If youre a real video aficionado, though, youll want our Editors Choice, CyberLink PowerDVD 13 Ultra, which offers more playback options and streaming playback to and from mobile devices.We may earn affiliate commissions from buying links, which help support our testing.Funny, I still frequently see a lot of people reading books actually printed on paper.
Anyway, in case you havent heard about the death of the optical disc and still need or want to play a DVD or Blu-ray on your PC, you could do far worse than ArcSofts TotalMedia Theatre 6 ( at Amazon). Though not quite as feature-laden as CyberLinks PowerDVD Ultra 13 (59.95 at CyberLink) (4.5 stars), it handled the media I tested it with more aplomb than Corels WinDVD Pro 11 ( at Amazon) (2.5 stars) did, for the most part, and sported the simplest user interface of the lot. It installed in just 2 minutes on my test PC, a Lenovo G580 (499.00 at Amazon) laptop with 4GB RAM and integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 running Windows 8. Arcsoft Software Software Firewall DuringI had to allow it past my software firewall during installation, since it can act as a media server. Arcsoft Software Trial And ReinstallIf you install the trial version, you can simply buy a serial number and activatemuch easier than CyberLink PowerDirector, which makes you uninstall the trial and reinstall the full app. This can actually make things a little confusing, since the app doesnt show up in the Windows 8 running app list. I also noticed that other apps couldnt show their windows when TotalMedia was in full screeneven after switching to the second app. The software played my Blu-ray edition of The Big Year in glorious HD without breaking a sweat. I could even use unpinch gestures to zoom in The software also offers a slew of keyboard shortcuts, some for actions for which I couldnt find on-screen menu equivalents. This is controlled by a single switch from a Settings panel with just two choices: On and Off. The feature really did improve the quality of DVD playbackit was somewhat sharper and better lit and more contrast-y. Corel WinDVD wouldnt play it at all, and PowerDVD warned me that it could only play in full screen. It does, however, play quite a lot of file formats, though, including AVCHD,WMV, MPEG, AVI, and more. But the ArcSoft software did play that HD video from my iPhone with less waiting than PowerDVD did. Arcsoft Software Plus Center EnterThe app has two pages, the basic remote fast forward, reverse, next chapter, and so on, and an arrow key plus center enter button page. The large buttons made couch-potatoing a snap; I could change the volume, and red power button even lets you shut down and turn on the PC application. It handles any of the 3D and other type of video content youre likely to play. The interface is super simple, though you may confuse it with a new-style Windows 8 app. The softwares mobile remote control app was a snap to set up and easy to control playback with from the couch.
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