What's new in PowerDVD 2.55
(build 0620)
* Enhanced manual Pan-Scan function to support both anamorphically enhanced and
non-anamorphically enhanced (titles with built-in black bars) widescreen DVD
titles. Previously, this feature only supported anamorphically enhanced titles.
Now, the Pan-Scan function supports both. It removes the top and bottom black
bars that were either inserted by the movie studios (for non-anamorphically
enhanced/letterboxed widescreen movies) or by PowerDVD (for anamorphically
enhanced widescreen titles under letterbox mode) on a conventional 4:3 computer
monitor environment. While in this mode, you must hold down the left button
with the mouse (a hand icon will appear), and pan to the left or right
horizontally by dragging the screen. Thus, in Pan-Scan mode, even though the
black bars are not visible, the entire scene will not be viewed at the same
time (since the original version has a higher aspect ratio such as 1.85:1 or
2.35:1 as compared to 4:3, or 1.33).
To enable Pan-Scan, simply invoke the express menu by clicking the right button,
select the "Pan-Scan" option and the proper film aspect ratio. Currently, only
aspect ratios of 1.85 and 2.35 are supported. To restore the original display
mode, simply select "off" in the "Pan-Scan" sub-menu.
* Enhanced program compatibility for users without administrative privilege to
run PowerDVD under Windows 2000.
* Better program stability with slightly damaged VideoCD titles.
* Supports Microsoft HID interface for keyboards with multimedia buttons, like
play, stop and pause. Currently only tested under Windows Millemnnium RC version.
* Improved support for external DVD/CD drives with PCMCIA/CardBus, IEEE1394 or
USB interface.
* Improved Motion Compensation and subpicture alpha blending support for nVidia
GeForce2 GTS and GeForce2 MX.
* Additional 4-channel Dolby Digital output support for sound cards using ESS
Allegro.
* Fixed glitch with the Enhanced 3DNow! support and detection routine for AMD
Athlon/Duron which will not work on AMD K6-2+/K6-III+ processors, since only
the DSP extensions of Enhanced 3DNow! have been implemented in K6-2+/K6-III+
processors. The MMX extensions, which are also a subset of Enhanced 3DNow!,
are not implemented on K6-2+/K6-III+ processors.
(build 0202)
* For original GeForce 256 Hardware Motion Compensation support under Win9x,
it requires 32MB of video Ram. However, it is now working for GeForce 256-based
cards with 16MB video RAM only.
* Features like Hardware Motion Compensation, Dolby Digital/DTS S/PDIF pass-thru
and multi-channel Dolby Digital output are driver dependent and are now supported
only under Win9x by most audio and video chip vendors. Those features are
not supported under Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 in current stage.
* An user prompt is added for recommending installing bus master IDE driver under
Windows NT 4.0 environment during setup time.
* Fix a problem that on SiS630 systems with video driver V1.01b or later installed,
Macrovision function can not work properly.
(build 0113)
* PowerDVD now works with Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. However,
Sevice Pack 3 or above must be installed for PowerDVD to work under NT 4.0.
To maximize the performance of PowerDVD under NT 4.0, a bus master driver
must be installed. In general, the driver can be found in the mainboard
or system support disk/CD-ROM. You can also reach the web site of the system
or motherboard manafacturer to doanload the driver.
For different chipsets from Intel, VIA, AMD and SiS, they require different
bus master drivers. Please read the system or motherboard manual for
identifying what kind of chipset your system is using.
* Backward play is now supported (1x, 2x and 4x speed)
* DTS pass-thru is now supported on major sound chips which provide S/PDIF
interface.
The following sound chips are tested under Windows98 and Windows98 Second
Edition (Both Dolby Digital and DTS pass-thru) :
Aureal Vortex Advantage 8810
Aureal Vortex2 8830
Cirrus Crystal CS4624
CMedia 8738
Creative Labs SBLive!
Creative Labs SBLive! Value with option Digital I/O kit from Creative Labs or other vendors
Creative Labs SBLive! Platinum
ESS Canyon3D
RealTek ALS300+
Yamaha YMF744
Yamaha YMF724 is not supported yet since the driver itself has some problem supporting DTS
stream pass-thru. However, Dolby Digital pass-thru is still supported.
DTS pass-thru under Windows95 is not fully tested yet.
* Add Motion Compensation support for Neomagic MagicMedia 256AV.
* Add Motion Compensation and subpicture alpha blending support for nVidia
Geforce256 DDR version.
* Add 4-channel Dolby Digital output and Dolby Digital/DTS S/PDIF pass-thru
support for Aureal Vortex Advantage 8810, which is used in Aureal SQ1500
sound card and on many motherboards.
* Add Dolby Digital/DTS S/PDIF pass-thru support for ESS Canyon3D-based
sound cards.
* Add 4/6-channel Dolby Digital output support for Philips/VLSI ThunderBird
Avenger-based sound cards.
* QSurround has been renamed to QXpander. QXpander is a technology developed
by QSound Labs. This is an optional feature.
* Fix a bug that current 4/6-channel output implementation for Realtek ALS300+
will cause problems if the latest Realtek ALS300+ driver, which incorporates
Q3D capability, is used.
* For Intel LX mainboards, SiS300 HWMC and GeForce256 Hardware Motion Compensation
is enabled under Win9x.
Download Driver Pack
After your driver has been downloaded, follow these simple steps to install it.
Expand the archive file (if the download file is in zip or rar format).
If the expanded file has an .exe extension, double click it and follow the installation instructions.
Otherwise, open Device Manager by right-clicking the Start menu and selecting Device Manager.
Find the device and model you want to update in the device list.
Double-click on it to open the Properties dialog box.
From the Properties dialog box, select the Driver tab.
Click the Update Driver button, then follow the instructions.
Very important: You must reboot your system to ensure that any driver updates have taken effect.
For more help, visit our Driver Support section for step-by-step videos on how to install drivers for every file type.