HomePage 8 of 24: Archive: PowerDVD 3.0 Preview
Note : This is an archived review for an older version of PowerDVD. For the latest review, please refer to this page.
POWERDVD 3.0 BETA PREVIEW
This preview is done so in a sort of "Before and After" comparison with PowerDVD 2.55 Build 0620. Note that this is a beta version, so the final version may look nothing like this - although this is unlikely.Note : PowerDVD 3.0 has been officially released, and you can read the official release's "what's new" information on the this page. Please note that this is a beta preview, so if information in the official release's "what's new" contradicts information here, then you can assume that the information on the official release's "what's new" page is the correct and up to date one.
 |
PowerDVD 2.55 | PowerDVD 3.0 |  |
 |
Performance : |
On a Celeron 333a with no DVD acceleration and using DirectSound's "Dolby Surround" option, PowerDVD 3.0 seem to be a little slower than PowerDVD 2.55, but only by a very small margin of a few percents, perhaps accounted for by the small increase in quality (below). |
|
|
|
||
|
Quality : |
On a Celeron 333a with no DVD acceleration, PowerDVD 3.0 seems to be a little better in quality than PowerDVD 2.55, but not by any significant differences. Overall, pictures looked less "blurry" - although some people I know actually prefers it this way (less harsh on the eye) |
|
|
|
||
|
 Interface : |
 New forward/backwards step frame buttons added for easier navigation |
|
|
|
||
|
 General Settings : |
 New option for toolbar (see below) |
|
|
|
 New toolbar (at top) that can moved to all sides of the desktop for easier DVD control. It will be present even if PowerDVD is minimized - would have been nice if it had an "auto hide" or "resize" feature |
|
|
|
||
|
 Audio Settings : |
 New Dolby Headphones support and also Pro-logic support with 4/6 channel audio |
|
|
|
||
|
Skins : |
 PowerDVD 3.0 now comes with 5 skins, including the "Eye" skin above - most of these skins are already available for download on this page |
|
|
|
||
|
 I-Power : |
 New i-Power built in DVD portal has been enhanced. Although this is really just a simple HTML addition, it is still much better than any other DVD player's web support |
|
|
|
||
|
Digital Zoom : |
 PowerDVD 3.0 now supports digital zoom of up to 9 times |
|
|
|
||
|
Dual Subtitles : |
 PowerDVD 3.0 now has the ability to display 2 sets of subtitles on screen at the same time (see below) |
|
|
|
 PowerDVD 3.0's dual subtitles in action |
|
|
|
||
|
Closed Caption : |
 PowerDVD 3.0 now has the ability to display closed captions (see below) |
|
|
|
 PowerDVD 3.0's closed captioning in action |
|
|
|
||
-
Conclusion :
Some interesting new features, especially Dolby Headphones and the dual subtitles support (a little gimmicky, but nice to have) - closed caption support is also a big plus. There are probably more changes "beneath the hood", but we'll all have to wait until the final release to find out what these changes are.
Note : PowerDVD 3.0 has been officially released, and you can read the official release's "what's new" information on the this page. Please note that this is a beta preview, so if information in the official release's "what's new" contradicts information here, then you can assume that the information on the official release's "what's new" page is the correct and up to date one.
