PowerDVD: PQ and AQ, Pros and Cons (HD DVD & Blu-ray)

I know there are many folks with major issues with PDVD (see the PDVD thread), but I seem to have gotten lucky for a change: my install of the LG dual format drive and the PDVD software went smoothly and it all is working pretty well out of the box. I've been really enjoying watching many BDs and HDDVDs in the last coupla weeks. HD rules!

My equipment:
LG GGC-H20L drive
Intel E6850 CPU, 2GB ram
ATI HD2600XT video
X-Fi Elite Pro - analog sound directly to power amps and speakers
Samsung 720p rear proj DLP

PDVD Pros:
- Looks good, sounds good, few issues
- There's a great all-black skin available

PDVD Cons:
- I get an occasional glitch (like a skipped video frame or two) every 30-60 minutes when playing HDDVD or BD.
- It's not Zoom Player, so the UI (keyboard and mouse functions) is different
- No surround-speaker levels control panel for tweaking

So, sorry lsdavinci, I guess I basically agree with you.

It is your eyes and your ears. My experience with PDVD Ultra is that it does not produce anywhere near the audio, or video qualtiy of an A2, let alone the XA2 that is hooked to the same set, and it is a buggy unreliable mess that does not integrate into Media Center. If an HTPC is intended to do anything it is to be an integrated media center... Actually I can't decide whether there is mass delusion on the Home Theater PC forum or what... this either early adopter heaver or hell.

Again, what can anybody else tell you that is more important than what your own eyes and ears tell you. For me personally, Power DVD ultra is an unfinished work in progress, promising down the road, maybe.

For now, I have a TivoHD and XA2, and a PS3 and they just work.

My experience it just the opposite, at least where the video is concerned. PowerDVD's image matches any dedicated HD DVD or BD player's image easily on my system (Qualia 004 1920x1080 + 1.5X anamorphic lens on a 5' x 14' screen).

The key to this however, is a good video card, I use an ATI 3870 connected via HDMI, a good audio card, I use an Auzentech X-Meridian using 8 cannel analog output, and a core-2 Duo processor. Use XP with SP2, not Vista and make sure you calibrate your video with a good HD test disc such as DVE.

Play the disc, just like you do with a dedicated player, keep PowerDVD updated with the latest patches and you are good to go.

Some people who are unhappy with PDVD are trying to make the player and or the discs do things they was not intended to do.

Disclaimer: Just my $.02 YMMV.


Vern

That is exactly my opinion too, except I prefer Vista over XP. Works better with my NVIDIA 8800GT and Auzentech Prelude. I had some issues in XP but none in Vista.

It is common consensus that PWDVD does not have the same crispness and detail reproduction as a software player. If I have a choice between MPC & PWDVD I choose MPC anyday unfortunately with BD & HD DVD you have to jump through hoops to make MPC work. In the PWDVD thread as well as in the TT2 thread the PWDVD competition to be once it has been released you find others that complain about the softness of the PWDVD picture.

In my experience PowerDVD has been much better than my A1 was PQ wise. Having no real problems on Vista x64.

I definitely agree with gtgray. It's a work in progress. It SHOULD integrate with Media Center & Cyberlink actually published some piccies around the time of last year's CES showing it integrated. SPDIF audio is hit & miss & PDVD doesn't work with the MCE remote. Although you can auto-start it from within MCE using an event handler, it doesn't start on the same surface as MCE so you have to manually drag it there for display on an HDMI connected projector. The constant updates are pain & the fact that it now won't play files from the HDD is a downright cheek. (AACS pressure, I believe).Over in the (very, VERY long) PDVD thread several people have demanded & got their money back.

Once it becomes stable & integrated into MCE it should be good. The HD output is good, but the SPDIF, as I have said, is flaky & the quality isn't the best.

I'm using 32bit Vista Ultimate, Realtek on board audio & a convection cooled Saphire HD2600 which is a monster.

Lack of mce integration and support for the mce remote really bugs me. The video quality is fine, however the audio quality seems lacking. It could just be the oem version that I'm using.

More time playing with it will tell.

I just wanted to through in that you can playback from HDD, just not like you used to be able to.

You need to make an ISO of the rip with ImgBurn and then use Daemon tools to mount the image. Upon mounting the image, the autoplay feature could/would launch PowerDVD and start playing the movie.

I can only speak on behalf of HD-DVD playback, but others have confirmed it works great for BluRay ISO playback as well.

Oh, and I love the playback of PowerDVD. The only title I had issues with playback was Transformers. With the software update, those issues were solved. I have a 2600XT and use the SPDIF out currently, but I am waiting for the HD Audio to work without downsampling and I'll buy the card/solution that supports that.

-Brian

No sorry, I don't do SPDIF. I don't have an A/V receiver -- just sound card, power amps, speakers.

So far, my experience with Vista has been less than stellar. Maybe SP1 will change that, but I don't really want to spend the time changing what works. For me, Vista had audio channel mapping issues, HDCP negotiation issues, a really onerous registration process, and a few other problems. I still have the package up on the shelf, maybe someday I'll try again. I work in the computer industry and just read a story about the lack of growth of Vista in the business market. It seems it is way behind everyone's projections in terms of market acceptance.

I suspect that anyone who reports that PowerDVD's video is soft does not have enough CPU and/or Video card processing capacity.
PowerDVD can and will drop out of the "best" mode video quality when set to "auto" and it thinks the environment doesn't have the processing capability to deliver the most detailed image. If so, you can force it to the "best" settings and see what happens. If it stutters, than you need better hardware. If not you should be OK with most titles.

I use analog because thats the only way to handle multi-channel PCM. SPDIF cannot handle more that 2 channels of PCM audio.

Vern

what soundcard do you have?
i have a cheapish yamaha receiver and a great x-meridian with OPA 627 opamps so i get much better sound through analog. but if you have some $4000 receiver and a poor soundcard then it probabyl would sound lots better through SPDIF.