POWER DVD 10
The most stable and powerful DVD and Blu-ray movie player available, CyberLink’s PowerDVD 10 Ultra ($100) offers an array of new features, including 3D support.
The
changes start with the interface. Across the top of the player, just
beneath the menu, are tabs for movies, video, and music. The latter two
sections’ panes appear as file browsers. Unfortunately, the program is
slow to enumerate files when you browse a media-filled folder.
The addition of 3D makes PowerDVD 10 Ultra a worthy upgrade, and other enhancements round out the application nicely. The only dramatic improvements, however, involve image stabilization and support for the new media formats.
The most stable and powerful DVD and Blu-ray movie player available, CyberLink’s PowerDVD 10 Ultra ($100) offers an array of new features, including 3D support.
The
changes start with the interface. Across the top of the player, just
beneath the menu, are tabs for movies, video, and music. The latter two
sections’ panes appear as file browsers. Unfortunately, the program is
slow to enumerate files when you browse a media-filled folder.
CyberLink
touts the new PowerDVD as a universal player, thanks to its support for
real Media, .mkv, .flv, .3gp, and .3g2 files. Even so, it couldn’t
handle an h.263-codec-based .flv file, nor could it recognize my ogg
Teora files, even with a direct show filter installed.
In
other respects, playback was excellent. Behind the scenes (or via
adjustable controls), PowerDVD offers tools for upscaling 480p video to
1080p, increasing frame rates to smooth HD pans, and compensating for
excessively dark scenes.
Another
new feature is the ability to upscale 2D to 3D. Te results were
passable, though early 3D-encoded content does appear sharper. A future
free upgrade will fully support the 3D Blu-ray titles coming this
summer.
PowerDVD 10 Ultra 3D adds social features, too, such as uploading videos to YouTube; integrating with Windows 7 libraries; and sharing comments via Facebook, MoovieLive, and Twitter.
The addition of 3D makes PowerDVD 10 Ultra a worthy upgrade, and other enhancements round out the application nicely. The only dramatic improvements, however, involve image stabilization and support for the new media formats.
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