New CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra Plays HD-DVDs and Blu-ray Discs Options

[Xbox-Scene]

New CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra Plays HD-DVDs and Blu-ray Discs Posted by XanTium | December 22 23:06 EST

CyberLink launched a new version of their PowerDVD Ultra video playback software for Windows that has now support for HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies. As far as I know this is the first commercially available English software to playback these HD discs (InterVideo's WinDVD 8 did, but only the Japanese version for some reason). At 99.95usd/99,95eur the software doesn't come very cheap, but with the Xbox 360 HD-DVD Addon at 'just' 200usd/200eur that means you can now get next-gen HD movie playback in your home for 'only' ~300usd/300eur. As you know from earlier news, the Xbox360 HD-DVD Addon connects just fine with Windows XP (need extra drivers) or Windows Vista (nothing needed). Keep in mind that in order to play movies in full resolution, you might need a PC with HDCP-enabled gfxcard and HDCP-enabled display. From the press release: [QUOTE] CyberLink Corp., a world leader in digital home solutions, today launched the HD DVD and Blu-ray version of its industry-defining movie player software, PowerDVD. Featuring optimized hardware acceleration for graphics processors, and compatibility with leading HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc drives, PowerDVD Ultra delivers the ultimate high-definition movie experience on both desktop and notebook computers. New features for PowerDVD Ultra include: * Support for HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc playback on leading drives, including the Microsoft Xbox 360 HD DVD external drive * Playback of high-definition Hollywood movie content * Optimized performance for playback of high-definition video content on graphics cards featuring NVIDIA PureVideo, ATI Avivo, and Intel Clear Video technology * Support for new next-generation disc features, like Picture-in-Picture movie mode, networking, interactive BD-J and iHD features, bookmarks, and advanced disc navigation * High-definition audio with support for Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD technologies * 6.1-channel surround sound, ensuring compatibility with home theater audio systems, and audio expansion of up to 8 channels * Support for double-layer HD DVDs and Blu-ray Discs * Conformance to the High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) specifications for the playback of premium content through DVI and HDMI connectors * Support for BUS Protection ensures premium content protection via VGA systems. [/QUOTE] Official Site: http://www.cyberlink.com

[mlapaglia]

w00t.. nero has had this for a while though haven't they?

[XanTium]

w00t.. nero has had this for a while though haven't they?

nero can burn Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, but can it also playback Blu-ray/HD-DVD movies ?

[Altima NEO]

The catch is having HDCP enabled video card and monitor... which most arent, right?

[dmitri]

Many aren't but the ones that are can be found cheap..

Who would have thought Microsoft would make it so easy for people to use this with a PC.. My only guess is because Vista is coming up. And when it's hooked to a PC you can watch 1080p without quality loss like on the Xbox 360..

-dp

[epsilon72]

(!) Able to decode dolby true-hd and DTS-hd....impressive. Virtually all receivers on the market today can't do that, so this is a huge bonus. When I finally pick up a 8800GTX (when the price drops significantly), it looks like my HD-DVD add-on will be attached to my PC rather than my 360. It's good to see that the color will be better too, the color for the version of PowerDVD that I have is terrible.

[Mistar Muffin]

New CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra Plays HD-DVDs and Blu-ray Discs
Posted by XanTium| December 22 23:06 EST

Keep in mind that in order to play movies in full resolution, you might need a PC with HDCP-enabled gfxcard and HDCP-enabled display.

Umm...wouldn't that only be true for movies where the ICT (image constraint token) is enabled, at which current time there are none on the market?

[mlapaglia]

nero can burn Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs, but can it also playback Blu-ray/HD-DVD movies ?

i believe so, not that i use them, but some keygen sites have serials that enable both types playback.. i don't actually have a hd-dvd or blu-ray to test it on though..

[epsilon72]

Umm...wouldn't that only be true for movies where the ICT (image constraint token) is enabled, at which current time there are none on the market?

From what I understand the HD-DVD add-on won't work at all without a HDCP compliant card. Looks like we have to have very new cards in order to take advantage of this.

[StriderX7]

I've just bought me a new HP laptop, cost me the UK equivalent of just over $2,500 so I damn well made sure it had a HDMI port on the back lol!

I just want to confirm that if I get this software and install my 360 HD-DVD drive on the laptop, then I can watch the movies in full res on my HDTV?

[Lifter]

Last I checked, even with a full HDCP compliant system, HD-DVD movies only played back at 540p using the Xbox 360 drive.

[TGD]

(!) Able to decode dolby true-hd and DTS-hd....impressive. Virtually all receivers on the market today can't do that, so this is a huge bonus. When I finally pick up a 8800GTX (when the price drops significantly), it looks like my HD-DVD add-on will be attached to my PC rather than my 360. It's good to see that the color will be better too, the color for the version of PowerDVD that I have is terrible.

I agree being able to decode dolby trueHD and dtsHD is very impressive. This is exactly why alot of a/v heads like most at avsforums.com are jumping on the home theater pc bandwagon, by having your pc connected to your hdtv, like mine is, it really brings a whole new world to media centers and high def media playback, not to mention having a computer run windows applications on your big nice hdtv is in a league of its own as well for many reasons.

Honestly.... home theater pc's will be the next big thing for everyone, not just for audio/video enthusiasts , mark my words.

This post has been edited by TGD: Dec 26 2006, 01:44 AM

[throwingks]

Last I checked, even with a full HDCP compliant system, HD-DVD movies only played back at 540p using the Xbox 360 drive.

Where did you hear that?

[Lifter]

Where did you hear that?

AVSForum. It's been tested by a lot of people using the Japanese WinDVD that plays HD-DVD. For some reason, you can only get 540p from an Xbox HD-DVD drive using the WinXP drivers.

I don't know if this new version of Cyberlink will change that.

[haitian1]

AVSForum. It's been tested by a lot of people using the Japanese WinDVD that plays HD-DVD. For some reason, you can only get 540p from an Xbox HD-DVD drive using the WinXP drivers.

I don't know if this new version of Cyberlink will change that.

The play back at 540p is a limition of the Windvd softeware. I have Powerdvd Ultra and have no problem playing back HDDVD movies at 1080p on my PC.