PowerdvdUltra
Latest
A first hand look at NVIDIA 3DTV Play and PowerDVD 3D
Home theater PC fans will tell you that one of the reasons they do what they do is because of the flexibility that comes along with a roll your own home theater PC. And so of course the latest HTPCs need to be able to play 3D movies, games and broadcast content. Now NVIDIA has been bringing 3D to PCs for years but the latest 3DTVs don't share as much in common with 3D PC displays as you might think. Some think this is as simple as getting a video card with an HDMI 1.4 port, but in regards to 3D it is just a spec and your existing video card you've had for years might just work. In fact what HDMI 1.4 means to 3D is simply that a device is capable of outputting specific 3D formats (all common 3D formats used less bandwidth than 1080p60 2D). Sure the hardware must be physically capable of transmitting the signal, but what we're really talking about here is software, not hardware. That's where NVIDIA 3DTV Play comes in. This little piece of magic will be free for those who already own an NVIDIA 3D Vision kit, but for the rest of us with NVIDIA video cards, it'll be $40. What's interesting is that 3DTV Play doesn't really help those with the 3D Vision kits, because it is specifically for 3DTVs; which require their own 3D glasses. Now if you really want to know exactly what 3DTV Play does help with, and how well it works, well you'll just have to click on through for that part.
CyberLink's PowerDVD Ultra Blu-ray Profile 1.1 update now available
Being Bonus View (or Profile 1.1 like we used to call it back in the old days) enabled has gone from theoretical to actual for users of Cyberlink's PowerDVD Ultra. Also enhancing BD-J compatibility with certain movies, the 71.8mb download brings users to build 3730 and should provide the seamless PiP quality observed at CES -- if your PC can handle it of course. No charge for supporting more of Blu-ray's features, so get to downloading.[Thanks, François]
Cyberlink users complaining of HD playback problems
Cyberlink's recently released PowerDVD Ultra software seemed to be a cure-all solution for enjoying high-definition movies on a PC, offering support for both Blu-ray and HD DVD, including Microsoft's low-cost Xbox 360 HD DVD drive. As Cyberlink's support forums show, however, not everybody's been rewarded for their patience (and hundred bucks), with a number of reports cropping up of playback problems with both high-def formats on systems that Cyberlink's own system adviser says meet the necessary requirements. The main problem appears to occur with those using an HDMI or DVI-to-HDMI connection between their video card and display device, with the video reportedly only playing for a few seconds before throwing up an "Error 0103" message stating that the player couldn't be initialized. While there's reports of the problem dating back to shortly after the software's release in late December, there's so far been no fix for the issue and no word from Cyberlink on when one might be coming. Some of the affected users don't seem to be in the mood for waiting, however, with a couple even going so far as to file complaints with the Better Business Bureau, though its yet to be seen what will come from that.[Thanks, Jeff]
Cyberlink's $99 PowerDVD Ultra enables HD DVD and Blu-ray on your PC
Cyberlink has finally released a standalone version of its HD DVD and Blu-ray movie playback software, PowerDVD Ultra. The total package carries a $99/€99 price tag and is available for download now, while Intervideo's WinDVD 8 continues to wait for its HD upgrade. Dual core processor, 512MB of RAM, 256MB of video RAM, HDCP for any digital connections and of course an HD DVD or Blu-ray drive (the Xbox 360 HD DVD drive is officially supported) are just the mininum requirements. NVIDIA PureVideo, ATI Avivo and Intel Clear Video hardware acceleration support should keep those h.264 and VC-1 encoded movies playing smoothly while Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD soundtracks play in 6.1 surround sound. Blu-ray Java and HDi interactive features are supported, as well as UPnP streaming to compatible devices. With features that outpace many of the standalone players on the market, building your own dual format player doesn't sound so crazy after all.
