Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

Using Cyberlink’s PowerDVD Ultra, media center PCs are a perfect way to hedge your bet on the HD-DVD/ Blu-ray (high definition DVDs) format wars, especially if you have a projector or large screen HDTV.

Although Microsoft is a big supporter of the HD-DVD standard, they left out native support in Vista for high definition DVDs. Right now, the only way to watch HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies is through third-party applications.

To watch high definition movies, a couple of software options exist with Cyberlink PowerDVD being you best bet (check out the thread over at AVSForum.com). With the price of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD add-on falling to around $170, HD movies have become more affordable. The HD-DVD add-on can be hooked into a computer but you still need software to actually watch the movies. Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra would be a perfect compliment.

One thing to keep in mind: Cyberlink has not integrated PowerDVD fully into Media Center as a plugin. You can launch it from within the Media Center interface, but PowerDVD will launch as an entirely separate program. This should improve in the not too distant future.