PowerDVD

CyberLink PowerDVD is a media player for Microsoft Windows providing DVD playback, with Blu-ray playback available in higher editions. The current version, PowerDVD 13, is available in three editions: PowerDVD 13 Deluxe (DVD only), PowerDVD 13 Pro (Blu-ray playback) or PowerDVD 13 Ultra (Blu-ray 3D playback).

PowerDVD is distributed on physical media or by download from the CyberLink website. It is often bundled with a variety of PC systems and peripheral devices (particularly optical drives)  a strategy which has enabled CyberLink to claim it as "the market's #1 media playback product with annual distribution of over 100 million units".

PowerDVD was the first Blu-ray 3D software player to achieve certification from the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) under the new Blu-ray 3D standard (Profile 5.0).

Features

 * DVD and Blu-ray disc playback.


 * DTS-HD 7.1 channel surround sound.


 * DLNA


 * Video file playback of formats including mkv, flv, wtv, 3gp and 3g2, and rm, rmvb if RealPlayer is installed.


 * Support for subtitle formats include smi, ass, ssa, psb, srt and sub.


 * 4K UHD


 * Upscaling of DVDs and standard definition video files to HD, including videos from YouTube


 * Support for 3D photos and movies, including Blu-ray 3D.


 * GPU-accelerated conversion of 2D movies into 3D.


 * MoovieLive.com, a CyberLink "web site for collection information and reviews on films played back using the application" that "acts much like CDDB does for CDs, querying the MoovieLive service and downloading any pertinent information on it such as its title, a rating, how many others have watched this movie and so on."


 * MovieMarks, which combines bookmarked movie scenes and review comments which can be shared online via MoovieLive.com.


 * Live Comments, which lets PowerDVD users post opinions and comments to Facebook, Twitter and MoovieLive while a movie is playing.


 * PowerDVD Remote for control of playback in PowerDVD with an iOS or Android device


 * PowerDVD Mobile for streaming playback of content from the PC on an Android or iOS device, and transcoding content to copy to the device.

Limitations
To watch Blu-ray in PowerDVD 11 or above, the user's computer must be HDCP compliant, with an appropriate videocard, cable and monitor; there is no such limitation on version 10 and earlier releases, and so VGA, composite or S-Video interfaces can be used to connect monitor or TV to PC. When installed on laptops, this limitation doesn't apply, but newer Blu-ray protected discs can be played only in more recent versions and most of the time need an Internet connection to do so.

HD DVD support is not available since PowerDVD 9.

Criticism
CyberLink supports PowerDVD with updates for a limited time after a version is released, which became a problem once Blu-ray Disc support was included with the release of PowerDVD 7 Ultra in December 2009: Blu-ray copy protection requires player software or firmware to be updated periodically to allow playback of newer discs. For CyberLink customers wanting to watch a Blu-ray Disc mastered after the date on which their version of PowerDVD went EOL, this means they might be unable to do so until they have upgraded to a newer release of PowerDVD. Since version 9, the software provides notification if an unplayable disc is inserted: users with a version still in support are prompted by this notification to update to the latest patch, those with a version that is EOL are prompted to upgrade to the current release and on clicking are taken to the CyberLink website to buy a copy of the current version at a discount.

Versions 7 Ultra, 8 and 9 were updated for only 12, 24 and 26 months respectively, and this requirement to buy a new PowerDVD release every other year for continued Blu-ray capability led to many complaints about incompatibility from users of PowerDVD 9 and earlier when Star Wars was first released on Blu-ray. Subsequently, versions 10 and 11 have continued to receive updates for longer than the previous three versions did.

DVD Audio support is not available in version 11. Support stopped during version 9, although Cyberlink advertised versions 9 and 10 as being able to play DVD Audio discs. Cyberlink has refused to offer assistance to customers who bought versions 10 and 11 believing they could play back DVD Audio discs using them.

For users with international disks, PowerDVD does not have an option to set preferred languages or disk menus. This causes serious issues with Japanese Blu-ray disks of international titles, as PowerDVD often ignores the Japanese menus in favor of the primary (non-Japanese) menu. There is no fix offered by Cyberlink other than to switch versions to a Japanese one.

Native Video Decoders

 * H.264/MPEG-4 AVC (including MVC for Blu-ray-3D)
 * MPEG-4 ASP (DivX, Xvid)
 * MPEG-2/HD
 * MPEG-1
 * VC-1
 * WMV HD

Native Audio Decoders

 * Dolby Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP)
 * Dolby TrueHD (7.1 Channel)
 * Dolby Digital Plus (7.1 Channel)
 * Dolby Digital EX (7.1 Channel)
 * Dolby Digital (2 & 5.1 Channel)
 * DTS-HD (7.1 Channel)
 * DTS-ES (Discrete & Matrix)
 * DTS 96/24 Decoding
 * DTS (5.1 Channel)
 * LPCM
 * AAC
 * MP3 Surround
 * MP2

Audio Effects

 * Dolby Pro Logic IIx Surround Sound
 * Dolby Virtual Speaker
 * CyberLink TrueTheater Surround