Matrox DVD Player?

[Dyn]

Hi!

That might not be the best place to ask, but.. I've heard about some Matrox DVD Player software specially used for Gxx cards. Is it free / downloadable / any good?

I've got a G400 SH OEM, but I dont think I've received that kind of software with it. I'm using WinDVD 1.2.8x at the moment, but would like to change if that one is really better..

Please help me out with any piece of info on that topic

thanks,
Dyn

[Sanjuro Makabe]

The Matrox DVD player is pretty cool, but it lacks features in my opinion. If you want a change in DVD players, I strongly suggest using PowerDVD version 2.55 (I forgot the latest version number). PowerDVD has lots of cool features such as support of skins, Karoake, etc...

Dunno if I helped, sorry if I didn't, thanks

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Sanjuro Makabe

P!!!550E @ 733Mhz
ASUS P3V4X 1005, 4in1 4.24, AGP 4.03
128Mb PC100 C2 Ram
Matrox G400Max PD6.01 beta
SBLive! LW3.0
WinMe 4.90.3000 Full Retail

[fds]

The Matrox DVD player comes on the CD. It's an old Cinemaster 98 player with a Matrox logo. As such, it only supports Windows 9x.

I would recommend trying the latest release of Cinemaster (2000), PowerDVD (2.55.xx) and WinDVD (2.2) and keep whichever suits you best.

[Thundrchez]

The OEM G400s come with a different CD that does not include the dvd player. The retail box G400s come with a cd with a couple of software freebies including a dvd player. It is the Ravisent/Cinemaster (sp?) soft dvd player. It does pretty well, but the only other soft dvd player I've tried out is Zoran.

As good as it is, it doesn't come close to real nice home stereo. The Matrox dual head dvd-max is really cool, but windows will crash, and it is a real pisser when it crashes in the middle of watching a dvd movie; it'll take a few minutes to reboot and run scandisk. I do not think that any of the soft dvd players do DTS audio decoding for the best audio surround sound that there is.

[Hunsow]

The OEM G400s come with a different CD that does not include the dvd player

Not true, at least in my case.

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[fds]

My OEM G400 also came with the DVD player on the CD.

To listen to DTS with a software player you would need DTS decoding equipment, which is built into some high-end speaker sets, plus a sound card capable of SPDIF pass-through (like the SBLive! is in Win9x only).

Note that DTS encoding is rarely found on DVDs. Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC3) is used mostly. So if you could only choose one of them, you'd better go with a DD5.1 than a DTS decoder. One supporting both is the best obviously.

I never had Windows crash yet in the middle of playing a DVD movie.

[Thundrchez]

OK, the CD that is bundled with Retail and OEM G400s is different, but they both contain the DVD player.

I played around with trying different soft dvd players. In the end, I went ahead and got a full dvd player and a new receiver that can do dts and dolby digital decoding. I am much happier with these than playing around with soft dvd pc based players. You hit the power button on the stereo, and it is ready to play in just a second. How many minutes does it take to boot w9x? Not to mention that there is not a noisey fan of the cpu to distract from the audio.

Yes, there are very few movies with a dts soundtrack out there, but my goodness do they ever sound fantastic! If you have a good surround setup, dts will blow your socks off compared to dolby digital. I really wish there were a lot more movies released with dts audio.

[stevenscott]

Hello,
I have a Mystique G200 video card with Win98 and an Sblive in one of my computers. I have a Toshiba DVD/CDRom (12X DVD - 40X CD)in it. I also have a Matrox Marvel G400 and I took the Cinemaster DVD software from teh G400 instal disk and put it in the computer with the G200 video card. The DVD is excellent with lots of features and the sound is awesome with the SBlive and some very good Aura Aspect 30/40 speakers I have connected to the SBlive.


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Steven S. Palmer
(stevenscott.delete@bigfoot.com) http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Spa/4001/
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My Photo Website (someday it will be finished): http://members.xoom.com/skialps/
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Home:
Network
Hub 5-8 Port 10 Base-T(Soho brand)
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USB HUB with power Indicator lights
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Computer #1

Surfboard SB2100D cable modem

HP OfficeJet Pro 1175Cse 4/1 printer/Scanner/Fax/copier
HP Photo Scanner
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Video Camcorder (digital):
JVC GR-DVF31U
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Computer(s)
#1
Pentium PIII450
Win98
Abit BE6 MB
128MB Ram
3Com NIC
WD 30.7 Gig HD
Matrox Marvel G400 Video Card
Mitsumi 4801-TE CD-R
SBLive Sound Card
Aspect 30/40 Speakers
@Home Cable (currently 1-way)
Boca 56K modem
Saitek X36 USB Combo Flight Controls
2COOLPC-PLUS Cooler
===================
#2
Pentium Celeron 300a
Win98
Soyo 6BA+IV MB
128MB Ram
Maxtor 13.6 Gig HD
Matrox Mystique G200 Video Card
Shamrock 15" monitor
Toshiba SD-M1402 DVD CDRom
SBLive Sound Card
Aspect 30/40 Speakers
@Home Cable (currently 1-way)
MS Precision Pro Joystick
3Com NIC
Boca 56K modem
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[This message has been edited by stevenscott (edited 09 September 2000).]