PowerDVD Ultra (HD-DVD and Blu-Ray)

[bowser15]

Just be warned, the empire is about to strike back

- Rich

Actually I only use AnyDVD HD to remove the HDCP requirement, I don't rip the movies to the hard drive, so I'm not worried about that.

I did forget to mention that I only blu-ray movies through my HTPC.

[taz291819]

Actually I only use AnyDVD HD to remove the HDCP requirement, I don't rip the movies to the hard drive, so I'm not worried about that.

I did forget to mention that I only blu-ray movies through my HTPC.

It doesn't make a difference if you're ripping the movies or not. With a new AACS, AnyDVD HD will no longer be able to remove HDCP-requirements from upcoming titles.

Of course, a new version of AnyDVD HD will come out, defeating it once again.

[RichB]

Of course, a new version of AnyDVD HD will come out, defeating it once again.

We can only hope ;)
It may be a bit harder this time though.

- Rich

[dthigpen]

We can only hope ;)
It may be a bit harder this time though.

- Rich

I agree, I really hope they do, just for the sake of having everything BUT an HDCP compliant big flat panel that I don't want to replace. Even my graphics card is HDCP compliant. Oh well. If it doesn't work out, I guess I'll be going after that Dell 27" with HDCP and the same native resolution of the 24" I already have. Just seems like such a waste just to be able to watch the content I bought on the overpriced drives (well, the blu-ray one anyways, the 360 HD-DVD one was ok) I bought.

Now if I plug it into my Aquas, via an HDMI to DVI adapter it works great, but that's what freaking extenders are for. Blah. Rant over. =D

[Schlotkins]

Is there a way to get HDMI video cards to output LPCM and the video yet? Also, can you get the HDMI cards to output 1920x1080p24?

Thanks!
Chris

[bowser15]

It doesn't make a difference if you're ripping the movies or not. With a new AACS, AnyDVD HD will no longer be able to remove HDCP-requirements from upcoming titles.

Of course, a new version of AnyDVD HD will come out, defeating it once again.

Yeah I realized that later after I posted, oh well, I think if AnyDVD can break it once, it'll be just as easy to break the next AACS Code too.

[SNOOT]

I'm having the same problem as SNOOT. PDVD 7.3 was working fine for me but after I mucked with the display settings (screen text / icons 120%) PDVD looks to be stuck in a 4x zoom mode as SNOOT reports. Re-installing the nvidia drivers, resetting the screen back to normal and re-installing PDVD does not make any difference. Broken.... :confused:


Mine was like this from the get go. I didn't mess with anything. Uninstalling and reinstalling has no effect. This with 7.3 I have a copy of 7.2 I'm gonna try.

[ditcho]

Has anybody tried to play the Heart Alive at Seattle 1080i AVC disc? With PDVD 7.3, Vista, I encountered an unusual problem. The CPU loads to about 60-65% with DXVA enabled (Nvidia 7950 GT @610 Mhz, CPU E6600 at stock 2.4 Ghz). In that mode it does hardware deinterlacing and drops frames all over the place - quite noticeable. If I disable it, things are better, but only if I choose Bob as software deinterlacing method. Other deinterlacing methods (median or pixel adaptive) send the CPU in the 95% zone and the occasional peak to 100% causes a frame drop. I need to overclock the PC to 3.2 Ghz to help with that. Even then I get an occasional dropped frame, but nowhere near the horrible drop-fest when using DXVA.
I've never had dropped frames issue with progressive 1080p VC1 material, and never more than 45-50% CPU with or without DXVA enabled.
I wonder if this is driver issue - the Nvidia drivers for Vista are horrible, only the first release actually supports my native 1280x720 resolution through VGA. I wonder if people with the 8800 Nvidia card have this problem.

[audionewer]

when i play Departed on my xbox360 hd-dvd player w/ powerdvd 7.2, how do i use title menu. when i have title menu, i cannot do anything else with it. what is the hotkey for it.

but when i played miami vice, i can use the hotkey for it but not in Departed.

[eclipse98]

Hi All,

Using HD DVD Xbox drive on XP / PowerDVD 6.5 / Nvidia 7300 LE (non-HDCP) / Conroe 6600 / AnyDVD 6.1.33.

When playing Departed I get black screen for about 2 seconds and it just stops playing -- playing from HD produces the same result. When trying to play EVO file directly, I get some weird playback with seems like 4x the normal speed and no audio.

Has anybody been able to play Departed successfully with WinDVD 6.5 or should I upgrade to 7.3 version to fix these problems ?

Thanks for your help, Davie.

[arfster]

Has anybody tried to play the Heart Alive at Seattle 1080i AVC disc? ......


Interlaced h264 material is a major problem for all current decoders unfortunately. Pixel adaptive on multimegabit h264 1080i is insanely hard on the cards - for 10mbit+ you need an 8800, as the decoders just aren't remotely optimised to do it in software.

[ditcho]

Interlaced h264 material is a major problem for all current decoders unfortunately. Pixel adaptive on multimegabit h264 1080i is insanely hard on the cards - for 10mbit+ you need an 8800, as the decoders just aren't remotely optimised to do it in software.

Does this mean that 8800 does hardware deinterlacing without dropping frames on high bitrate 1080i interlaced material?

[eclipse98]

Hi All,

Using HD DVD Xbox drive on XP / PowerDVD 6.5 / Nvidia 7300 LE (non-HDCP) / Conroe 6600 / AnyDVD 6.1.33.

When playing Departed I get black screen for about 2 seconds and it just stops playing -- playing from HD produces the same result. When trying to play EVO file directly, I get some weird playback with seems like 4x the normal speed and no audio.

Has anybody been able to play Departed successfully with WinDVD 6.5 or should I upgrade to 7.3 version to fix these problems ?

Thanks for your help, Davie.

Digging more into this problem I think that this shattering fast playback is caused by DDPlus audio stream -- it feels like it is skipping big portions of the video stream, hence a perception of 4x speed. Even trailers encoded in MPEG2 (but with DDPlus audio stream) experience the same skipping (I had no problems playing VC1 video stream with DDigital AC3).

I am using SPDIF from mobo directly to receiver (SPDIF audio option in PowerDVD).

Does PowerDVD Ultra has any options of downconverting DDPlus to DTS ? Are there any other options I can try to pass audio as DTS rather than DDPlus to my receiver ?

Thanks, Davie.

[arfster]

Does this mean that 8800 does hardware deinterlacing without dropping frames on high bitrate 1080i interlaced material?

That depends on the drivers not being full of bugs :-)

However, in theory they have the power - NVidia said somewhere that for spatial-temporal deinterlacing you need the 8800.

[audionewer]

coaxial or 6 channel analog for powerdvd 7.2 w/ xbox360 hd-dvd player?

which one has better sound?

[deandob]

For those of you with a zoomed display, make sure your antialising settings in the 3D control panel is set to 2x or Application Controlled. This should solve the problem.

Hmm. I tried that and even turned off all the 3D settings, and re-installed 7.3. No go. Any other ideas from those who had this problem and got it to work? I've gone back to PDVD v6.5 which although only plays half my HD DVD collection, at least renders a decent picture.

I may have to wait until the final release of PDVD 7.3 comes out, or try the trial Nero player.

Regards

[RichB]

Hmm. I tried that and even turned off all the 3D settings, and re-installed 7.3. No go. Any other ideas from those who had this problem and got it to work? I've gone back to PDVD v6.5 which although only plays half my HD DVD collection, at least renders a decent picture.

I may have to wait until the final release of PDVD 7.3 comes out, or try the trial Nero player.

Regards

I had the zoomed display a while back when I first installed. I think I unistalled the video drivers and installecd the latest and it was fine.

- Rich

[deandob]

Rich,

Are you using the 97.92 XP beta drivers? I had backed off to the November official beta HD drivers (along with other changes I made) when the problem appeared so I will give the 97.92 drivers another go. I rolled back the 97.92 version as I had problems with the cloned display (I use an x15 case with inbuilt LCD screen and a 6600GT).

I watched Batman Begins last night on PDVD 6.5, and apart from not being able to turn off the subtitles the picture quality was better than 7.3. The sound was easily the best I have ever heard in my HT (I have pretty decent audio gear with an EMU 1820m for surrounds and an audiophile DAC for the mains).

I'm not having much fun between the bugs in the Nvidia drivers and PowerDVD. Hopefully the next release of Nvidia drivers & PowerDVD will be more stable.

Regards

[taz291819]

Rich,

I watched Batman Begins last night on PDVD 6.5, and apart from not being able to turn off the subtitles the picture quality was better than 7.3. The sound was easily the best I have ever heard in my HT (I have pretty decent audio gear with an EMU 1820m for surrounds and an audiophile DAC for the mains).



Regards

Agreed. As much as I love the PQ of HD-DVD and BD, I think I'm in love with the AQ even more. Even DD+ sounds great.

[RichB]

Rich,

Are you using the 97.92 XP beta drivers? I had backed off to the November official beta HD drivers (along with other changes I made) when the problem appeared so I will give the 97.92 drivers another go. I rolled back the 97.92 version as I had problems with the cloned display (I use an x15 case with inbuilt LCD screen and a 6600GT).

I watched Batman Begins last night on PDVD 6.5, and apart from not being able to turn off the subtitles the picture quality was better than 7.3. The sound was easily the best I have ever heard in my HT (I have pretty decent audio gear with an EMU 1820m for surrounds and an audiophile DAC for the mains).

I'm not having much fun between the bugs in the Nvidia drivers and PowerDVD. Hopefully the next release of Nvidia drivers & PowerDVD will be more stable.

Regards

I am using Vista Ultimate and the 101.41 drivers, I also tried the 100.xx drivers and they were not much better. I have to turn off hardware acceleration to get them to work. I get the feeling that the refresh rate is not quite right and it may be an NVidia problem. The current drivers to not let you do custom timings. It amazes me that even all of the delays still we have very bad video drivers for Vista.

I could not get 6.5 OEM version from Sony to work at all, so I bought the 7 series. But as I understand it, 6.5 supported VMR and 7.3 does not (for most of us anyway) so that could be the reason for the better picture. I am running an 8800 GTS so I am forced into more recent drivers.

I also love the sound with LPCM, DD+, DD True-HD, and DTS lossless sound tracks, but the LPCM tracks sound better to me. I think there may be room for improvement with the decoding software ;)

- Rich

[Don_S]

Hmm. I tried that and even turned off all the 3D settings, and re-installed 7.3. No go. Any other ideas from those who had this problem and got it to work? I've gone back to PDVD v6.5 which although only plays half my HD DVD collection, at least renders a decent picture.

I may have to wait until the final release of PDVD 7.3 comes out, or try the trial Nero player.

Regards
On another forum, it was suggested to change the settings in the 3D control panel from "quality" to "performance". This worked for the person that posted this exact same problem...YMMV, though.

[Burt McGurt]

If you have a Nvidia 8800 series graphics card, Win XP 32bit, and PowerDVD Ultra and are having issues seeing HD-DVD video playing King Kong, Children of Men, or any other Universal titles ..

Download and install the BETA Nvidia 101.02 Drivers from Guru3d website. This seems to have solved that issue at least for me!

* Install beta drivers at your OWN risk*

So happy this works!!

[S1DIMMER]

Does anyone know the fix for seemingly dropped frames? I seem to have some issues with an ever so slight stutter here and there.

Two systems using Powerdvd 7.1, AnyDVD HD, movies being played back from hard drive rips. Slight stutter happens on both systems - usually in panning scenes. Hardware acceleration is turned on in both systems.


System 1 = X2 3800+ @ 2.2GHz, 2GB of ram, 7800GT 256MB video card

System 2 = C2D E6600 @ 2.4GHz, 2GB of ram, 6600GT 128MB video card

[RichB]

Does anyone know the fix for seemingly dropped frames? I seem to have some issues with an ever so slight stutter here and there.

Two systems using Powerdvd 7.1, AnyDVD HD, movies being played back from hard drive rips. Slight stutter happens on both systems - usually in panning scenes. Hardware acceleration is turned on in both systems.


System 1 = X2 3800+ @ 2.2GHz, 2GB of ram, 7800GT 256MB video card

System 2 = C2D E6600 @ 2.4GHz, 2GB of ram, 6600GT 128MB video card

I have tried 3 different systems with 8800, 6800, and FireGL 5250 graphics cards. In all of them, I get stuttering until I turn off hardware acceleration.

- Rich

[S1DIMMER]

I'll give that a shot once I'm done converting a DVD for my PSP. Gotta have something to watch while I do laundry tomorrow morning or I should say in just a few hours. CPU utilization jumps through the roof but I guess I'd rather have smooth playback then stutters.

[S1DIMMER]

Thanks Rich- I believe that did the trick. CPU on the X2 3800+ bounces around 75-90% but playback seems smoother. The more I watch HD-DVD's the better they look. Children of Men looks awesome.

[talon95]

The problem with turning off hardware accel on my system is that I cannot play any disks without AnyDVDHD loaded then. I just get that d*mned incompatible graphics driver error. That's fine as long as AnyDVD works, but if it gets broken then I'm SOL.

[jerrytdss]

Changed 8800GTS for ATI X1950 and got "Incompatible Graphics Driver" message from PowerDVD 7.3

Tried different ATI Cat drivers from 7.1 to 7.3, no luck.

Had to revert back to PowerDVD 7.1 and Cat driver 7.2, working fine again.

Anyone got PowerDVD 7.3 working with X1950?

if so which drivers?

[Socio]

Changed 8800GTS for ATI X1950 and got "Incompatible Graphics Driver" message from PowerDVD 7.3

Tried different ATI Cat drivers from 7.1 to 7.3, no luck.

Had to revert back to PowerDVD 7.1 and Cat driver 7.2, working fine again.

Anyone got PowerDVD 7.3 working with X1950?

if so which drivers?

I just upgraded my X850XT to the X1950 Pro yesterday, I am using 7.3 drivers and 7.3 PowerDVD, it passes Cyberlinks test app no problem.

The only difference maybe that I am using AnyDVD HD, so download the trial version of that and see if it helps.

[jerrytdss]

I just upgraded my X850XT to the X1950 Pro yesterday, I am using 7.3 drivers and 7.3 PowerDVD, it passes Cyberlinks test app no problem.

The only difference maybe that I am using AnyDVD HD, so download the trial version of that and see if it helps.

Does it work without AnyDVD?

[IanD]

Hmm. I tried that and even turned off all the 3D settings, and re-installed 7.3. No go. Any other ideas from those who had this problem and got it to work? I've gone back to PDVD v6.5 which although only plays half my HD DVD collection, at least renders a decent picture.

I may have to wait until the final release of PDVD 7.3 comes out, or try the trial Nero player.

I'm assuming you are using AnyDVD HD. Have you tried ticking the "disable menus for Canal" option for those titles which won't work in PDVD 6.5? I did that with one title which wouldn't work and it fixed the problem even though I don't think it was a Canal title, but I'm not sure it works for all of them. I think the problem lies with the menuing setup rather than in actually playing the content.

The only alternative to be able to watch all titles under PDVD 6.5 is to modify the xpl file to remove everything (even the nav stuff) but the feature and the desired audio track, however that requires the files on a HDD. ;)

[deandob]

Hi Ian,

Yes, I'm use AnyDVD (nifty piece of software!). I'll try the disable menus for Canal as I prefer the PowerDVD 6.5 video quality (it uses VRM9 not overlay).

I thought with AnyDVD you can still modify the XPL which is always copied to the HD even if you watch the movie on the disk without making a HDD copy? I did try this to remove the subtitles however it didn't work, either because you are correct it needs to be a HDD copy or because I have not fully worked out how to hack the XPL file.

Regards,

[audionewer]

how do i get truehd sound from powerdvd 7.2 ultra?

[ymarker]

If you have a Nvidia 8800 series graphics card, Win XP 32bit, and PowerDVD Ultra and are having issues seeing HD-DVD video playing King Kong, Children of Men, or any other Universal titles ..

Download and install the BETA Nvidia 101.02 Drivers from Guru3d website. This seems to have solved that issue at least for me!

* Install beta drivers at your OWN risk*

So happy this works!!

What type of problems were you having. My issue was a blank screen on the feature presentation. Turning off U-Control in the menu didn't work. IMHO, it appears powerdvd can't handle sub pictures (PIP) because of overlay. With VMR this issue should go away. In the meanwhile, you can disable the U-Control sub picture stuff by commenting it out in the XPL like so:

<!--
<SubVideo track="1"/>
<SubAudio track="1" streamNumber="1" mediaAttr="1"/>
-->

[sigma957]

Changed 8800GTS for ATI X1950 and got "Incompatible Graphics Driver" message from PowerDVD 7.3

Tried different ATI Cat drivers from 7.1 to 7.3, no luck.

Had to revert back to PowerDVD 7.1 and Cat driver 7.2, working fine again.

Anyone got PowerDVD 7.3 working with X1950?

if so which drivers?I use PowerDVD 7.3, an X1650, and catalyst 7.2. Blu-ray playback is fine, but HD-DVDs must be ripped to the hard drive first to avoid the "Incompatible Graphics Driver" error. I think it's been pretty well documented here that encrypted VC-1 discs in PowerDVD 7.3 require hardware acceleration, which does not appear to work for ATI cards. Hopefully, Cyberlink will fix this before AnyDVD stops working...

[Burt McGurt]

When playing these HD DVD titles in WinXP 32bit, I could see and hear the universal logo, the menu, FBI warning, and the interview opinion "spiel" .. but after that I could hear the movie audio but not see the video.

I dual boot WinXP 32bit and Vista 64bit. With Vista this isn't an issue -- I can see and hear the movies fine. Why don't I just watch the movies on Vista then? Playing movies in Vista has a lot of stutters and eventually locks up and crashes. I think this is an issue with the 64bit OS... but thats a whole other issue entirely.

The fix with the 101.02 beta drivers works just fine for me but thank you for posting the possible other solution, ymarker.

Just for reference here are my PC's specs:

Core 2 Duo E6600 overclocked to 3.4 Ghz
2 Gigs OCZ DDR2 PC-8000
EVGA GeForce 8800GTX Video Card
X-Fi Fatality Creative Sound Card
XBOX 360 HD-DVD Addon Drive

[kimang]

The fix with the 101.02 beta drivers works just fine for me but thank you for posting the possible other solution, ymarker.




Do you able to set resolution to 1920x1080 at 60Hz with this beta driver on Vista?

[Tulli]

Do you able to set resolution to 1920x1080 at 60Hz with this beta driver on Vista?

I've had problems connecting at 1920x1080 since 100.65 but only with VGA (with XP works fine), output to a Samsung LCD. For what I have checked the driver is not getting the EDID info correctly (it reads 1920x720 at 60hz). This will be surely fixed in next driver releases. Anyway with DVI I have no problems.

I have a 8800GTS and get "incompatible graphics driver"with 101.02.

With 97.92 PowerDVD (HD-DVD) works fine in XP but only if I uncheck hardware acceleration. Otherwise I get sound but no picture when feature starts.

Oh, BTW. I can watch now movies with 97.92/XP on my secondary monitor with NO STUTTERING AND WITHOUT EXCLUSIVE RENDERLESS MODE! Picture is smooth as silk (1920x1080p/DVI). Have tested it with ZP 5.0 and Theatertek.

I don´t have my 7950gt anymore but can anyone confirm if this works too with series 7 GPUs?

[ymarker]

When playing these HD DVD titles in WinXP 32bit, I could see and hear the universal logo, the menu, FBI warning, and the interview opinion "spiel" .. but after that I could hear the movie audio but not see the video.

I dual boot WinXP 32bit and Vista 64bit. With Vista this isn't an issue -- I can see and hear the movies fine. Why don't I just watch the movies on Vista then? Playing movies in Vista has a lot of stutters and eventually locks up and crashes. I think this is an issue with the 64bit OS... but thats a whole other issue entirely.

The fix with the 101.02 beta drivers works just fine for me but thank you for posting the possible other solution, ymarker.

Just for reference here are my PC's specs:

Core 2 Duo E6600 overclocked to 3.4 Ghz
2 Gigs OCZ DDR2 PC-8000
EVGA GeForce 8800GTX Video Card
X-Fi Fatality Creative Sound Card
XBOX 360 HD-DVD Addon Drive

Looks like we had both had the same symptoms and have very similar setups. I dual boot XP MCE 32bit and Vista Ultimate as well. Are you using U-Control's PIP capability on those Universal movies? I'm wondering if somehow the new 101.02 beta is enabling VMR on PDVD 7.3. See if you can take a printscreen of a windowed powerdvd playing the movie. Let us know.

EDIT: Also did you have any issues setting the display driver at 1920x1080p?

[rdjam]

When playing these HD DVD titles in WinXP 32bit, I could see and hear the universal logo, the menu, FBI warning, and the interview opinion "spiel" .. but after that I could hear the movie audio but not see the video.

I dual boot WinXP 32bit and Vista 64bit. With Vista this isn't an issue -- I can see and hear the movies fine. Why don't I just watch the movies on Vista then? Playing movies in Vista has a lot of stutters and eventually locks up and crashes. I think this is an issue with the 64bit OS... but thats a whole other issue entirely.

The fix with the 101.02 beta drivers works just fine for me but thank you for posting the possible other solution, ymarker.
I was about to post "re-install", since that used to happen to me in the beginning before I go the drivers right.

But my question is: are you trying to use the same install under both OS's, or have you done a separate installation for each OS?

If it's the same install, you will likely not get it working with both. Recommend you do a separate installation under wach OS.

If you have two different installs already and the 32 bit install is the one that is not working, then uninstall both the program and the GPU drivers, then re-install the GPU drivers and then the program, in that order.

Does this help?

[Johnnetbiz]

I'm suddenly getting the 'incompatible graphics driver message, error=12", and I get it whether my hardware acceleration is on or off. Are the other suggestions to fix this? I had HD DVD working fine, but I'm suddenly getting this message for King King and Serenity (the only two disks I have on hand just now).

System is:
XP 32bit
e4300, overclocked to 2.61ghz
Asrock 775 880pro dual vista mobo
2Gig Corsair DDR2 800 memory
EVGA 7600GT 256mb (non HDCP)
AnyDVD HD
PowerDVD 7.1
XBox 360 drive
Display is a Marquee 8500 CRT Projector

[rdewey]

I just got an 8800 GTS and have had a world of hurt getting PowerDVD ultra to work. I had a 7600GT which worked flawlessly...

Is this a driver problem with the 8800 series? On my setup, using the 100.XX driver I can play Universal titles like KK ONLY with hardware acceleration checked. With the released Nvidia drivers, I got a black screen with sound with it checked, and the incompatible driver error with acceleration unchecked with any and all driver versions. Is this a fault of Nvidia or Cyberlink or both?

[cameronl]

hi there, can anyone please help me?

I have 360 drive, powerdvd 7.x (?) on my xp httpc.

I can only get stereo sound - even when passing through the spdif. Does anyone know why this is?

I have 3 sound cards installed (RME 9632 + daughterboard, Lynx-TWOB, onboard Realtech) - how can I choose which soundcard to use?

I'm so used of theatertek....

CaM

[Tulli]

Set the Realtek as the default audio device in Windows before launching PowerDVD. If the RME and Lynx are like my EMU they won't passthru AC3/DTS multichannel.

[Tulli]

I just got an 8800 GTS and have had a world of hurt getting PowerDVD ultra to work. I had a 7600GT which worked flawlessly...

Is this a driver problem with the 8800 series? On my setup, using the 100.XX driver I can play Universal titles like KK ONLY with hardware acceleration checked. With the released Nvidia drivers, I got a black screen with sound with it checked, and the incompatible driver error with acceleration unchecked with any and all driver versions. Is this a fault of Nvidia or Cyberlink or both?

On XP, right? It's a driver problem. I get the same error with 8800gts and 101.02. It works with 97.92.

[cameronl]

hi, thanks for the info.

I'm pretty sure the RME does though as it works fine for Theatertek on normal dvd's.

That also doesn't explain why I only get stereo with the analogue outs on the RME.

I'll go check though :)

CaM

Set the Realtek as the default audio device in Windows before launching PowerDVD. If the RME and Lynx are like my EMU they won't passthru AC3/DTS multichannel.

[Tulli]

OK, so set the RME as default and try. It should work then.

[Socio]

Does it work without AnyDVD?

Sorry it took so long to get back to you my PSU died had to get another.

Anyway, with out AnyDVD HD PowerDVD just locks up trying to play HD DVD's.

[Socio]

Hi Ian,

Yes, I'm use AnyDVD (nifty piece of software!). I'll try the disable menus for Canal as I prefer the PowerDVD 6.5 video quality (it uses VRM9 not overlay).
Regards,

I wonder if there is something you can change in the registry for 7.3 to force it to use VRM9 as I agree 6.5 does have better PQ?

[Tulli]

I wonder if there is something you can change in the registry for 7.3 to force it to use VRM9 as I agree 6.5 does have better PQ?

Uhmm ... I watch PDVD 7.3 on my secondary monitor (Vista and XP). I understand that this is not possible in XP with overlay. Right? At least this is like used to be before I got the 8800gts with the new drivers ...

[Burt McGurt]

I just got an 8800 GTS and have had a world of hurt getting PowerDVD ultra to work. I had a 7600GT which worked flawlessly...

Is this a driver problem with the 8800 series? On my setup, using the 100.XX driver I can play Universal titles like KK ONLY with hardware acceleration checked. With the released Nvidia drivers, I got a black screen with sound with it checked, and the incompatible driver error with acceleration unchecked with any and all driver versions. Is this a fault of Nvidia or Cyberlink or both?

Try the 101.02 Nvidia Beta drivers at Guru3d. This sounds like the exact problem I was having. The beta drivers fixed it for me.

More to come from the above questions when I have the time to answer them fully.

Good Luck

[Richard Berg]

Do you able to set resolution to 1920x1080 at 60Hz with this beta driver on Vista?
I cannot, with either 100.65 or 101.02 beta. My projector says "out of range". 24p, 30i, and 50p all work fine. I need to hookup a computer LCD and see what the real frequency it's outputting is.

[cameronl]

ok, I set the realtech as the default and the spdif worked correctly :)

thanks for your help.

CaM

[Thuppu]

Does PDVD Ultra support new AACS keys, when?

[WilliamG]

Thuppu, not yet I don't think. I assume there will be a new version at that time.

Ok, so here's a question I've not seen asked:

I have this faint green line at the bottom of my screen, when playing HD-DVDs. Any idea how to get rid of it? It bugs me. :)

[Richard Berg]

Can someone translate the PowerDVD advanced video options into ordinary, precise terms?

WTF is Read-It-Clearly? Why is it a prerequisite to hardware de-interlacing?

Smart de-interlacing = it intelligently chooses between ___ ?? Just different deinterlacing algorithms, or also IVTC? Is it talking about frame-by-frame pattern selection or intraframe bob/weave or both?

What combination of settings will tell it "never deinterlace film-source video, just give me the 24p off the disc"?

[redrum801]

this is probally a newb question , but can you play ripped copies of hd-dvd' and blu-ray movies with this program ???

[Richard Berg]

Yes.

[skibum5000]

Can someone translate the PowerDVD advanced video options into ordinary, precise terms?

WTF is Read-It-Clearly? Why is it a prerequisite to hardware de-interlacing?

Smart de-interlacing = it intelligently chooses between ___ ?? Just different deinterlacing algorithms, or also IVTC? Is it talking about frame-by-frame pattern selection or intraframe bob/weave or both?

What combination of settings will tell it "never deinterlace film-source video, just give me the 24p off the disc"?

another chapel hill resident.

anyway, i think read-it-clearly moves the subtitles down lower so they don't overlap the images at much or even at all. not sure why it is a pre-requisite.

for the last question just tick no de-interlacing and then you can be sure it won't try to do something foolish.

as for smart, I THINK it also take IVTC into account, but i'm not 100% sure.

[skibum5000]

I'm suddenly getting the 'incompatible graphics driver message, error=12", and I get it whether my hardware acceleration is on or off. Are the other suggestions to fix this? I had HD DVD working fine, but I'm suddenly getting this message for King King and Serenity (the only two disks I have on hand just now).

System is:
XP 32bit
e4300, overclocked to 2.61ghz
Asrock 775 880pro dual vista mobo
2Gig Corsair DDR2 800 memory
EVGA 7600GT 256mb (non HDCP)
AnyDVD HD
PowerDVD 7.1
XBox 360 drive
Display is a Marquee 8500 CRT Projector

i've found that nvidia control panel should be closed.
HW accel usually need to be on.
sometimes need to shut down powerdvd and restart

anyway those three always do the trick with the driver/software combo taht has sometimes given me that error.

800GTS

[mdfwrestler]

Hello!

Just thought I'd let people know my experience with replacing my original Elonex built x300 graphics card.

In a desperate bid to enter the realms of HD play back I've upgraded to the ASUS 1600pro HDMI low profile card (sff case so only lp will fit).

First of all, boy is this card loud when compared to the passive cooled x300! Very loud fan..

Next I found a lot of issues with the picture quality with both SD and HD -

-Banding quite bad
-Artifacts
-Colour scale with very defined reds and greens

In all very disappointed, I’m even considering re-installing my x300 which is madness as the 1600pro “should” be 2 generations superior to this card?!?!?

If anyone could recommend where I’m going wrong then please advise, it would be appreciated!

P4 – 3.6MHz
2 GB RAM
Vista 32 bit RTM
Latest 7.3 Catalyst Driver

Incidently HD worked a treat with AnydvdHD / PowerDVD Ultra 7.3 / Xbox360 HD Drive

[lsdavinci]

Thuppu, not yet I don't think. I assume there will be a new version at that time.

Ok, so here's a question I've not seen asked:

I have this faint green line at the bottom of my screen, when playing HD-DVDs. Any idea how to get rid of it? It bugs me. :)

I had this as well when I was in XP. Thought it was a PowerDVD issue. When I upgraded to Vista with the same version of PDVD, the line was gone. I don't remember the nvidia driver version on XP though which probably would have been more helpful... :o

[gjvrieze]

I got Powerdvd Ultra 7.3 this morning and with Anydvd-hd trial installed (going to buy once i try a few other titles), i can play the movie King Kong back with 80% CPU usage on this hardware: AMD AM2 65w 3800x2, 1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667, Asus 6150 mobo using onboard video with 93.71 driver, running Windows MCE 2005 with all updates installed... I understand that King Kong is VC1, and that different codecs require more or less power, what can i expect?

[yamahaSHO]

Hello!

Just thought I'd let people know my experience with replacing my original Elonex built x300 graphics card.

In a desperate bid to enter the realms of HD play back I've upgraded to the ASUS 1600pro HDMI low profile card (sff case so only lp will fit).

First of all, boy is this card loud when compared to the passive cooled x300! Very loud fan..

Next I found a lot of issues with the picture quality with both SD and HD -

-Banding quite bad
-Artifacts
-Colour scale with very defined reds and greens

In all very disappointed, I’m even considering re-installing my x300 which is madness as the 1600pro “should” be 2 generations superior to this card?!?!?

If anyone could recommend where I’m going wrong then please advise, it would be appreciated!

P4 – 3.6MHz
2 GB RAM
Vista 32 bit RTM
Latest 7.3 Catalyst Driver

Incidently HD worked a treat with AnydvdHD / PowerDVD Ultra 7.3 / Xbox360 HD Drive

3.6MHz? Pretty slow if you ask me....

[ballenjr]

I got Powerdvd Ultra 7.3 this morning and with Anydvd-hd trial installed (going to buy once i try a few other titles), i can play the movie King Kong back with 80% CPU usage on this hardware: AMD AM2 65w 3800x2, 1GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 667, Asus 6150 mobo using onboard video with 93.71 driver, running Windows MCE 2005 with all updates installed... I understand that King Kong is VC1, and that different codecs require more or less power, what can i expect?

If you're at 80% with VC1 titles you probably won't have a watchable picture with h.264 encoded titles (bad stutters).
Not sure about hd mpeg2 transfers , maybe someone else can comment.

[ditcho]

If you're at 80% with VC1 titles you probably won't have a watchable picture with h.264 encoded titles (bad stutters).
Not sure about hd mpeg2 transfers , maybe someone else can comment.

Mpeg2 will be fine (less CPU usage than VC1), but h.264 will kill it.

[Socio]

Mpeg2 will be fine (less CPU usage than VC1), but h.264 will kill it.

If he had ATi Card capable of Avivo then H.264 might not be a problem as it accelerates H.264 playback.

Avivo (http://ati.amd.com/technology/Avivo/index.html)

Blu-ray and HD-DVD media are poised to revolutionize video as we know it. ATI Avivo offers hardware acceleration for H.264 playback, thus providing a key piece in making Blu-ray and HD-DVD a reality in the PC environment. Enjoy high definition picture fidelity unlike anything ever seen before

[guyver2077]

man thank god i decided to look around in this thread...

stupid nvidia aa settings... ive been trying to figure out for a while now why it was being zoomed like that....

i set it at application controlled and bam.. works great again

[rdewey]

Try the 101.02 Nvidia Beta drivers at Guru3d. This sounds like the exact problem I was having. The beta drivers fixed it for me.

More to come from the above questions when I have the time to answer them fully.

Good Luck

I have the same problem of being unable to play KK using the drivers you are recommending UNLESS hardware acceleration is checked. Using this driver version, I also had abnormal colors so the 100 version driver works better for me color-wise. Does this card work better with PowerDVD under Vista?

[slothy]

Is PowerDVD Ultra (build:2605b) [Vista ready] CyberLink.2605b_TaRe2_MSI_DVD061206-02.exe still the latest 7.3 out ?

[RichB]

Is PowerDVD Ultra (build:2605b) [Vista ready] CyberLink.2605b_TaRe2_MSI_DVD061206-02.exe still the latest 7.3 out ?

This is the version I am running.

- Rich

[talon95]

Anybody heard anything about a patch for PDVDU? Looks like WinDVD is responding to the key change/revocation that's coming:

http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Press.jsp?mode=04-06-2007

[Socio]

Anybody heard anything about a patch for PDVDU? Looks like WinDVD is responding to the key change/revocation that's coming:

http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Press.jsp?mode=04-06-2007

Wow they are being some what rude about it to;

Please be aware that failure to apply the update will result in AACS-protected HD DVD and BD playback being disabled.

In other words;

Even though you payed extra for HD DVD and BD playback ability, because we are getting screwed by some hackers we are going to screw our whole customer base and take it away unless you follow our demands.

Glad I went with their biggest competitor instead.

[arfster]

Glad I went with their biggest competitor instead.

Won't make any difference, they'll all have to do the same to play new discs, as their old keys will have been revoked.

[talon95]

Yes, that's what I think too. PDVDU will be revoked also. Question is, when is the update for it coming?

Although from what I saw over on Doom9, I think it's all irrelevant now anyway.

[_mulder]

I have been following this thread for quite a while trying to make dxva works for me with powerdvd ultra 7.3. It seems that it is working for me now. The image is so much better (I have a 7900GT). Here is what I did, not sure if it will work for other people. I have windows vista and I was using the latest official drivers from NVidia which gave me screwy colors like everyone else who has 7900 series videocard (red push for everything in powerdvd). Anyway, saw today that there was some new beta drivers for vista on guru3d so I said what the heck, let's try them. Started with 101.70; installed those but movies encoded with vc-1 were all screwy, like it did not supported this kind of decoding. Then, I tried 100.95 and with enable hardware acceleration ticked on, I loaded a hd-dvd rip that I made. So the first thing I realize is that the colors seems correct for the first time with this card and powerdvd, and when I go to the info tab of powerdvd, the video decoding info says that dxva is used. And everything is smooth so far. I tried it also with my htpc (XP) with some new drivers (x-treme G 101.02) and it also shows dxva being used. But it stutters on that computer (7800 GT). I will try to see if I can make the stutters go away. Both computers have opteron processors clocked at 2.4.

[Tulli]

Guru3D 101.70 driver is giving me now smooth picture in Vista. Also, colors in PD 7.3 are really "natural", not so saturated as they look in XP. Hardware acceleration is checked. CPU% never goes above 40%. Best HD-DVD PQ I've got so far :cool:

[arfster]

Guru3D 101.70 driver is giving me now smooth picture in Vista. Also, colors in PD 7.3 are really "natural", not so saturated as they look in XP. Hardware acceleration is checked. CPU% never goes above 40%. Best HD-DVD PQ I've got so far :cool:

Thanks for this - I was waiting for someone to guinea pig 101.70 before I played with it :-)

Have you tried 100.65 in comparison? I tried the beta 101.somethingelsebefore70 and it was riddled with every bug imaginable :eek:

[Tulli]

Yes, 100.65 gives me stuttering. Tried also last beta from Nvidia web site (101.41) which is definitely smoother but ruins colors.

[shanewalker]

You folks w/ Vista seem to be running into some issues (while some are reporting better PQ, others are reporting crippling driver/other failures)...which is relatively predictable w/ a new OS release.

I've not had problems w/ my combo of a CoreDuo Toshiba laptop, XP MCE '05, AnyDVD and PowerDVD Ultra 7.2...so far. But I was contemplating a Vista upgrade sometime down the line.

So, is it safe to assume that XP is the safer route at this juncture?

[Tulli]

So, is it safe to assume that XP is the safer route at this juncture?

Yes.

[shanewalker]

I asked about the above as I'm considering the purchase of a dedicated HTPC that would come loaded w/ Vista.

Might wait on that a bit (or set it up w/ XP for now--it's planned to be a dual-boot machine based on Mac hardware). Might be worth waiting anyhow as the rumors are circulating that Apple might incorporate some built-in MPEG-4 decoding chipsets in new machines. Be great if that were true. Curious if someone will come out w/ a way to access that chipset when booting into Windows if they do...

Danke,
Me

[arfster]

Yes, 100.65 gives me stuttering. Tried also last beta from Nvidia web site (101.41) which is definitely smoother but ruins colors.

Tried 101.70 with a 7300GS - works nicely for h264/mpeg2, but vc1 is broken with hardware acceleration (picture completely garbled) now, whether I use the windows decoder or Cyberlink's. In software mode with either it's fine, or with ffdshow.

Will try with another card tomorrow.

[MickeyDora]

Which of the beta drivers (3dguru) is the most stable with XP? I am using the official NVIDIA 97.94 and I haven't seen any PQ problems but PowerDVD 7.3 sometimes crashes big time.

[Tulli]

Tried 101.70 with a 7300GS - works nicely for h264/mpeg2, but vc1 is broken with hardware acceleration (picture completely garbled) now, whether I use the windows decoder or Cyberlink's. In software mode with either it's fine, or with ffdshow.

Will try with another card tomorrow.

Mine is 8800gts.

[Tulli]

Which of the beta drivers (3dguru) is the most stable with XP? I am using the official NVIDIA 97.94 and I haven't seen any PQ problems but PowerDVD 7.3 sometimes crashes big time.

96.89 works great for me. It even lets me manage overscan with my 8800gts.

[JKohn]

The more I use PDVD HD-DVD, the more amazed I am that this software was actually released to the public in its current state. What brain-dead MORON thought it would be a good idea to enabled Parental Controls by default, and not provide any way to turn them off? This makes every unrated disc unplayable. There's a knowledge base article on their site indicating that there should be a tab in the Configuration dialog, but it's nowhere to be found and I couldn't even find any registry key for disabling this. Completely inexcusable, whoever gave the OK to ship this software such obvious high-visibility bugs such as this and the subtitle and screensaver bugs should be fired and never allowed to work in the software industry again.

[AVSAR]

The more I use PDVD HD-DVD, the more amazed I am that this software was actually released to the public in its current state. What brain-dead MORON thought it would be a good idea to enabled Parental Controls by default, and not provide any way to turn them off? This makes every unrated disc unplayable. There's a knowledge base article on their site indicating that there should be a tab in the Configuration dialog, but it's nowhere to be found and I couldn't even find any registry key for disabling this. Completely inexcusable, whoever gave the OK to ship this software such obvious high-visibility bugs such as this and the subtitle and screensaver bugs should be fired and never allowed to work in the software industry again.

I could not agree more! Cyberlink must be totally inept. I can not believe that the software crashes as much as it does on my computer and has such high-profile bugs as keeping subtitles on the screen without a speedy fix for some movies. I ended up ripping these discs to the hard drive just so I could edit the XML file and remove the subtitle entries. What a joke. It is like I downloaded this software from shareware.com.

[Johnnetbiz]

I just wanted to mention that I finally got HD DVD working by downloading a beta 94.20 driver for my 7600GT graphics card. Until now, on PowerDVD HD I either got the 'incompatible driver' error, a blank black screen or best case was a very stuttered picture. Now I'm all set. CPU processor is running as high as 98% when watching King Kong, but no stuttering all all. Other disks seem to run way lower (35% CPU on Serenity). I still get the stupid subtitles though.

System is:
XP
e4300 Processor overclocked from 1.8ghz to 2.61ghz, on Asrock 775 880PT Pro mobo
EVGA 7600GT, 256MB
Corsair 2Gig DDR2 800 memory
Outputting to a CRT projector via VGA

[Socio]

Now I'm all set. CPU processor is running as high as 98% when watching King Kong, but no stuttering all all. Other disks seem to run way lower (35% CPU on Serenity). I still get the stupid subtitles though.



I get the same high CPU usage with King Kong and other HD DVD's that have U control on them it is like even though U Control is not on it is still running in the background or something.

[Tulli]

I get the same high CPU usage with King Kong and other HD DVD's that have U control on them it is like even though U Control is not on it is still running in the background or something.

What is your PDVD version? I've never had that problem with 7.3.

[Schlotkins]

From the sounds of things, this software isn't really ready for prime time yet, huh? A few stupid questions:

1) Is the software decoding all of the audio codecs including DTS-MA? Obvious you have to use the analog connections to get it out there, but is it outputting at full bandwidth?

2) All of the 960x540p downrezzing even with HDCP cards to a HDCP display has been taken care of, correct?

Thank you,
Chris

[WilliamG]

Not ready for prime time? There's an understatement:

1.) Crashes.
2.) Parental control issues
3.) DD+ -enabled movies cause skipping over S/PDif
4.) Horrible banding on 7-series Geforce cards in WindowsXP
5.) Subtitle bugs.

--------

I just bought an XA2 Toshiba player to go with my PS3. I'm done with PowerDVD. They just lost a customer.

[TommyV]

I just got this software. What would be the best video card to work with it? I need to upgrade mine anyway so what seems to be the best one. I was going to get a Geforce 7600GT but judging on the last post that may not be the best idea.

[RichB]

I just got this software. What would be the best video card to work with it? I need to upgrade mine anyway so what seems to be the best one. I was going to get a Geforce 7600GT but judging on the last post that may not be the best idea.

The 8600 series is expected any time now. Since hardware acceleration is broken for most of us, you should see if your system works with your current card if possible.

- Rich

[Bluestraw]

I'm new to HD-DVD playback, and was tearing my hair out after getting bad stutter on my movies. After a lot of research, it seems it's the same problem referenced earlier in this thread about DDplus 640kbps output via SPDIF. Are other people still seeing this - I'm using PDVD 7.3, and tested same results on my AMD X2 4600 with both XP snd Vista, using Realtek AC97 onboard sound.

Are there any workarounds? Seems crazy I either put up with bad stutter or 2 channel sound!!

[TommyV]

The 8600 series is expected any time now. Since hardware acceleration is broken for most of us, you should see if your system works with your current card if possible.

- Rich

Well I have a Geforce 7300 LE that came with my computer. I have tested one HD DVD title that was authored on a DVD9 and I was able to watch it using my normal DVD drive and it played fine, 720p of course. I still need to get an HD DVD drive, is the Xbox add on the best option?

Sorry if I am sounding extremely clueless but what does 'hardware acceleration is broken' mean?

I downloaded the Cyberlink Setup Advisor or whatever it was called and the only thing it said was I needed a new video card and an HD DVD drive (of course).

[RichB]

Well I have a Geforce 7300 LE that came with my computer. I have tested one HD DVD title that was authored on a DVD9 and I was able to watch it using my normal DVD drive and it played fine, 720p of course. I still need to get an HD DVD drive, is the Xbox add on the best option?

Sorry if I am sounding extremely clueless but what does 'hardware acceleration is broken' mean?

I downloaded the Cyberlink Setup Advisor or whatever it was called and the only thing it said was I needed a new video card and an HD DVD drive (of course).

I cannot get hardware acceleration to work on the following: 8800GTS, 7800, FireGL 5250 (notebook). All systems have dual processors and they play all titles fine without hardware acceleration. So if the rest of your system is ok, I would just get the drive and try running it with you card. It may work fine.

- Rich

[ballenjr]

Are there any workarounds? Seems crazy I either put up with bad stutter or 2 channel sound!!

I was having the same problem as you until I switched to the analog outputs on my cards.
I use the 7 channel analog outs from my soundblaster Live! 24bit to my amp and can play back whatever audio track is on the disc fine.

I think using analog outputs is probably your best solution right now. As far as I know, SPDIF cannot handle a typical Dolby Tru HD or any sort of lossless track (too much info). What you essentialy get when you are using SPDIF is a downmix.
If anybody can confirm this I would appreciate it.

[archibael]

Yes, SPDIF is a downmix, unless the disk contains a normal Dolby Digital or DTS track.

[MickeyDora]

I cannot get hardware acceleration to work on the following: 8800GTS, 7800, FireGL 5250 (notebook). All systems have dual processors and they play all titles fine without hardware acceleration. So if the rest of your system is ok, I would just get the drive and try running it with you card. It may work fine.

- Rich

That is so weird. I also have the 8800GTS and I can get hardware acceleration to work just fine. With it on I am around 10-18% cpu usage and when I turn it off it goes up to 30-45% on a E4300 (OC'd to 3.06ghz). I am using the 97.94 (8800) drivers from the Nvidia site.

[RichB]

That is so weird. I also have the 8800GTS and I can get hardware acceleration to work just fine. With it on I am around 10-18% cpu usage and when I turn it off it goes up to 30-45% on a E4300 (OC'd to 3.06ghz). I am using the 97.94 (8800) drivers from the Nvidia site.

I am using Vista but it may also have to do with the display. Not sure why that is.

- Rich

[MickeyDora]

I am using Vista but it may also have to do with the display. Not sure why that is.

- Rich

I am using XP (SP2). I wonder if that makes any difference?

[Bluestraw]

I was having the same problem as you until I switched to the analog outputs on my cards.
I use the 7 channel analog outs from my soundblaster Live! 24bit to my amp and can play back whatever audio track is on the disc fine.

I think using analog outputs is probably your best solution right now. As far as I know, SPDIF cannot handle a typical Dolby Tru HD or any sort of lossless track (too much info). What you essentialy get when you are using SPDIF is a downmix.
If anybody can confirm this I would appreciate it.Thanks - but I don't have those cables right now... For a DDPlus 640kbps soundtrack, I figured it was a downmix over SPDIF, but that the quality should still outdo a normal DVD soundtrack. Is that right? Does anyone have success with a SPDIF output from HD-DVD right now?

[ditcho]

From the sounds of things, this software isn't really ready for prime time yet, huh? A few stupid questions:

1) Is the software decoding all of the audio codecs including DTS-MA? Obvious you have to use the analog connections to get it out there, but is it outputting at full bandwidth?

2) All of the 960x540p downrezzing even with HDCP cards to a HDCP display has been taken care of, correct?

Thank you,
Chris

1. It definitely decodes DTS-MA and all other advertised audio, and the sound is great on my Paradigm speaker system. As for "full bandwidth" or not, I don't think anyone can be sure how the digital to analog conversion happens, but the result to me is excellent.

2. People here have said that PowerDVD Ultra does not do downrezzing (it just refuses to play the disc when you use digital connection without HDCP). I use 1280x720p display connected through VGA. It doesn't seem to me that a a downconversion to 960x540 occurs, at least when I compare with other HD material. But I don't know why I keep seeing posts about downconversion on analog or HDMI without HDCP (the latter, as I said, is simply false - there's no playback under that scenario). Nobody from those who claim that has tried to show any kind of proof.

[MWJ123]

Thanks - but I don't have those cables right now... For a DDPlus 640kbps soundtrack, I figured it was a downmix over SPDIF, but that the quality should still outdo a normal DVD soundtrack. Is that right? Does anyone have success with a SPDIF output from HD-DVD right now?


As I recall, when I first installed my Blu-ray drive, SPDIF output was fine (through the bundled PDVD6.5). Unfortunately, after moving up to PowerDVD 7.3 (and stupidly installing other software before testing), neither format of HD (BD or HD-DVD from file) will play without audio stuttering (unless in stereo). The picture has always been pristine with CPU usage below 50%. I've been going nuts trying to figure this out and have just ordered cables to try analog -- I figured I'd like the lossless audio better anyway. I thought that maybe this was another glitch in 7.3 -- that it wasn't downmixing properly, but I think I tried reinstalling 6.5 and it did the same thing. I would also like to know if anyone has had success with SPDIF.

[ballenjr]

Thanks - but I don't have those cables right now... For a DDPlus 640kbps soundtrack, I figured it was a downmix over SPDIF, but that the quality should still outdo a normal DVD soundtrack. Is that right? Does anyone have success with a SPDIF output from HD-DVD right now?

I was having hit or miss success with DDplus and HD DVD's.
It was completely dependent on the movie. Some movies would play fine but others would give me the same problems that you describe.

I know having to buy overpriced proprietary cables from Creative (assuming you have a soundblaster) is a real drag.
Does anyone know of where to get cheap analog cables that will work with a SoundBlaster without having to buy from Creative?

Thanks

[talon95]

The 8600 series is expected any time now. Since hardware acceleration is broken for most of us, you should see if your system works with your current card if possible.

- Rich

Interestingly, hardware accel is broken for me in XP (93.71), but it's working in Vista (100.65). I have a 7600GT. I've even tried a fresh XP install, but no luck.

[MickeyDora]

I would also like to know if anyone has had success with SPDIF.

I have no problems using SPDIF with an Auzentech Xplosion 7.1 PCI card. But I also have a total pristine clean install of XP with no additional software other than PowerDVD 7.3

[Bluestraw]

I know having to buy overpriced proprietary cables from Creative (assuming you have a soundblaster) is a real drag.
Does anyone know of where to get cheap analog cables that will work with a SoundBlaster without having to buy from Creative?

ThanksI actually found some from the Creative UK store for just £10 - not sure if those are the same cables you were looking at?

http://uk.europe.creative.com/shop/product.asp?product=1076

[MWJ123]

But I also have a total pristine clean install of XP with no additional software other than PowerDVD 7.3

Yeah, I figured that's where I went wrong. I wish I knew what I added that I shouldn't have -- I can't say I didn't know any better...

[MickeyDora]

Yeah, I figured that's where I went wrong. I wish I knew what I added that I shouldn't have -- I can't say I didn't know any better...

You can always re-install XP. Create a restore point after updating all hardware drivers but before installing software and then installing PowerDVD. Then create another Restore point that includes PowerDVD. Then start installing any other software that you need. If you have any problems you can always return to either the spot before you installed PDVD or right after.

Just a suggestion.

[rdewey]

That is so weird. I also have the 8800GTS and I can get hardware acceleration to work just fine. With it on I am around 10-18% cpu usage and when I turn it off it goes up to 30-45% on a E4300 (OC'd to 3.06ghz). I am using the 97.94 (8800) drivers from the Nvidia site.

I am running XP on an 8800GTS and can run PowerDVD Ultra ONLY with hardware acceleration checked. When trying to run it without hardware accel, I get a unsupported driver error message... Does this happen with your setup? Also, none of the 9?.?? drivers work at all for my setup; I have to use one of the beta 100.?? series drivers to get universal titles to play at all.

[Bluestraw]

Yeah, I figured that's where I went wrong. I wish I knew what I added that I shouldn't have -- I can't say I didn't know any better...I tried a pristine Vista installation and got the same errors. Didn't try pristine XP yet, but anyway I don't really have any 'optional' s/w installed... Looks like I'll try the analogue output or wait for a PDVD update.

[MickeyDora]

I am running XP on an 8800GTS and can run PowerDVD Ultra ONLY with hardware acceleration checked. When trying to run it without hardware accel, I get a unsupported driver error message... Does this happen with your setup? Also, none of the 9?.?? drivers work at all for my setup; I have to use one of the beta 100.?? series drivers to get universal titles to play at all.

Nope. Works fine with HdwAcc turned on that I pretty much leave it on all the time. If I find a title that does not like it (can't remember off the top of my head) then I will turn it off and then it works fine.

[klillevo]

Which of the beta drivers (3dguru) is the most stable with XP? I am using the official NVIDIA 97.94 and I haven't seen any PQ problems but PowerDVD 7.3 sometimes crashes big time.
I never got any of these drivers to work with a 7600GT. They appear to be 8800 only.

[MickeyDora]

I never got any of these drivers to work with a 7600GT. They appear to be 8800 only.

After I wrote that I went with a clean install of XP and re-installed 97.94 (for the 8800's) and then re-installed Pdvd 7.3 and it has worked fine ever since.

Crossing my fingers that it will stay that way.

[MWJ123]

You can always re-install XP. Create a restore point after updating all hardware drivers but before installing software and then installing PowerDVD. Then create another Restore point that includes PowerDVD. Then start installing any other software that you need. If you have any problems you can always return to either the spot before you installed PDVD or right after.

Just a suggestion.

Thanks. That is what I figured my next step was -- just hoping to avoid it. I'm kind of a novice with the underside of windows (although I've managed to keep 4 home built PCs going so far -- not that it's hard to build a PC). Anyway, just thought I'd give the analog outputs a try before that hopefully final step.

Thanks!

[skibum5000]

Thanks - but I don't have those cables right now... For a DDPlus 640kbps soundtrack, I figured it was a downmix over SPDIF, but that the quality should still outdo a normal DVD soundtrack. Is that right? Does anyone have success with a SPDIF output from HD-DVD right now?

yeah,so long as it is not more than640, DD+ works just fine over SPDIF and my receiver recognizes it just fine. the 1500kpstracks though get downcoded to 640 so you lose the extra quality, the640 play as 640 though no downconversion to 384 or anything (at least with the title's I've tried so far).
and of coure you can get the 1500kps, DTS-MA, etc. over analog out jut fine.

[skibum5000]

I'm new to HD-DVD playback, and was tearing my hair out after getting bad stutter on my movies. After a lot of research, it seems it's the same problem referenced earlier in this thread about DDplus 640kbps output via SPDIF. Are other people still seeing this - I'm using PDVD 7.3, and tested same results on my AMD X2 4600 with both XP snd Vista, using Realtek AC97 onboard sound.

Are there any workarounds? Seems crazy I either put up with bad stutter or 2 channel sound!!

one thing is to make sure you don't have any mixer stuff set at 44.1khz, make sure stuff, in all control panels is set at 48khz! especially be careful with vista where it defaults with some cards to 44.1khz, that will make it stutter.

[chavel]

I've just been playing a couple of DVD-Audio DVD's on the 360 using PDVD 7.1 with a Auzentech X-Meridian sound card, 5.1 analog out into a Yamaha 6090. Sounds pretty dam good. Maybe, even be better than the Oppo 971 that I just disconnected. Might even beat SACD's on the PS3 too.

[pospower]

Has anyone found a way to bookmark HD movies on pc>?

[<><]

Can anyone using Vista with 8800gts confirm something for me please:

In the drivers control panel, Under Video & Television, I only have 2 options I can click on (i'm in advanced view).
- Adjust Video color settings
- Adjust Television color settings

and when i click on those options, i only have ONE tab (unlike before where I had 4 tabs in xp where i could control color temp, rgb, enhancement).

Is there something im missing or an option i have turned off? Or is this how the vista drivers are? Seems more limited than xp.

Thank you!

[Bluestraw]

Ok I bit the bullet and got some analog audio cables - finally stutter-free playback with 6 channel sound :)

The one confusing thing though is that a DDPlus 640 sountrack sounds somehow more 'bass-heayy' when output via analogue compared with the AC3 'downmix'. Should those two mixes output identically?

[Micromain]

Can anyone using Vista with 8800gts confirm something for me please:

In the drivers control panel, Under Video & Television, I only have 2 options I can click on (i'm in advanced view).
- Adjust Video color settings
- Adjust Television color settings

and when i click on those options, i only have ONE tab (unlike before where I had 4 tabs in xp where i could control color temp, rgb, enhancement).

Is there something im missing or an option i have turned off? Or is this how the vista drivers are? Seems more limited than xp.

Thank you!
You're not missing anything. Many of the NVIDIA control panel options available in XP have not been implemented in the Vista drivers yet.

[<><]

You're not missing anything. Many of the NVIDIA control panel options available in XP have not been implemented in the Vista drivers yet.

just downloaded the 100.70 drivers for 8800gts vista32, now I have all the options I had for the xp version and is running a lot smoother than the 100.65 available from nvidia site.

thanks

[ballenjr]

just downloaded the 100.70 drivers for 8800gts vista32, now I have all the options I had for the xp version and is running a lot smoother than the 100.65 available from nvidia site.

thanks

Are you still getting overlay when watching HD DVD's?

[<><]

Are you still getting overlay when watching HD DVD's?
yes, its still overlay, it says so in the information and areo is turned off whenever i play a hd-dvd

powerdvd is a pretty buggy piece of software for vista, the image looks very good when it plays, but when playing regular DVDs, it bugs out, starts resizing, doens't full screen the DVD image (puts black bars all around the picture) so i have to keep resizing for it to finally work right....and when going fullscreen in vista for regular dvds, the windows taskbar is still visibe :/

purevideo doesnt seem to work w/ vista and the image quality for reular dvds is better with powerdvd than w/ WMP11 right now.

[Socio]

Possible performance booster;

I have seen a lot of complaints about stuttering and after noticing that PowerDVD increases the page file about 450mb it got me thinking.

Some of the stutter issues could be fragmented hard drive your page file sits on or the page file itself. I also noticed some gain noticeable improvement when they have formatted and re-installed thus no fragmentation and perhaps one reason for the better performance.

So if you are having stutter issues you might want to defrag then use a program like PageDefrag v2.32 (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/PageDefrag.mspx) freeware to defrag your paging files, event log files, and Registry hives during boot up, it might help.

[<><]

Socio,
also, the best location for a page file is on another harddrive all together (not on the same partition as the os...and not on another partition on the same drive as the os) if possible :)

[Bignickfly]

Possible performance booster;

I have seen a lot of complaints about stuttering and after noticing that PowerDVD increases the page file about 450mb it got me thinking.

Some of the stutter issues could be fragmented hard drive your page file sits on or the page file itself. I also noticed some gain noticeable improvement when they have formatted and re-installed thus no fragmentation and perhaps one reason for the better performance.

So if you are having stutter issues you might want to defrag then use a program like PageDefrag v2.32 (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/PageDefrag.mspx) freeware to defrag your paging files, event log files, and Registry hives during boot up, it might help.

Would installing more ram help?
I have seem the requirements for commersial editing HD-DVD software, and its a minimum of 4GB Ram.

[vjren]

Yesterday changed from 93.71 to 94.20 drivers from guru3d for my 7600GT. Banding seems gone or at least a lot better. Colors I don't know yet, it seemd better.

Still overlay though. (Easy test is to use the overlay zoom control in the nvidia panel, isn't that supposed to not work on VMR?)

I have sound dropouts though and somehow the flow is not fluent... (with 93.71 driver too...) should I reinstall, (CPU usage is <30%), but it could also be because of playing back HD-DVD over network.

Many hardware HD-DVD players read 24frames film rate and output 1080i 60Hz (some then deinterlace to 1080p) how is that with the cyberlink player, does it read 24Hz film frames the performs magic, or does it do conversion to 1080i?

I just wonder if it is better or worse to let the HTPC output 1080i and let my VP3000 deinterlace and ivtc to 24 or 28Hz..

[Alpha10]

Just been over to the Cyberlink site and there is now a download for an Ultra patch, going to build 2605n. So when I get home from work I'll give it a go and report back, good luck all.

Cheers

[ballenjr]

Just been over to the Cyberlink site and there is now a download for an Ultra patch, going to build 2605n. So when I get home from work I'll give it a go and report back, good luck all.

Cheers

Thanks for the info!

I can't seem to find the patch though on the cyberlink site. If anybody could help that would be great.

Thanks in advance.

[R10KYJ]

Here we go;

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

[Alpha10]

You beat me to it, twice :)

[RichB]

I wonder if this *works* with AnyDVD?

- Rich

[Socio]

The patch is 66.9mb that is a big patch!

[Socio]

New version of AnyDVD HD out as well;

Anydvd Update 6.1.3.5 2007 04 10
- New (Blu-ray): Improved removal of region code
- New: Workaround for compatibility problems with 3rd party drivers
- Some minor fixes and improvements
- Updated languages


http://static.slysoft.com/SetupAnyDVD.exe

[R10KYJ]

The patch is 66.9mb that is a big patch!

I would suspect that this a complete new install, as it updates so that Blu-ray and HD-DVD can be run from the same install. I know when I asked about a dual install they supplied a link to 2605b (which is 7.3), so I am guesiing that the 2605n is a newer version of that.

Yet to test what the differences are though.

Ricky

[Alpha10]

I would suspect that this a complete new install, as it updates so that Blu-ray and HD-DVD can be run from the same install. I know when I asked about a dual install they supplied a link to 2605b (which is 7.3), so I am guesiing that the 2605n is a newer version of that.

Yet to test what the differences are though.

Ricky

I'd just be pleased if I could watch my films.....off home in a bit to try

Have a good weekend all

[Alpha10]

Right, got home and had a quick play. Some good news and some bad.....

Firstly it doesn't seem to update over 7.2, you have to go to 7.3 before it'll install, great start.

Once done, thankfully sub-titles appear to have gone, thank you.

The problems I was having with 7.3 and the 0103 error have gone

The 'unrated' discs I had like 'wolf-creek' now run fine without a parental warning

Unfortunately though 'Hulk' still doesn't play properly, so back to the bottom of the cupboard for that one...

All in all not to bad, if I find anything else playing this evening I'll report in.

Cheers

[Don_S]

I am tempted to install this patch, but hesitate to do so because I don't want to "break" anything. Thus far, I have not had any major issues with PowerDVD Ultra on my Vista Ultimate system. Will wait a bit longer to see how things go with others who take the plunge. The Cyberlink website is useless - there is no release notes or info on what exactly this patch is supposed to do!

[Alpha10]

I should have said I'm running XP

Oh and my stuttering with 640kbs sound tracks is still there :mad:

Other than that they appear to have fixed a fair few bits this time.....

Cheers

[stevetoney]

ok

I bought ultra in January -- it seems to be 7.2

downloaded the patch -- will not install

guess as per another post I need to be at 7.3

so I go to call Cyberlink or login to my registration account

can any company make it harder to figure out how to upgrade my software

no phone number -- gigantic web form - filling out tons of stuff

I just want to patch the software

suggestions

thanks

[tsowen]

When I was at the patch download page and click on System Requirements, I noticed the following:

Screen Resolution
1024 x 768 or 1280 x 1024

Does this mean PowerDVD always downscales from 1920 x 1080 to lower resolutions?

This requirement is not mentioned in their system requirement under
http://www.cyberlink.com/english/support/bdhd_support/system_requirement.jsp

[stevetoney]

I broke down and used their web form and they send me the link to upgrade

I did so and patched the software tot he current build

In Dune -- I still have subtitles I can not turn off

Have not tried other titles yet -- I have about 15 HDDVD now

will tried some other

still a buggy mess I think

[DJ79]

So is it that only 7.3 can be patched? I tried to patch my 7.1 version and got some funny message about my version being obsolete, or something like that.

[Socio]

Looks like their another new version of AnyDVD HD released;

http://static.slysoft.com/SetupAnyDVD6136.exe

6.1.3.6 2007 04 13
- Fix: AnyDVD 6.1.3.5 did not work correctly on Windows 2000
- Some minor fixes and improvements
- Updated languages

[sigma957]

I downloaded and installed the new patch. Good news for ATI owners, it appears to have fixed the "Incompatible Graphics Driver" error when playing VC-1 HD-DVD discs. I have only tried one disc (Serenity), but so far it plays fine from the XBOX 360 drive (no more having to rip to the hard drive first).

My configuration:
Overclocked E4300
Radeon X1650
Catalyst 7.3
PowerDVD 7.3 with patch

[r3v3nant]

I bought Cyberlink DVD Ultra tonight to play HD DVDs via my new Xbox 360 HD DVD drive and I have to say I am impressed with it.. working great so far. :) playing over an 8800GTX video card..

[stevetoney]

King Kong will now play without subtitles

Dune will not

turning on hardware acceleration crashes the program

I have HDCP complain Nvidia 7600GT card

I can play from xbox360 drive and HD rip

program is better, but still needs a lot of work

It frustration that so many different HD DVD behave so differently..

I also have two nice standalone players from toshiba -- they have update their firmware 2 x in the month I've had the player

one HDDVD - Happy Feet -- stops hard at the same palce in the movie on both players

Some nice CGI in the HF movie, but it is only HDDVD I wish I had not bought..



I broke down and used their web form and they send me the link to upgrade

I did so and patched the software tot he current build

In Dune -- I still have subtitles I can not turn off

Have not tried other titles yet -- I have about 15 HDDVD now

will tried some other

still a buggy mess I think

[MickeyDora]

King Kong will now play without subtitles

Dune will not

I can play from xbox360 drive and HD rip

If you are playing from rips, you can edit out the subtitles (for those titles that won't stop playing the subtitles) in the XPL file. This is almost mandatory for numerous titles on HD DVD.

[stevetoney]

pointers to a "how to"??

thanks



If you are playing from rips, you can edit out the subtitles (for those titles that won't stop playing the subtitles) in the XPL file. This is almost mandatory for numerous titles on HD DVD.

[MickeyDora]

pointers to a "how to"??

thanks

Its quite simple. Make sure you back-up any files you edit before you edit them.

1)Open the VPLST000.XPL (located inside the ADV_OBJ folder) in a text editor.
2)Look for the following:

<Title id="feature" displayName="Feature Presentation" titleNumber="3" titleDuration="02:34:33:20" tickBaseDivisor="4" onEnd="black">
<PrimaryAudioVideoClip titleTimeBegin="00:00:00:00" titleTimeEnd="01:17:16:10" src="file:///dvddisc/HVDVD_TS/PEVOB_1.MAP" dataSource="Disc">
<Video mediaAttr="1" track="1"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="1" description="English 5.1" streamNumber="1"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="2" track="2" description="English MLP" streamNumber="2"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="3" description="French 5.1" streamNumber="3"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="4" description="Spanish 5.1" streamNumber="4"/>
<Subtitle mediaAttr="1" track="1" description="English" streamNumber="1"/>
<Subtitle mediaAttr="1" track="2" description="English SDH" streamNumber="2"/>
<Subtitle mediaAttr="1" track="3" description="French" streamNumber="3"/>
<Subtitle mediaAttr="1" track="4" description="Spanish" streamNumber="4"/>


4)Edit out (delete) any references to "Subtitle". Your new XPL will look like this:

<Title id="feature" displayName="Feature Presentation" titleNumber="3" titleDuration="02:34:33:20" tickBaseDivisor="4" onEnd="black">
<PrimaryAudioVideoClip titleTimeBegin="00:00:00:00" titleTimeEnd="01:17:16:10" src="file:///dvddisc/HVDVD_TS/PEVOB_1.MAP" dataSource="Disc">
<Video mediaAttr="1" track="1"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="1" description="English 5.1" streamNumber="1"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="2" track="2" description="English MLP" streamNumber="2"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="3" description="French 5.1" streamNumber="3"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="4" description="Spanish 5.1" streamNumber="4"/>


PS. There may be several places where the subtitles appear so you may have to delete several subtitle references. Most titles have one or two. Some have up to 4.

5)Save the new edited file back into its original location.
6)You should now have a playable title with absolutely no subtitles. If you ever want to use your subtitles, place the original file (the un-edited one) back into its original location (see why you need to save it before editing?)

[Alpha10]

Oh dear, here we go again, I'm back to having 'error 0013' again, even stuff that was playing earlier so since a re-start it's all gone wrong again. I have tried re-loading endlessly :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I really have had enough of this now

[stevetoney]

thanks



Its quite simple. Make sure you back-up any files you edit before you edit them.

1)Open the VPLST000.XPL (located inside the ADV_OBJ folder) in a text editor.
2)Look for the following:

<Title id="feature" displayName="Feature Presentation" titleNumber="3" titleDuration="02:34:33:20" tickBaseDivisor="4" onEnd="black">
<PrimaryAudioVideoClip titleTimeBegin="00:00:00:00" titleTimeEnd="01:17:16:10" src="file:///dvddisc/HVDVD_TS/PEVOB_1.MAP" dataSource="Disc">
<Video mediaAttr="1" track="1"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="1" description="English 5.1" streamNumber="1"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="2" track="2" description="English MLP" streamNumber="2"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="3" description="French 5.1" streamNumber="3"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="4" description="Spanish 5.1" streamNumber="4"/>
<Subtitle mediaAttr="1" track="1" description="English" streamNumber="1"/>
<Subtitle mediaAttr="1" track="2" description="English SDH" streamNumber="2"/>
<Subtitle mediaAttr="1" track="3" description="French" streamNumber="3"/>
<Subtitle mediaAttr="1" track="4" description="Spanish" streamNumber="4"/>


4)Edit out (delete) any references to "Subtitle". Your new XPL will look like this:

<Title id="feature" displayName="Feature Presentation" titleNumber="3" titleDuration="02:34:33:20" tickBaseDivisor="4" onEnd="black">
<PrimaryAudioVideoClip titleTimeBegin="00:00:00:00" titleTimeEnd="01:17:16:10" src="file:///dvddisc/HVDVD_TS/PEVOB_1.MAP" dataSource="Disc">
<Video mediaAttr="1" track="1"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="1" description="English 5.1" streamNumber="1"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="2" track="2" description="English MLP" streamNumber="2"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="3" description="French 5.1" streamNumber="3"/>
<Audio mediaAttr="1" track="4" description="Spanish 5.1" streamNumber="4"/>


PS. There may be several places where the subtitles appear so you may have to delete several subtitle references. Most titles have one or two. Some have up to 4.

5)Save the new edited file back into its original location.
6)You should now have a playable title with absolutely no subtitles. If you ever want to use your subtitles, place the original file (the un-edited one) back into its original location (see why you need to save it before editing?)

[Vern Dias]

no more having to rip to the hard drive firstNo reason to do this if you have AnyDVD HD running.

Although, I really can't believe that Cyberlink can't get this HDCP crap sorted out. The Advisor reports all green, but the player doesn't seem to know that everything is compliant......

I have opened several tickets on this with Cyberlink, and it's still not fixed......

Vern

[taz291819]

thanks

In that same XPL file, you can delete other things, like what gets played first, the menu, extras, etc..

If you do delete those, you need to make sure the "Feature Presentation" is set to "=1". It's normally =2 or =3.

[charris]

If you're at 80% with VC1 titles you probably won't have a watchable picture with h.264 encoded titles (bad stutters).
Not sure about hd mpeg2 transfers , maybe someone else can comment.

Which titles are encoded in h.264? Is this the same as AVC?

[charris]

At the moment I have the pc connected to my processor digitally by coaxial. So I get Dolby Digital from HD-DVDs and BD. I know that to listen to the Dolby Digital TrueHD or DTS MA or LPCM soundtracks I have to use analogue. If I do that what should I do in Powerdvd so that it decodes the lossless formats and ouputs it over analogue to my processor? Is there something I should do in windows also?

[kevin_y]

I have Xbox HD DVD drive + PowerDVD Ultra 7.3 + AnyDVD HD. How do you watch the SD version of an HD DVD that also includes SD version?

I have King Kong and Phantom of the Opera and their boxes both say 480i version included. I can play their HD versions. But their on screen DVD menus don't have a choice for SD. If I go into PowerDVD configuration -> HD DVD, and check "down convert to SD", that makes no difference to the picture. So how do I get SD?

[eclipse98]

I have Xbox HD DVD drive + PowerDVD Ultra 7.3 + AnyDVD HD. How do you watch the SD version of an HD DVD that also includes SD version?

I have King Kong and Phantom of the Opera and their boxes both say 480i version included. I can play their HD versions. But their on screen DVD menus don't have a choice for SD. If I go into PowerDVD configuration -> HD DVD, and check "down convert to SD", that makes no difference to the picture. So how do I get SD?

I'm not sure about KK or Phantom but some of the titles I have (Happy Feet, Superman Returns) have regular DVD version on the flip side.

HTH, Davie.

[eclipse98]

At the moment I have the pc connected to my processor digitally by coaxial. So I get Dolby Digital from HD-DVDs and BD. I know that to listen to the Dolby Digital TrueHD or DTS MA or LPCM soundtracks I have to use analogue. If I do that what should I do in Powerdvd so that it decodes the lossless formats and ouputs it over analogue to my processor? Is there something I should do in windows also?

I haven't done it myself (yet) but from what I've read you will need to change Audio output to '7 speakers' instead of SPDIF (Confiuration/Audio tab)-- this way PowerDVD will do audio decoding instead of your receiver -- I don't think you need to do anything in Windows.

HTH, Davie.

[kevin_y]

I'm not sure about KK or Phantom but some of the titles I have (Happy Feet, Superman Returns) have regular DVD version on the flip side.

HTH, Davie.
My bad. The KK and Phantom boxes only say "special features" are in 480i.

[bowser15]

At the moment I have the pc connected to my processor digitally by coaxial. So I get Dolby Digital from HD-DVDs and BD. I know that to listen to the Dolby Digital TrueHD or DTS MA or LPCM soundtracks I have to use analogue. If I do that what should I do in Powerdvd so that it decodes the lossless formats and ouputs it over analogue to my processor? Is there something I should do in windows also?

Yeah just set the Speaker Enviroment to how many speakers you have (5.1 = 6). In the output mode you can select different audio processes too, but I just leave on No Effect so I can keep the audio more 'clean'.

[MWJ123]

I just happened on something interesting (to me anyway, novice that I am): I had been experiencing the audio stuttering on the HD-DVD files as others have (through SPDIF). I have found that I don't get the stuttering when "use hardware acceleration" is checked in the VIDEO tab of PDVD7.3. But, of course some files then play with video stuttering (others are perfect). When I uncheck "use hardware acceleration" the video is fine, but audio stuttering returns. I will be switching to the analog outs soon anyway, I just thought this didn't seem to make sense -- I thought the hardware acceleration in PDVD's video tab should only affect the video. (I'm using an 8800GTS with the patched PDVD7.3.) Granted, I don't know much about the nuts and bolts of all this.

[ymarker]

What type of problems were you having. My issue was a blank screen on the feature presentation. Turning off U-Control in the menu didn't work. IMHO, it appears powerdvd can't handle sub pictures (PIP) because of overlay. With VMR this issue should go away. In the meanwhile, you can disable the U-Control sub picture stuff by commenting it out in the XPL like so:

<!--
<SubVideo track="1"/>
<SubAudio track="1" streamNumber="1" mediaAttr="1"/>
-->

Does anyone else have to comment out the subvideo track (like shown above) in WinXP and PDVD 7.3 + Patch for movies with U-Control?

[brian321]

The newly released patch fixed my HD DVD playback issue! I am now able to playback HD DVD content over Component out using an ATI x1600 in XP MCE2005 without getting the dreaded Error 0013 - incompatible graphics driver.

Even after the patch though I am still unable to playback some standard DVDs! Has anybody had this issue or is everybody here only concerned with HD and Blue Ray playback?

When trying to play Shaun of the Dead I get:
"The TV Out Port of your display is not working properly"
"This copy protected disc can not be played when the TV out function is enabled"

[bjmills]

King Kong will now play without subtitles

Dune will not

turning on hardware acceleration crashes the program

....


I have this problem with 7.1 on a 7600GS card (latest beta drivers as well as official drivers). Playback seems okay yet CPU up around 80% or higher (E6600). It would be nice to have hardware acceleration working. HOW??

[arfster]

I have this problem with 7.1 on a 7600GS card (latest beta drivers as well as official drivers). Playback seems okay yet CPU up around 80% or higher (E6600). It would be nice to have hardware acceleration working. HOW??

Hopefully the next drivers will fix this tomorrow - they're going for quite a generation leap, to something like 158.xx

[bjmills]

Hopefully the next drivers will fix this tomorrow - they're going for quite a generation leap, to something like 158.xx

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if that was an objective, or just wishful thinking? I'm all for wishful thinking, of course :-)

[ditcho]

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if that was an objective, or just wishful thinking? I'm all for wishful thinking, of course :-)

There never was much hope, Frodo :)

[ditcho]

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if that was an objective, or just wishful thinking? I'm all for wishful thinking, of course :-)

There never was much hope, Frodo. :)

[bjmills]

There never was much hope, Frodo. :)

I think that was Gandalf to Pippin, but I take your point :-)

Any ideas from anyone if the HW acceleration would work if I instead had an ATI card in there, such as the X1950?

[vjren]

Many hardware HD-DVD players read 24frames film rate and output 1080i 60Hz (some then deinterlace to 1080p) how is that with the cyberlink player, does it read 24Hz film frames then performs scaling magic, or does it do conversion to 1080i?
I just wonder if it is better or worse to let the HTPC output 1080i and let my VP3000 deinterlace and ivtc to 24 or 28Hz..
Anyone a clue on what powerdvd does?

[MickeyDora]

I have this problem with 7.1 on a 7600GS card (latest beta drivers as well as official drivers). Playback seems okay yet CPU up around 80% or higher (E6600). It would be nice to have hardware acceleration working. HOW??

They must be getting closer since the hardware acceleration works fine with the 8800GTS with the official 97.94 drivers. So maybe the new drivers will provide the same for older cards.

[arfster]

Thanks for the reply. Do you know if that was an objective, or just wishful thinking? I'm all for wishful thinking, of course :-)

Well, the drivers exist, I've used em on my XP machine :-) The rumour was always they were due for tomorrow, and it makes sense because that's when the 8600 and co are being released

Not so sure about Vista drivers unfortunately.

[bjmills]

Thanks for the info, both of you.

How'd you manage to get the drivers before release? :-)

[Socio]

I think that was Gandalf to Pippin, but I take your point :-)

Any ideas from anyone if the HW acceleration would work if I instead had an ATI card in there, such as the X1950?

Well ATi has Avivo (http://ati.amd.com/technology/Avivo/index.html)

H.264 Video DecodingH.264;
Blu-ray and HD-DVD media are poised to revolutionize video as we know it. ATI Avivo offers hardware acceleration for H.264 playback, thus providing a key piece in making Blu-ray and HD-DVD a reality in the PC environment. Enjoy high definition picture fidelity unlike anything ever seen before.

However it does not appear to accelerate HD DVD playback, at least with PowerDVD even though Hardware Acceleration is checked once the HD DVD movie starts and you look at the video tab the Hardware acceleration is unchecked and grayed out.

[Nimo]

Thanks for the info, both of you.

How'd you manage to get the drivers before release? :-)

Leaked:
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=221342&page=5

[elisha_lovers]

Hey,

I have issue with PDVD 7.3 and ATI X1250 integrated chipset (with C2D 2.4G).
Hardware is 100% "FULL HD Ready" : ABIT Fatal1ty F-I90HD (chipset RS690G + ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 via HDMI (HDCP compliant)

Playback of a 1080p VC1 (.WMV) or 1080p H.264 (.mov) is perfect with MPC when Directshow video "System Default" is set. When I set Overlay Mixer or VMR9... Playback sucks.

So my question is, can I disable overlay in PDVD 7.3 to play HD DVD smoothly ?

[ballenjr]

MyMovies 2.3 beta is now avaiable for download.

http://www.mymovies.name/downloads.aspx

Integrates PowerDVD 7.3 into MCE so you can play your BluRay and HD DVD direct from MediaCenter.

Seems to work pretty well so for, but remember it is a beta release.

[dthigpen]

MyMovies 2.3 beta is now avaiable for download.

http://www.mymovies.name/downloads.aspx

Integrates PowerDVD 7.3 into MCE so you can play your BluRay and HD DVD direct from MediaCenter.

Seems to work pretty well so for, but remember it is a beta release.

Very cool, thanks for the heads up. I'm assuming it'll worked with backed up Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs?

[ballenjr]

Very cool, thanks for the heads up. I'm assuming it'll worked with backed up Blu-Ray and HD-DVD discs?

Yes, that's all I'm using it for. Not sure how it would work with a bluray/HDDVD drive.

[HTGeek]

For those of us who aren't quite ready to purchase a new HDTV and Video card with HDCP, watching HD-DVD and Blu-Ray via an analog connection is the only option. From what I can tell reading this thread, there are many HTPC users who have done this successfully