PowerDVD 8 Ultra now supports Dolby TrueHD
April 2nd, 2008 by Kevin
Cyberlink has announced the release of PowerDVD 8 Ultra, which is the only viable option right now to watch Blu-ray (or HD-DVDs) on a computer since Windows XP or Vista does not have a native ability to play Blu-ray movies.
PowerDVD Ultra has been a maturing piece of software. Version 7 lacked HD audio codecs for Blu-ray movies, which I always thought was an odd ommission. PowerDVD Ultra 8 rectifies this by adding in support for Dolby TrueHD audio codecs. One of the big differences between Blu-ray discs and DVDs is the inclusion of lossless audio for stunning surround sound quality. From Dolby’s website:
Dolby TrueHD delivers tantalizing sound that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master, unlocking the true high-definition entertainment experience on next-generation discs. When coupled with high-definition video, Dolby TrueHD offers an unprecedented home theater experience that lets you enjoy sound as stunning as the high-definition picture.
PowerDVD Ultra 8 supports the following home theater audio codecs:
- Dolby TrueHD (7.1-channel)
- Dolby Digital EX (7.1-channel)
- Dolby Digital Plus (7.1-channel)
- Dolby Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP)
- DTS-HD (7.1-channel)
- DTS (5.1 channel)
- DTS 96/24 decoding
- DTS-ES (Discrete and Matrix)
Only one roadblock remains with PowerDVD Ultra 8 in my opinion: seemless integration with Vista Media Center. Work arounds exist but it would be nice to have an easy to install and seemless integration with VMC.
Enjoyed the post? Subscribe to the full feed for daily updates.
Related Posts on Floppyhead.com:
Huge caveat on this, though: every single codec gets downmixed to 2-channel stereo over S/PDIF. The only way you get advanced audio codecs is via the analog outputs of your computer sound card.
This remains an enormous limitation of PowerDVD, and they have been promising a fix for too long.
[...] PowerDVD now supports Dolby TrueHD - While hardware does not exist to take care of this feature, Cyberlink has added it anyway. This should bode well for future ovfferings from Asus or Auzentech. [...]