“Quality as standard with this DVD player app”

Far from being just office workhorses, computers are also thought of as complete entertainment systems that you can use to chat with friends, play videogames or watch movies. Regarding this last option, there's a wide range of DVD players out there, but we'll focus our attention on one of them: Power DVD.

The program's installation process is very quick. It includes Google Toolbar as an add-on but you can decline its installation if you're not interested. Once launched, you gain access to its main interface which, to be honest, is not especially nice: a close-up of a girl wearing weird sunglasses is not the kind of thing you expect to see on the screen when opening a DVD player. It would look much better with some abstract design or just the program logo instead. Anyway, configuration settings allow you to customize this interface with skins but there are no skins included. At least you can change the color scheme by clicking on the display.

Power DVD is generally very easy to use. All the buttons on the player panel have tooltips to give you hints about their usage. Also, most of their functions can be performed with the mouse or the keyboard (using the hotkey displayed in the tooltip). When playing a movie in full screen mode, the panel hides automatically and shows only if you move the mouse. Still, you can access all the program's functions through a comprehensive context menu by right-clicking anywhere on the image.

As for the playing functions, the movie flows very smoothly even when you move the window around or play it in full screen mode. Sound can be configured in different ways, depending on your hardware means (from headphones to an 8-speaker surround system) in order to obtain the best possible sound quality. During our tests, we also found some interesting tools: one offers the possibility to change playing speed and therefore obtain slow or fast motion images; another one lets you take snapshots of your favourite scenes in the movie, according to the settings in Configuration – Player – Advanced - Snapshot; and finally a tool called "Say it again" with which you can repeat certain dialogues over and over again. This may be useful for foreign language students or movie fans who like to learn certain script lines by heart.

Power DVD is then a perfect solution for your all DVD playing needs. It may seem quite simple at first sight but after all, you don't need much more apart from "play" and "pause" to happily watch a movie on your PC. And in case you want to know more about the program and their developers, have a look at our interview with Dr. Jau Huang, Cyberlink's founder.

Languages:

English, Spanish, German, French, Chinese Simp, Chinese Trad, Italian

Limitations:

30 day Trial Period No DVD-Audio with CPPM content protection playback

Minimum requirements for PowerDVD:

OS: WinMe/2000/NT/XP/Vista

Pros

Easy to use
Nice extra tools: take snapshots, speed control, "Say it again"

Cons

Dull interface

Did you like this review?

257 of 284 users liked it (90%)

From the publisher of PowerDVD

PowerDVD is undoubtly one of the best DVD players on the market. Recognised as such this version boasts intensely vivid images, smart video interlacing and multi-display ratios.

With all of the functionality of its domestic counterpart, PowerDVD also allows you to:

Enjoy smooth, bright, and natural visuals
Experience high-definition audio and 8-channel expansion
Play a broad range of audio and video files and formats
Navigate quickly with shortcuts, bookmarks and other cool controls
Expand your features online with DVD enhancement packs

The highest definition video playback

Mind boggling clarity and a gust of sharp, bright colors to blow away foggy memories of dull DVD images. PowerDVD 7 gives you "THE" highest definition video playback supporting the latest video technologies including support for key Blu-ray formats such as MPEG-4 H.264.

Supported video formats:

MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)
MPEG-2 HD - high-definition video
WMV-HD - high-definition video
DVD-VR
DVD+VR
DivX Pro
DVD-Video
Mini-DVD

Feel the vibes

Experience the whoomp and get completely submerged in a whirlwind of vibrations that only the best DTS and Dolby surround sound technology can deliver. Ending all debate over DTS vs Dolby quality, PowerDVD 7 gives you support for both of these great technologies.

Supported audio formats:

DTS-ES
Dolby Pro Logic IIx
DTS 96/24
Dolby Virtual Speaker
DTS Neo:6
Dolby Headphone
AAC decoding
MLP Lossless
DTS 5.1
SRS TruSurround XT
DVD-Audio
LPCM audio support
Dolby Digital (5.1)
MP3
Dolby Digital EX
WAV

Freestyle UI

So why be restricted to just one layout and one way of interacting with your DVD player? PowerDVD 7 lets you choose from 5 individual UI modes according to your individual needs and lets you arrange your controls where and how you want them.

Interface modes:

Dock - resizes the controls and adds them to the bottom of the viewing screen
Mini - allows access to controls via an icon on the taskbar
Wheel Control - space-saving design for essential disc controls
Full screen - expands the viewing mode to fit the entire screen
Player - floating panel with complete controls, translucent, color flavors, skins

Read-It-Clearly keeps the movie screen clear of text

Read-It-Clearly lets you enjoy unobstructed viewing while watching one or two sets of language subtitles. Using a standard-sized monitor, you can select to watch the subtitles of 16:9 DVD within the black bars on the bottom of your monitor.

Never miss a word with Say-It-Again

Whether you missed that crucial Hollywood moment, your favourite actor wasn't speaking clearly, or you are simply practicing your listening skills in a foreign language, Say-It-Again automatically repeats what was last said—with a simple click of a button.

Watch movies from any UPnP server in your Network Neighborhood

Things are getting all connected in our Digital Homes and with PowerDVD 7 you are ready for the dream of ubiquitous networking. Watch movies stored on your Media Server with PowerDVD 7 UPnP connectivity—wherever you are in your home.

User opinions about PowerDVD (1)

remitrom (7 User opinions)

PowerDVD 6.0 Tidier and More User-Friendly

8/10
about PowerDVD - 26 Jan 2006

Version 6.0 of Cyberlink’s popular DVD software for home computer users still has that user-friendliness that makes it easy to utilize for the amateur. Cosmetically, the interface looks cleaner an... read more
- Meet remitrom
- Rate it!
- Liked by 3 of 26