Whats the best software DVD player ?

[IshotJR]

Just wondering, Power DVD 4 done the job for me for years (I rarely watch DVD's on my PC) but ive gotten 6 since and for some reason, it looks worse and crash's a lot :confused:

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Just wondering, Power DVD 4 done the job for me for years (I rarely watch DVD's on my PC) but ive gotten 6 since and for some reason, it looks worse and crash's a lot :confused:

Don't ask what is best, you'll get punished :sly:

But I prefer VLC Media Player or Media Player Classic+ffdshow
All availabel for free :D

[IshotJR]

Ive had to re-install my OS, and now mpc hangs my PC sometimes ?.

Anyway, assuming I can fix this, is there any way of getting either play to play the DVD as soon as the disc is inserted ?.

[CeeJay.dk]

I currently prefer VLC and MPC simply because PowerDVD seems to crash everytime it loads and WinDVD won't install right.
I used to use PowerDVD and liked it , but over time I guess something have messed it up and I can't really be bother to format and reinstall everything just to fix it. (heck that might not even work)

[CWR03]

ive gotten 6 since and for some reason, it looks worse and crash's a lot
Ive had to re-install my OS, and now mpc hangs my PC sometimes ?.
It sounds more like a hardware issue if you're having these programs crash.

[zambelli]

Isn't MPC's builtin decoder pretty bad at handling interlaced DVD video?

[LANjackal]

VLC by far. It even plays ISOs directly :).

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Isn't MPC's builtin decoder pretty bad at handling interlaced DVD video?

Use MPC + ffdshow for MPEG-2 decoding and choose one of ffdshow"s deinterlace-filters. Then everything will be fine ;)

[Delerue]

Use MPC + ffdshow for MPEG-2 decoding and choose one of ffdshow"s deinterlace-filters. Then everything will be fine ;)

I can't use FFDShow to decode DVDs discs. I enable MPEG2 decode inside the "Video decoder configuration", but there's a box with the message "DVD decoding (not working yet)". In fact, if I look to the 'filters' in MPC while running a DVD disc, FFDShow aren't decoding it. :(

[KoD]

Delerue, in ffdshow's video decoder configuration, you have to go to the Codecs page and set Mpeg2=libmpeg2 and also check that option "DVD decoding (not working yet)". Despite its name, it's actually working. ;)

You can then enable the Deinterlacing tab and select a deinterlacing method there. For good speed and image quality results I found that "5-tap lowpass" was good for me so that's a suggestion if you want a starting point.

You'll also want to enable decoding for AC3 and DTS in ffdshow audio decoder configuration, as well as LPCM. A MPEG 2 Audio decoder already comes with Windows.

Don't foregt to disable in MPC View -> Options -> Internal Filters-> Transform filters: AC3, DTS, LPCM, MPEG-2 Video.

[Delerue]

Delerue, in ffdshow's video decoder configuration, you have to go to the Codecs page and set Mpeg2=libmpeg2 and also check that option "DVD decoding (not working yet)". Despite its name, it's actually working. ;)

You can then enable the Deinterlacing tab and select a deinterlacing method there. For good speed and image quality results I found that "5-tap lowpass" was good for me so that's a suggestion if you want a starting point.

You'll also want to enable decoding for AC3 and DTS in ffdshow audio decoder configuration, as well as LPCM. A MPEG 2 Audio decoder already comes with Windows.

Don't foregt to disable in MPC View -> Options -> Internal Filters-> Transform filters: AC3, DTS, LPCM, MPEG-2 Video.

Worked! Thanks, man. BTW, do you think that FFDShow is better than MPC Intertal Filters? And what do you think about 'framerate doubler' in FFDShow?

[]'s!

[KoD]

To be honest, the best mpeg 2 decoder I saw quality wise is the nvidia purevideo mpeg2 decoder. It's a commercial one though. I have some vob files ripped of dvd's that give ugly deinterlacing artefacts when using ffdshow or mpc's mpeg2 as well as cyberlink's powerdvd or intervideo's windvd decoders but not in nvidia's purevideo decoder. Please note that Nvidia Purevideo is also the name used for something else by nvidia, but right here I'm refering only to their commercial mpeg2&ac3 decoder that happens to be sold under the same name.

Regarding MPC's internal filters: the starting point for their development was the same, really, but currently all development on MPC has come to a halt as gabest (its developer) is probably kept with more intereseting stuff in real life and doesn't have time or wish to work on MPC again. On the other hand, development on the libraries that ffdshow uses is ongoing, so if something doesn't work as it should, there are more chances of a fix in the near future. There's also a interesting "feature" in MPC: if one of its internal decoders is used instead of an external decoder, there can be problems when switching between audio tracks - if the new track requires an external filter, that external filter might not be initialized properly.

[SeeMoreDigital]

Please note that Nvidia Purevideo is also the name used for something else by nvidia, but right here I'm refering only to their commercial mpeg2&ac3 decoder that happens to be sold under the same name....Do you know where can the "commercial" decoder can be obtained for testing puposes?

[LoRd_MuldeR]

Do you know where can the "commercial" decoder can be obtained for testing puposes?

Google? :D
http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder_1.02-223-trial.html

[SeeMoreDigital]

Google? :D
http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_decoder_1.02-223-trial.htmlYes... I found that version too. I just required confirmation that this is the same one KoD is referring too!

[KoD]

Yes, that's the one.

I have an ATi card and if I'm using VMR9 as renderer in the player then some new hardware assist options are available during playback in the nvidia mpeg-2 video decoder. Don't know if that's the same for a Nvidia card. Still, I find the quality in software mode or hardware assisted+Overlay the best, at least on my gfx card.

[Delerue]

Yes, that's the one.

I have an ATi card and if I'm using VMR9 as renderer in the player then some new hardware assist options are available during playback in the nvidia mpeg-2 video decoder. Don't know if that's the same for a Nvidia card. Still, I find the quality in software mode or hardware assisted+Overlay the best, at least on my gfx card.

Hmmm... I'm downloading this software to test.

BTW, when I installed WMP11 this video here (http://download.nvidia.com/downloads/nZone/videos/PureVideo_1080p.wmv) now gives me a GPF when "WMV Accelerarion" in activaded in ATI drivers. This thing doesn't happen when I had WMP10. Do you know something about?

Another question (sorry, but I always want to know these things, hehehe): what render do you prefer? Why? And how can I get "WMV Acceleration" (by ATI driver) in MPC?

Thanks a lot.

[KoD]

Ati's WMV acceleration is broken, that's why you'll encounter problems with some files. WMV acceleration needs to be disabled manually on ATi cards because of this. Look in your control Center on the all options page (it's the last option).

The best renderer on ATi video cards is Overlay.

[Delerue]

Ati's WMV acceleration is broken, that's why you'll encounter problems with some files. WMV acceleration needs to be disabled manually on ATi cards because of this. Look in your control Center on the all options page (it's the last option).

The best renderer on ATi video cards is Overlay.

Ok. Thanks, man. I won't bore you anymore, I promisse. The last question is: where I can get more information about codecs and desinterlacing stuff? I mean, a website with full explanations.

;)

[KoD]

I think you're on the best possible site for deinterlacing /telecine /and related stuff. Another site you might look at is 100 fps (http://www.100fps.com/). You could also have a look here (http://www.animemusicvideos.org/guides/avtech/) for a textbook like presentation of certain aspects. Now, you see, I'm not someone who encodes stuff... someone involved in encoding could give you better recommendations. If you want a list of possible video artefacts on DVDs, you can look here (http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Articles/VideoArtefacts/VideoArtefacts.html).

As general info on codecs, that's not something you'll usually find on the internet. Concise and to the point explanations are hard to find, more like "expert" opinions or "I think that..." is what you'll probably run into. It's also pretty hard to give detailed explanations to someone who doesn't know the concepts used in this domain. I'd say, look at wikipedia, CCCP's wiki (http://www.cccp-project.net/wiki/index.php?title=Video_file), Hydrogen Audio wiki (http://wiki.hydrogenaudio.org/index.php?title=Main_Page).

[foxyshadis]

There's a wiki that's dedicated to codecs (http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=Main_Page), I believe it's somewhat associated with the mplayer project.

[KoD]

That's a great wiki there !

[Delerue]

Thanks a lot, guys!
;)