowerDVD thread about this problem. Here is one thread discussing the issue: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1087065

I now have PowerDVD 7.3 Ultra version 4617 working perfectly and I thought I'd share what I discovered.


The Realtek/Gigabyte audio driver version 2.00 for my motherboard (Gigabyte P35-DS4) will not work with PowerDVD configured to use SPDIF. PowerDVD locks up whenever it attempts to output DD5.1 over SPDIF. Downgrading to Realtek 1.97 or upgrading to Realtek 2.09 resolves this issue. I am now running 2.09 (the generic Realtek driver, not the Gigabyte version as it is currently only available at version 2.00).
Once I got that resolved, I discovered that during playback of certain VC-1 encoded Bluray movies (Get Smart for example), my ATI video driver would eventually crash, recover, crash... and eventually lead to a entire system BSOD. It turns out that this problem only occurs with Catalyst 8.11 installed. I downgraded to 8.10 and PowerDVD plays everything perfectly now.


Now that I have this working again, I'll probably give that EVR option a try...

[HT Slider]

Anyone having problem downloading updates from Cyberlink?

I haven't updated my PDVD in a while and I tried playing a copy of The Incredible Hulk recently and it just freezes up when trying to play it. (No other movies I have do this.)

So I decided to update it to the 4407 shown on the website here:
http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_en_US.html
thinking that would help...

But clicking on the download button (which takes you to http://www.cyberlink.com/prog/support/download/download.do ) just takes me to an "Internet Explorer cannot display the webpage" error.

I've been trying for weeks, it never works :confused: Is there anywhere else to download the update? This is getting stupid. I hate Cyberlink! :mad:

Edit: nm I kept trying and it finally worked!

If you want to install the very latest version of PowerDVD you can use the following web site link:

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/patch/enu/result.jsp?SR=DVD080818-02&ProductNo=DVD00021

Change the DVD080818-02 to the version you are actually running (find this by clicking on "About" and it should show up at the top of the form).

Note that whenever PowerDVD detects it cannot play a movie due to a missing Bluray or HD-DVD capability, it is this web site that you are directed to in order to get the very latest version.

As of today, the latest release is version 4617.

4407 was the previous release.

[originalsnuffy]

I am not clear on the last post; if you have PowerDVD 7.3 will you end up with a patch to end up at some revision of 7.x or 8.x? Thanks.

[Tinker]

The link to the patch updated my 4407 to 4617 for PDVD 7.3 Ultra.

ADD: 4617 breaks play back from ISO for me. I went back to 4407.

[jong1]

The link to the patch updated my 4407 to 4617 for PDVD 7.3 Ultra.

ADD: 4617 breaks play back from ISO for me. I went back to 4407.It breaks iso playback using older versions of Daemon Tools and maybe Alcohol,, where the media type is reported as "DVD".

Change to Virtual CloneDrive, which will report BDR and all is fine, even with ISOs you have already created. As you will almost certainly need to upgrade your player at some time, given the state of flux in Blu-ray disc development, now might be a good time.

[JustABDFan]

If you want to install the very latest version of PowerDVD you can use the following web site link:

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/patch/enu/result.jsp?SR=DVD080818-02&ProductNo=DVD00021

Change the DVD080818-02 to the version you are actually running (find this by clicking on "About" and it should show up at the top of the form).

Note that whenever PowerDVD detects it cannot play a movie due to a missing Bluray or HD-DVD capability, it is this web site that you are directed to in order to get the very latest version.

As of today, the latest release is version 4617.

4407 was the previous release.

Thank you for posting this link! I tried it by changing it to DVD080919-02, which is the oem 4407 patch build and it said "no update" so I put in DVD080624-01 which is the 4102b oem patch build and THEN it gave me the link to 4617 oem. A oem powerdvd user that didn't read this thread or one with a direct link wouldn't be able to get the latest update because it doesn't work from 4407, only 4102b and earlier, Its probably because for whatever reason, the 4407 oem build has a higher number than the 4617 build, so it sees no update available. It doesn't surprise me though, they've done dumber things.

BTW, thanks again to the poster of the original link to 4617 oem that I used to get it, I wouldn't have got it on my own otherwise.

Edit: OEM is ProductNo=DVD00021, Retail is ProductNo=DVD00023 according to the ureg.ini files in the patches

[Donnacha]

Right, here we go again with another PDVD issue that I just can't sort!

A week or so ago, I was using my P4 2.8, 1GB Ram, HD2600 AGP, XP SP3 PC to watch many's a bluray and HD DVD. All was well and any new BD disc I got played fine (Indy 4, Iron Man etc).

But then one day Indy 4 started to stutter constantly (I don't think I changed or updated anything). So I tried a few other discs, some play fine but others don't! It seems any BD with a Dolby TRUE HD seems to stutter (but in the case of Rambo 4, it also stutters). Now checking the graphics card it appears to be HW accelerating and the CPU usage stays around the 40 - 60% mark, so its not maxing out the PC!! .....but it stutters like hell!

HD DVDs on the other hand with TRUE HD soundtracks seem to play fine!:confused: (...what a pity BD won the war!!)

I've uninstalled and reinstalled both the GFX and Audio card drivers, but to no avail!!

Any guesses?

thanks!

[Nimo]

Right, here we go again with another PDVD issue that I just can't sort!

A week or so ago, I was using my P4 2.8, 1GB Ram, HD2600 AGP, XP SP3 PC to watch many's a bluray and HD DVD. All was well and any new BD disc I got played fine (Indy 4, Iron Man etc).

But then one day Indy 4 started to stutter constantly (I don't think I changed or updated anything). So I tried a few other discs, some play fine but others don't! It seems any BD with a Dolby TRUE HD seems to stutter (but in the case of Rambo 4, it also stutters). Now checking the graphics card it appears to be HW accelerating and the CPU usage stays around the 40 - 60% mark, so its not maxing out the PC!! .....but it stutters like hell!

HD DVDs on the other hand with TRUE HD soundtracks seem to play fine!:confused: (...what a pity BD won the war!!)

I've uninstalled and reinstalled both the GFX and Audio card drivers, but to no avail!!

Any guesses?

thanks!

Sounds like a sata cable if it's just doing it through the optical drive I would replace the cable.

[mmatheny]

Not sure if I should post this as it's own topic but here goes:

I've got Zoom Player 6 and PowerDVD 7.3 loaded on my system. In that configuration I can go into Zoom Player's Smart Play feature and select the filter I want to use to decode h264 content. Then, when a file is playing I can look at the filters and see that it's using Cyberlink PowerDVD7 or ffdshow or CoreAVC.

Installing PowerDVD 8 kills this functionality. Once it's installed, I can go into smart play and select filters. I can even select the PowerDVD 8 filter, as Zoom Player recognizes it as registered on the system. However, when I play a video file, the player always reverts to ffdshow, no matter which filter I select.

Uninstalling PowerDVD 8 resolves this issue, and allows me to once again pick and choose between all available filters.

Any thoughts?


I believe the codecs from PowerDVD8 can only be used by PowerDVD (someone on the GBPVR forum stated this)

[jmonier]

I believe the codecs from PowerDVD8 can only be used by PowerDVD (someone on the GBPVR forum stated this)

Some can be used outside PDVD and some can't. In my experience the h264 and mpg can be used (with ZP) while the VC-1 cannot.

[Donnacha]

Sounds like a sata cable if it's just doing it through the optical drive I would replace the cable.

Never thought of that one!! You think that could be a reason? Not all BDs act up, most of 'em not all! You reckon the real data heavy ones with the full on soundtracks and high bitrates could be struggling?

I'll check it out - thanks!

[Strayshot]

Right, here we go again with another PDVD issue that I just can't sort!

A week or so ago, I was using my P4 2.8, 1GB Ram, HD2600 AGP, XP SP3 PC to watch many's a bluray and HD DVD. All was well and any new BD disc I got played fine (Indy 4, Iron Man etc).

But then one day Indy 4 started to stutter constantly (I don't think I changed or updated anything). So I tried a few other discs, some play fine but others don't! It seems any BD with a Dolby TRUE HD seems to stutter (but in the case of Rambo 4, it also stutters). Now checking the graphics card it appears to be HW accelerating and the CPU usage stays around the 40 - 60% mark, so its not maxing out the PC!! .....but it stutters like hell!

HD DVDs on the other hand with TRUE HD soundtracks seem to play fine!:confused: (...what a pity BD won the war!!)

I've uninstalled and reinstalled both the GFX and Audio card drivers, but to no avail!!

Any guesses?

thanks!

What version (build) of PDVD are you using. This used to happen with the older builds of PDVD, but I haven't seen anything on it recently. The most famous discussion that recall always used RE3:Extinction as the test subject/example.

[Peter Nagy]

Build 1730 of PowerDVD Ultra 8 fixed the stuttering issue I was having from Resident Evil:Extinction. I always thought it was my wimpy 3 GHz socket 478 P4 HTPC and it still runs great.

I do not know if Cyberlink fixed it for PowerDVD Ultra 7.

See my post (June 2, 2008) from PowerDVD Ultra 8 thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=13999872&postcount=999

Peter

[Donnacha]

I was using PDVD 8 when the stuutering started (patch 1830). I uninstalled that tried PDVD 7.3 version 4407 and still no luck! I'm starting to think the SATA cable theory may be valid, because I watched Iron Man from an ISO image on my usb drive which was TRUE HD and that played fine. Also 3:10 from Yuma ISO plays fine from my HDD....and my HD DVDs play from the 360 add-on drive, whis is a USB2 connection! Put like that it could be a dodgy connection!!

[fraggermcg]

Has anyone who's got Dark Knight blu-ray early able to confirm if it works on 4407 or whether it requires an upgrade to 4617? Want to have everything read and reluctant to upgrade to 4617 as it seems to have a number of issues which weren't present in 4407. Cheers

[Wapkaplet]

I believe the codecs from PowerDVD8 can only be used by PowerDVD (someone on the GBPVR forum stated this)

Perhaps they can, perhaps they can't. My issue is that installing PowerDVD8 makes it impossible to select any codec other than ffdshow, including the PowerDVD7 codec (if it's installed) and CoreAVC.

Even if PowerDVD8 codecs can't be used outside of their parent program, they shouldn't bar the use of other third party codecs in unrelated player software. Something's screwy in my Windows installation I think...

[vladd]

I believe the codecs from PowerDVD8 can only be used by PowerDVD (someone on the GBPVR forum stated this)
They can be used outside of PowerDVD8. However, some decoding features like AC3 will only work when connected to the Cyberlink Demux.

Perhaps they can, perhaps they can't. My issue is that installing PowerDVD8 makes it impossible to select any codec other than ffdshow, including the PowerDVD7 codec (if it's installed) and CoreAVC.

Even if PowerDVD8 codecs can't be used outside of their parent program, they shouldn't bar the use of other third party codecs in unrelated player software. Something's screwy in my Windows installation I think...
Sounds more like a filter merit and ffdshow configuration issue. Try adding ZP to the list of "Don't use ffdshow in:" in the ffdshow configuration. It's located in the "Directshow control" section.

[utee05]

Last night I ran into some issues when I was trying to watch Tropic Thunder on PDVD Ultra 7.3 Build 4407. First the audio seemed off, like only 2.1 channels were working. About 40 minutes into the movie the program froze and I couldn't shut it down. I'm not sure if PDVD freezing was due to my PC or PDVD itself, but it happened 2 more times and I had to manually reset my PC. I've never had any issues with the watching blu-rays before. One thing I did notice was the AnyDVD HD was not able to properly read the disc because I have an older version of AnyDVD HD (6.4.7.9). This is the first time that I have gotten an error with AnyDVD HD getting any error while trying to read the disc. Does anyone know what could be the cause of the program freezing? Could it be because of AnyDVD? Thanks for your help.

[talon95]

Has anyone sucessfully played the new X-files movie?? I can get the movie playing, but it's garbled like BD+ has not been decrypted properly. This is using PowerDVD 8 build 2217.5.

[Jim HTPC]

Has anyone sucessfully played the new X-files movie?? I can get the movie playing, but it's garbled like BD+ has not been decrypted properly. This is using PowerDVD 8 build 2217.5.

I just watched it. US Region A. using Power DVD 8 latest version on XP.

By the way, the movie is pretty weak! Should have been a TV episode at best.

[JustABDFan]

Last night I ran into some issues when I was trying to watch Tropic Thunder on PDVD Ultra 7.3 Build 4407. First the audio seemed off, like only 2.1 channels were working. About 40 minutes into the movie the program froze and I couldn't shut it down. I'm not sure if PDVD freezing was due to my PC or PDVD itself, but it happened 2 more times and I had to manually reset my PC. I've never had any issues with the watching blu-rays before. One thing I did notice was the AnyDVD HD was not able to properly read the disc because I have an older version of AnyDVD HD (6.4.7.9). This is the first time that I have gotten an error with AnyDVD HD getting any error while trying to read the disc. Does anyone know what could be the cause of the program freezing? Could it be because of AnyDVD? Thanks for your help.

I watched Tropic Thunder a few days ago, I didn't see any issues but I was using Powerdvd 7.3.4617. It could have been a bad disc, the only way to know for sure would be to try to rip it. If its a rental I'd strongly suggest deleting the rip after you confirmed if the disc was bad or not. You may want to install the latest version of Anydvd HD, which is 6.4.9.0 as of this post.

[JustABDFan]

I just watched it. US Region A. using Power DVD 8 latest version on XP.

By the way, the movie is pretty weak! Should have been a TV episode at best.

I thought build 2217 of PowerDVD 8 didn't work with the newest fox blu-rays.

[utee05]

I watched Tropic Thunder a few days ago, I didn't see any issues but I was using Powerdvd 7.3.4617. It could have been a bad disc, the only way to know for sure would be to try to rip it. If its a rental I'd strongly suggest deleting the rip after you confirmed if the disc was bad or not. You may want to install the latest version of Anydvd HD, which is 6.4.9.0 as of this post.


I updated my PDVD version to 4617 and it seemed to be working fine. I went ahead and uninstalled my version of AnyDVDHD and will probably install the latest version sometime this weekend. For now everything seems to be working fine.

[sleater]

Last night I ran into some issues when I was trying to watch Tropic Thunder on PDVD Ultra 7.3 Build 4407. First the audio seemed off, like only 2.1 channels were working. About 40 minutes into the movie the program froze and I couldn't shut it down. I'm not sure if PDVD freezing was due to my PC or PDVD itself,...

I am using 4407 (4617 broke my HDCP with ATI 4850) and just finished watching Tropic Thunder tonight. No issues whatsoever. BUT, I tried watching Terminator 2 and couldn't get anything at all not even the menu. It's the first disc I've had this much difficulty with, not even Resident Evil Extinction had any issues playing smoothly (back in the day)...

[stranx44]

Has anyone sucessfully played the new X-files movie?? I can get the movie playing, but it's garbled like BD+ has not been decrypted properly. This is using PowerDVD 8 build 2217.5.

FWIW - I'm getting the same type of issues also on PDVD7.3.4617 with X-Files:I want to believe. Definitely the new BD+, since my system is fully HDCP compliant.

[Wapkaplet]

They can be used outside of PowerDVD8. However, some decoding features like AC3 will only work when connected to the Cyberlink Demux.


Sounds more like a filter merit and ffdshow configuration issue. Try adding ZP to the list of "Don't use ffdshow in:" in the ffdshow configuration. It's located in the "Directshow control" section.

Well, I tried blocking the use of ffdshow in ZoomPlayer, and this enables CoreAVC. However, the PowerDVD codecs remain unavailable in ZoomPlayer, and I still get no sound, so the PowerDVD8 installation seems to be causing a problem with AC3Filter as well.

Again, uninstalling PowerDVD8 resolves all problems.

Out of curiosity, is there a big quality difference between the PowerDVD7 and 8 h264 codecs? I'm starting to despair of ever getting PowerDVD8 working properly.

[talon95]

FWIW - I'm getting the same type of issues also on PDVD7.3.4617 with X-Files:I want to believe. Definitely the new BD+, since my system is fully HDCP compliant.

I wonder if there's anything else common here? I'm running Vista SP1 with a 8800GT, 178.13 drivers. One person reported back that it was working in XP. I've got an XP install also, just haven't had time to update PDVD there and test. I'll report back when I get to it.

[talon95]

Ok, I got it to work. I did a complete purge of Cyberlink from my system (uninstall, delete files, and registry settings) and now the X-files disk works with PDVD 8, 2217.5.

[maxleung]

Thanks for the update talon95.

[JustABDFan]

I wonder if there's anything else common here? I'm running Vista SP1 with a 8800GT, 178.13 drivers. One person reported back that it was working in XP. I've got an XP install also, just haven't had time to update PDVD there and test. I'll report back when I get to it.

I'm running XP SP3, Nvidia 8600GTS, 178.13 drivers. I will rent x-files if I can find it to see if it works for me and i'll post about it also.

[stranx44]

Ok, I got it to work. I did a complete purge of Cyberlink from my system (uninstall, delete files, and registry settings) and now the X-files disk works with PDVD 8, 2217.5.

I hope mine is just a configuration problem as well and doesn't require another update to PDVD 7.3. As far as my setup: Vista 32 SP1, GeForce 9300 (MCP7A), Forceware 180

[talon95]

I'm running XP SP3, Nvidia 8600GTS, 178.13 drivers. I will rent x-files if I can find it to see if it works for me and i'll post about it also.

One other thing, I did get it working in Vista. Haven't tried XP. My problem appears to have just been the usual corrupted install of PowerDVD from updating it over and over due to those a-holes changing the keys and BD+ over and over.

[pacemaker]

i have the LG H20 drive that came with POWERDVD ULTRA 7.3
But when i upgrade to the online 4407 for this drive i loose DTS
anyone else experience this?
this is in XP in vista PDVD downloaded a different file itself which worked fine but in XP wont play BD

[Strayshot]

Just as a data point, I was forced to upgrade to 4617 in order to play X-Files. I tried playing it immediately after applying the patch and it garbled and stuttered and eventually crashed. After a reboot (should have done that before trying it after the patch), it works flawlessly. Using XP SP3, ATI 2600XT w/8.9 drivers.

[JustABDFan]

Just as a data point, I was forced to upgrade to 4617 in order to play X-Files. I tried playing it immediately after applying the patch and it garbled and stuttered and eventually crashed. After a reboot (should have done that before trying it after the patch), it works flawlessly. Using XP SP3, ATI 2600XT w/8.9 drivers.

I rented xfiles: i want to believe and space chimps, both movies played flawlessly. I did notice that it took powerdvd 18 seconds after play to change from the red background to black and another 18 or so seconds to go from black to the first fbi/copyright/whatever notice. This was on oem powerdvd 7.3.4617 on XP with an 8600gts using 178.13 nvidia drivers.

Edit: Both movies have DTS-MA 5.1 audio but oem powerdvd 7.3 only decodes DTS soundtracks as 2.1, the center and surround channels were missing. Dolby soundtracks are decoded and played back on all 6 channels. I had noticed this before but I thought it was a flaw in the 4407 patch that would be fixed in 4617.

[stranx44]

As others have reported, after mucking around and rebooting PDVD7.3, X-Files as well as Meet Dave works fine now with the newer BD+ titles.

[JDLIVE]

I rented X-Files - Fight the Future and it wouldn't play in PDVD8, brought up a screen telling me to go to www.cyberlink.com/bdupdate. But there is no more recent version for me to install. So on a whim I tried using PDVD7.3 which I had recently updated and it played fine using that.

[JustABDFan]

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_en_US.html

2008-12-11 PowerDVD 7 Ultra Updates: This update file updates PowerDVD 7 Ultra to PowerDVD 7 Ultra build 4617a. For PowerDVD retail and online purchase versions only . To check the updates for hardware bundled versions, click here for instructions.

Updates:

* Supports 1080/24p HDTV.
* Improves Intel G45 series graphics card playback quality when playing Blu-ray Disc movies.

Direct link for convenience: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/powerdvd/7Ultra/CyberLink.4617a_TaRe38_DVD081201-07.exe
The file is 75.9 megs. When I have the time, I will dissect it to see if there is anything interesting. Let's hope they fixed HDCP for ATI cards.

[graz68]

I rented X-Files - Fight the Future and it wouldn't play in PDVD8, brought up a screen telling me to go to www.cyberlink.com/bdupdate. But there is no more recent version for me to install. So on a whim I tried using PDVD7.3 which I had recently updated and it played fine using that.

I watched this last night with 8 and it was fine. Awful film though.

You didn't mean the new one though did you?

[mrgreenjeans57]

Just purchased a LG GGC-H20L Blueray player and was provided a copy of PowerDVD. Upon install FFd asked if it could share files with PowerDVD and said OK. After installing the suite, LG went online and updated the firmware. I attempted to play BlueRay "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and PowerDVD prompted to check for upgrades, which I agreed. It downloaded and installed the update but towards the end of the update there was an error notice flashed about certification and PowerDVD went away. The program disappeared off the start menu and refused to allow me to reapply the update saying it needed 7.3 or better to install as the base program(the OEM version was 7.3....)was missing. Add/remove programs showed the application as installed yet when I clicked uninstall, it would flash, say uninstalled and be right back there.

Luckily I set a restore point and rolled all this back out. I installed only the firmware update software and updated the player and played standard DVD's last evening. No problem.
I've got the following processing software installed
WMP11
Zoom Player
FFDshow
HAL media splitter
Dscaler 5

and have configured using the faq's off this site.

Hardware: A8n32-sli w FX-60, Auzentech x-plosion, BFG 8800gtxw/768, DVI output to a Sharp Lc-46D92U.

I'd like to get this up. I hesitate to drop another $90 on the PowerDVD ultra if this is not going to work. I'll return the drive and put my money toward a standalone unit. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[sleater]

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_en_US.html

2008-12-11 PowerDVD 7 Ultra Updates: This update file updates PowerDVD 7 Ultra to PowerDVD 7 Ultra build 4617a. For PowerDVD retail and online purchase versions only . To check the updates for hardware bundled versions, click here for instructions.

Updates:

* Supports 1080/24p HDTV.
* Improves Intel G45 series graphics card playback quality when playing Blu-ray Disc movies.

Direct link for convenience: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/powerdvd/7Ultra/CyberLink.4617a_TaRe38_DVD081201-07.exe
The file is 75.9 megs. When I have the time, I will dissect it to see if there is anything interesting. Let's hope they fixed HDCP for ATI cards.

I'm still running 4407 without issue and had no problems playing The Dark Knight or Tropic Thunder, both BD+ titles. Have not attempted x-files or meet dave (will never see meet dave, btw). I am anxiously awaiting the verdict on 4617a for the ati hdcp issue.
Thanks for the links!!

[Fragster]

After having HDCP issues on the OEM PDVD, I updated to the latest 4617 version and HDCP is still broke on my 780G mobo (onboard 3200 card) :mad::(.

My friend has the WinDVD BR player and hasn't had a single issue yet playing any BR movies. I found out they have 30 day satisfaction window so I'll give that a shot tonight. Since the WinDVDBR thread is so quite, it also indicates less issues and more user satisfaction as naturally, people will post more often when having issues rather than no issues at all.

I also tried ArcSoft's TMT which actually runs the movies fine but I find the audio is somewhat 'lacking'.

I just bought my LG combo drive from Egghead and am still within the return window so if my BR woes still persist over the weekend, I'm returning the drive and then keeping my PS3 for BR.

[AP2]

what version still allows you to play hddvd/bluray .iso off your harddrive?

[lydmann]

I have 7.3 ultra and the updated version post above, and I can confirm that there is now a BD-Live logo on the splash screen in PDVD however, when selecting BD-Live on Prom Night Blu-ray, I get a spinning icon, the screen goes black and nothing. Hitting stop gets me back to the splash screen. Can anyone confirm BD-Live features work with 7.3? The Cyberlink release notes say it should work plus there is an icon on the splash screen.

Thx

JAC

The clone wars wont play, i get the spinning disc icon, and it stops spinning and nothing more happens, whats wrong?

[stanglx]

Im using 7.3 that came with my LG drive and have no issues using Virtual CloneDrive to auto mount BluRay ISOs... I even got it working with Media Portal and MyMovies... Im very happy so far..

I did have an issue with Daemon Tools though... I kept getting an error message... Daemon tools are such Garbage in comparison...(my past and current impression)

what version still allows you to play hddvd/bluray .iso off your harddrive?

[davidv9526]

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_en_US.html

2008-12-11 PowerDVD 7 Ultra Updates: This update file updates PowerDVD 7 Ultra to PowerDVD 7 Ultra build 4617a. For PowerDVD retail and online purchase versions only . To check the updates for hardware bundled versions, click here for instructions.

Updates:

* Supports 1080/24p HDTV.
* Improves Intel G45 series graphics card playback quality when playing Blu-ray Disc movies.

Direct link for convenience: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/powerdvd/7Ultra/CyberLink.4617a_TaRe38_DVD081201-07.exe
The file is 75.9 megs. When I have the time, I will dissect it to see if there is anything interesting. Let's hope they fixed HDCP for ATI cards.

What does 1080/24p support mean? what does it do now that it did not do previously?

[Masterblaster]

Suddenly I am not able to see the picture when playing Blu-rays or hd contents anymore.
I was working well and I did not change anything on my system
AMD ATi HD 4850
Vista32
CAt 8.11
HDMi audio via Realtek 2.03
HDMI Display

Does anyone have a suggestion?

[Al Sherwood]

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_112_en_US.html

2008-12-11 PowerDVD 7 Ultra Updates: This update file updates PowerDVD 7 Ultra to PowerDVD 7 Ultra build 4617a. For PowerDVD retail and online purchase versions only . To check the updates for hardware bundled versions, click here for instructions.

Updates:

* Supports 1080/24p HDTV.
* Improves Intel G45 series graphics card playback quality when playing Blu-ray Disc movies.

Direct link for convenience: http://update.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/powerdvd/7Ultra/CyberLink.4617a_TaRe38_DVD081201-07.exe
The file is 75.9 megs. When I have the time, I will dissect it to see if there is anything interesting. Let's hope they fixed HDCP for ATI cards.


Ok I am running version 7.3.3730d.0 on Vista Home Premium 32 bit, ATI 3650 video card (driver version 8.476.0.0) and the scrolling message in P-DVD says: 'PowerDVD Deluxe Version"

I want/need to be able to mount an play ISO's and playback both BD and HD disks...


Can somebody map out which patch/download I use? Will today's (2008-12-11) apply directly to my installed version and retain all of the features

Thanks!

[soulrider4ever]

I will also give this a try tonight, as I have the ATI HDCP issue - will keep you posted.

[JustABDFan]

I tried to install the new 4617a retail patch on top of oem powerdvd and it didn't work. Then I tried the original 4617 retail patch and it uninstalled and reinstalled powerdvd as retail but the 4617a patch wouldn't install then either. Whatever checks that were broken for original 4617 retail are now working and prevent installation on oem, even one "converted" to retail. I guessed it would be a one-time patch fluke. Since I cannot install it to try it, I am unable to find anything else out.

[JustABDFan]

What does 1080/24p support mean? what does it do now that it did not do previously?

Probably just means "official" support for 24hz refresh rate.

Ok I am running version 7.3.3730d.0 on Vista Home Premium 32 bit, ATI 3650 video card (driver version 8.476.0.0) and the scrolling message in P-DVD says: 'PowerDVD Deluxe Version"

I want/need to be able to mount an play ISO's and playback both BD and HD disks...


Can somebody map out which patch/download I use? Will today's (2008-12-11) apply directly to my installed version and retain all of the features

Thanks!

It looks like you have the retail version of Powerdvd so the latest patch should be fine...unless cyberlink broke something. wait for more reports if you are unsure.

[JMadge]

Here's the deal:

I can't seem to get sound to play out of Blu Ray Rips on PowerDVD 8 Ultra. The sound works fine in WMP11, MPC, KMP, etc, and HD DVD rips seem to play sound fine on PowerDVD, just not Blu Ray rips. Any ideas?

I thought I read somewhere that PowerDVD didn't like to play Audio from Blu Ray files unless you had the whole disc ripped w/ the Menu and what not... is this true? If so, is there a way around it? The only reason I'm trying to get these files to work on PowerDVD 8 is because it seems like the only media player that can playback these 25GB HD files without any skipping and choppyness. WMP11, MPC, KMP all failed at playing back these big HD rips smoothly.

Any ideas, post away.

[soulrider4ever]

I will also give this a try tonight, as I have the ATI HDCP issue - will keep you posted.

Well I was able to watch AVP2 on BluRay last night without the need for AnyDVD HD - that's a good step forward.

[mrgreenjeans57]

Just purchased a LG GGC-H20L Blueray player and was provided a copy of PowerDVD. Upon install FFd asked if it could share files with PowerDVD and said OK. After installing the suite, LG went online and updated the firmware. I attempted to play BlueRay "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and PowerDVD prompted to check for upgrades, which I agreed. It downloaded and installed the update but towards the end of the update there was an error notice flashed about certification and PowerDVD went away. The program disappeared off the start menu and refused to allow me to reapply the update saying it needed 7.3 or better to install as the base program(the OEM version was 7.3....)was missing. Add/remove programs showed the application as installed yet when I clicked uninstall, it would flash, say uninstalled and be right back there.

Luckily I set a restore point and rolled all this back out. I installed only the firmware update software and updated the player and played standard DVD's last evening. No problem.
I've got the following processing software installed
WMP11
Zoom Player
FFDshow
HAL media splitter
Dscaler 5

and have configured using the faq's off this site.

Hardware: A8n32-sli w FX-60, Auzentech x-plosion, BFG 8800gtxw/768, DVI output to a Sharp Lc-46D92U.

I'd like to get this up. I hesitate to drop another $90 on the PowerDVD ultra if this is not going to work. I'll return the drive and put my money toward a standalone unit. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cyberlink support gave me a link to a 4102b build and all appears to work. I'm using my receiver to decode and set PDVD to SPDIF so am getting 5.1 sound from the BR. I'm good.:)

[JustABDFan]

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_1_en_US.html

2008-12-08 PowerDVD 7.3 updates: This file updates PowerDVD 7.3 to PowerDVD 7.3 v4617. This update is for OEM versions of PowerDVD only.
Update:

* Improves disc title compatibility.
* Supports 1080/24p HDTV.


Direct link: http://download.cyberlink.com/ftpdload/patch/powerdvd/7-3/DVD080917-02/CyberLink.4617_TaRe38_DVD080917-02_Normal.exe

This looks like the original OEM 4617 patch renamed but it could be a NON-HD media build since it says "normal" in the file name. The build number is the same as the OEM 4617 patch posted previously in this thread. It is 103 megs. They put this on the same page as the Powerdvd 8 updates instead of the Powerdvd Ultra page.

[Masterblaster]

Sory wrong here, because I am using PowerDVD 8.

Correction:

I am not able to see the picture when playing Blu-rays with mpeg 4 avc encoding anymore.
But with mpc mpeg4 avc mkv files are no problem.
I was working well and I did not change anything on my system
AMD ATi HD 4850
Vista32
CAt 8.11
HDMi audio via Realtek 2.03
HDMI Display

Does anyone have a suggestion?

[Radiophile]

I didn't want to fix anything that wasn't broke, so I had been using Retail PDVD 7.3 build 4102, which I upgraded to back in June.

But I found that I couldn't play the Horton Hears a Who BD. PDVD would just sit there and do nothing. So I upgraded to 4617a without issue, and now Horton plays fine.

One other thing I noticed: This movie locks out the spacebar on my keyboard from working as a pause/play control. That is, with other discs, I can use the space bar to pause and resume movie playback. But with Horton, the spacebar does nothing. Strange.

[JustABDFan]

I didn't want to fix anything that wasn't broke, so I had been using Retail PDVD 7.3 build 4102, which I upgraded to back in June.

But I found that I couldn't play the Horton Hears a Who BD. PDVD would just sit there and do nothing. So I upgraded to 4617a without issue, and now Horton plays fine.

One other thing I noticed: This movie locks out the spacebar on my keyboard from working as a pause/play control. That is, with other discs, I can use the space bar to pause and resume movie playback. But with Horton, the spacebar does nothing. Strange.

4617a disables the shortcuts from what I read in the Powerdvd 8 thread.

[Radiophile]

4617a disables the shortcuts from what I read in the Powerdvd 8 thread.Well I'll be. I get less functionality! Less user-friendliness! Thank you Cyberlink!

But this issue seems to apply only to recent Blu-ray discs. I just tested some discs, and the spacebar shortcut is disabled on recent BDs The Dark Knight, Horton Hears a Who, and Ratatouille. But the spacebar still works on an older BD (Chicago) and an HD-DVD I tried (The Matrix Reloaded). Time to complain to Cyberlink.

This also reminds me how much I love the ever-changing, not-ready-for-prime-time-yet BD format. Thank you Sony! ;)

[stanglx]

Honestly.. the format is not magical... at the end of the day we dont have software vendors to provide us high quality products.. Archsoft and Cyberlink are fly by night software engineering firms and are more focused on getting products out the door - utter vaporware!

If we take the PS3 as an example, all this is a high powered "PC" with decent software running on it. The PS3 plays 99% of BluRays with all the hi-def audio flawlessly and effortlessly.. Why because SONY invested in the development of the software.. if you think SONY had to deal with an enitrely new hardware and software paradigm.. PDVD and TMT guys cant develop to technology that has been around for the last 10 years or more!!! even with their products being 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 generations old!!!

Cyberlink and Archsoft ONLY 2 vendors that even come close to what we need to have a viable HTPC platform.. and thats why we are in the situation of spending hours of figuring out how to get around their idiotic bugs/inconsistencies/etc

To say the format is too new is to say desktop computing came out 2 years ago.. the format is mature but the companies that need to develop to the format is where the problem lays.

Sorry for the rant but it seems like we are always fighting a fight we dont need to when it comes to HTPC... probably the most mature (in years) immature platform I have seen in a long while..

[K-Spaz]

Well I'll be. I get less functionality! Less user-friendliness! Thank you Cyberlink!
I hope you're not surprised? If you remember back, PDVD V6 allowed you to play a movie full screen on one monitor, while still having the full shuttle controls on the other monitor. I've asked Cyberlink about this several times and there's no answer. I have all the skins available for my version and to no avail. I may either watch a movie in a window with the controls undocked, or I can watch full screen with the controls partially not visible on the TV.

I could understand loosing functionality with a player if I was talking about the OEM version. But, to have this feature in the OEM, and then loose it after paying cold hard cash for the retail version, makes little sense to me.

This program is unique in that virtually every "Update" is actually a downgrade in one way or another. It's hard to imagine that there's not more competition in this software family than what there is.

[sebberry]

I tried watching the Dark Knight and Wanted with PDVD8 Ultra and it was saying "Unrecognized format". Video to my projector via component and HDMI carries audio to my receiver. ATi 4550.

Any suggestions? AnyDVDHD was running

[stanglx]

Are you sure its not a AnyDVD issue? Also... I get that issue when I use Daemon tools.. are you wathing right from the BlueRay or is it ripped to the HD using AnyDVD?

I tried watching the Dark Knight and Wanted with PDVD8 Ultra and it was saying "Unrecognized format". Video to my projector via component and HDMI carries audio to my receiver. ATi 4550.

Any suggestions? AnyDVDHD was running

[sebberry]

Are you sure its not a AnyDVD issue? Also... I get that issue when I use Daemon tools.. are you wathing right from the BlueRay or is it ripped to the HD using AnyDVD?

I have no choice but to use AnyDVD. Both video outputs on my video card have to be enabled (one for the component video and the second for HDMI for the audio). I am only trying to watch it right off the disc I rented.

[stanglx]

You should try it out in a different player.. the issue could be AnyDVD OR PowerDVD.. go to the slysoft forum and see if anyone else has the issue.. if its anydvd everyone with that BluRay will have the same issue..

PowerDVD will be a hit or miss with that crappy software...

Lastly.. I have seen this issue with dirty disks.. use a damp microfiber cloth (No paper towel) and wipe the disk down.. they may also help.

I have no choice but to use AnyDVD. Both video outputs on my video card have to be enabled (one for the component video and the second for HDMI for the audio). I am only trying to watch it right off the disc I rented.

[gsr]

This program is unique in that virtually every "Update" is actually a downgrade in one way or another. It's hard to imagine that there's not more competition in this software family than what there is.
There reason there's so little competition is that the cost of entry to get licensing for BD is extremely high. This is why TheaterTek doesn't do BD yet.

[Mr.D]

Sorry for the rant but it seems like we are always fighting a fight we dont need to when it comes to HTPC... probably the most mature (in years) immature platform I have seen in a long while..

I agree with you. the robustness of the platform seems to have regressed over the last couple of years.

Theatertek with ffdshow processing had truly impressive performance.
I only get passable results with TMT if I use software playback. I gave up on PDVD when they stopped supporting HDDVD.

Today everything seems geared towards mediocrity. The benchmark seems to be a passable playback system on a 20" laptop: no real intent to make the most of a modern PCs video and audio potential.

VMC...really nice interface...really average picture quality.

ATi and Nvidia hardware capabilities ,lots of grandiose claims but what we end with is some mediocre scaling ,half baked deinterlacing and overly aggressive denoising and sharpening ( I won't even go into the stupid color and contrast enhancements).

I get the distinct impression that the developers in both camps and Microsoft just don't have a particularly solid understanding and appreciation of what high quality video is. More worrying I don't think they particularly care either.

[sebberry]

I agree with you. the robustness of the platform seems to have regressed over the last couple of years.

Theatertek with ffdshow processing had truly impressive performance.
I only get passable results with TMT if I use software playback. I gave up on PDVD when they stopped supporting HDDVD.

Today everything seems geared towards mediocrity. The benchmark seems to be a passable playback system on a 20" laptop: no real intent to make the most of a modern PCs video and audio potential.

VMC...really nice interface...really average picture quality.

ATi and Nvidia hardware capabilities ,lots of grandiose claims but what we end with is some mediocre scaling ,half baked deinterlacing and overly aggressive denoising and sharpening ( I won't even go into the stupid color and contrast enhancements).

I get the distinct impression that the developers in both camps and Microsoft just don't have a particularly solid understanding and appreciation of what high quality video is. More worrying I don't think they particularly care either.


I know that DRM is takled about to no end here, but I think that the focus on DRM and content protection is taking away from teh development of higher quality video devices that are easy to use and work well.

[stanglx]

I completely agree.. DRM has actually stifled progress. The costs to engineer and license not only high cost formats but they now need to worry about DRM license costs... in addition to the technical complexity which increases engineering costs... all in all DRM is slowly destroying the HTPC paradigm..
I personally believe these costs should be baked into the OS rather then one offs for each player / device on a PC.



I know that DRM is takled about to no end here, but I think that the focus on DRM and content protection is taking away from teh development of higher quality video devices that are easy to use and work well.

[sebberry]

I also think that there is too much of a focus on portability rather than quality. My roommate would never sit down to watch an HD movie from start to finish and actually be critical of the quality of his setup, he'd much rather wanter around the place watching stuff on his iPhone.

I think the amount of DRM that has gone into Vista (that hardware manufacturers also need to comply with at their expense) is making it so content can be rented online, again supporting ease of access and portability instead of quality.

DRM and copy protection has been broken time and time again yet here I sit with two rented bluray discs that I cannot play because something in my setup just isn't to the liking of Hollywood.

I always laugh at the "Your TV out must be disabled to watch this content" message. Well, actually I get pissed off at it - how absurd is that? Not baing allowed to watch a movie on a TV?

[jimwhite]

Honestly.. the format is not magical... at the end of the day we dont have software vendors to provide us high quality products.. Archsoft and Cyberlink are fly by night software engineering firms and are more focused on getting products out the door - utter vaporware!

If we take the PS3 as an example, all this is a high powered "PC" with decent software running on it. The PS3 plays 99% of BluRays with all the hi-def audio flawlessly and effortlessly.. Why because SONY invested in the development of the software.. if you think SONY had to deal with an enitrely new hardware and software paradigm.. PDVD and TMT guys cant develop to technology that has been around for the last 10 years or more!!! even with their products being 2, 3, 4, 5, 8 generations old!!!

Cyberlink and Archsoft ONLY 2 vendors that even come close to what we need to have a viable HTPC platform.. and thats why we are in the situation of spending hours of figuring out how to get around their idiotic bugs/inconsistencies/etc

To say the format is too new is to say desktop computing came out 2 years ago.. the format is mature but the companies that need to develop to the format is where the problem lays.

Sorry for the rant but it seems like we are always fighting a fight we dont need to when it comes to HTPC... probably the most mature (in years) immature platform I have seen in a long while..

HOGWASH... the BD format as a video container is mature, I guess.... but the DRM changes daily and it ADDS things that cause the software to fail... and using the PS3 as an example is laughable... SONY gets to approve the DRM changes and you can be SURE that they won't allow something that will break THEIR players... and if they like the idea, VOILLLA - a PS3 online update !!!

:cool:

[gsr]

HOGWASH... the BD format as a video container is mature, I guess.... but the DRM changes daily and it ADDS things that cause the software to fail... and using the PS3 as an example is laughable... SONY gets to approve the DRM changes and you can be SURE that they won't allow something that will break THEIR players... and if they like the idea, VOILLLA - a PS3 online update !!!
All we need to do is look back at how long it took DVD playback to really become viable on PC's. It's frustrating that BD isn't perfect yet on the HTPC, but it also isn't exactly perfect on the standalone players yet - I don't think we can expect a really smooth experience on the PC side until the majority of the standalone players can get it right.

[sleater]

4617a update fixed my HDCP issue with my ATI 4850 (catalyst 8.12 drivers). Now, however, when I set it to 24Hz refresh rate, movies stutter a little bit especially during camera pans or horizontal character movement. I also noticed that cyberlink was using 0% of my radeon card but hardware acceleration was selected. I tried it on 60Hz and it was smooth. Version 4407 had silky smooth 24FPS on my machine and supposedly 4617a 'officially' recognizes it and it's very stutter-y. I might revert back to 4407 yet again... or put up with 60Hz until the next release.

EDIT
Sorry it's actually a Catalyst driver issue I upgraded to 8.12 from 8.10 and it has made playback stutter under 24Hz. Might need to do a full delete/re-install or something.

On another note, 4617a could not play The Happening but I tried 4407 and it was perfect. Looks like 4407 is still the winner for me.

[Moritzio]

[QUOTE=sleater;15312634]I also noticed that cyberlink was using 0% of my radeon card but hardware acceleration was selected. /QUOTE]
How do I find the % of the Radeon card being used?

[K-Spaz]

For those who think you can't do smooth playback on a PC, I think the time has come.

I have been shopping to put a new home theatre together for a while and started picking up parts in the last month. I was going to use my olc PC as a HTPC and then perhaps get a new one, but was procrastinating. Then adding the cost of upgrading all the stuff for BD, software, hardware and time, I just didn't want to spend without spending enough. Well, I put together a new HTPC with my old WinXP, a Quad Phenom 9950 (2.6) and a HD4870 Video. Wow, does this thing eat up BD playback!

Since begining, I've purchased AnyDVD, PDVD (and some options for AnyDvd). I had most of the hardware laying around already, hard disks, power supply, monitors, etc. I probably did all this HW and SW for around $1300 not including the TV or surround sound.

After seeing stand alone players in action, I was pretty well convinced I'd never own a BR setup. Certainly what I was shown couldn't be what BR was supposed to look like and it wasn't. THANKS VERY MUCH to stanger89 for your offline help in getting demos to show what I was supposed to be seeing, and for recommendations on what hardware to persue. It really works!

PowerDVD for me is playing BDs smoother than my old system played SDVDs. I am in awe of how smooth it plays. This isn't apples to apples though cause I did replace the PC.

Now, was it worth the $ to me? Ehhhh, it's hard to say. It sure does look nicer, but with only having purchased 1 BD and only seen one so far, it's really tough to say I can justify the price of the PC. I guess I'm glad I don't have to justify anything.

Like so many other things associated with PC's, the one solution that always keeps raising its hand is to just keep throwing money at the problem. If you're used to doing that, then you'll feel right at home getting a BD to play on a PC.

As I read on the forums here, there's lots of folks who say they are disappointed with the quality of playback from a PC vs a standalone player. In my experience, I've not seen a decent stand alone player yet. Now that I have what I consider to be a nice setup (again, with nothing to compare it to other than setups I'm certain didn't work), I'd like to compare to some setup that ~does~ work, but uses a standalone player. Then too, I can't wait for my first disk that the system won't play... 2 Netflix rentals are on the way for tomorrow. I guess I'll find out.

I did have the 80040246 (or whatever number) error on my system but that was cured with XP SP2, and was not a PDVD problem.

[sleater]

How do I find the % of the Radeon card being used?

I believe in the CCC it's under GPU Overdrive at the bottom of the list using Advanced menu. The meter that says 'GPU Activity'.

I did a clean install of Catalyst 8.12 and setting my output to 60Hz I get smooth BD playback, setting it on 24Hz I get stuttering video. Version 8.10 did not do this. I tried with both Powerdvd 4407 and 4617a.

[Moritzio]

I believe in the CCC it's under GPU Overdrive at the bottom of the list using Advanced menu. The meter that says 'GPU Activity'.


Thanks for your response.

[soulrider4ever]

Well 4617a started to crash my PC / locks up, etc when watching blu-ray discs, so I am also back to 4407 + anydvd

[etcarroll]

Up to now I've been using 7.3 that came with my LG drive and had no issues using Virtual CloneDrive to auto mount BluRay ISOs for use with MyMovies.

Yesterday I went to watch a movie, got a message that a download was needed, which I accepted.

Now my BD rips wont play, I get an error message that an unrecognized format in drive E.

When I click the P-DVD suite desktop link, which used to show 3 options, DVD or HDDVD or BD disk, all it shows now is just DVD as an option.

So, do I roll back to an earlier version, (using Vista 32), or delete the program and re-install?

[jong1]

Let's forget about the PDVD Suite issue for the moment it may be unrelated.

Can you play real Blu-ray discs? The latest version of PDVD7 broke playback of Blu-ray isos that identify themselves as of "DVD" media type. Are you using the very latest VCD beta? This will report Blu-ray isos as BD-R and they should play fine. Try that before you assume your PDVD install is broken.

[Rick0725]

I created a BLU Ray disk from HD TS files and am only able to play the TS2 files individully. Is there a way to play the entire thing including menus. I want to preview the project and make sure it works and looks ok before burning a disc. I have versions 7.3 a 8.

[etcarroll]

Just threw in the WANTED disk, got a message any DVD needed to update, I did, and it played the disk fine.

So back to trying a rip, but still get 'unsupported file structure' message.

[jong1]

Just threw in the WANTED disk, got a message any DVD needed to update, I did, and it played the disk fine.

So back to trying a rip, but still get 'unsupported file structure' message.So are you playing the iso directly or the .dvd file? Have you updated to the latest VCD beta?

Make sure you are using the latest beta and play the iso directly (incase any .dvd files have the wrong media type).

[none74]

I'd just like to add to this discussion that something has been disturbed in this relationship between VCD and PDVD. I haven't been able to reliably play ANY iso's after first seeing this "There is a disc with an unsupported format in drive x" message. I've got VISTA 32bit install as well, and I tried updating everything to the latest version, tried TOTALLY wiping all installs of ALL programs involved, (ie. PowerDVD, VCD, AnyDVD HD ,etc. etc) and re-installing. Tried doing that with only a single play back program, and only VCD, and STILL got the error.

Finally I had to un-install VCD completely, remove all traces of it from the registry using an un-install and clean utility, then install Magidisc. Finally I'm back to being able to play any iso without the dreaded "unsupported format" error, but not with PDVD, with TMT...

This is getting ridiculous...

BTW, NO ONE could offer me any helpful advice as to WHY this was happening, all I ever got was "geez, it all works perfectly for me, you must have a crappy setup or something...".

[etcarroll]

VCD is ???

Just updated everything else as none74 did, still no joy.

[none74]

VCD is ???

Virtual Clone Drive

[etcarroll]

Virtual Clone Drive

doh! Of course..........

Well, have to examine that tomorrow, time for bed now.