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learn aikido in north devon

Learn Aikido in North Devon

 


Section :: software

- Format For Printing...

Power DVD 13 Ultra

Multimedia playback software
Monday 1 July 2013.
 

Power DVD 13 Ultra £79.99
http://www.cyberlink.com

Most PC users already have one or more free applications capable of playing DVDs and multimedia files. So why, you may reasonably ask, would you want to buy a commercial copy of Cyberlink’s PowerDVD to do exactly the same thing.

The answer is that, while PowerDVD may duplicate some of the functionality of free programs such as Windows Media Player or RealPlayer, it also has a number of additional features. The Ultra version which I’ve been testing supports all the same technologies as a standalone Blu-Ray player (assuming you have a Blu-Ray drive and all the required hardware attached to your PC, that is!) including 7.1 audio, 3D and Ultra HD resolution (4096x2160 pixels). Lower cost versions have fewer features. The Pro (£59.99) and Essential (£34.99) editions have only 5.1 audio, for example, and the Essential edition supports DVDs but not Blu-Rays.

PowerDVD 13 Ultra can play back DVDs, Blu-Rays and media files with video enhancements and 7.1 sound

There are also all kinds of built-in tools to let you zoom in or pan around while playing a movie or instantly take pictures of the currently playing frame and save them to disk. It can play back multimedia video and audio files on disk as well as AVCHD (for example, tracks downloaded from your video camera). It also has ‘TrueTheater’ enhancements which may improve the playback quality with sharper detail and smoother motion. In addition to playing media from your local PC, it can also log onto Facebook and YouTube to let you browse, playback and upload (but not download) online video. For some video demos of its features see the Cyberlink site here: http://directorzone.cyberlink.com/tutorial/pdvd/.

Here I am using PowerDVD 13 to find and play YouTube videos

So, is it worth the money? If Windows Media Player, QuickTime or RealPlayer do everything you need then you probably won’t see much benefit from using PowerDVD. But if you are a video perfectionist, your computer multimedia hardware specification exceeds the capabilities of your free media player and you want to watch high quality, high-resolution movies on your desktop, well, you are probably already reaching for your credit card!

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