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New PowerDVD Patches: 2021 (PDVD8) and 4407 (PDVD 7.3)

It's pretty sad when the studios can tell you to remove features from a program you've already sold to people. And the studios have the power because of DRM. Don't wanna play ball with us? Ok, we'll just revoke your player keys so you can't decrypt our titles anymore. It's really ridiculous. Nonetheless, I'm sticking with 7 until I NEED 8. Nothing about 8 impresses me right now. The fact that we have to hack in HD DVD support that should have been there since day 1 is monumentally stupid. They have lost my future business unless I see some SERIOUS improvement. It'd take a hell of a lot to impress me enough to buy any future products from them.
 
SamuriHL said:
It'd take a hell of a lot to impress me enough to buy any future products from them.
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Near as I can tell PDVD 7 (followed by PDVD 8) is the least crappy player out there. mplayer is just too painful without better autodetection & menu etc. support. Maybe one day it will be good enough. Hooray for the day decent support gets hacked into mythtv's internal player. I tried the Arcsoft thing (it came "for free" with the Hauppauge HD-PVR 1212) and that just ended up $#@!@# up most of my playbacks. Nero didn't seem to work all that well for me either.

So ... Cyberlink won the prize (and another license fee).

Now that you mention it, I don't think we've whined at Slysoft in the last hour to put out a decent software player :)
 
They're aware of the need and demand, believe me. At this point, there's no more reason to keep at it. :) They either willl or they won't. But, given the choice, I'd rather see a CloneBD product released than another player. IF I had to choose, that is. Both would be ideal, of course, but, resources are limited. :)
 
SamuriHL said:
They're aware of the need and demand, believe me. At this point, there's no more reason to keep at it. :) They either willl or they won't. But, given the choice, I'd rather see a CloneBD product released than another player. IF I had to choose, that is. Both would be ideal, of course, but, resources are limited. :)
Click to expand...

The "both" idea can be accomplish more easily if you (SlySoft) consider helping with your knowledgean the open source player Media Player Classic HomeCinema which already can play .m2ts (blu-ray) files but can't (yet) play the disc / image (Blu-ray). :bowdown:
The same player with Haali splitter can play .EVO files too !
So don't you think that for start this is a good addition to your free VCD and also a good ideea ? :D
 
mercury_22 said:
The "both" idea can be accomplish more easily if you (SlySoft) consider helping with your knowledgean the open source player Media Player Classic HomeCinema which already can play .m2ts (blu-ray) files but can't (yet) play the disc / image (Blu-ray). :bowdown:
The same player with Haali splitter can play .EVO files too !
So don't you think that for start this is a good addition to your free VCD and also a good ideea ? :D
Click to expand...

Well, I don't work for Slysoft, so, I couldn't tell you what they have planned. :) I know that extending an open source player has been discussed before, but, I doubt they'd release one for free if they put time and effort into making one. I really have no idea. I know many people would be willing to pay for a player that had the ability to play HD DVD's and BD's with no constraints. Do you know how many people would easily pay the cost of PowerDVD for playback from folders? So, there's a market there for a paid player if they so chose.

As for CloneBD...the sooner the better on that one. I know it's a difficult undertaking, but, it'd be so worth it.
 
It's a bit late but CyberLink actually sent out an email to PowerDVD7 Ultra and PowerDVD8 Ultra owners that they released these new updates. Considering you can't find the v7 Ultra updates on their website I find that humorous. I do believe CyberLink had it's hands tied with HD-DVD support which is why it can't have support in v8.

The following is purely speculation:

CyberLink will be coming out with PowerDVD 8.5 or PowerDVD9 sometime soon. I've heard both version numbers tossed around but no clear answer as to which it will be. That version will not have HD-DVD support. That's a given. CyberLink also knows people are holding on to PowerDVD7 Ultra. So, with v8 soon to give way to a new version they improved the PQ and other aspects of v7 Ultra. Some people might see v8.5 or v9 as a worthless update after paying for v8. This is possibly CyberLink realizing that just a small bit of good on their part might go a long way in making people less annoyed with them.

I have to agree with what SamuriHL has said somewhere recently by saying that CyberLink has somewhat gained back some credibility. While most people have agreed that PowerDVD is the lesser of the evils in terms of HD/BD playback we have also come to very much dislike the company. I sincerely hope they keep thinking about making the product better and giving their customers what they deserve.
 
Version 8.5 should be released as a free update to 8 considering all the functionality was promised in 8 and MANY people, myself included, bought it on that premise. That being that we'd get FULL HDMI audio support. If they charge for it, it will be the end and they will likely face a class action lawsuit from REALLY pissed off people. I will have it regardless as I plan on getting one of the new auzentech cards when they come out depending on how much they cost. That will come bundled with whatever version they release that supports it.

As for the credibility thing, I do think that by sticking behind 7 and releasing updates that quite honestly they didn't have to do, they've definitely gained some of my respect back. Not all of it. Releasing an update to 8 for free for existing 8 owners that does away with the hobbled audio support they currently have would certainly help. I'm beginning to see reason on the HD DVD thing. I do believe they were forced to remove it from 8. Given that the beta versions of 8 had it in there fully a month before the final release and it was pulled at the last minute, it would make sense. It seems like they planned on keeping it in there. That being said, here's how I'd have handled the situation if I were them:

If it's a licensing thing, which we can somewhat understand, then those who have 7 installed already have a license, right? I mean, they weren't forced to pull support for HD DVD in version 7. So, if 7 is installed on a user's machine, how about cutting us a break and activating HD DVD support for 8 with all the updated codecs?

And my second brilliant idea on this for those who don't like having 2 versions actually INSTALLED...if you have a license for 7, be able to go into 8's licensing config, drop the license key into it, and activate HD DVD for 8 without 7 having to be installed.

Man, I should work in the software business. Oh, wait, right.... :D
 
SamuriHL said:
I'm beginning to see reason on the HD DVD thing. I do believe they were forced to remove it from 8. Given that the beta versions of 8 had it in there fully a month before the final release and it was pulled at the last minute, it would make sense. It seems like they planned on keeping it in there. That being said, here's how I'd have handled the situation if I were them:

If it's a licensing thing, which we can somewhat understand, then those who have 7 installed already have a license, right? I mean, they weren't forced to pull support for HD DVD in version 7. So, if 7 is installed on a user's machine, how about cutting us a break and activating HD DVD support for 8 with all the updated codecs?

And my second brilliant idea on this for those who don't like having 2 versions actually INSTALLED...if you have a license for 7, be able to go into 8's licensing config, drop the license key into it, and activate HD DVD for 8 without 7 having to be installed.

Man, I should work in the software business. Oh, wait, right.... :D
Click to expand...

I have two points to raise:

  1. When did the official demise of HD-DVD take place? I believe it was in the v8 betas because it wasn't dead yet. Once Toshiba dropped out then I believe they removed HD-DVD support.
  2. Your suggestion about allowing support for HD-DVD in v8 and beyond sounds great but remember can't read the actual license agreement. It probably involved a cut from each installation sold of v7. The wording is very important. Depending on the wording allowing a newer version to add in support even if v7 is installed might be viewed as violating the licensing agreement as trivial as it might seem.

Of course, again, what I'm saying can't really be backed up beyond my own speculation and a poor memory of when HD-DVD was dropped compared to the death of HD-DVD.
 
Right before my birthday this year, so, let's say around Feb 16. The April beta of PowerDVD 8 Ultra is what we all have the IMP file from, so, up until that point they were still planning on releasing PowerDVD 8 Ultra with HD DVD playback support. At least in theory. That's almost 2 months after it was announced Toshiba was pulling the plug.

Right, but even if they took a cut from each installation sold of 7, the fact is they already have that from me. I own 7. If I want to watch HD DVD's, I'm told to install 7. So what would they lose by allowing playback in 8 if 7 is already installed and allows it? That's my minimalist idea. If 7 isn't installed, then 8 has no support for HD DVD. That could have been done.

The idea for allowing us to drop the 7 license into 8 and have 8 magically sprout HD DVD support is admittedly a bit more complex of an issue. I understand that might not have been possible. That's what I call the "ideal" idea. :) In a fair world this would have been allowed. Again, the user already paid for the HD DVD license which gives them support. I can understand not allowing it for new users (sort of), but, for those of us that already own 7 and have the support, why not just activate HD DVD support by checking for 7 license? It's not that hard for crying out loud.

Anyway, none of those things happened. They COULD still add my minimalist idea to the 8 code line in a future update. So, if Cyberlink is reading, trust me when I say this would go a LONG LONG way towards appeasing the HD DVD supporters in the house. :)
 
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