Cyberlink's PowerDVD 6 was released in the last quarter of 2004 and reportedly improved on an already best-in-class product. I have used and reviewed PowerDVD 5 here and as follow up was sent a review copy of the newest release, PowerDVD 6 Deluxe for PC. I was very interested in running this application through its paces to see how they could have improved an already great product, so let's get to it!

Brief Overview

PowerDVD 6 is at heart a video media player, although it also contains the capability to play audio files. The player can be configured to customize both the audio and video experience with a wide array of top-end and in-house technologies offered. Power DVD 6 is compatible with almost every type of video files available, ensuring a robust application that can be thought of as a full-service program. Along the lines of capability, there are two versions of PowerDVD 6 available. Most of the differences between Standard and Deluxe reside in the audio capabilities, but it is worth noting that if you are working with DVD-Audio or DivX Pro files you will need the Deluxe version. Standard edition is available at www.gocyberlink.com for $49.95 while Deluxe edition sells for $69.95 (exactly the same price as version 5 at its release). Various upgrade packages are available for owners of previous versions, as well.

System Requirements

Before purchasing or trialing any software, ensure that your PC meets the minimum system requirements as stated by the manufacturer. In most cases, you should actually exceed the minimum system by quite a little bit if you really want to enjoy the application, but that is completely in the eye of the beholder. In the case of PowerDVD 6 Deluxe, ensure that your system has at least the following:

Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP, Home and Pro
Intel Pentium III 500MHz or higher
128MB system RAM
60MB minimum of Hard Drive Space
Graphics card and SVGA monitor capable of 1024 x 768 @ 32-bit resolution and support for DirectDraw overlay
PCI sound card, USB audio box or motherboard built-in audio device
DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD-RAM, or DVD+R/RW, DVD-Dual, DVD-Multi, or a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive with 1394, USB2.0, ATAPI, SCSI or CardBus interface


For some of the special technologies discussed later to work well, you will need at least a 1.6GHz processor or 1GHz Mobility chip. If you run this with Windows XP you need at least 256MB of RAM for Windows alone, and probably should really have 512-1024MB for smooth playback. In any case, you will want a fairly recent system to run this program effectively as well as utilize all of the built-in technology. While the size of the download has been reduced since version 5, the system requirements have definitely increased!

In the box/Install

I cannot speak to what arrives in the box with a product CD as I downloaded my copy off of the web. The download for the Deluxe version was 17.4MB, much smaller than the PowerDVD 5's 57MB file size. There is a free 30-day download trial of the program available if you want to see how well it will work on your PC, and all that is missing from the full-blown version is DVD-Audio playback with CPRM protection. Once you have the CD in the drive of the setup downloaded, you are ready to install. Executing the setup file will start the installation which walks you through the installation process. You will be required to enter a 30-character alphanumeric code for activation. Registration is optional; without registering there will be no online support, however!

Interface

The interface for PowerDVD 6 has not changed much at all since version 5. This may seem like a negative, but any additions to the interface would have only served as clutter. The interface is intuitive to use, and there are generally three ways to achieve any desired result. The interface is comprised of two windows, one that is the viewing screen and the other being the control panel. When in full screen mode, the control panel drops to the background. However, it can be recalled simply by clicking anywhere on the screen. Instead of using the control panel, however, a simplified control bar can be accessed simply by running the pointer to the top of the viewing screen. Common playback commands can be accessed from the control bar including shuttle forward/reverse, step forward/reverse, play, pause, etc. Finally, the express menu can be accessed at any time simply by right-clicking anywhere on the viewing screen. The express menu can be customized by choosing which submenus to access, and most common and not-so-common controls are available.

Since most folks know what a generic media viewer does, it doesn't make much sense to discuss how it works. However, it is important to discuss file type compatibility and options available. PowerDVD 6 can play almost any type of video file including:

DivX Pro and DivX, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio, DVD+VR, DVD-VR, miniDVD, VCD 2.0 and SVCD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-2 HD, WMV, WMV-HD, MP3, WAV, and H.264.

If you copy and shrink your DVD's to your hard drive, you will be able to play them as well. .VOB files are no problem for PowerDVD! The player is also compatible with most any audio file type and includes the functionality of playlists (audio or video) which can then be played sequentially or shuffled.


Options

So now that you know your all of your file types will be playable from one application, what else can PowerDVD 6 do to enhance the viewing process?

All of the functionality of PowerDVD 5 is available, including frame capture, zoom and frame forward and reverse. Zooming in on any section of the video is available with either 4X or 9X zoom, and Pan and Scan allows you to view different parts of the same screen. As you move around the picture a small graphic in the corner will indicate where the current view is in relation to the original full screen.

Video Options

CLEV-2

CLEV-2 is an acronym for CyberLink Eagle Vision 2. Just like CLEV-1, it is a proprietary program that automatically adjusts the brightness, color and saturation to avoid overly dark or bright pictures during playback. CLEV-2 can be set to run either in full screen mode of split screen, allowing the user to see how the technology is working and whether or not to leave it enabled. CLEV-2 came activated on my computer, and changing to split screen is really quite amazing.

That being said, I suppose that the fact that it is called CLEV-2 would seem to indicate that it is a second generation of software, somehow better than the first. Since this is one of the few changes between PowerDVD 5 and 6, I tried running both applications in split-screen mode with CLEV and CLEV-2 while playing back The Matrix, a fairly dark movie overall. I saw no perceivable difference between CLEV-2 with PowerDVD 6 and its predecessor from PowerDVD 5. While the technology is truly worthwhile, I don't see an immediate need to upgrade from version 5 to 6 based solely on the new version of CLEV.

CLPV

CLPV (Cyberlink PanoVision) is the same proprietary technology which shipped with PowerDVD 5. This option allows the user to watch 4:3 ratio films on a 16:9 ratio screen with minimal distortion. As I don't have a true 16:9 screen (yet!) I cannot say how well this works. The application uses a non-linear stretching algorithm that reduces distortion dramatically according to company literature.

Audio Options

CLMEI-2

CLMEI-2 (Cyberlink Multi-channel Environment Impression 2) is a proprietary technology designed to expand a stereo signal as a multi-channel speaker system. While this technology does make the stereo feed sound better on our surround sound system, I cannot tell the difference between CLMEI-2 with PowerDVD 6 and CLMEI that shipped with PowerDVD 5. It may be that our five-year-old sound system cannot reproduce the sounds with enough clarity to tell the difference, but in any case either one works as well as the other on my system.

The Audio configuration component of PowerDVD 6 allows the user to customize the technologies available by choosing the sound system in use. The selections are Headphones, 2 speaker systems, Use SPDIF, 4 speaker, 6 speaker, 7 speaker and 8 speaker options. Depending on what you choose for your setup, different options will become available including the following:

Headphone Options

Dolby Headphone

This is a post-processing technology that simulates the sound that comes from headphones into that of separate environments. A small room, club experience and amphitheater experience can be simulated using this technology. I have used this with my laptop while on trips and it works well!

CL Headphone

Cyberlink Headphone simulates the environment of a living room, theater and stadium through a stereo set of headphones. Again, this is to expand the audio experience of the videos you are watching and works well. I generally use this with audio tracks only, however, as I find it distracting to simulate a theater experience while watching a DVD on my laptop…

2 speaker systems

Dolby Virtual Speaker

This is another technology that was available in PowerDVD 5 which creates virtual surround sound with a 2-speaker system. I learned to like this while using PowerDVD 5 and I continue to use it with PowerDVD 6 on my Home PC with a pair of Altec 300's.

CL Virtual Speaker

I am not quite sure why Cyberlink develops technology that competes with Dolby products and then continues to supply them both with PowerDVD. That being said, CL Virtual Speaker is a competing technology with Dolby Virtual Speaker. This technology was developed by Cyberlink to expand a two speaker system to sound convincingly similar to a 5 speaker surround system. I tried it out and it does work, but why add it? I haven't quite figured it out yet…

Dolby Pro Logic IIx

This is an optional add-on that I don't have, and there is little information about it presented in the manual. If you know what it is and it is important to you, I can report that it is available. Other than that, I cannot say very much.

Parental Controls

PowerDVD 6 has chosen to include the Parental Control capability that shipped with PowerDVD 5. While I appreciate the fact that Cyberlink has maintained this functionality, there are a few reasons why I think it is not a deal maker. First of all, few folks have converted their main media center for the house over to a computer-controlled system. Therefore the lion's share of the exposure is still possible with conventional DVD players. Second, parental controls are dependant on the disc containing parental control restrictions to tell the program to limit access. Third, if your crafty teenager is trying to watch a 'dirty' movie on your PC and PowerDVD invokes parental controls, they will simply open Windows Media Player and use it with no such controls in place. I do appreciate the effort that Cyberlink has put into this, but I see it as an uphill battle.

Resources used

One of my pet peeves is when I load a program onto my computer only to find it is a major resource hog. For that reason, I started reporting the resources used by the program. The Program Files\Cyberlink\PowerDVD file on my PC absorbs 31MB of file space in the Program files directory, or about half of that required by Cyberlink for the minimum system requirements. I am not utilizing any self-made bookmarks, so that may reduce the space utilized on my particular drive. . When the program is running, PowerDVD 6 utilizes 40-45MB of RAM in general and anywhere from 5-15% of my 3.2GHz Intel Prescott processor cycles. Overall, this is not a resource hog and carries about the same resource penalty as PowerDVD 5.

Technical Support

I have found the user manual(available at the website; not included in the download) to be extremely well written and thorough when it comes to explaining the product. Due to the similarity to PowerDVD 5 and the intuitive nature of the product I have not had a reason to contact support for this product. I have, however, contacted support for other products from Cyberlink. Support can be found at the following website:

http://www.goCyberLink.com/english/cs/support/new_site/support_index.jsp

At the above address you will find a FAQ which should answer any questions that arise. In the event that the FAQ doesn't cover your needs, email support is available for free via a web form. Remember, if you didn't register your copy you cannot recieve support! I have usually only had to wait one business day for an answer, although sometimes the answers are not immediately clear. I am fairly computer literate, but I have a hard time understanding some of the solutions presented by the email support. If you need immediate assistance there is a voice support method as well, although it will cost you.


Overall

I feel the need to clarify something. PowerDVD 6 is an excellent, five-star product. It is hands-down the best media player on the market in my opinion. However, I am sure upon reading the review that it may appear that overall I was underwhelmed with it. In all fairness, if I had never used PowerDVD 5 on my systems previously, I would have been absolutely thrilled with this product. The fact remains, though, that I was and still am very impressed with PowerDVD 5.

That being said, there are some evolutionary (not revolutionary) advancements in PowerDVD 6 that make it a better overall value if upgrading from PowerDVD 4 and below or a competitive product. In fact, the only case in which I would not recommend upgrading to PowerDVD 6 is if PowerDVD 5 is already on your system. PowerDVD 6 is and will remain the best video media player available for the PC market for the foreseeable future. Buy it without reservation.


Recommended: Yes