CyberLink's PowerDVD has long been many people's DVD and Blu-ray player of choice. But that's no longer enough for CyberLink, which boasts that PowerDVD 11 "is the world's leading universal media player for the PC", so powerful that it can "play any media format, from any source." Universal media player? Any media format? Big claims, then, but has CyberLink delivered? We took PowerDVD 11 for a spin in an effort to find out.
The interface hasn't changed too much, with simple tabs allowing you to play particular content types. And the core DVD and Blu-ray functionality is also similar to PowerDVD 10, though there are a few useful additions dotted throughout the package. The program doesn't only play DVDs, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D discs, for instance: it can now also handle recorded 3D TV.
Enhanced audio features include new support for HDMI 1.4, which should take much of the hassle out of getting multi-channel, high definition sound. There's also lossless pass-through for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and 5.1 DTS support is now available even in the standard PowerDVD edition.
Cinema Mode (an alternative view optimized for remote control use, which integrates with Windows Media Center) has been enhanced with a 3D interface. Nothing too adventurous -- it's still essentially just buttons and text menus -- but it looks good and is fun to use.
TrueTheater 3D has seen a major upgrade since the last version, which means it does a much better job of converting your DVDs, video files and photos (though not 2D Blu-ray discs) to 3D. The results can still be poor sometimes, depending on your source material, but it's still a fun technology that can bring new life to your old movies.
The interface hasn't changed too much, with simple tabs allowing you to play particular content types. And the core DVD and Blu-ray functionality is also similar to PowerDVD 10, though there are a few useful additions dotted throughout the package. The program doesn't only play DVDs, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D discs, for instance: it can now also handle recorded 3D TV.
Enhanced audio features include new support for HDMI 1.4, which should take much of the hassle out of getting multi-channel, high definition sound. There's also lossless pass-through for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, and 5.1 DTS support is now available even in the standard PowerDVD edition.
Cinema Mode (an alternative view optimized for remote control use, which integrates with Windows Media Center) has been enhanced with a 3D interface. Nothing too adventurous -- it's still essentially just buttons and text menus -- but it looks good and is fun to use.
TrueTheater 3D has seen a major upgrade since the last version, which means it does a much better job of converting your DVDs, video files and photos (though not 2D Blu-ray discs) to 3D. The results can still be poor sometimes, depending on your source material, but it's still a fun technology that can bring new life to your old movies.
