Can PIII 700 play DVD in software mode?

[usbnuts]

Hi, I am about to get a Pentium III 700 and a 16X DVD-ROM drive. I was wondering it's possible to play DVD without the use of MPEG-2 decoding hardware. I don't need AC3 as well.

Thanks.

 

[John]

Yes, it will work fine assuming you have a nice video card (voodoo 3/5, TNT/Geforce, G400/450, Salvage, ATI rage 128 series and above) and a software player such as WinDVD 2.3

 

[chuckieland]

P2 350 can play dvd without decorder card
so let me think.......yep, you can play dvd with p3 700 without decorder card
lol

 

[John]

Chuckie, I am sure usbnuts appreciates your detailed reply. :|

 

[Zucchini]

another vote for windvd, your system is more then enuph. video card affects quality, some can't use overlay at higher resolutions. If you have a high end, your very safe.

 

[usbnuts]

oops. I forgot to tell ya that I have a TNT 2 Ultra 32MB w/ 17" ViewSonic monitor.

 

[Zucchini]

You should be fine at 1152x864 or whatever below that.

 

[John]

DVD movies are recommended to be watched at 1024x768 16bit.

 

[usbnuts]

I run at 1024x768 16bpp at all times. So, I should be fine, right?

 

[John]

Yes, just get a nice software dvd player is all.

 

[usbnuts]

Will there be any quality loss without using MPEG-2 hardware?

 

[Zucchini]

Oh jeez god, don't use 16bit. That would be your worst problem.

 

[usbnuts]

But John said it's best to watch DVD at 16bit.

 

[John]

I said "it is recommended", however you may run 24 or 32 bit if you think it yields a higher quality image.

 

[Rand]

With a decent video card pretty much anything above a Celeron 433MHz or so can do software DVD fairly well.

 

[Zucchini]

Is there really a recomendation of 16bit? Where? I doubt it as that would be the biggest culprit for degraded video quality. Maybe it was a minimum requirement and not a recommendation.

 

[usbnuts]

Okay. I will try all the settings before playing DVDs. So, what DVD-ROM drive do you guys use?

Thanks...

 

[Postit]

You guys realize that the native resolution for DVD is 720x480 right? Others would be custom resolutions with 540p, 720p and 1080i. CheckAVS Forum for more info on setting up custom res's.
As well, you comp puts out a progressive signal natively.
-Post it

 

[Cybordolphin]

Sorry guys... I have to disagree.

You will notice a difference using a hardware decoder vs. a software decoder. Even with a Pent III 700.

Get yourself a Hollywood + decoder card. Your CPU will be glad you did too.... for instance if you plan on working on your computer.... while you are watching a DVD movie... either on the same monitor.... a second monitor... or on a tv.

I have noticed a big difference. Sorry.

 

[John]

Cybor, I have been using softDVD for 3 years now and I have to disagree. If you have a nice video card, 500+MHz cpu w/ at least 64MB memory, and one of the "big 3" software DVD players it will yield excellent playback on a monitor.

I multitask while watching a movie quite often and experience NO lagg.

 

[chuckieland]

i have to agree with john
using windvd with my voodoo3 3500 and Althon 700mhz
I don't see any quality lost compare when i haveK6-2 350 and H+ decorder card.
even at tv out, the quality is good, but just can't read the subtitle on the tv.

 

[Zucchini]

No way that hardware decode is better then software for monitor output. I've seen it as worse. It is however a better solution for tv output. But then again, if you have a nice tv, why bother with your pc as a player.. a set top player is cheap has no fans and thus is way less noisy..plus more convenient.

As for resolution, i playback at 1600x1200@32bit. The video card does the job of resizing the image and i've found it to be look very nice. No resolution gives a 1:1 ratio of pixels compared to the native format of dvd, so resizing happens no matter what. I'm not sure about this but i think voodoo cards are the least capable at doing this resize well. I think sharky had an article on this.

 

[pjs]

I have a system with a PIII-600 overclocked to 800MHz. I have both winDVD 2.3 (not the multichannel sound version because I output the AC3 bitstream to an external Sony AV receiver for decoding via the sound card or the Hollywood+ card) and a Hollywood+ card. My video board in this system is a V3500 which is connected to a nothing so special Sony 27" TV set.

Using the software decoder, the image on a comuter monitor is fine, I did not try 16 bit pixel depth, just 32 bits. When I use the software decoder and the video board is sending an output to the TV set, the picture is fine with the exception that when dimly lit scenes are present, I notice a less than smooth transition from dark area to a lighter area or to a darker area.

When I use the Hollywood+ card, the TV image is even better than with the software decoder. I did not attempt to use the Hollywood+ in conjunction with my computer monitor because there is pretty much universal agreement that the software decoding would be better.

For viewing DVD on the computer monitor: software decoder.

For viewing DVD on a TV: Hollywood+

Paul

 

[Looney]

<< You will notice a difference using a hardware decoder vs. a software decoder. Even with a Pent III 700.

Get yourself a Hollywood + decoder card. Your CPU will be glad you did too.... for instance if you plan on working on your computer.... while you are watching a DVD movie... either on the same monitor.... a second monitor... or on a tv.

I have noticed a big difference. Sorry.
>>



You havne't said what the difference was... do you see a QUALITY difference? or just a difference when you use your computer while you watch a DVD. If quality difference, i'll have to disagree as well... i had a H+ awhile ago, and have 3 systems that are DVD capable, and i can't tell the difference visually wise. Maybe i'm not a videophile enough to notice.