Need a good computer DVD player program

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-06-13 07:20pm

I have a DVD drive and I was wondering if anyone knew where I could find a good DVD-playing program that's also SVCD compatible.

And none of those stupid trial version ones please. Thanks.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-06-13 07:43pm

All of the good ones cost money.

VideoLAN Client will work as a free one, though.

Stampede · Post by **Stampede** » 2003-06-13 08:09pm

some dvds have a program that installs automatically when you put the dvd in the computer.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-06-13 08:33pm

Power DVD. Accept no substitutes.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-06-13 10:08pm

PowerDVD is good, but isn't free.

That free InterActual player is lousy.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-06-13 10:12pm

phongn wrote:PowerDVD is good, but isn't free.

That free InterActual player is lousy.

Meh, I got powerDVD bundled with both my DVD drive and my sound card.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-06-13 10:14pm

As did I (well, a stripped-down OEM version of it), but it isn't actually free, per say.

Datana · Post by **Datana** » 2003-06-13 10:30pm

Intervideo WinDVD was good until the 2001 version, at which point the picture quality went to crap (a faster, but cruder deinterlacing protocol was implemented); I don't know what the latest version is like. I've switched to Cyberlink PowerDVD (came bundled with my sound card). Both of these have SVCD support, but cost money if you didn't pick one up as an OEM item.

No free legal DVD players exist, as a fee must be paid to the DVDCCA (for licensing their CSS encryption decoder) and Dolby (for licensing their AC3 audio decoder) for every copy of a DVD decoding program that ships. Anything that claims to be free contains pirated decryption keys.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-06-14 12:58am

Datana wrote:Intervideo WinDVD was good until the 2001 version, at which point the picture quality went to crap (a faster, but cruder deinterlacing protocol was implemented); I don't know what the latest version is like. I've switched to Cyberlink PowerDVD (came bundled with my sound card). Both of these have SVCD support, but cost money if you didn't pick one up as an OEM item.

No free legal DVD players exist, as a fee must be paid to the DVDCCA (for licensing their CSS encryption decoder) and Dolby (for licensing their AC3 audio decoder) for every copy of a DVD decoding program that ships. Anything that claims to be free contains pirated decryption keys.

Or DeCSS which ight be legal outside US though, though. However, I looked on the debian archives and it's in the main section instead of non-US.

I though DVD players came with the software? Also, do they still sell them with a hardware decoder?

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-06-14 01:05am

I have a hardware decoder card, a RealMagic... Put simply, it's not worth it anymore. CPUs are powerful enough that real-time software decoding is actually more reliable.

And hardware decoders degrade the video signal by their nature, anyway.

So I pulled the card out the last time I reworked my mom's computer (which has the DVD drive).

Stampede · Post by **Stampede** » 2003-06-14 01:28am

i just always use InterVideo WinDVD cause it came with the computer.

Coaan · Post by **Coaan** » 2003-06-14 01:33am

weemadando wrote:Power DVD. Accept no substitutes.

Hell yeah.

Even the stripped down version rocks

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2003-06-14 01:52am

Shinova wrote:I have a DVD drive and I was wondering if anyone knew where I could find a good DVD-playing program that's also SVCD compatible.

And none of those stupid trial version ones please. Thanks.

Because I'm a cheap bastard, I use the one bundled with Windows. *runs*

Datana · Post by **Datana** » 2003-06-14 02:43am

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote:Because I'm a cheap bastard, I use the one bundled with Windows. *runs*

Windows doesn't come with a DVD/AC3 codec. One has to be installed separately (or be bundled into the system OEM), usually from PowerDVD, WinDVD, or in old cases, XingDVD (which was arguably the worst DVD decoder ever produced). The codec is licensed separately from the player program in some cases, meaning that it's possible for other software to access it (WMP-XP can access these codecs, as can Sasami2k and Zoom Player). In any case, its ability to play SVCD relies upon the DVD codec underlying it, so isn't a reliable choice.

EDIT: To clarify, the bundled DVD Player program with Windows 98 and ME won't work without an accompanying codec, described above.

Pu-239,
DeCSS is currently invalid for many discs. It was using an illegally ripped XingDVD key (about the only good thing that came out of that program) that is blocked on all discs released subsequent to its publication (its public key was revoked by DVDCCA, which is why you don't see XingDVD anymore). Fortunately ("unfortunately" if you're DVDCCA), several algorithms have been found that can crack CSS wide open in a matter of seconds.

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2003-06-14 02:51am

Just gotta love cryptography, don't you?

Coaan · Post by **Coaan** » 2003-06-14 02:58am

Watch out if your using nvidia cards that you don't upgrade to one of their Mpaa 'approved' drivers....it basically locks out the ability to play dvd's because they 'aren't approved' by home....even though you've went out and bought the sodding things

Mpaa needs to go get eviscerated

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-06-14 03:22am

I found InterVideo WinDVD 4 that came with my graphics card.

Is it a good one?

Datana · Post by **Datana** » 2003-06-14 03:39am

Shinova wrote:I found InterVideo WinDVD 4 that came with my graphics card.

Is it a good one?

That's a bit dated, but it's one of the better programs. PowerDVD has more options, but WinDVD has a slightly sharper picture (at least before 2001). The interface might take some getting used to, though, as it was designed around Windows 98 and looks the part.

phongn · Post by **phongn** » 2003-06-14 12:55pm

Crayz9000 wrote:I have a hardware decoder card, a RealMagic... Put simply, it's not worth it anymore. CPUs are powerful enough that real-time software decoding is actually more reliable.

And hardware decoders degrade the video signal by their nature, anyway.

There are a few cards that do the overlay via the PCI bus that do not degrade the signal, but those are relatively rare. Most use some passthrough mechanism.

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