CyberLink PowerDVD 12: Complementing Your Mobile Lifestyle
by Ganesh T S on January 31, 2012 9:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Home Theater
- HTPC
- Blu-Ray
- CyberLink
PowerDVD Mobile v4 is available in the Android market as well as the Apple app store. Upon installation, a code (present in the Home Media section of PowerDVD 12 Ultra under PowerDVD Mobile) needs to be entered to activate the app. PowerDVD Mobile talks to the DLNA server run by PowerDVD on the PC only. By default, the CyberLink DLNA server doesn't share any media. It needs to be explicitly told to share the library with the home media (DLNA) clients.
Coming back to the Android app, CyberLink presents the various media options in one row. On choosing a category, all the local media on the device is displayed for playback first. Choosing the Home Media option makes the app poll for the media server. Only the CyberLink DLNA server is visible through the app. By default, all the files in the library are listed alphabetically. The only other way to view the library is with the folder view.
Unfortunately, all visible files are not necessarily available for playback. For exmaple, I had an XviD movie file which, though visible, caused PowerDVD Mobile to error out.
However, I was able to get some H.264 files to work.
Of course, the most interesting aspect was what could be done with the files in the media library on the device. Upon selecting a media file, it is possible to beam it across to another DLNA Media Renderer (I had two other renderers in my network, a Popcorn Hour A300 and my Sony KDL46EX720 TV). It is also possible to save a transcoded stream to the local device.
The transcoding process occurs on the server side, and it doesn't take advantage of QuickSync. In addition, transcoded archiving seems to work only for media files which could be successfully played back in the initial attempt. This is a good way to get media onto the device for enjoyment outside the network, but it is very puzzling as to why unsupported media doesn't get transcoded into a valid profile.
While I tested the app out with the HTC Vision and the Motorola Xoom, Jarred used a Qualcom MSM 8x60 based tablet as well as an iPod Touch to test the same app on his side. Jarred couldn't get the iOS app working as smoothly as the Android app, but, suffice to say, both of us spent more time with the Android app. All our observations and suggestions for CyberLink are presented in the next section.
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burntham77 - Wednesday, February 1, 2012 - link
As much as I love my HTPC, there are times when I think just using a stand alone blu-ray player is the best bet. Sure it means one more piece of hardware under the TV, but blu-ray is still hinky on the PC, mainly due to audio codecs being unreliable.Breit - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
Thanks for the review. I have just one question: Does PowerDVD 12 have proper multi-monitor support eventually? All prior versions i have tested so far just give me a cheesy warning dialog box saying that 'resolution is not supported' which means that one display in landscape (30" - 2560x1600 in my case) and one display in portrait mode (20" - 1600x1200) is not what they want their customers to use. Not that this is complicated to handle other players handle this just fine, it is just bullying.Golgatha - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
I've tried both Cyberlink and PowerDVD. Both of them will put you on an upgrade treadmill and the juice just isn't worth the squeeze every year. I know PowerDVD also took out the ability to playback Bluray ISO rips or M2TS files. Cyberlink is clunky and rarely updates their software.On the other hand, ArcSoft TMT plays everything beautifully, they don't hound you about upgrading, and they don't mind if you employ a bit of fair use in your media viewing habits. They also provide free and regular updates to the software and it isn't a bloated POS like both Cyberlink and PowerDVD have become.
max_daemon - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
I registered to second Golgatha. When I bought a hybrid HD-DVD/Blu-Ray drive in 2008 it came with PowerDVD and I have to say my experience was infuriating. From the start a number of Blu-Ray releases wouldn't play. Updates were few and VERY far between. Even some HD-DVD titles would be messed up, with non-functional menus. Long story short, I shelled up for Total Media Theatre after a long search for a good player - the forums were filled with stories similar to mine, both from PowerDVD and that other popular bundled software whose name eludes me - and have never looked back. I haven't upgraded to the current version (I think it's on 4 now), but it still runs great, plays anything I throw at it, has hardware acceleration, you name it. It was worth every cent.Golgatha - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
TMT 5 is the latest version and I upgraded from a bundled version 3, which was specific to an ASUS HDAV 1.3 slim I owned. At the time I owned PowerDVD 8 and had tried a trial version of Cyberlink, which didn't work at all as was bloated...just awful. Anyway, PowerDVD removed support for HD DVD at random and they also removed support for playback from virtual drives while I was the "proud owner" of their software, which I shelled out $100 for. Those two features basically made me diehard against them, and even if PowerDVD worked well and wasn't bloated, it would be a cold day in hell before I ever gave them my money again.ganeshts - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
Guys, I agree TMT used the be the best balance between PDVD and WinDVD, but Cyberlink has learnt its lessons here. The player is not bloated at all, and the pestering to upgrade / purchase other software has toned down quite a bit.As I mentioned in the review, PDVD plays back ISOs and folder rips without any problems. (I think they had some issues earlier)
I did mention in my review about a folder rip which didn't play back in PDVD 12, and a crash while playing back a local file. So, it is not that PDVD is the magic solution.. Cyberlink does need to make some more fixes.
Golgatha - Thursday, February 2, 2012 - link
I sent ArcSoft an email linking them to this feedback section. They replied back within 12 hours. This is what they said...Thanks very much for provide the link to us. We will keep support for playback from virtual drives, M2TS files, and keep improve the software.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any other questions.
Best Regards,
ArcSoft Support
I have never once had a feature removed by ArcSoft. Can't say the same for Cyberlink. ArcSoft gets my money.
Tin Hat - Friday, February 3, 2012 - link
I believe ArcSoft removed HD-DVD support in later versions, which funnily, i found less annoying than when PowerDVD did it. Why? That's because ArcSoft kept updating its software compatibility wih the latest Blu-ray releases so i could continue to watch HD-DVD as well. The only bug to bear was the switching to plain graphics every time HD content kicked in, which ArcSoft never coded out of version 3.My main annoyance was when software companies dropped HD-DVD like a stone leaving buyers like me stranded for decent backup tools and players. I noticed only AnyDVD and ArcSoft left solid support for us. The rest just assumed we would just bin all those lovely HD videos or something? I've had a both annoying and educational time learning all about reMuxing and transcoding since then.
darkswordsman17 - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
I tried TMT5 and was unimpressed. For one, it would put Windows into basic color scheme even though I made sure to check not force that, it still did it with every Blu-Ray movie I played on it. Performance wasn't terribly impressive. MPC-HC with madVR looks better and performed roughly the same with a trial Blu-Ray rip using MakeMKV of the exact same movie, no compression/encoding or anything. Oh, and using a mouse is a bit of a pain but menus on DVDs and Blu-Rays are often sluggish if not outright horrible to begin with so that's the bigger nuisance.So, Arcsoft might be one of the better for what it is, but its still a letdown and not a substitute for say MPC-HC properly configured. If it weren't for the DRM keys needed (and probably DTS-HD decoder), there's basically nothing that other players couldn't do as well if not better. Couple that with the price and its just not worth it to me.
I'd probably just use MakeMKV but I can't get transcoding of the lossless formats to FLAC figured out yet.
daneren2005 - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
Why not just use AnyDVD HD. Its non intrusive and just works in the background and allows you to play a blu-ray just like its a dvd from your normal player. And best yet they don't bullshit you and pretend their support is anything but a subscription of their software. They call it what it is.