HD-DVD Software (What we have working?)

[luders]

So here is what I have found. If you have found related information in your experience please add.

In all cases below I was forced to use the VGA out to my monitor instead of my normal DVI hookup since my video card and monitor are not HDCP compatible. Also I am using an XBOX 360 HD-DVD Player.

In Windows XP:
PowerDVD 6.5 HD works.
WinDVD 8 HD (English, downloaded from Japanese site) works.

My goal in xp was to be able to use "NVIDIA fullscreen video" to watch my hd movies, on my attached projector, via the video out of my GeForce 6600. This works with the newest nvidia drivers however the newest drivers have the known bug of not maintaining the aspect ratio when using "fullscreen video." I tried an older version of the drivers (84.21) which didnt have this problem however they don't seem to work with hd playback on my rig.

PowerDVD 7.2 Ultra works in xp but wont play a disc if I have the "video out" of my GeForce 6600 turned on. There for I don't use it.

In Vista:
I am using NVIDIA drivers 97.52. The RTM drivers on the NVIDIA site would not load. 97.52 is a slightly newer nightly build.
PowerDVD 7.2 Ultra is the only thing I have really had any luck with working in Vista. It works fine and since there currently is no fullscreen video in Vista, it is not really lacking anything. I like the fact that it plays DVD-Audio discs over my version of PowerDVD 6.5 HD in xp.

[Syris2k4]

I have nooo idea how much truth there is in it, but according to the Wikipedia, VLC has both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray support... Donno exactly what they mean by support, but I take it that it doesnt include encrypted video.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_media_players#Optical_media_publication_support

[joseph5]

This is what I found in the VLC forum(Not supported):
http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=29632&highlight=hddvd

[luders]

Well I got perfect playback finally.
Windows XP, 84.21 drivers, and PowerDVD 6.5 HD.
If I decrypt the movie and play the evo files it plays with my monitor hooked up via dvi and fullscreen to my projector.

[foxyshadis]

HD-DVD is MPEG-PS (ie, what DVDs use), and Bluray is MPEG-TS. There's nothing difficult about splitting them, or decoding the standard video codecs inside. Remains to be seen whether the new lossless audio formats will work, but the rest should. So it can claim support, the crucial missing link is just decrypting movies.

[luders]

Decrypting is already happening. Also my HD-DVD's are almost all VC1 not mpeg.

[foxyshadis]

Nono, the container format is MPEG PS or TS, the codec inside is MPEG-2, VC-1, or h.264.

I realize that there is decryption for individual titles at the moment, but I'm pissimistic on how long it'll be until a robust, on-the-fly system will work for all new titles as they appear. (Whether that's a general crack or just weekly-updated lists of keys.)

[Hellreaper]

Can you tell me whether WinDVD 8 HD is available on the english website from Intervideo?

Unfortunately I don't understand japanese.

[luders]

You can get it by following these instructions.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8871286&&#post8871286

[radius]

Hi, I just tried reading from hdd with windvd hd (open from folder) but it just says the folder "does not have valid dvd content", if I try with the normal windvd I only get sound, any idea on how to do ?

[k-c-ksum]

anybody having issues with windvd HD and an nvidia 6600gt grafix card? When i open up the windvd HD app is crashes after opening a playback window. All i get is blank playback window for a few seconds. Wondering if its driver related?

[VistaVick]

I have made backups of many hd dvds but can not get PowerDVD 7.2 ultra to play any of them from the folders to use the menus/subtitles. I can play the .evo files fine.

Am I the only one with this problem? I followed the instructions in the encrypting forum to edit some of the menu files, but still when I try to load from folder I get either a buffer overrun and the program crashes or it just doesnt play anything at all. The 2 folders seem to have all the files needed.

Also, is there another forum where more people are discussing this? Doesnt seem to much about actually playing these files anywhere.

[kuklitis]

I have made backups of many hd dvds but can not get PowerDVD 7.2 ultra to play any of them from the folders to use the menus/subtitles. I can play the .evo files fine.
-----------------------
The same for me ! But I have PowerDVD 6.5 and when I try to open by very own PowerDVD command - "Open HD-DVD movie from HDD drive", then nothing happens. I point to folder where my movie is, but nothing happens.

I guess we need three big divisions :
1. Software, that plays encrypted movies from PC drive or add-on (like Xbox360) or ripped but still encrypted from HDD inside PC.
(As I gather it is WinDVD 8, PowerDVD 6.5, PowerDVD 7.2)
There should be two different subthreads - one for HD-DVD one for Blu-Ray.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
2. Software, that plays unencrypted movies [from PC drive or add-on (like Xbox360) - that still not implemented and doubtfully will ever by ] or ripped and unencrypted from HDD inside PC.
(As I gather it is WinDVD 8, PowerDVD 6.5, PowerDVD 7.2 and more freeware will folow like VLAN and others ???)
There should be two different subthreads - one for HD-DVD one for Blu-Ray.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
3. How does software behaves when outputs video signal (both encrypted and unencrypted) through VGA, DVI or HDMI to various monitors as second output devices, projectors e.tc.
Issues with some specific GPU, dirver versions and other hardware.

There I found last news about VLC Player :
----------------------------------
I have just tried a decrypted BluRay movie file (they are .m2ts files).
It works in VLC Player!
Now, to get those .EVO files working

[kuklitis]

And I gues I forget to mention one more important thing !
That is software fro mounting virtual HD-DVD or Blu-ray drives ! Hope that next DeamonTools version will include this or there will be other utility for this ...
We need to consider and explore how would this affect software playback from PC, whether it gets better if all video files get mounted instead just playing stright from HDD folder ...

[kuklitis]

I'd like to play ripped movie files from both HD-DVD and Blu-Ray on my PC simultaneously !
Is there one software right now that is capable of doing this ? If not, whats the best combination of 2 softs installed - one for EVOB and one for M2TS playback ?
The OS would by Windows XP ...

[taz291819]

Your only real option is to use WinDVD 8 for HD-DVD and PowerDVD 6.5 or 7.2 for Blu-Ray.