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What's your favorite FREE DVD player?

post #1 of 28
8/1/07 at 9:30am
Thread Starter 
Which FREE DVD player do you use with your HTPC?

How's the quality of the Free players as compare to the commercial ones?

Just looking for standard definition.
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post #2 of 28
8/1/07 at 9:32am
VLC Media Player

It's not sexy looking buy works very well.
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post #3 of 28
8/1/07 at 10:24am
MPC.

Simply the best.

I really wish it could play HD DVDs.
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post #4 of 28
8/1/07 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by galileo2000 View Post

MPC.

Simply the best.

I really wish it could play HD DVDs.

MPC? Where do I get that?
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post #5 of 28
8/1/07 at 11:28am
Quote:


MPC? Where do I get that?

MPC, short for media player classic. Google is your friend
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post #6 of 28
8/1/07 at 11:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bustybanshee View Post

MPC? Where do I get that?

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...er_Classic.htm
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post #7 of 28
8/3/07 at 7:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by galileo2000 View Post

MPC.

Simply the best.

I really wish it could play HD DVDs.


I like MPC too, but how does one navigate a DVD menu with it? Everytime I try to click on an option (e.g. 'play movie') on the menu screen (like one does with VLC), it just "pauses" the menu screen.
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post #8 of 28
8/3/07 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by fitbrit View Post

I like MPC too, but how does one navigate a DVD menu with it? Everytime I try to click on an option (e.g. 'play movie') on the menu screen (like one does with VLC), it just "pauses" the menu screen.

Select "Play Movie" menu and hit enter.

By default MPC pauses with the mouse click on the screen and resumes after the second mouse click. I believe you can change this behavior in "Options" if you wish.
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post #9 of 28
8/3/07 at 8:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by galileo2000 View Post

Select "Play Movie" menu and hit enter.

By default MPC pauses with the mouse click on the screen and resumes after the second mouse click. I believe you can change this behavior in "Options" if you wish.


Thank you, sir! I'm always very impressed with all the options in MPC... and so little bloat.
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post #10 of 28
8/3/07 at 8:42am
MPC Home Cinema Edition
KMPlayer is a close second, but I haven't used it for DVD playback yet.
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post #11 of 28
8/3/07 at 9:38am
Do VLC and MPC allow playback of encrypted, original DVD's, or only decrypted discs?
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post #12 of 28
8/3/07 at 10:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rgb View Post

Do VLC and MPC allow playback of encrypted, original DVD's, or only decrypted discs?

Both will play "encrypted, original DVD's" just fine.

Another cool thing about MPC is it automatically loads ReClock if it is installed.

As a result, you can watch PAL DVDs no problem with MPC.

Just try to use PDVD or WinDVD on PAL DVD to compare.
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post #13 of 28
8/3/07 at 12:09pm
Vista Media Center
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post #14 of 28
8/3/07 at 12:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thoraudio View Post

Vista Media Center

Vista is not "free", particularly for the DIY machines so common on this forum.

And Vista Home Basic, installe don many lower cost notebooks and desktops commonly found at brick and mortars, cannot play DVD's without purchasing decoder software.
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post #15 of 28
8/3/07 at 4:15pm
is it possible to get hardware acceleration, like purevideo ,with MPC?
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post #16 of 28
8/3/07 at 4:24pm
Yes, just install the codec.
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post #17 of 28
8/5/07 at 3:21am
if that's the case, what is the advantage with players like cyberlinks powerdvd
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post #18 of 28
8/5/07 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mrkazador View Post

Yes, just install the codec.

You have to buy a PureVideo capable codec though.

None of the free/open source codecs support Hardware Accelleration (ie PureVideo).
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post #19 of 28
8/5/07 at 3:23pm
Well heres a tip, I dont know if this is allowed... Go ahead and delete it if this is not allowed.
Install the trial version of Powerdvd, copy the .ax files and uninstall Powerdvd. Move your .ax files to the system32 folder and do a regsvr32 to register the codecs. Now you can use Powerdvd codecs under MPC/Zoom Player for free.
Certain codec packs have Powerdvd/Intervideo codecs packaged in the "codec pack". Though I do advise against installing codec packs UNLESS you know what you are doing.
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post #20 of 28
8/5/07 at 3:47pm
That is definitely NOT a legitimate way to get them.
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post #21 of 28
8/5/07 at 4:35pm
im alittle bit confused here, I thought purevideo was the codec..
Do you mean powerdvd when you say that I have to buy a Purevideo capable codec?

So if im getting this right, If I want Hardwareacceleration use powerdvd if not use mpc and ffdshow
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post #22 of 28
8/5/07 at 4:47pm
Codecs like Purevideo(mpeg2 ONLY), powerdvd, and intervideo allows you to use hardware acceleration. When you install programs like powerdvd you can use the codecs under MPC and still have hardware acceleration.
You can purchase the Purevideo codec but only does MPEG2 acceleration.
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post #23 of 28
8/5/07 at 5:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollerytter View Post

im alittle bit confused here, I thought purevideo was the codec..

PureVideo is nVidia's marketing name for it's collection of Video technologies. These technologies are part of Decoders (eg the PureVideo DVD Decoder), drivers (nVidia Forceware drivers), and built into the hardware on the card.

Quote:


Do you mean powerdvd when you say that I have to buy a Purevideo capable codec?

PowerDVD includes one PureVideo capable codec, I believe Nero has one as well, as does WinDVD. And for MPEG-2 only, nVidia has their own as well.

Quote:


So if im getting this right, If I want Hardwareacceleration use powerdvd if not use mpc and ffdshow

Basically, if you want Hardware Accelleration, you need a retail/commercial playback package.
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post #24 of 28
8/5/07 at 10:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by maxleung View Post

MPC Home Cinema Edition

+1

Finally silky smooth @ 72Hz. Way smoother than the movie theatres. Were it not for the high quality lighting and composition it looks like video
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post #25 of 28
8/6/07 at 12:17am
Does anyone know off the top of their heads what makes the "home theater edition" version of MPC different from previous versions?

Just curious as I downloaded it earlier today but it seems to look and work the same as I remembered it from pre "home theater edition" versions.

MPC has always been nice, but it still looks just as generic and plain as it always did.

Just for the record I use Zoomplayer. It's not free of course, but it's so inexpensive you might want to check it out if you haven't already.

Troy
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post #26 of 28
8/6/07 at 12:40am
MPC Home Cinema version has support for Fullscreen Exclusive Mode. It works extremely well. However, you lose right-click menus and is a big pain if you wanted to access filter properties. You can switch audio and subtitle tracks with the keyboard though.

Oh and it also supports EVR mode in Vista and XP - although the latter is not officially supported by microsoft and you lose DXVA2 anyways.
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post #27 of 28
8/6/07 at 7:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pcCinema View Post

Does anyone know off the top of their heads what makes the "home theater edition" version of MPC different from previous versions?

Just curious as I downloaded it earlier today but it seems to look and work the same as I remembered it from pre "home theater edition" versions.

MPC has always been nice, but it still looks just as generic and plain as it always did.

Just for the record I use Zoomplayer. It's not free of course, but it's so inexpensive you might want to check it out if you haven't already.

Troy

Troy,

It has some bug fixes over the "standard" MPC and it has Installer. Also, according to Casimir666, the guy who modified the 'original" MPC, it includes Vista EVR support, D3D fullscreen option to prevent tearing, improved open DVD dialog box, subtitles synchronisation mechanisme and PN31 remote control support.
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post #28 of 28
8/6/07 at 11:04am
Thanks guys
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