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
In our recent media streamer roundup, we discussed various commercial Blu-ray video profiles and presented our test suite for the same. We reused the same test suite for this review also. Before testing out the ISOs and folder structures which had their copy protection removed, we tested the original Blu-rays from an optical drive and also a few other unlisted Blu-rays such as 'Waltz with Bashir', 'FIFA World Cup 3D' and 'The Lion King'. CyberLink PowerDVD 12 was able to play back all the Blu-rays from the optical drive without issues.
The tables below present a summary of how CyberLink PowerDVD 12 fared in our local media test suite.
| Container Compatibility Details | |
| CyberLink PowerDVD 12 | |
| Version 12.0.1227.54 Ultra | |
| Container | Notes |
| DVD | Menus Supported |
| ISO Supported | |
| Folder Structures Supported | |
| Blu-ray | ISOs Supported |
| Folder Structures Supported1 | |
| BD Profile 1.0 Supported with Menus | |
| BD Profile 1.1 (Bonus View / PiP) Plays with Menus, PiP Available | |
| BD Profile 2.0 (BD Live) Plays with Menus, BD Live Available | |
| BD Profile 5.0 (3D) Supported | |
| Non-BD Profile 5.0 3D Blu-rays Play in 3D with Menus | |
| Seamless Branching Works Perfectly | |
| MKV | Supported Video Codecs: H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (DivX / XViD) |
| Supported Audio Codecs: AC3, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD HR2, AAC, MP3, LPCM | |
| Supported Embedded Subtitles: SRT, ASS/SSA | |
| Multiple Video Tracks Not Supported | |
| Multiple Audio and Subtitle Tracks Supported | |
| Forced Subtitle Tracks Not Supported | |
| Chapters Not Supported | |
| Header Compression Supported | |
| MKV3D (Stereoscopic Flag) Supported | |
| Half SBS / TAB 3D Plays Back with Manual TV Mode Change, Auto-Switch Spotty | |
| M2TS | Supported Video Codecs: H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2 |
| Supported Audio Codecs: AC3, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS, DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD HR, LPCM | |
| Supported Embedded Subtitles: PGS | |
| AVI | Supported Video Codecs: MPEG-4 (XviD / DivX), MJPEG |
| Supported Audio Codecs: AC3, MP3, PCM | |
| SBS 3D AVIs Don't Autoswitch Reliably | |
| MP4 / M4V | Supported Video Codecs: H.264 |
| Supported Audio Codecs: AAC | |
| Miscellaneous Containers | DVR-MS and TRP Supported |
| WTV Files Play Back with Audio Only | |
| TS and MTS Supported | |
| M2V Supported | |
| 1 Our BD Profile 1.1 ripped folder structure test stream (Band of Brothers (Disc 1)) failed to load beyond the initial startup screen. ArcSoft Total Media Theater 5 played back the same folder structure without issues | |
| 2 Our MKV test stream with AVC video and DTS-HD HR audio repeatedly crashed PowerDVD 12. Other MKVs with AVC video played back without issues | |
| Video Compatibility Details | |
| CyberLink PowerDVD 12 | |
| Version 12.0.1227.54 Ultra | |
| Codec | Notes |
| H.264 | 1080p60 Level 4.2 Camcorder Streams / Level 5.1 User Encodes Fully Supported |
| Maximum of 12 Reference Frames Supported (16 reference frame videos show heavy artifacting) | |
| Maximum frame size of 4096 x 2304 (multi-threaded software decode) | |
| 10 bit H.264 Decoding Not Supported (Blank Video Screen) | |
| Erroneous Bitstream Recovery OK | |
| Upto 80 Mbps H.264 Streams Play OK (over eSATA) | |
| VC-1 | Supported |
| 720p60 / 1080i60 (Interlaced Streams - Advanced Profile) Also Supported | |
| MPEG-2 | Supported |
| MPEG-4 (DivX / XviD) | Supported (up to 1080p24) |
| Global Motion Compensation with More Than 2 Warp Points Supported | |
| Real Media Video | Fully Supported (up to 1080p24 tested) |
| Miscellaneous Codecs | WMV8 Supported |
| VP6 Not Supported | |
| VP8 Not Supported | |
| Theora Not Supported | |
| MPEG-1 Supported | |
| Audio Compatibility Details | |||
| CyberLink PowerDVD 12 | |||
| Version 12.0.1227.54 Ultra | |||
| Codec | Bitstream | Decode | Downmix |
| AC3 (Dolby Digital) | Yes | Yes (up to 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS | Yes | Yes (up to 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| Dolby Digital Plus | Yes | Yes (up to 7.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS-HD HR | Yes | Yes (up to 7.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| Dolby TrueHD | Yes | Yes (up to 7.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| DTS-HD MA | Yes | Yes (up to 7.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| WMA Pro | No | Yes (up to 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| AAC | Not Tested | Yes (up to 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| MP3 | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| FLAC | Not Tested | Yes (up to 5.1) | Yes (down to 2.0) |
| Cook (Real Audio) | Not Applicable | Yes | Not Applicable |
| Vorbis | Not Applicable | Yes | Yes |
| APE | Not Applicable | No | No |
| AIFF | Not Applicable | No | No |
| DVD-A | Partially Supported (AC3 Version) | ||
| SACD | Not Supported | ||
| BD-Audio | Supported with bitstreaming | ||
| Playlists | M3U and PLS files don't show up in the media library | ||
| Gapless Audio | Not Supported | ||
| Sampling Frequencies | Faithful Decoding to LPCM up to 192 KHz for all audio codecs | ||
| Subtitle Compatibility Details | |
| CyberLink PowerDVD 12 | |
| Version 12.0.1227.54 Ultra | |
| Format | Notes |
| PGS | Supported only in M2TS (PGS in MKV is Unsupported) |
| Forced Subtitles in M2TS Supported | |
| SRT | External Subtitles Supported for All Formats |
| MKV Muxed Subtitles Supported | |
| Automatic Subtitle Encoding Detection Works | |
| SUB/IDX | External Subtitles Supported, But SUB overlay blanks out the screen every time it appears |
| MKV Muxed Subtitles Not Supported | |
| ASS / SSA | Supported without Stylization or Font Effects |
| Image Formats Compatibility Details | |
| CyberLink PowerDVD 12 | |
| Version 12.0.1227.54 Ultra | |
| Format | Notes |
| JPG | Tested Upto 40MP ; Instantaneous Decoding and Scaling to 1920x1080 |
| GIF | Not Supported |
| JPS | Supported |
| Miscellaneous Formats | MPO Supported |
| DNG Supported | |
| TIFF Supported (Multipage Files Display First Page) | |
| PNG Supported | |
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Spivonious - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
I knew there was a reason version 11 was on a fire sale. I had to upgrade from 9 to play those profile 5 discs. Hopefully they continue support for 11 for a while.jwcalla - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
Maybe I'm just a curmudgeon but the idea of having to pay for software to get the magic keys to play the BluRay discs you paid for is ridiculous. Why are people so eager to grab their ankles?Spivonious - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
That cost is included with standalone players. That said, I'd love it if Microsoft would sell a blu-ray codec for $10-$15 and let me play them right inside of Media Center. I will never use the mobile features of PowerDVD, nor the image enhancement and fake 3D features.Tetracycloide - Wednesday, February 1, 2012 - link
I can understand a commercial license being needed to release the codec as part of a retail player but a non-commercial home license should be totally free.Alexstarfire - Friday, February 3, 2012 - link
Yes, the cost might be included with the stand-alone players but you're also paying for the hardware. When you are playing back Blu-Rays/DVDs on your computer you've already paid for the hardware. I see no reason that the software would be as expensive as a solution that provides hardware and software. I don't believe it should be free, though that'd be very nice, but even $50 is more expensive than I think it should be.Tetracycloide - Wednesday, February 1, 2012 - link
Wholeheartedly agree. Wasn't there an article here a few days back about adding blu-ray support to VLC by just copying the keys into the right folder? Maybe that was ars. At any rate it's infinitely preferable to paying for the bars and chains that keep you locked up as a consumer.ganeshts - Wednesday, February 1, 2012 - link
Yes, VLC can handle Blu-rays with encryption now (albeit with some exceptions).But, VLC will not be reliable with menus, HD audio decoding etc. (Look up the VLC piece I wrote in the Pipeline section as to why Blu-ray support being added in VLC is just the beginning of a long process)
joel4565 - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
I am sure the latest version of Powerdvd is quite nice and lovely, but honesty how can it ever be justified at $100 for the full version when a quick glance on Newegg shows several standalone blueray players for <$100 and several well rated at just over a hundred dollars.And for tablet/mobile For the same ~$100 you could get a two year subscription to AnyDVD HD and Handbrake to transcode the video to x264 for a much better tablet experience. AVplayerHD is a good IOS app that plays 720p x264 mkv videos quite nicely on ipad2 and I am sure there is a similar app for Android.
The fact that bluray drives require such expensive software to get the full experience shows just how little the movie & tv industry cares about PC users. Even the cheapest bluray drive $57 + the basic version of software $50 is more expensive than several stand alone players that will probably do a better job.
daneren2005 - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
Of course. In fact they HATE PC users. PC users tend to want to do crazy stuff like own content and to be able to use it on multiple devices after paying for it the first time. The media industry on the other hand wants you to pay for the same crap every single time you get a new device, and PCs allow you to get around that.Braumin - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - link
I bought version 7 Ultra for HD-DVD and Blu-ray. Verion 9 came out with Media Center integration, so I figured that was worth the upgrade.Cyberlink is a horrible company. They never had updates for 9, even when it was the most current offering. Movies would often not play for months before there was updates. Of course, that got worse as 9 moved out of main support.
$100 is basically a subscription for this software, since they release a new version every year and ditch support of the old version quickly.
I stopped trying to watch blu-ray on my HTPC. For $90 I got a Samsung wi-fi blu-ray player which has played every disc I have thrown at it.
Keep your junk Cyberlink.