[4.1] Can I play DVD movies on my computer?

Yes, if your computer has the right stuff. Almost all Windows and Mac OS computers with DVD drives come with software to play DVDs.

The computer operating system or playback software must support regional codes and be licensed to descramble copy-protected movies. If the computer has TV video out, it must support Macrovision in order to play copy-protected movies. You may also need software that can read the UDF file system format used by DVDs. You don't need special drivers for Windows or Mac OS, since the existing CD-ROM drivers work fine with DVD-ROM drives. In addition to a DVD-ROM drive you must have software (or extra hardware) that knows how to play the DVD-Video format and decode MPEG-2 video and Dolby Digital or MPEG-2 audio. Good-quality software-only playback requires a 350-MHz Pentium II or a Mac G4. Almost all new computers with DVD-ROM drives use software decoding instead of hardware decoding. Hardware upgrade kits can be purchased for older computers (usually minimum 133 MHz Pentium or G3), starting at $150.

Mac OS X 10.0 (Cheetah) had no support for DVD playback when released in March 2001, and also did not support Apple's DVD authoring applications (iDVD and DVD Studio Pro). (More info at CNET .) Support for DVD playback was added to version 10.1 (Puma).

If you're having problems playing movies on your computer, see section 4.6 .

Certain MPEG decoding tasks such as motion compensation, IDCT (inverse discrete cosine transform), IVLC (inverse variable length coding), and even subpicture decoding can be performed by special circuitry on a video graphics chip, improving the performance of software decoders. This is called hardware decode acceleration , hardware motion comp , or hardware assist . Some card makers also call it hardware decode, even though they don't do all the decoding in hardware. All modern graphics cards also provide hardware colorspace conversion (YCbCr to RGB) and videoport overlay (some graphics card makers make a big deal about this even though all their competitors' cards have the same feature).

Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, Me, and XP include DirectShow , which provides standardized support for DVD-Video and MPEG-2 playback. DirectShow can also be installed in Windows 95 (it's available for download ). DirectShow creates a framework for DVD applications, but a third-party hardware or software decoder is required (see below). Windows NT 4.0 supports DVD-ROM drives for data, but has very little support for playing DVD-Video discs. Margi DVD-To-Go, Sigma Designs Hollywood Plus, and the related Creative Labs Dxr3 are among the few hardware decoders that work in NT 4.0. InterVideo WinDVD software works in NT 4.0 (National Semiconductor DVD Express and MGI SoftDVD Max also work in NT 4.0, but they aren't available retail.) Windows 98 and newer can read UDF discs. Version 6.1 of Windows Media Player enabled scriptable DVD playback in an HTML page (see 4.9 for more on DVD playback control). Version 7 of Windows Media Player dropped all DVD support. Version 8 of Windows Media Player added a user interface for DVD playback, but no scripting. Roxio provides a free filesystem driver, UDF Reader , for Windows 95/98/NT. Software Architects sells Read DVD for Windows 95.

Apple QuickTime 6 is partially ready for DVD-Video and MPEG-2 but does not yet have full decoding or DVD-Video playback support in place. Mac OS 8.1 or newer can read UDF discs. Roxio provides a free utility, UDF Volume Access , that enables Mac OS 7.6 and newer to read UDF discs. Software Architects sells UDF reading software for Mac OS called DVD-RAM TuneUp . Intech 's CD/DVD SpeedTools software allows most any DVD drive to be used with a Mac.

Note: The QuickTime MPEG Extension for Mac OS is for MPEG-1 only and does not play MPEG-2 DVD-Video.

DVD player applications (using either software or hardware decoding) are virtual DVD players. They support DVD-Video features (menus, subpictures, etc.) and emulate the functionality of a DVD-Video player remote control. Many player applications include additional features such as bookmarks, chapter lists, and subtitle language lists.

Microsoft Windows includes a DVD software player, but does not include the necessary decoder. You must have a third-party software or hardware decoder in order to play a DVD. Most PCs that come with a DVD drive include a decoder, or you can purchase one. See 4.11 and 4.12 for more info.

Software decoders and DVD player applications for Microsoft Windows PCs:

ATI : special version of CineMaster software for certain ATI graphics cards
ASUS : ASUSDVD (custom version of InterVideo WinDVD software or CyberLink PowerDVD software)
KiSS : CoolDVD (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP])
Creative Technology : SoftPC-DVD
CyberLink : PowerDVD (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP]; NT 4.0; available for purchase )
ELSA : ELSAMovie, German only
InterVideo : WinDVD (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP]; NT 4.0; available for purchase )
Matrox : special version of CineMaster software for certain Matrox graphics cards
National Semiconductor : DVD Express (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP]; OEM only)
NEC (NEC PCs only)
Odyssey DVD Player is no longer available
Orion Studios : DirectDVD (DirectShow, downloadable trial; note unsatisfactory rating at BBB )
Sonic (formerly Ravisent, formerly Quadrant International): CinePlayer (DirectShow [Windows 98/Me/2000/XP]; available for purchase )
Varo Vision : VaroDVD
Xing DVDPlayer is no longer available since the company was purchased by Real Networks
Software decoders need at least a 350 MHz Pentium II and a DVD-ROM drive with bus mastering DMA to play without dropped frames. Anything slower than a 400 MHz Pentium III will benefit quite a bit from hardware decode acceleration in the graphics card. An AGP graphics card (rather than PCI) also improves the performance of software decoders.

Hardware decoder cards and DVD-ROM upgrade kits for Microsoft Windows PCs are pretty much a thing of the past. Hardware decoders use video overlay to insert the video into the computer display. Some use analog overlay, which takes the analog VGA signal output from the graphics card and keys in the video, while others use video port extension (VPE), a direct digital connection to the graphics adapter via a cable inside the computer. Analog overlay may degrade the quality of the VGA signal. See 4.4 for more overlay info.

Many Macintosh models come standard with DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, or DVD-RW drives. The included Apple software DVD player uses hardware acceleration in the ATI graphics card. The still-unreleased QuickTime MPEG-2 decoder may use the Velocity Engine (AltiVec) portion of the PowerPC (G4) chip for video and audio decoding. DVD-ROM upgrade kits and decoder cards for Macintoshes were made by E4 (Elecede) ( Cool DVD , C-Cube chip) [E4 has gone out of business], EZQuest ( BOA Mac DVD ), Fantom Drives ( DVD Home Theater kit: DVD-ROM or DVD-RAM drive with Wired MPEG-2 card), and Wired ( Wired 4DVD , Sigma EM8300 chip [same card as Hollywood plus]; MasonX [can't play encrypted movies]; DVD-To-Go [out of production]; Wired was acquired by Media100 but later reconstituted). There's a beta version of a shareware DVD software player that can play unencrypted movies.

The Sigma Designs NetStream 2000 DVD decoder card supports Linux DVD playback. InterVideo and CyberLink have also announced DVD player applications for Linux, although the CyberLink player is only available to OEMs. In addition, there are free software players for Linux, Unix, BeOS, and other operating systems: VideoLan , and Xine .

Computers have the potential to produce better video than set-top DVD-Video players by using progressive display and higher scan rates, but many PC systems don't look as good as a home player hooked up to a quality TV.

If you want to hook a DVD computer to a TV, the decoder card or the VGA card must have a TV output (composite video or s-video). Video quality is much better with s-video. Alternatively, you can connect a scan converter to the VGA output. Scan converters are available from ADS Technologies , AITech , Antec , AverLogic , AVerMedia , Communications Specialties , Digital Vision , Focus Enhancements , Key Digital Systems , RGB Products , and others. Make sure the scan converter can handle the display resolution you have chosen: 640x480, 800x600, etc., although keep in mind that even 800x600 is beyond the ability of a standard TV, so higher resolutions won't make the TV picture better.

The quality of video from a PC depends on the decoder, the graphics card, the TV encoder chip, and other factors. The RGB output of the VGA card in computers is at a different frequency than standard component RGB video, so it can't be directly connected to most RGB video monitors. If the decoder card or the sound card has Dolby Digital or DTS output, you can connect to your A/V receiver to get multichannel audio.

A DVD PC connected to a progressive-scan monitor or video projector, instead of a standard TV, usually looks much better than a consumer player. See 2.9 . Also see the Home Theater Computers forum at AVS.

For remote control of DVD playback on your PC, check out Animax Anir Multimedia Magic , Evation IRMan, Multimedia Studio Miro MediaRemote , Packard Bell RemoteMedia , RealMagic Remote Control , and X10 MouseRemote . Many remotes are supported by Visual Domain 's Remote Selector software.

[4.1.1] Can I play DVD-Audio discs on my computer?
Usually not. DVD-ROM drives can read DVD-Audio discs, but as of early 2003 only the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 card includes the software needed to play DVD-Audio on a computer. Part of the reason for general lack of support is that very few computers provide the high quality audio environment needed to take advantage of DVD-Audio fidelity.

It's possible that Microsoft could add DVD-Audio playback to a future version of Windows, in which case you would only need to download some inexpensive decoding software to get DVD-Audio playback.