PDVD downscaling even with AnyDVD HD

[deandob]

Hi,

My first post here - I have the AnyDVD trial and considering buying it, great software, thank you.

My question is about recent postings on Doom9 that indicate that PowerDVD will downscale video even with AnyDVD HD if you dont have a HDCP compliant monitor / projector (see doom9 front page news 3/8 and this thread http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=123048). I dont have HDCP compliant hardware I must admit that when I compare VGA output and DVI with AnyDVD HD I dont see any difference, but I was under the understanding that AnyDVD HD tricks the HDCP detection so you should get full resolution? Can someone confirm if DVI (non HDCP) + PDVD 7.1 + AnyDVD HD = downscaling?

Another question before I part with my cash - what is the future of AnyDVD HD if the AACS LA start revoking the recently hacked keys? Does this mean that my "investment" in AnyDVD will only be able to be used on the older titles? Or will Slysoft follow the cat & mouse game of updating the software to use different keys? Which will mean that the end user will need to be constantly updating the software? This seems such an obvious question that does not appear to be answered in this forum, and apologies if my searching has missed it.

Regards,
Dean

[James]

Can someone confirm if DVI (non HDCP) + PDVD 7.1 + AnyDVD HD = downscaling?

I cannot confirm this. PowerDVD plays full resolution (at least 7.1 HD DVD).

[deandob]

Thanks James.

The doom9 reports seem to contradict the reports on avsforum. Is there any way to check that the full resolution is being used in 7.1?

Any comments on my second question about the 'life' of AnyDVD HD due to AACS LA key invocation? If I fork out the cash for AnyDVD how can I be assured in 6 months time I can still use it for new titles?

Regards,
Dean

[deandob]

I went ahead and purchased AnyDVD HD today as I wanted to watch a HD DVD tonight, so I'm hoping that it will still be effective once the inevitable key revocations start happening :)

It also helps that there is a $15 coupon available now and that AnyDVD HD is a well written piece of software - well done :clap:

Regards,
Dean

[danielhu]

No, it's only for Dell 30" Monitor, and unfortunately I have this monitor
The Max. resolution of this monitor is 2560 x 1600,
but PowerDVD 7.1/7.2/7.3 only allow Max. 1920 x 1200
the only way to view HD & BD with PowerDVD is lower the resolution if you have 3007FPW like me

[roog]

If I've interpreted the specs correctly, the current maximum display modes for HD DVD and Blu-ray are 1080i and 1080p respectively. The 1080 refers to the number of vertical pixels and, according to the specs, the number of horizontal pixels is 1920.

Assuming that the source media resolution is 1920x1080, and the software displaying it does not modify this, the output from a PC to any monitor or HDTV with a resolution below 1920x1080 has to be down-converted, and to any monitor with a resolution above 1920x1080 has to be up-converted.

For one-to-one output to a monitor or HDTV, the video card should be set to 1920x1080 resolution and the monitor or television should have a native resolution of 1920x1080.

[Aleric]

I have a Gateway 24" (1200x1920) HDCP compliant

7900 gt (not HDCP compliant) hooked to the 24" through DVI

I got the xbox 360 HD DVD drive, and downloaded the anydvd trial. I am using Powerdvd 7.1 (the HD version)

I do not get full resolution, I think it is downscaling the video to 540p. The menus are in 1080p, but not the feature film.

This doesnt have to do with resolution of monitors, this has to do with the downscaling of the video. I would like to know what part of my system is triggering this downscaling, or if Anydvd can correct it!

-Ben

[spcav]

I have a Gateway 24" (1200x1920) HDCP compliant

7900 gt (not HDCP compliant) hooked to the 24" through DVI

I got the xbox 360 HD DVD drive, and downloaded the anydvd trial. I am using Powerdvd 7.1 (the HD version)

I do not get full resolution, I think it is downscaling the video to 540p. The menus are in 1080p, but not the feature film.

This doesnt have to do with resolution of monitors, this has to do with the downscaling of the video. I would like to know what part of my system is triggering this downscaling, or if Anydvd can correct it!

-Ben

How you concluded that there is actually a downscaling?

[wdgoldstein]

I have a Gateway 24" (1200x1920) HDCP compliant

7900 gt (not HDCP compliant) hooked to the 24" through DVI

I got the xbox 360 HD DVD drive, and downloaded the anydvd trial. I am using Powerdvd 7.1 (the HD version)

I do not get full resolution, I think it is downscaling the video to 540p. The menus are in 1080p, but not the feature film.

This doesnt have to do with resolution of monitors, this has to do with the downscaling of the video. I would like to know what part of my system is triggering this downscaling, or if Anydvd can correct it!

-Ben

My personal; experience is that AnyDVD is not 100% effective in Vista in removing HDCP requirements but is in XP. What opperating system are you using?

[Aleric]

I am using Vista ultimate, I will test it out on my brother's XP machine... although it is a weaker system...

[James]

My personal; experience is that AnyDVD is not 100% effective in Vista in removing HDCP requirements but is in XP. What opperating system are you using?
I believe this was a driver problem. In my tests AnyDVD HD is 100% effective on Vista.

[Aleric]

I believe this was a driver problem. In my tests AnyDVD HD is 100% effective on Vista.

What driver? Is it the video card? The Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive?

Where should I start looking?

And just so I am clear on my expectations, with my 1200 x 1920 monitor, in 1:1 pixel mode. The HD DVD movie should take up 90% of my screen, as opposed to the 50% it is taking up now (in the middle).

[roog]

What driver? Is it the video card? The Xbox 360 HD DVD Drive?

Where should I start looking?

And just so I am clear on my expectations, with my 1200 x 1920 monitor, in 1:1 pixel mode. The HD DVD movie should take up 90% of my screen, as opposed to the 50% it is taking up now (in the middle).

Nvidia and ATI have the latest drivers on their websites.

[Aleric]

Yes, I have all the latest drivers. I am interested in which drivers on my computer may be causing the downscaling.

I want to troubleshoot this problem. Or if anyone else has this same issue?

[Aleric]

Actually, I'm going to be perfectly clear:

I have a Gateway 24" FPD2485W hooked to my 7900 GT OC through my DVI port. My drivers are the latest beta 101.41 from Nvidia (8 series drivers that are reverse compatible with 7 series).

Computer:

Opteron 165 @2.5 Ghz (dual core)
2 x 1 gig Ram
160 gig HD
X-Fi Extreme gamer
Windows Vista Ultimate (activated)

[roog]

At this time, I don't know of any way to tell for sure what the actual resolution that PowerDVD is using when full 1080p resolution is possible.

Have you tried looking at the display using both the dvd and blu-ray versions of a recent movie?

If my memory is correct, the HDCP standard requires that if a monitor or tv is not HDCP compliant then the resolution is reduced to 480p. PowerDVD may be checking to see if the video card is HDCP compliant as well. I don't know if AnyDVD HD can overcome these limitations.

Try upgrading to PowerDVD Ultra 7.3 and see if it helps. You can get it by requesting it through customer support at the Cyberlink website.

[deandob]

I'm fairly sure I'm getting 1920x1080 resolution as I get a lot more detail than normal upscaled DVD, and the 'info' button in PDVD reports 1920x1080.

My setup:
3800 x 2 (slightly overclocked)
XP with the new 100. Nvidia drivers
6600GT
PDVD 7.3
Xbox 360 HD Drive
DVI to Canon Realis SX50 1050x1400 projector running 1:1 pixel mapping

I get the odd blue screen and lockup (PC frozen repeating the last 100ms of audio).

Regards,
Dean

[wdgoldstein]

I'm fairly sure I'm getting 1920x1080 resolution as I get a lot more detail than normal upscaled DVD, and the 'info' button in PDVD reports 1920x1080.


FYI Guys: The X-Box 360 HD-DVD drive maxes out at 1080i and does NOT support 1080P.

[James]

FYI Guys: The X-Box 360 HD-DVD drive maxes out at 1080i and does NOT support 1080P.
On the XBOX360. On the PC the drive has nothing to say about the resolution.

[wdgoldstein]

On the XBOX360. On the PC the drive has nothing to say about the resolution.

I beg to differ with you James. The specifications on the Box I won say max resolution 1080i.

[roog]

I beg to differ with you James. The specifications on the Box I won say max resolution 1080i.

Checkout this link http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360vgahdcable/default.html please.

[Faye]

I beg to differ with you James. The specifications on the Box I won say max resolution 1080i.

On what planet does a USB disk drive determine the resolution of things you can store on it and playback thereof? The output of the drive is files.. how they're displayed depends on your software.

Bear in mind that the drive is only expected to be used on the XBox 360 and not on a PC and so the information would be relevant to the software on the XBox 360 if anything and not a feature of the drive itself.

I can also confirm that PowerDVD is playing back at 1920x1080p... after all, when in windowed mode, the window sizes to the size of the video automatically. This fills my screen (with a task bar at the bottom).

Double clicking fills the screen entirely (as you'd expect) and when windowed or not, there are no interlacing artefacts.


Faye

[Faye]

Checkout this link http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360vgahdcable/default.html please.

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/hardware/x/xbox360vgahdcable/default.html is even more interesting.

Yes folks, moving to the UK is bad for your XBox's HD health.


Faye

[roog]

http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/hardware/x/xbox360vgahdcable/default.html is even more interesting.

Yes folks, moving to the UK is bad for your XBox's HD health.


Faye

I hope Bill Gates looks at this thread.

Great job for providing this info!

roog

[guysb]

How do you tell within PowerDVD (7.3) what resolution it is outputting? Showing the onscreen information doesn't show the resolution!

I have just bought an XBOX HD drive along with Full Metal Jacket and V For Vendetta. I have an nVidia 7600GS AGP card that isn’t HDCP compliant (connected to a LG 32” HD LCD which does do HDCP) so I am using a trial copy of AnyDVD HD which I am thinking of buying.

When playing Full Metal Jacket the HD-DVD intro trailer looks stunning! Definitely in full HD. The actually film though looks pretty poor. I also cannot remove the subtitles and cannot bring us the menu.

When playing V For Vendetta, again, the HD-DVD intro trailer looks stunning. The film itself looks good, a lot better than Full Metal Jacket, however it still doesn’t look as good as the HD-DVD intro trailer.

Because I know that my graphics card isn’t HDCP compliant I am paranoid that it isn’t outputting at the full resolution! I know I should be able to tell but with my TV and/or graphics card scaling the image to fit the screen it is difficult. AnyDVD HD claims to work fine with non-HDCP graphics cards so I am hoping that all is working as it should.

So how do I tell for certain!

[Peer]

I beg to differ with you James. The specifications on the Box I won say max resolution 1080i.

No, really, 100% impossible.
The drives job is only to transfer data from the disk to the unit (PC / Xbox). The original resolution of the videos is locked into the video stream (EVO/M2TS). The resolution it is displayed with is up to the player (and this decision in some cases depends on some information in some additional files on the disc).
The drive does not even know about these things and would even be unable to change them, because the information is signed and therefore not alterable.
So: nonono, the drive cannot - ever - influence the resolution.
The information you are reading in the manual is meant to be an additional information to the XBOX manual, because the drive is meant to be an enhancement to the Xbox only. And the xbox's display hardware obviously has these limits.

[takisot]

Also, if you use Reclock, you will see that it reports 1920X1080 23,976fps..
And on a good display, it is blatanly obvious that Powedvd provides full 1080p signal! In fact it is MUCH better than the desktop players (eg Toshiba HDE1)!

[guysb]

OK - I bought a few more HD-DVDs - it is definitely outputting HD :)

I tried Troy and it looked amazing (plus my PC was struggling so it must have been HD 8) )

I do have a question though - I have connected my HTPC to my HD LCD TV via DVI and i have it set to output at it's native resolution which is 1366 x 768 - when outputting 1080p does the graphic card down scale the image to fit 1366 x 768?

Guy

[Aleric]

I tried using powerdvd and the Xbox drive on my brothers XP install.

Athlon 3200+ (2.2 ghz)
1 gig Ram
XP Pro
7800 gs video card (VGA output)

so with the analog connection, (which should be unprotected) to his 1200x1600 19" monitor, the video still looks VERY vertically squished.

Can someone answer me this?

If I am playing King Kong on a 16:10 24" monitor (1200x1920) it should fill 90% of the screen, correct?

Anyone have any additional ideas for me? :(

[roog]

I tried using powerdvd and the Xbox drive on my brothers XP install.

Athlon 3200+ (2.2 ghz)
1 gig Ram
XP Pro
7800 gs video card (VGA output)

so with the analog connection, (which should be unprotected) to his 1200x1600 19" monitor, the video still looks VERY vertically squished.

Can someone answer me this?

If I am playing King Kong on a 16:10 24" monitor (1200x1920) it should fill 90% of the screen, correct?

Anyone have any additional ideas for me? :(

King Kong does not play full screen even when you us an HD DVD player on a 1080p HDTV. The reason for this is that King Kong is not a 16x9 movie so it has to be letterboxed to maintain the original aspect ratio. A 1920x1200 monitor is a 16x10 monitor. When you play King Kong using PowerDVD Ultra set to full screen, it will be letterboxed just as it is on a 1080p HDTV. Because of this, it won't fill as much of the screen as you expect. When I play it on my 1440x900 monitor, also 16x10, it plays full width but only fills about 70% of the screen.

[mutelight]

No, it's only for Dell 30" Monitor, and unfortunately I have this monitor
The Max. resolution of this monitor is 2560 x 1600,
but PowerDVD 7.1/7.2/7.3 only allow Max. 1920 x 1200
the only way to view HD & BD with PowerDVD is lower the resolution if you have 3007FPW like me

I was wondering about that because I just got everything installed and when I tried to play a movie the image was really stretched and looked horrible. I set the resolution to 1920x1200 and now it looks great, there is obviously a some scaling but it still looks very nice nonetheless.

My system:
30" Apple Cinema Display
Mac Pro
Dual 2.6Ghz Xeon Woodcrests
2GB RAM
ATI Radeon X1900
Xbox 360 addon drive

Works like a charm now! I am glad you posted! :clap: Now if only I could use it at the displays native resolution.