WinDVD

As the very name may suggest, this application is meant for playing both movies saved on DVDs and sets of DVD files saved on the hard disk. WinDVD can read ordinary DVDs, as well as Blu-rays, HD DVD, Video-DVD, VCD, SVCD, or CD. This application can handle every, even the latest video formats. This includes MPEG4-AVC (H.264), MPEG-2, or VC1. Also, when it comes to the sound, WinDVD offers numerous possibilities. It decodes the sound with the use of such technologies as Dolby Digital Plus, Digital EX, Pro Logic IIx, TrueHD, DTS-HD, Dolby Virtual Speaker, or Dolby Headphone. WinDVD supports also the high quality sound technology (96kHz/24-bit).

In this case, this application cooperates with the sound cards by automatically splitting the sound signals into separate channels, or with external devices meant for mixing sound. Although this is not the main function of this application, WinDVD (ver. 9.0) can play video files saved in DivX format. Generally, WinDVD allows for standard acceleration of the hardware based on NVIDIA PureVideo HD and ATI Avivo HD. The latest version offers a total control over the image scaling and allows for playing the movies in HD quality. It offers also a new interface, compared to the previous versions. Now, the interface is nice, user-friendly and intuitive. The changes needed to be made because of the multitude of options and functions added in the program with every new update. Nowadays, WinDVD offers a new visualization system, which is strictly connected with the music system. The visualizations realistically reflect the music and are nice to the eye. Another interesting option is the possibility to create mini video clips from parts of the movie. This mode allows also for creating a video from a set of photos. The built-in tools allow for a quick correction and managing both sound and picture.