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PowerDVD 9 with native Media Center UI goes live

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Mar 2nd 2009 at 8:43AM

PowerDVD 9
We've given up on waiting for Microsoft to natively support Blu-ray in Windows Media Center, but the good news is that the 3rd parties seem motivated to fill in the gap and the latest player from Cyberlink leap frogs ArcSoft's TotalMedia nicely. Although there are some additional under the hood enhancements -- still no HDMI 1.3 support, but seems to be coming with some sort of "Advanced Pack" -- that are welcomed, the big news in PowerDVD 9 is the Windows Media Center interface. Rather than just add a shortcut to the main menu that launches the application, Cyberlink has done some good work building a native MCML application. It pretty much looks exactly like it did when we filmed it at CES, and for the most part we like it, but we still think it could be a little more like the Media Center UI -- mostly we're referring to the scrub bar.

Gallery: Hands-on with PowerDVD 9

Continue reading PowerDVD 9 with native Media Center UI goes live

Video: Cyberlink's native Media Center Blu-ray player

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 9th 2009 at 9:16PM Featured Story

At this point most aren't happy with Microsoft's progress of adding new features to Windows Media Center, but lucky for Blu-ray fans there are other companies willing to pick up the slack. The first to create Blu-ray software that tried to focus on the Media Center crowd was ArcSoft with its TotalMedia Theater, but although it was better than anything else out there, it is far from seamless. Competition is good and at Microsoft's booth we got to see a demo of the new Cyberlink PowerDVD Media Center player. It was far and away more seamless than the older PowerDVD and although it was very Media Center like, it still wasn't the same -- the most obvious difference is the scrub bar, which looks nothing like the Media Center scrub bar. This is an early version and is far from snappy. You can see in the video there are some pretty long delays when loading the disc, but to be fair it was tested on a netbook. Ultimately we liked it more than TotalMedia Theater, but we still long for native Blu-ray playback.

CyberLink PowerDVD: now cleared for BD-RE 2.1 / BD-R 1.1 playback

by Darren Murph posted Sep 29th 2008 at 4:55AM


Calm down people, everything's okay now. CyberLink has just revealed that its PowerDVD application is now certified to play back BD-RE 2.1 and BD-R 1.1 Blu-ray Disc media. Granted, it's only certified to handle HD H.264 content on those discs, but we're going out on a limb and suggesting that most anything else you put on there will work, too. Existing PowerDVD 8 owners can upgrade their application gratis as we speak.

Poll: What's the best HTPC Blu-ray software?

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jun 26th 2008 at 1:03PM


With Blu-ray drives for PCs selling for less than $150 -- and only getting cheaper -- many HTPC fans are left wondering, what is the best HTPC Blu-ray software? While the old favorites were the first on the scene with PowerDVD and WinDVD, ArcSoft has recently been bragging how popular its TotalMedia Theater is with high end HTPC vendors like NiveusMedia and Vidabox. We assume the reason is because these companies are keen on Vista Media Center and ArcSoft works harder on integrating with Media Center than the rest. But Media Center integration isn't the end all be all for Blu-ray playback, and it isn't that difficult to integrate the other players yourself. So this left us wondering, which is the best Blu-ray player software for Windows?

What's the best HTPC Blu-ray software?

CyberLink PowerDVD nets Profile 2.0 / AVCREC certifications

by Darren Murph posted Jun 25th 2008 at 4:36AM

Call us crazy, but it seems that CyberLink has been patting itself on the back quite frequently. Shortly after announcing that its PowerDVD software was certified for DTS-HD Master Audio playback, it's now trumpeting two more certifications: Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) and AVCREC. These additions assure users that any connected material on BD-Live-enabled titles will play back just fine in PowerDVD, and the AVCREC approval enables it to "play back the recording of high-definition video onto DVD recordable discs using the MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) format." Per usual, owners of PowerDVD 7 or prior will need to fork out some cash for the upgrade, while PowerDVD 8 owners can nab the update gratis.

CyberLink's PowerDVD wins certification for DTS-HD Master Audio

by Darren Murph posted Jun 22nd 2008 at 9:12PM

Just weeks after Corel held a trophy high proclaiming that its WinDVD 8 had landed DTS-HD Master Audio certification, CyberLink is finally able to do the same. Except with its own breed of playback software, PowerDVD. For audiophiles the world over, you can now stop pacing in wonder of when said application will finally have this honor bestowed upon it, as that 7.1-channel goodness you've come to expect from DTS-HD MA can now be fully enjoyed on PowerDVD. Break out the Champagne? No? Okay.

With some help from Realtek, PowerDVD will support 24-bit lossless audio

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jun 5th 2008 at 12:42PM

PowerDVD UltraSome Blu-ray Discs offer the highest quality audio around, but up until now every PC solution has been forced to re-sample the higher fidelity tracks to 16-bit because of the lack of a protected audio path. Thankfully this is rapidly changing with the newer hardware coming out, and today CyberLink has announced that with a little help from Realtek's embedded ALC889 audio codec, PowerDVD will no longer be limited to 48kHz/16-bit and will now be able to deliver audio playback at 192kHz/24-bit. The bad news is that the free update to PowerDVD won't be available until sometime in the second half of 2008, and we're a little confused on what hardware we'll need in addition to PowerDVD to obtain audio bliss.

CyberLink's latest PowerDVD update smooths Blu-ray playback

by Darren Murph posted Jun 5th 2008 at 7:09AM

We can't imagine Nick is the only one out there who struggled with getting PowerDVD to handle Blu-ray Discs correctly, so if you've been letting said application collect digital dust while longing for it to function as advertised, take note. CyberLink has just shot out the latest update to the program, and according to our resident tipster, it's a game-changer. It enables hardware acceleration for H.264 encoding, enhances disc load time, reduces memory consumption and makes playback a good bit smoother overall. For PowerDVD 8 Ultra users, this one seems like a surefire download. Hit the read link to get it on!

[Thanks, Nick]

DRM strikes again, PC users still wait for next-gen audio

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Apr 11th 2008 at 10:23PM

TrueHD and DTS-HDHere we are almost two years with Blu-ray and we still don't have the perfect player. Sure, the PS3 is going to finally get DTS-HD support, but it still can't bitstream the latest codecs and it still need a gizmo to use with an universal remote. There are some nicely equipped stand-alone players, but none that support BD Live yet. This only leaves HTPC software, which with the most recent updates supports BD Live and the next-gen codecs, or do they? As always, the devil is in the details and in the case of trying to enjoy TrueHD or DTS-HD on a PC, it's a pretty big devil. You see while the latest versions support both next-gen codecs, because of the lack of a protected audio path in Windows, the audio gets down sampled. As you might expect this still ends up sounding better than we're used to, but it's by no means lossless. Like just about all the limitations of Blu-ray, it's a temporary problem -- in fact the required hardware is expected in the second quarter of '08. The cool part is that you'll have the option to either decode in the PC or in your AV/R. The bad part is that you'll have to upgrade your sound card and playback software.

CyberLink's PowerDVD 8 pretends HD DVD never existed

by Darren Murph posted Apr 10th 2008 at 2:53PM


Whoa there, partner. Anxious to pull the trigger on that upgrade to PowerDVD 8? If you plan on playing back any HD DVDs with it in the future, we'd politely recommend you didn't. Apparently CyberLink saw fit to remove HD DVD compatibility altogether from its latest version of PowerDVD, leaving v7.3 as the last remaining edition that played nice with red. Thankfully, the company has emailed out a statement to those questioning the move and assured us all that both v7.3 and v8.0 can be installed on a computer at the same time without issue, so at least all hope isn't lost. A lot can change in 16 months, huh?

[Thanks, Ryan]

CyberLink's PowerDVD Ultra Blu-ray Profile 1.1 update now available

by Richard Lawler posted Jan 31st 2008 at 2:53PM

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's Profile 1.1-enabled PowerDVD shown at CES

by Darren Murph posted Jan 13th 2008 at 5:44PM

Just a few weeks back, we were able to grab a sneak peek at Resident Evil: Extinction's Bonus View feature, and now Blu-ray.com has yet another preview we figure the BD camp will be interested in seeing. Apparently, CyberLink was busy demonstrating its forthcoming Profile 1.1-enabled PowerDVD 7 Ultra software at CES, which allowed Sunshine to be played back "perfectly" with picture-in-picture enabled. Also, they were able to confirm that the aforementioned application will indeed play nice with DTS-HD tracks and that DTS-HD MA support was just around the bend. Reportedly, the update will be available gratis to current owners of PowerDVD Ultra next month.

Finally the $200 Sony Blu-ray drive for a PC

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 6th 2008 at 8:50PM

Sony BDU-X10S
While we like Blu-ray burners as much as the next guy, we've never understood why the burners came first. Well, the wait is finally over and Sony has just announced the BDU-X10S (reader only) for both the PC (pictured) and laptop (after the jump) with a MSRP of $200 -- curiously not 199.99. If this isn't a good enough deal for you, luckily Sony is also including CyberLink's PowerDVD BD Edition. The drives feature a SATA interface, which makes sense since this is the interface of choice on the type of newer PCs that will actually have the juice to playback HD.

Continue reading Finally the $200 Sony Blu-ray drive for a PC

CyberLink's PowerDVD gets BDA Profile 1.1 certified

by Ben Drawbaugh posted Jan 2nd 2008 at 8:30AM

PowerDVD UltraForgive us if we are a little nostalgic of the days when companies would announce the availability of features, instead of just being certified to provide those features, but this is starting to be a trend. Maybe the BDA's certification process is so vigorous that the companies are more proud that it was able to achieve this certification, then to actually bringing the feature to their customers. Regardless, sometime during early 2008 -- isn't that today? -- PowerDVD customers will join the elite group of PS3 and Panasonic DMP-BD30 owners who can enjoy the latest Blu-ray titles with Picture-in-Picture.

Inteset stuffs HD DVD / Blu-ray combo drive in media PCs

by Darren Murph posted Jul 27th 2007 at 11:59AM


Currently, there's just not a whole lot of options when you're scouting a pre-fabricated rig that does both HD DVD and Blu-ray on a single optical drive, but adding one more to mix certainly helps. Enter Inteset, which has just announced that an HD DVD / Blu-ray combo drive will be an option in the firm's Maximus and Denzel media server systems. The machines will reportedly come loaded with CyberLink's PowerDVD Ultra software, support 7.1-channel surround sound, and sport an array of ports including audio in / out, DVI / VGA / component / S-Video, USB, FireWire, and antenna inputs for the TV tuners. 'Course, since the company recommends that you "contact a dealer for pricing," you should assume that this here HTPC won't run you cheap.




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