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What do we mean by Performance?
For software based DVD/MPEG2 playback, dvd decoder software performance is crucial
to ensure smooth flowing video and clear, crisp audio playback on any
given PC system. Performance for DVD playback is measured as a percentage
of your PC's CPU use. The lower the percentage of CPU cycles used
by the DVD audio and video decoders, the better the performance.
Conversely, the higher the percentage of CPU use by the DVD audio and
video decoders, the worse performance is.
Better decoder performance not only translates into unshakable DVD playback
under a wide variety of circumstances, it also permits solid DVD playback
on older, slower PC systems that otherwise would have difficulty playing
DVDs at all.
Better performance also means lower power consumption. A DVD decoder
pack that has good performance, also consumes less power from the PC.
On a notebook PC, this means longer battery life, and longer battery life
means that you'll be able to watch more of your favorite DVDs on a single
battery.
Performance with and without Hardware Acceleration
Some display adapters have special hardware to help "offload" the amount
of processing that the DVD decoders need to perform. Microsoft has
established a new specification that provides DVD decoders a common interface
to communicate with the hardware acceleration features on these display
adapters. This interface is known as DirectX Video Acceleration
(DXVA). DVD Decoders that use DXVA, can realize an increase in decoder
performance, thus further reducing the amount of CPU use that the decoder
would otherwise have had to incur in a "Software Only" DVD decoding environment.
Our Claim:
The Sonic CinePlayer DVD Decoder Pack has the best performance of
any available Windows XP DVD decoder pack add-on. Sonic's CinePlayer
DVD Decoder Pack is unsurpassed in providing Windows XP the highest performing
DXVA and Software Only DVD decoders for both "Film" and "Video"* based
DVDs under Windows Media Player 8.
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* - The distinction between Film and Video based DVDs will be made in
the following discussion.
Our Proof:
The following is a direct comparison between the Sonic CinePlayer
DVD Decoder Pack and other available Windows XP decoder packs. The
details of the comparison are:
System: |
Dell Inspiron 8000 Notebook |
CPU: |
Intel Speed Step 1GHz Pentium III |
Operational speed: |
700MHz, Battery saving mode |
Memory: |
256 MB |
Video: |
nVidia GeForce2GO w/ 32MB video memory |
OS: |
Windows XP Professional |
DVD player: |
Windows Media Player 8 |
DVD Film Performance
Film DVDs are the most common type of DVDs sold. Most motion pictures
titles (movies) that are available on DVD are Film based DVDs. Film-based DVDs are the simplest to decode and display since they typicaly
consist of full progressive frames and only encoded at 24 frames per second.
Below is a performance comparison of Disney/Pixar's "Toy Story 2" when
playing Chapter 2, "Buzz's Mission" in Windows Media Player 8.
As the graph above demonstrates, CinePlayer DVD Decoder Pack delivers
the highest performance (least CPU use) of the other available Windows
XP DVD decoder packs for Film based DVDs. CinePlayer DVD Decoder
Pack is so efficient that even its Software Only decoding out-performs
the competition's DXVA (hardware assisted) decoding solution. PC
users who do not have DXVA compatible display adapters can be assured
that Sonic's CinePlayer DVD Decoder Pack will provide them superior performance
for playing their favorite Film based DVDs on any Windows XP PC system.
DVD Video Performance
Video DVDs contain broadcast television based content originating as
either NTSC (60Hz) or PAL (50Hz) standard signals. Video DVDs commonly
are used for music videos, television programs and some made for TV type
programming. Video-based DVDs are more difficult to decode and display
since they consist of interlaced frames encoded at 60 (or 50) fields per
second. Video DVDs require more processing power from the DVD decoders
than does Film based DVDs due to the faster field rate (more frames per
second of content) and the need to de-interlace the fields into complete
frames.
Below is a performance comparison of Sony's "Gloria Estefan - The Evolution
Tour Live in Miami" when playing Side 2, Chapter 1, "Everlasting Love"
with Windows Media Player 8.
This graph demonstrates that the Sonic CinePlayer DVD Decoder Pack
delivers the highest performance (least CPU use) of all available Windows
XP DVD decoder packs for Video based DVDs as well. Again, CinePlayer
DVD Decoder Pack is so efficient that even its Software Only decoding
significantly out-performs the competition's DXVA (hardware assisted)
decoding solution. PC users who do not have DXVA compatible display
adapters can be assured that Sonic's CinePlayer DVD Decoder Pack will
provide them the best performance for playing their favorite Video-based
DVDs on any Windows XP PC system.
Other Comparisons
While we believe that Decoder performance constitutes a winning argument
in favor of the Sonic CinePlayer DVD Decoder Pack, it is not the only
measure of superiority. Here are some others:
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Buy the
CinePlayer DVD Decoder Pack
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