WinDVD BD ?

[dbiddle]

Hello,

I am looking for some advice on how to get windvd bd for my ar51m vaio.
I have vista on a clean install dual booted with ubuntu.
I have searched everywhere almost for a .exe to get windvd bd.
Any help?

[iainlow]

Yes, it costs money, but money well spent when you can watch movies at 1080p with better performance.

You mean you can't watch movies at 1080p in WinDVD BD? Why not?

I'm limited to 720p because the latest graphics driver for my Nvidia card does not support a refresh rate of 50 or 60Hz. This is required to lip-sync sound and vision. Presumably this would be no different using PowerDVD Ultra.

In any case, this wasn't the question the OP asked. He asked about WinDVD BD - the Sony-supplied software which works fine. It makes no sense to pay a lot of money for something, when you've not even tried the free supplied version to see if it works for you.

In any case, I only have your word for it that it works at all. As I said earlier, for some bizarre reason, PowwerDVD Ultra (the necessary version for HD and BLU-RAY movies) is the only programme in the Cyberlink list of versions which you cannot download as a 30 day trial copy. When I asked them about this, they suggested I buy a copy, try it, and, if not satisfied, return it for a refund within the 30-day refund period. Ridiculous! When all their other versions are available as a free trial download. What kind of stupid company does this?

[Blencogo]

Hi iainlow,

What Vaio do you have and what nVidia driver version are you using?

[iainlow]

Hi Blencogo.

It's the AR21S, with the Nvidia Geforce Go 7600 GT card. The driver is 7.15.10.9813, the one currently listed on the AR21S driver download page. Oddly, in Device Manager, the date of the driver is quoted as 20/02/2007, whereas the same numbered driver on the Vaio download site is dated 31/05/2007. I've also downloaded the AR31S version of the driver, 9813a, but was unable to do the "uninstall / install new driver" routine, as it wouldn't remove the old version. Also, this update only claims to sort the help file thing plus the lid closing problem.

Are you aware of another driver which I might try?

Iain

[kee-lo_]

Ian,

You only have anyone's word, if you've not tried the demo out then you won't know if it's right for you.

As Blencogo says it depends on your graphics card, really WinDVD should do it, but when BDs have Tru-HD then the system slows down to a halt and I've noticed frame jumps, as the system is trying to keep up with the content.

it might not have been the OPs question, but I'm just advising on another decent alternative. I don't work for either Interview or Cyberlink, so try the demos and see what you think.

[Blencogo]

Hi Iain,

Try this one (November 2007): -

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=16276

The one you have dates from February 2007 - it obviously took Sony three months to check it out!

[iainlow]

Hi Guys.

To Kee-Lo,

Sorry if I seemed critical about not answering the original question. It comes from a lifetime as a Civil Engineer, and some occasional lecturing. In exams, people are always answering the wrong question, not the one asked. And in general problem solving, people tend not to try to solve the REAL problem (they go off on a tangent). Again sorry, your suggestions are always constructive. Read on ...

To Blencogo and Kee-Lo,

Thanks you for introducing me to the world of alternative drivers, I had no idea all this was going on. I read up on the info in the site in your link, and downloaded the driver you suggested (I'm interested to know why you chose that one in particular?).

It installed ok the second time, (when I used the Modded INF file). I then checked out the various modes to see if I was now offered a 1920 x 1080 non interlaced mode with 50 and 60 Hz resolutions. I was excited to see there was. Wow.

I chose this mode and it looked fine in normal use. When I ran WinDVD with a Blu-Ray film, it wouldn't start properly with an error message about not being able to create "an overlay" of some kind.

So, I followed Kee-Lo's advice and BOUGHT Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra for $100, to see if it handled the new driver better than WinDVD (remember what I keep saying Kee-Lo, there is no free trial for this product, see link

http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/download_hotlink.jsp )

I ran PowerDVD with the same movie, but it wouldn't run either, saying that the graphics driver was not an original driver, and that I should get the latest driver supplied by nVidia for my computer, and offered a link. I followed the link and eventually ended up back at the Sony Vaio drivers page with my original driver.

Actually, I didn't give the full error message before, when I tried to use WinDVD with the new driver. It also suggested that I should reduce the color depth or resolution, and try again. This kind of defeats the purpose of the whole exercise, which is to get the 1920 x 1080p at 50 Hz setting.

So I rolled back the driver to the previous Sony-supplied one, and WinDVD ran the movie fine at the lower resolution. My newly-purchased PowerDVD ran the movie with the original Sony-supplied driver, but the colors are totally scrambled. PowerDVD is unusable with both drivers.

As I said earlier, I seem to have 30 days in which to ask for a refund from Cyberlink (or Element 5, as they seem to call themselves). So I may just try another driver from the site where Blencogo sent me for this new one, and see what happens.

I'll let you know if anything works. It doesn't look hopeful, though. Having read some of the reservations postedon that site, it seems that there are good reasons why nVidia didn't release these drivers. I guess you have to decide which application is most important for you, and which applications you can live without, and choose which driver to use on that basis.

Watch this space, and thanks again for your help.

It still pisses me off that Cyberlink don't offer a free trial of this particular application. Of course, when I do get a refund through PayPal, PayPal will charge me a fee for receiving funds - bummer.

Iain

[helloimgeoff1]

Just wondering, as people in this thread have AR series' and have experience with other BD applications aside WinDVD... When watching a BD movie in other applications, does the "SONY" light under the screen go off in them? Or is it just WinDVD? As I've had troubles getting WinDVD to play some of my BD's.