[hifipj]

P R E S S R E L E A S E


Contact: Ty Ung


E-Mail: [email protected]


Phone: +886-2-8667-1298, ext. 301


For Immediate Release


PowerDVD First Software DVD Player to Support Dolby Digital Surround EX 6.1 DVD

Titles


CyberLink PowerDVD Pro 6.1 Supports Hercules Game Theater XP


Taipei, Taiwan----October 26, 2001----CyberLink Corp., a leading developer of digital video and multimedia streaming software is

pleased to announce that an exciting new version of PowerDVD will bring 6.1-channel surround sound audio and is the first software

DVD player to provide multi-channel audio decoding for 6.1 home theater speakers systems. Additionally, PowerDVD Pro 6.1

supports the Game Theater XP sound card from Hercules and is based on the award-winning PowerDVD 3.0 software DVD/universal

player from CyberLink.


PowerDVD Pro 6.1 is designed to provide audio aficionados and DVD fans with the most vibrant, immersive sound experience when

playing back DVD titles featuring Dolby Digital Surround EX 6.1 audio tracks. The difference between the newer 6.1-channel

"Extended Surround" formats and their 5.1-channel surround sound counterparts is the addition of a surround back channel, whose

corresponding speaker is placed behind the audience. This allows certain soundtrack effects to be presented behind the audience,

thereby achieving complete 360° surround sound. Other available software DVD players only support up to a 5.1 speaker system

where the surround speakers are placed on either sides of the audience. PowerDVD Pro 6.1 is able to add additional speakers for

the center surround back channels, to deliver 6.1-channel digital surround sound audio playback.


According to Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink, "We've worked hard to bring the best navigation features and high-quality playback

in DVD playback software. With PowerDVD Pro 6.1, we've reached a new milestone as we come closer to delivering the perfect DVD

experience on the PC."


PowerDVD Pro 6.1 is capable of playing not only DVDs (including Dolby Digital Surround EX 6.1 DVD titles), but also MP3s,

Video/Audio CDs and MPEG 1 & 2 video files. PowerDVD Pro 6.1 also features Dolby Headphone Technology, delivering true-to-life

virtual surround sound playback with any pair of standard stereo headphones. A complete software playback solution for full

enjoyment of recent Dolby Digital Surround EX 6.1 DVDs, as well as Dolby Digital 5.1 DVDs, PowerDVD Pro 6.1 provides the

ultimate audio playback experience on the PC.


"PowerDVD has set the standard for DVD playback software with its robust hardware compatibility, support of various formats, great

features and low CPU-consumption," says Michel Gad, Sound Project Manager of Hercules Technologies. "GameTheatre XP

customers can now experience the best video playback along with an entirely new audio experience with PowerDVD Pro 6.1."


About PowerDVD

PowerDVD is the world's leading high quality audio and video DVD software player, with advanced navigation and the most complete

hardware support. CyberLink's PowerDVD can deliver high quality DVD playback at full frame rate with extremely low CPU

consumption (only 350MHz CPU or above required). New features added to its already long list include Dolby Headphone

Technology, bringing a Virtual Surround experience to any standard pair of stereo headphones and Digital Zoom, allowing users to

view special effects, hidden features and fine details at either 4 or 9 times the normal screen ratio. PowerDVD has been an excellent

solution for OEM manufacturers due to its low CPU consumption and high level of hardware compatibility.


About CyberLink Corp.

Founded in 1995, CyberLink Corp. is a world leader and pioneer in bringing advanced digital video and audio software products to

market. The products are categorized into two major lines: Digital Video Entertainment and E-Training Solutions. Digital Video

Entertainment products focus on providing video/audio playback and recording capabilities on the personal computer. These

award-winning software applications are ideal solutions for turning today's mainstream computers into powerful home theaters and

digital video centers. The company's E-Training Solutions offer breakthrough technologies to stream and manage high-quality,

media-rich contents over corporate intranets or the Internet. As a result of the company's solid growth and profitability, CyberLink

became a public company in October of 2000 and is listed on the Taiwan Over The Counter Exchange (OTC: 5203). To keep up with

market demands, CyberLink has operations in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region including Japan. CyberLink's

worldwide headquarters are in Taipei and its Web site is located at www.goCyberlink.com


About Hercules

Founded in the United States in 1982, Hercules developed the industry's first high-resolution graphics boards for PCs. Having set the

monochrome graphics standard, Hercules then proceeded to pioneer advances in color graphics solutions. Over the years, Hercules

has constantly sought to evolve, providing innovative lines of graphics, video, and - more recently - audio products, geared principally

towards the international gaming community. Hercules has been a division of the Guillemot Corporation group since 1999. Guillemot

Corporation designs and manufactures a complete range of PC hardware products and PC and gaming console accessories. With

an active presence in 17 countries, the group currently distributes its products in a total of 45 countries. Guillemot Corporation is

listed on the Paris Stock exchange, Sicovam code 6672.


For further information on Hercules, please visit www.Hercules.com



CyberLink programs are available for press evaluation. Please contact Ty Ung or Manal Ma at [email protected] or by phone

at: +886-2-8667-1298, ext. 301 or 303 for more details.


##########


All companies and product names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective

companies.


Copyright © 2001 CyberLink Corp. All rights reserved.

 

[PortaPro]

good news


Any word on the Dolby Prologic II version yet ?

 

[Electronic Punk]

Is this to be integrated into PowerDVD XP or is this another standalone product?

 

[Hugh Magoo]

From what Hercules has been saying is that they were going to release a new version of the Game Theater XP with this Power DVD Pro 6.1 version. But the latest that I have seen from them is that they will not be doing this package. So I am not sure if they will end up repackaging GTXP's with this software or not.


Currently you can get a GTXP for around $110, which inccludes PowerDVD standard version. (3.0 I think)


For anybody out there who is really looking for a way to decode inside your machine, this is the most reasonably priced solution.


There is another thread with my same comments but here it goes again.


The GTXP will take MP3, windows sounds, and games, and two analog inputs and virtualize them into any speaker config up to 6.1


As a workaround it uses the headphone output as the rear center out (the new drivers have addedn the 6.1 feature)


The virtualization is fairly clean and makes Winamp sound very nice on 6 speakers and a sub.


Hopefully we can find this Power DVD 6.1 somewhere soon and check it out.


The only bad thing is the "Low CPU Usage" thing. That is not what I am looking for.

 

[John Moschella]

Quote:

Originally posted by PortaPro good news Any word on the Dolby Prologic II version yet ?

My understanding is that PLII requires only a 2 channel mix, ie stereo or stereo surround. So it should work with just about any SW DVD player provided the ouput is set for two channel.


John Moschella

 

[Bill Gaw2]

According to the web page it will do 6.1 audio decoding on board, and also DolbyPro Logic II decoding of two channel discs. If this is true, and it works with high end cards such as the M-Audio 1010 and Theater card, and does volume control, then we have the ideal HTPC program for video and audio. Bill

 

[jaymer]

hmcgrath wrote:
Quote:

For anybody out there who is really looking for a way to decode inside your machine, this is the most reasonably priced solution.

I have the Herc Fortissimo II, which I got because it supported SPDIF out. I don't think I want to decode anything in my HTPC.


How do I interpret that Press statement with regards to this card? Are all channels in a 6.1 scenario (or 7.1) still going to go out the SPDIF and my receiver can still properly decode it?

 

[Hugh Magoo]

The success of passing DD EX 6.1 or DTS ES 6.1 signals depends on only whether or not your receiver has that capabillity.


In my experience however, it does seem to be pushing the S/PDIF function too far with some software DVD players. The ones that really work like WinDVD have no problem with titles with 6.1 tracks, but the ones that are borderline like Cineplayer 4.0, forget about it.


I am not sure where the Fort II fits in. But for what you want to do , all you need is a reliable optical/coax out and you're set.

 

[jamoka]

So this is the the "New Sheriff" they were talking about. Sounds great.

 

[PVR]

Maybe you are kidding, but the "TheaterTek" player

is what people have been calling the "New Sherrif".


Cineplayer4 and PowerDVD6.1 (and PowerDVD XP Pro)

are the new competition for new TheaterTek player.

 

[KBK]

If it doesn't do the wonders to the image like as in propely handling what a Radeon processor deos,and deliver the gamma correction... then it's still a zero in my book. Sound or no sound. And I do sound for a living.


If it does not have the capacity to properly utilize the best video processing chip around for HTPC.. then what use is it?

 

[Cliff Watson]

Dr. Bill said;

â€According to the web page it will do 6.1 audio decoding on board, and also DolbyPro Logic II decoding of two channel discs. If this is true, and it works with high end cards such as the M-Audio 1010 and Theater card, and does volume control, then we have the ideal HTPC program for video and audio.â€


I’m sure I’ll open a can of worms with this post, so here goes.


A little over 12 hour ago I received my eval copy of PowerDVD 4.0 XP Pro and have been testing (non-stop) with the ‘soon to be released’ Delta 410 (Theater) multichannel soundcard, ATI Radeon 64 VIVO operating under Win XP Home and I’m impressed.


PwrDVD XP Pro will decode AC-3 5.1, DTS 5.1, and DPL II for stereo LPCM and several other formats such as Dolby Headphone and 3D stuff. The AC-3, DTS and DLP II decoding are awesome with the Theater soundcard.


Bill, I don’t know what is planed for the 1010 soundcard but the Theaters drivers currently have hardware volume control for each channel and a rudimentary bass redirect. The crossover is a little low and more improvements need to be made in addition to adding channel delays. I’ve recommend that they add user selectable crossover points at 40, 60, 80, and 100 Hz per channel.


In my opinion the multichannel analog audio output from the Theater card using the new PowerDVD XP decoder sounds as good as the 1010 (even with the DAC inside the PC).


Dr. KGB said;

â€If it doesn't do the wonders to the image like as in propely handling what a Radeon processor deos,and deliver the gamma correction... then it's still a zero in my book. Sound or no sound. And I do sound for a living. If it does not have the capacity to properly utilize the best video processing chip around for HTPC.. then what use is it?â€


Ken,


Add a one in front of that zero and you will have the correct rating for PowerDVD XP.


It is fully DXVA hardware compliant for the Radeon card and the image quality is just as good as the ATI player (maybe better). I didn’t even have to tweak the player to get AC-3/DTS pass-thru in addition to the analog decoded formats.

 

[soren]

I can't wait to get my hands on it!


You do seem to have some influence on the maudio dev team, you please ask them to consider the following.


Since they do the crossover(pretty sure in software), could they they implement a "hidden" registy switch that would send channel 1/2 to the delta mixer as normal, and everything that is not to pass a software volume control based on the position of the input slider for each channel (3-8) in mixer. These should not be sent to the mixer but to each output channel.


I proposed this to them before, hell... I even told them I would help write the code.


If it comes from you, we might improve the odds.

I rather keep my 1010 instead of getting a theater card.

 

[Cliff Watson]

Soren,


I talked with the dev engineer yesterday and I believe they are going to add a new tab for management controls that works independent of the mixer panel.

 

[soren]

Cliff,


THANKS!


As long as they are aware of our need, I'm sure they will do the right thing!


I mean as long as these "extra filters" are optional, it will not interfer with the goal of zero latency.

 

[Hugh Magoo]

Sen. Cliff wrote:
PwrDVD XP Pro will decode AC-3 5.1, DTS 5.1, and DPL II for stereo LPCM and several other formats such as Dolby Headphone and 3D stuff. The AC-3, DTS and DLP II decoding are awesome with the Theater soundcard.


I would assume this statement to mean that it does proper decoding for all of these formats just like an external decoder. I've never tried any of the other software decoders but my guess would be that this is a big improvement.


How does the software perform while decoding video sourced DVds? This usually increases CPU usage and will show any weaknesses in DTS/DD passthrough.


keep us posted, especially when it is officially available.


BTW, Where is InterVideo these days?

 

[Bill Gaw2]

Cliff:

Thanks for the information. Sounds like I should put the order in now as they are offering a remote control for free.

Is the remote helpful, or can learnnig remotes be trained. I ask, as I already own 2.5 and I understand that the upgrade will be cheaper.

There is a statement on their web site relating to a picture control that sound like it may be a gamma control. Is this true?

Have you found any problems running Powerdvd 6.1 with WINDVD on board? I had some interference when I tried this with the 2.55 and had to remove it from the computer.

Its great that somebody else on this board understands the importance of doing on board decoding. Just think, if the theater card works as well as the 1010, then all of us will be able to get rid of our externasl processors.

Nice hearing from you again Soren. Sounds like this program will be the answer to our prayers.

Bill

 

[KBK]

Well, I very much like the results of that query. It may trash the current ATI multimedia set, as far as most folks are concerned.. but it will still cause the Radeon to fly off the shelves. So, it certainly won't hurt ATI.


In fact.. the result will be the opposite. Many more ATI cards will be sold. People just want the damned thing to work, that's all. It is the one ESSENTIAL part of a HTPC, and It HAS to work right, no failures, or glitches.. PLEASE.


SO, many more Radeon cards will be sold. All it will do, is make the ATI the undisputed king of the hill, until a better video processor comes around.

 

[Karnis]

Quote:

Originally posted by Bill Gaw2 Its great that somebody else on this board understands the importance of doing on board decoding.... then all of us will be able to get rid of our externasl processors. Bill

Hey Bill,

I would be curious as to your opinion as to why you feel internal processing is so important. I for one have several other digital sources so I can't get rid of my pre-pro (not to mention it also does my component switching). Thanks for your reply and opinion on this subject. Once again, I'm just curious, not being critical.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Cliff Watson]

â€I would assume this statement to mean that it does proper decoding for all of these formats just like an external decoder. I've never tried any of the other software decoders but my guess would be that this is a big improvement.â€


Yes that is what my statement means. The decoding with PowerDVD XP and conversion from digital PCM to analog with the Delta Theater soundcard produced better multichannel audio than my mid-level Denon receiver.

â€How does the software perform while decoding video sourced DVds? This usually increases CPU usage and will show any weaknesses in DTS/DD passthrough.â€


The AC-3/DTS pass-thru is excellent when decoding video source material and is the same when AC-3/DTS is decoded in software.

â€BTW, Where is InterVideo these days?â€


I have no idea what they doing lately. I do know that some upper management has “jumped ship†and now works for CyberLink.

â€Is the remote helpful, or can learnnig remotes be trained. I ask, as I already own 2.5 and I understand that the upgrade will be cheaper.â€


Bill, the free remote is pure “marketingâ€. I have been using a Pronto remote to control PowerDVD for a long time.


You should have a copy of PowerDVD 3.0 that we included with the upgrade of your HTPC. Owning version 3.0 should get you the lowest cost upgrade (maybe $19.95). We may setup an upgrade (download) server for the new versions of PowerDVD. The details are not finalized yet.

â€There is a statement on their web site relating to a picture control that sound like it may be a gamma control. Is this true?â€


Yes it is true. The picture controls include Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and two separate Hue controls (one for Red/Green and one for Yellow/Blue). The brightness control is actually gamma control. You can also setup four “User Profiles†called Original, Vivid, Bright, and Theater. I think they used my scoped settings for the Radeon defaults because when I set the User Profile to Original the gamma was identical to the settings with ATI player.


When using the Radeon DXVA hardware acceleration the hue controls are disabled.

â€Have you found any problems running Powerdvd 6.1 with WINDVD on board? I had some interference when I tried this with the 2.55 and had to remove it from the computer.â€


No problem! Because I never install WinDVD on any of my systems.

â€Its great that somebody else on this board understands the importance of doing on board decoding. Just think, if the theater card works as well as the 1010, then all of us will be able to get rid of our externasl processors.â€


It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.