Software Continued...

  MyMovies is an excellent movie collection management software but what about movie playback?  Which is the best option out there?  We'll, there's a good reason why MyMovies has a built-in option to use the next software application in this guide, TheaterTek DVD.  TheaterTek is, by far, the best DVD playback software out there for HTPC users.  Do some research on your own and you'll find just how many users are actually quite fond of it and prefer it over any other alternative. 

Now,  I also have extensively used both PowerDVD and WinDVD, both of which are decent programs.  While I have used both for countless years now, I certainly do not prefer them over TheaterTek for home theater use.  While I personally think PowerDVD is the better of the two, I started to lose interest in it after version 7.  Did not like some of the changes nor the number of stability issues it caused.  Intervideo also happened to send us a surprise package with their latest WinDVD 8 Platinum.  I installed it and gave it a try, but just was not happy with it or impressed with it enough to consider it as my primary playback application. 

That's where TheaterTek comes in.  This excellent playback software brings many advantages, including an incredibly user-friendly interface that is loaded with options, and most importantly, built-in nVidia PureVideo decoders.  This alone is reason to purchase it, as you'll still need to cough up some money to get the latest PureVideo decoders from nVidia directly.  For DVD playback, you definitely want PureVideo and you'll be better off purchasing this software over just the decoders from nVidia.

Below are some of the software's unique features...

-Designed specifically for the Home Theatre market.
-Full screen mode with translucent graphics under VMR9/FullScreen for Set Top Box like experience
-Out of the box support for Windows MCE remote
-IP protocol interface for control via home automation software (Charmed Quark, Cinemar)
-Custom video presenter for high quality scaling and tear-free video under VMR9 on nVidia cards
-Built-in nVidia codecs for the highest quality audio and video playback
-Ability to use third party audio and video post processors such as the popular FFDShow
-Support for several remote controls, such as Pronto, ATI Remote Wonder, FireFly, Logitech Harmony etc.
-Built in advanced Aspect Ratio editor and automatic aspect ratio detection. This is used specifically by customers using either anamorphic lenses with their projectors, or having non-square pixel display resolutions (often found with CRT projectors)
-Built-in automatic blanking to ‘cover up’ the pixel lines that often appear at the top or sides of video
-Support for seamless playback of HD transport streams. Recordings of HD content often comprise of many individual files sequentially numbered. TheaterTek can seamlessly play these back.
-Ability to create trailer playlists and play back at start of movie for a true home theatre experience
-Ability to save the start point of a DVD to avoid running through the trailers and menus the next time the movie is played.
-Custom file browser with animation.
-Ability to play back exotic file formats via XML definition files.

Also, a Vista compatible version will be be released soon and I was told by TheaterTek that it will be a free upgrade for existing customers.  Finally, let's have a look at some screenshots...

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Whether it's a disc or a movie that was ripped to your hard drive, you have full control of it and can seek and skip through chapters with ease via the remote.

Using the info button on your MCE remote, you have full access to its excellent program bar.  It can display the time remaining, current chapter, aspect ratio and even the current bitrate of the movie.  You have additional menus available to make additional adjustments as necessary.

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Even during playback, you have full access to all the features the program has to offer.  A simple right-click of your mouse/keyboard will reveal a large menu with plenty of options.  You can even tweak the video size and adjust it to fit your screen perfectly.  All settings will be retained and there is no need to re-configure it once you have found all settings that work for you.

Folks, the picture quality when playing a DVD using their software is quite amazing.  With the right video card, it will certainly outperform even the most expensive standalone DVD player on the market.  As an example, dark scenes on movies usually are a problem with standalone units as you will encounter lots of noise or artifacts.  When playing a DVD with the proper hardware and the purevideo decoders, it will practically eliminate this and all video will playback smoothly.  In fact, as long as the source disc is a quality one, it will give you near HD quality playback.  

**Update May 2008**  TheaterTek DVD is no longer the best option for DVD playback and there are plenty of new products released that are highly recommended.  First off, the company and its developers seem to be "missing in action".  There hasn't been an update to this excellent player for quite some time nor plans to support Blu-ray or HD-DVD playback.  Yes, the software plays your regular DVD's better than other options but its lack of Blu-ray support and future development is reason enough to look elsewhere.  See the next new section I added to this guide for plenty of info regarding playback of such media.

DVD Ripping

In order to manage your movie collection with ease and take advantage of some of the excellent applications mentioned in this guide, you'll want to rip your DVD's to your hard drive for proper playback.  With that said, DVD ripping software is a necessity in such a setup.  This is one area that may confuse many, especially novice PC users or those venturing into the world of HTPC for the first time.  DVD ripping is not as simple as many think it is and I still receive a number of emails from readers asking for advice.  There's a lot to take into consideration and plenty of issues that will arise if you do not rip your discs properly.   I've been ripping DVD's for many years now and while most of the methods I recommend involve much more effort on your part, there are easier ways to rip your discs properly.  In this section, I will show you the easiest option and the best software to use in order to ensure that all discs will both playback and burn properly onto DVD media. 

  The first application you definitely want to have loaded is AnyDVD by SlySoft.  AnyDVD will not rip your discs and is an application that should be paired with your preferred ripping software.  So why is it needed then?  Well, AnyDVD is a small app that will work in the background to automatically detect and remove any methods of copy protection typically found in DVD's. 

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AnyDVD will read any disc you load on your optical drive/s instantly and find any protection methods used and remove them automatically for you.  This nice thing about the software is their consistent dedication in keeping up with new protection schemes that may attempt to implement in order to keep you from ripping a disc successfully.  Unlike other ripping and decrypting software that are usually not kept up to date, AnyDVD will basically ensure that your DVD's will be ripped properly.  The software is not free, but it's a small price to pay for peace of mind. 

  What about ripping software?  Well, there are many programs that can be used along with AnyDVD.  Yes, although no longer supported, DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink still remain two of the very best ripping apps out there.  However, in this guide, I will recommend one other tool that will suit users of all levels.  CloneDVD2 is a very easy to use DVD ripping application that also provides a number of custom options to please users of all levels.  CloneDVD 2 (the one from Elaborate Bytes) is an excellent option for HTPC users.  Pair it with AnyDVD, and you have yourself a powerful ripping utility. 

Using the software is incredibly easy!  Load a disc, and it will show you all the titles presently on the disc, along with the ability to preview each individually.  For HTPC use, I recommend you only choose to rip the main movie to save precious disc space.  There are a number of presets available like single or double layer sized ripping.  In addition, there is also a custom option that will allow you to adjust disc size based on your quality preference.  After you're done with the video, it will automatically scan all audio on the disc and present you with all the options on the disc.  For the highest quality sound, choosing the DTS track here is recommended.  However, not all discs feature high quality audio and the next best option would be AC6 if available.  You can also choose to get rid of any available subtitles as well.   Provided you are using a decent optical drive, ripping can be very fast with CloneDVD2.  Highly recommended.

**Update May 2008**  While AnyDVD paired with CloneDVD is an excellent and highly recommended option for ripping DVD's, Blu-ray Discs and HD-DVD's, not many would like to spend this much money on software and may opt to find other options.  That's where this new gem I found comes in...

  DVDFab is a tool I've actually used in the past for unique ripping tasks.  They have been around for quite a some time and while I personally have never considered their software the best option, things have definitely changed now.  Their very latest version is a major improvement and is now an excellent ripping tool.  While they have released version 5 of their DVDFab Platinum software, they also generously offer a free ripping tool that I highly recommend to HTPC enthusiasts. 

The interface is designed to be easy to use but offers plenty of options as well.  The free version disables most though, including "shrinking", customizing and outputting your DVD's to support a variety of external devices.  However, if you have a 1080P TV and have a decent HTPC system designed for plenty of storage, you'll probably want to rip a full disc over to your hard drive without any compression.  The free version allows you to do this with not only regular DVD's, but with Hi-Def discs as well.

Most importantly though, any DVD ripper you choose should be able to identify and remove all copy protection methods implemented.  After using a majority over the years, few are able to do this effectively.  This tool does though and I will go as far as saying that it rivals the best option out there...AnyDVD.  To give you an idea, I grabbed one particular movie that incorporates a number of unique methods to prevent a full or proper rip that will playback flawlessly from your hard disk.

DVDFab

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AnyDVD

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Above are the scan results of the same movie incorporating a number of copy protection methods.  The top image shows the results of DVDFab and the bottom show the results using the very latest build of AnyDVD.  While both worked well with this unique disc, you can see how DVDFab provides additional information detailing exactly what was found and what was removed.  Bottom line here is that this tool offers better peace of mind.  You can clearly see, at least based on the results, that it was able to find and remove more potential playback related protection methods than AnyDVD.  Both work well, but the bottom line here is that only one is free!

Next:  PVR Functionality