which is the best DVD playback software? - Club CDFreaks

yongtw123 · 18-12-2005

I have 4 DVD playing softwares for comparison: Nero Showtime 2, WinDVD 7, and PowerDVD 6, Windows Media Player 10. Which is better, according to your opinion?

*alex thyl* · 18-12-2005

IMO: PowerDVD.

**platinumsword** · 18-12-2005

PowerDVD By far.

*nmpaulcp* · 18-12-2005

Power DVD here also

Oleg24 · 18-12-2005

WinDVD for me.

*Bjproc* · 18-12-2005

power dvd

yongtw123 · 18-12-2005

how about some comments and reasons? thanks.

*alex thyl* · 19-12-2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by yongtw123

how about some comments and reasons? thanks.

Experience as most of us tried all available software.

Demvang · 23-12-2005

WinDVD for me because it's stable

PowerDVD crashed while playing the movie's menu

NScythe · 23-12-2005

Both WinDVD and PowerDVD are excellent. I find WinDVD has slightly better sound. PowerDVD has richer color and is more compatible with all of my older vcds, svcds, dvds, etc... It's a win win no matter which direction you go!!!

Fallingwater · 24-12-2005

WinDVD.
I find most programs are the same, but WinDVD does it for me for one reason: I fast forward and backwards through movies a lot (I like to watch to nice scenes umpteen times), and in WinDVD I can press f or r to do it very fast, with none of those speed settings in the other players.
The only con is that the letter "e" for eject is right next to r, so I sometimes hit it by mistake and pop the disk out. Too bad you can't disable it.

*Gurm* · 24-12-2005

Nero Showtime is horrible. Slow, ugly, buggy... and it registers all of its codecs as the ULTIMATE codec which messes up all kinds of things on your system. Ick.

Windows Media Player is just deficient as a DVD player - it lacks real DVD controls.

PowerDVD is probably the better program in terms of quality of playback, but it has several problems:

1. It crashes sometimes. (Rarely, but I can replicated!)
2. It has, since version 5 was introduced, mangled SVCD's.
3. It, too, has horrible codecs which it registers over the top of everything.

As a result, I currently use WinDVD.

bkf · 24-12-2005

Im a fan of WinDVD as well. It's a good solid program but the is nothing wrong with the others except for maybe Windows Media Player 10

constant · 25-12-2005

FANTACY DVD player has some great plugins

*iss* · 25-12-2005

I have used WinDVD since version 3. I quit usingit for a while during Version 6 ( had problems) but WinDVD7 has won me back to using WinDVD.

*Gurm* · 25-12-2005

Let me reiterate.

PowerDVD:

If PowerDVD works for you, it IS a nice program. Plays DVD's quite nicely. My issue with it is twofold:

1. The latest version installs its own codecs for MPEG4, and then sets itself up as the be-all and end-all player for DIVX, XVID, MP43, and other MPEG4 video types. Sadly, it SUCKS at playing these videos. BUT it registers itself with ULTIMATE authority for those videos (the actual XVID software from XVID has a priority of 8, and PowerDVD sets itself with a priority of F000 - which is thousands of times higher!) and that can be very hard to undo unless you know what you're doing.

2. SVCD's, since PowerDVD5 came out, have green bloppies running up and down the right-hand side at random intervals. Cyberlink doesn't even acknowledge the bug exists, probably because you can't legally BUY SVCD's outside of Hong Kong.

Nero Showtime:

Nero Showtime is mediocre at playing DVD's. It is a resource hog. And it suffers the same problem as PowerDVD - it registers itself with ABNORMALLY HIGH priority for ALL CODECS ON YOUR SYSTEM. Sadly, it can't render 90% of them properly. In addition, it steals the association for EVERY VIDEO AND IMAGE TYPE KNOWN TO MAN. Just undoing the damage that installing Nero Showtime does to your registry is a day-long job!

WMP10:

Windows Media Player doesn't come with a DVD Decoder. But if you install one, it plays DVD's just fine... except that navigation can be a bit tricky, and it doesn't really handle all the menus and jumps and angles and layers properly at all. Unless you buy the PowerDVD plugin for it from Cyberlink. And if you're going to spend the $15-$20 on that plugin, you might as well just buy a dedicated DVD player program - and odds are your DVD drive came with either WinDVD or PowerDVD anyway!

WinDVD:

WinDVD was ... so-so ... for a long time. Then it got decent... then it SUCKED for a version or two... now it's good again. WinDVD 6 and WinDVD 7 are quite good, and suffer none of the issues listed with the above players.

------------------

My criteria is that I want my DVD player to... play DVD's. That's it. Maybe SVCD's too, since they're also MPEG2. But I don't want it to play MPEG4. I don't want it to play DIVX, XVID, MP43, or anything else. I don't want it to be the default player for MPEG files, or AVI's, or MP3's. I just want it to play DVD's. That's it. No registry damage, no taking over the system. Just DVD's. The only player on this list that does that... is WinDVD.

18-12-2005	#1 (permalink)
yongtw123 New on Forum Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Where I live Posts: 14	which is the best DVD playback software? <a href='http://adstats.cdfreaks.com/www/delivery/ck.php?n=a13febf7&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE' target='_blank'><img src='http://adstats.cdfreaks.com/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=30&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=a13febf7' border='0' alt='' /></a> I have 4 DVD playing softwares for comparison: Nero Showtime 2, WinDVD 7, and PowerDVD 6, Windows Media Player 10. Which is better, according to your opinion?

18-12-2005	#2 (permalink)
alex thyl CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 1,643	Re: which is best? IMO: PowerDVD. __________________ MOTTO: "Everything is possible. The impossible just takes longer." (Dan Brown) PLEXTOR: "King of Quality".

18-12-2005	#3 (permalink)
platinumsword Moderator Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2,995	Re: which is best? PowerDVD By far.

18-12-2005	#4 (permalink)
nmpaulcp CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: On the westside Posts: 1,381	Re: which is best? Power DVD here also __________________ A warrior doesn't know remorse for anything he has done, because to isolate one's acts as being mean, or ugly, or evil is to place an unwarranted importance on ourselves.The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of the work is the same.

18-12-2005	#5 (permalink)
Oleg24 CD Freaks Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 149	Re: which is best? WinDVD for me.

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18-12-2005	#6 (permalink)
Bjproc CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Scotland Posts: 2,901	Re: which is best? power dvd __________________ Bj click HERE to join cdfreaks

18-12-2005	#7 (permalink)
yongtw123 New on Forum Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Where I live Posts: 14	Re: which is best? how about some comments and reasons? thanks.

23-12-2005	#9 (permalink)
Demvang CD Freaks Rookie Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 31	Re: which is best? WinDVD for me because it's stable PowerDVD crashed while playing the movie's menu

23-12-2005	#10 (permalink)
NScythe CD Freaks Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 276	Re: which is best? Both WinDVD and PowerDVD are excellent. I find WinDVD has slightly better sound. PowerDVD has richer color and is more compatible with all of my older vcds, svcds, dvds, etc... It's a win win no matter which direction you go!!!

24-12-2005	#11 (permalink)
Fallingwater CD Freaks Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 429	Re: which is best? WinDVD. I find most programs are the same, but WinDVD does it for me for one reason: I fast forward and backwards through movies a lot (I like to watch to nice scenes umpteen times), and in WinDVD I can press f or r to do it very fast, with none of those speed settings in the other players. The only con is that the letter "e" for eject is right next to r, so I sometimes hit it by mistake and pop the disk out. Too bad you can't disable it.

24-12-2005	#12 (permalink)
Gurm CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 1,940	Re: which is best? Nero Showtime is horrible. Slow, ugly, buggy... and it registers all of its codecs as the ULTIMATE codec which messes up all kinds of things on your system. Ick. Windows Media Player is just deficient as a DVD player - it lacks real DVD controls. PowerDVD is probably the better program in terms of quality of playback, but it has several problems: 1. It crashes sometimes. (Rarely, but I can replicated!) 2. It has, since version 5 was introduced, mangled SVCD's. 3. It, too, has horrible codecs which it registers over the top of everything. As a result, I currently use WinDVD.

24-12-2005	#13 (permalink)
bkf Banned Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Earth Posts: 1,530	Re: which is best? Im a fan of WinDVD as well. It's a good solid program but the is nothing wrong with the others except for maybe Windows Media Player 10

25-12-2005	#14 (permalink)
constant New on Forum Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: mumbai Posts: 8	Re: which is best? FANTACY DVD player has some great plugins

25-12-2005	#15 (permalink)
iss CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 975	Re: which is best? I have used WinDVD since version 3. I quit usingit for a while during Version 6 ( had problems) but WinDVD7 has won me back to using WinDVD. __________________ We all do no end of feeling and some mistake it for thinking --- Mark Twain

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25-12-2005	#16 (permalink)
Gurm CDFreaks Resident Join Date: Aug 2002 Posts: 1,940	Re: which is best? Let me reiterate. PowerDVD: If PowerDVD works for you, it IS a nice program. Plays DVD's quite nicely. My issue with it is twofold: 1. The latest version installs its own codecs for MPEG4, and then sets itself up as the be-all and end-all player for DIVX, XVID, MP43, and other MPEG4 video types. Sadly, it SUCKS at playing these videos. BUT it registers itself with ULTIMATE authority for those videos (the actual XVID software from XVID has a priority of 8, and PowerDVD sets itself with a priority of F000 - which is thousands of times higher!) and that can be very hard to undo unless you know what you're doing. 2. SVCD's, since PowerDVD5 came out, have green bloppies running up and down the right-hand side at random intervals. Cyberlink doesn't even acknowledge the bug exists, probably because you can't legally BUY SVCD's outside of Hong Kong. Nero Showtime: Nero Showtime is mediocre at playing DVD's. It is a resource hog. And it suffers the same problem as PowerDVD - it registers itself with ABNORMALLY HIGH priority for ALL CODECS ON YOUR SYSTEM. Sadly, it can't render 90% of them properly. In addition, it steals the association for EVERY VIDEO AND IMAGE TYPE KNOWN TO MAN. Just undoing the damage that installing Nero Showtime does to your registry is a day-long job! WMP10: Windows Media Player doesn't come with a DVD Decoder. But if you install one, it plays DVD's just fine... except that navigation can be a bit tricky, and it doesn't really handle all the menus and jumps and angles and layers properly at all. Unless you buy the PowerDVD plugin for it from Cyberlink. And if you're going to spend the $15-$20 on that plugin, you might as well just buy a dedicated DVD player program - and odds are your DVD drive came with either WinDVD or PowerDVD anyway! WinDVD: WinDVD was ... so-so ... for a long time. Then it got decent... then it SUCKED for a version or two... now it's good again. WinDVD 6 and WinDVD 7 are quite good, and suffer none of the issues listed with the above players. ------------------ My criteria is that I want my DVD player to... play DVD's. That's it. Maybe SVCD's too, since they're also MPEG2. But I don't want it to play MPEG4. I don't want it to play DIVX, XVID, MP43, or anything else. I don't want it to be the default player for MPEG files, or AVI's, or MP3's. I just want it to play DVD's. That's it. No registry damage, no taking over the system. Just DVD's. The only player on this list that does that... is WinDVD.