Thanks to all the visitors and those who e-mail me with questions; it makes this page worthwhile.

The first part of this page is a news section which I will admit is not updated as frequently as others but I will try to cover major happenings in the Software DVD decoder arena, after that is an easy to read table of the available software decoders and followed by descriptions about each of them. Lastly there are some links to more info.

Any updates to info contained within here are GREATLY appreciated. Especially things like version numbers, program names and other such frequently changing info.

News

10/30/04 - Added some links at bottom. Added the player descriptions of each of the players, just some quick blurbs about each. I hope to add a history page soon as well as a commentary on DVD software as a whole.

10/23/04 - I looked at this page recently and realized it hadn't been updated in almost 2 years. I figured it could use some updating. First I decided to remove a lot of the info that was way out of date and archive it to a separate page. Then I removed all the dead DVD Decoders from the list. There were many that I was keeping for historical reasons, but they are no longer available so the info is not of much current help. I then updated the table to reflect current links and added a few players. The list only contains currently supported and developed players or decoders. I also added a different ranking for normal users vs. power users. What I mean by power users is someone who is comfortable editing settings and configurations themselves, rather than just accepting the install defaults. I will add some more detailed descriptions of the DVD players in the table soon.

Table of currently available Software DVD Decoders

Player Company - Player Name and current version	Ranking		Demo Available	Available for retail purchase
	Normal	Power		DD	DTS	XP
Cyberlink - PowerDVD V5.0	2	4	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Intervideo, Inc. - WinDVD Platinum 6.0	1	3	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
nVidia - DVD Decoder 4.0.58	5	1	No	Yes	No	Yes
Sonic - CinePlayer V1.5	4	5	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
TheaterTek - TheaterTek DVD V2.01	3	2	No	Yes	Yes	No

DVD Decoder Descriptions

Cyberlink PowerDVD - This one of the original DVD players and was quickly upgraded and brought up to its current high level. As with many other products in this area there isn't much left to add and development has slowed.

Intervideo WinDVD - This player has been around almost as long as PowerDVD. It is still under fairly active development. The only downside is each upgrade has a cost associated with it. It is also a very stable and powerful player.

nVidia DVD Decoder - nVidia exited the market for full players and are now simply developing the actual decoding process. This package does not include a full player interface, rather it is meant to be used with another player such as Media Player or Zoom Player. Its low cost reflects this.

Sonic Cineplayer - This player is reason this site started long ago and carries mixed emotions for me as you can read in the site history section. It has changed hands many times and has slowed in active development. It is still a very capable player, but lacks some of the newer features.

TheaterTek DVD - This player is a relative newcomer versus some of the others mentioned here. It is directly targeted at the Home Theater PC market, and its cost reflects this. This player is much more configurable than others, which is nice if you need it but overkill if you don't.

Links

DVD Infomatrix - This page has the DVD Genie which helps in configuring older DVD software decoders, also it allows you to play DVDs from various regions. It also has Zoom Player, which is the most configurable and actively developed media player. Highly recommended.

DVDigest - This site has reviews and information about all aspects of DVD software.

DVD Player Software Review - This site has some more reviews of DVD software. Some that I hadn't ever heard of before.

AVSForum HTPC - This forum has many discussions on the various available DVD players and other utilities.