Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[lalittle]

I've been having various problems with playing DVDs in MC, so I'm curious if there are any specific DVD decoders that work better than others when using MC to play the DVDs.  The problems I'm seeing are varied, and change depending on the last decoder I've installed.

For example, with WinDVD, the color adjustments done via MC are not "applied" if MC is shut down a restarted.  The sliders are still in the positions I set, but the image is not effected by them until I click on a slider, and which point they suddenely are once again applied.

I see various other issues with other decoders, so I'm wondering if there are any that work particularly well with MC.

Thanks,

Larry

[lalittle]

Does anyone else notice this?  I see there are a lot of WinDVD users here -- do you notice that adjustments made to the color settings from within MC do not "take" when you restart MC until you click on one of the sliders, at which point they'll continue to be applied until you once again stop and start MC?

Note that this only refers to the image on the computer monitor, not the image over the TV output.

Thanks,

Larry

[lalittle]

Other problems I've seen are the "next" button not working to advance chapters, along with problems with the image not filling the "full screen" when MC switches to this mode.  These issues do not exist when I play DVD's with the native applications -- it's just when I use MC to play them that the problems arise, which is why I'm curious if there is a better DVD decoder to use that specifially works well with MC.

On this note, does the WinDVD "plug-in" decoder work any better with MC than the standalone WinDVD application?  I was wondering if the plug-in offered more control when using it with other apps, which is what I'm trying to do here.  When I use the standalone WinDVD, the only decoder "options" I get through MC is a "Capture setting."  If I use the plug-in instead, will I get more options to control the decoder in MC?  Unfortunately, there is no trial version of the plugin, so I can't test this without buying it.

The version of WinDVD I'm trying is version 7.

Thanks again,

Larry

[lalittle]

Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated -- I'm trying to get a system set up by this weekend, and I am trying to determine the best way to go about it.  I'm looking for information on the following topics:

1) what is the "best" DVD drive when it comes to MC -- i.e. which one is most reliable and has the least issues with MC,
2) whether or not MC can achieve reliable DVD playback at this point,
3) if it CAN, which DVD software works best with it,
4) whether or not other DVD player software (such as WinDVD) will simply work better when used in it's own native environment (as opposed to using MC as the player), and finally,
5) if it IS best to use another DVD app, which one is considered the best/most reliable.

Ideally, I'd like to use MC for my DVD playback, but as reported above, I'm getting some problems with this.  I realize that some of these questions are subjective, but I am unsure how to proceed, so any opinions on any aspects of this would be extremely helpful.

Thanks,

Larry

[raym]

Other problems I've seen are the "next" button not working to advance chapters

There was a thread on this a few weeks back. Do a complete uninstall and then reinstall MC.

I probably can't answer all your queries but I can tell you how I use MC for DVD playback.... I use the WinDVD video codec only and AC3Filter for SPDIF audio passthru. The reason for this is as you've discovered, some WinDVD settings are not retained when you restart your system. I was finding this with enabling SPDIF passthru so I opted for something else. It's probably a WinDVD plugin specific restriction or something like that. This is probably also why only certain playback options are available.

Have your tried PowerDVD codecs? These also work quite well and settings appear to be retained. I just prefer the image quality of WinDVD but I find both very reliable and functional from within MC and have never needed to watch movies outside of MC.

Ray

[lalittle]

There was a thread on this a few weeks back. Do a complete uninstall and then reinstall MC.

I found the thread -- thanks for alerting me to this.

I use the WinDVD video codec only and AC3Filter for SPDIF audio passthru. The reason for this is as you've discovered, some WinDVD settings are not retained when you restart your system. I was finding this with enabling SPDIF passthru so I opted for something else. It's probably a WinDVD plugin specific restriction or something like that. This is probably also why only certain playback options are available.

I'm a little confused by what you're saying here.  Just to clarify, are you saying that the WinDVD "codec only" did NOT have the issue with settings not being retained, or that you used something "other" than the WinDVD codec altogether?

On a related note, does the WinDVD "codec only" offer more setup options from within MC compared to using the full WinDVD app?  With the full WinDVD app, the only "option" you get in MC is a "capture" setting, and as noted above, the color settings are not retained.  Does the WinDVD "codec only" fix this?

Have your tried PowerDVD codecs? These also work quite well and settings appear to be retained. I just prefer the image quality of WinDVD but I find both very reliable and functional from within MC and have never needed to watch movies outside of MC.

I have not tried it with MC, but had some issues with PowerDVD in the past, so my reflex is to use something else.  Once again, are you saying that the WinDVD "codec only" does not have the issues that the full WinDVD app has, and that this is the one you currently prefer?

Thanks for your responses on this, which are quite helpful.

Larry

PS.  While on the subject of DVD playback in MC, how do you get MC to forget/erase bookmarks for DVDs?  In WinDVD, you do this by hitting "stop" a second time.  With MC, the bookmark for the DVD is always remembered when I stop/start it.  How do I erase the bookmark so that the DVD is treated as if I just inserted it?

[raym]

I'm a little confused by what you're saying here.  Just to clarify, are you saying that the WinDVD "codec only" did NOT have the issue with settings not being retained, or that you used something "other" than the WinDVD codec altogether?

I'm using the fully blown windvd app. What I'm saying is I've also installed AC3Filter which overrides the default WinDVD audio codec. In other words, Windows loads the WinDvd video codec for video playback and AC3Filter for the audio.

On a related note, does the WinDVD "codec only" offer more setup options from within MC compared to using the full WinDVD app? 

Havn't tried but I doubt it.

I have not tried it with MC, but had some issues with PowerDVD in the past, so my reflex is to use something else.  Once again, are you saying that the WinDVD "codec only" does not have the issues that the full WinDVD app has, and that this is the one you currently prefer?

Again, I wasn't talking about "codec only". I meant the codec that comes with the fully blown app.

PS.  While on the subject of DVD playback in MC, how do you get MC to forget/erase bookmarks for DVDs? 

You can't (AFAIK).

[lalittle]

So when you say:

I just prefer the image quality of WinDVD but I find both very reliable and functional from within MC and have never needed to watch movies outside of MC.

...are you saying that you just don't mind the problem with settings "not sticking," or do you just not use any settings?  On this system, the color absolutely has to be tweaked in order to look correct on the monitor.  Since the settings don't stick, this means that I have to open the settings panel and click on one of the color sliders every time I start MC, which is annoying and gives DVD playback from within MC a bit of a "half baked" feel due to a lack robust functionality (which is rather suprising for MC given it's overall power and features.)

I was really hoping to use MC for this task, but at this point it just seems to lack too many of the features that are quite common on DVD player apps like WinDVD -- unless, of course, the "codec only" WinDVD offers better functionality when used with MC, which I cannot determine without purchasing it.

Thanks again for any feedback on this,

Larry

[raym]

Yeah, I just don't have any need to use the settings so the fact that they don't "stick" is of no concearn to me.

Ray.