What's new in PowerDVD 2.55

(build 0620)

* Enhanced manual Pan-Scan function to support both anamorphically enhanced and 
  non-anamorphically enhanced (titles with built-in black bars) widescreen DVD 
  titles. Previously, this feature only supported anamorphically enhanced titles. 
  Now, the Pan-Scan function supports both. It removes the top and bottom black 
  bars that were either inserted by the movie studios (for non-anamorphically 
  enhanced/letterboxed widescreen movies) or by PowerDVD (for anamorphically 
  enhanced widescreen titles under letterbox mode) on a conventional 4:3 computer 
  monitor environment. While in this mode, you must hold down the left button 
  with the mouse (a hand icon will appear), and pan to the left or right 
  horizontally by dragging the screen. Thus, in Pan-Scan mode, even though the 
  black bars are not visible, the entire scene will not be viewed at the same 
  time (since the original version has a higher aspect ratio such as 1.85:1 or 
  2.35:1 as compared to 4:3, or 1.33).

  To enable Pan-Scan, simply invoke the express menu by clicking the right button, 
  select the "Pan-Scan" option and the proper film aspect ratio. Currently, only 
  aspect ratios of 1.85 and 2.35 are supported. To restore the original display 
  mode, simply select "off" in the "Pan-Scan" sub-menu.

* Enhanced program compatibility for users without administrative privilege to 
  run PowerDVD under Windows 2000.

* Better program stability with slightly damaged VideoCD titles.

* Supports Microsoft HID interface for keyboards with multimedia buttons, like
  play, stop and pause. Currently only tested under Windows Millemnnium RC version. 

* Improved support for external DVD drives with PCMCIA/CardBus, IEEE1394 or 
  USB interface. However, USB interface might not have 

* Improved Motion Compensation and subpicture alpha blending support for nVidia
  Geforce2 GTS version. 

* Additional 4-channel Dolby Digital output support for sound cards using ESS 
  Allegro.

* Fixed glitch with the Enhanced 3DNow! support and detection routine for AMD 
  Athlon/Duron which will not work on AMD K6-2+/K6-III+ processors, since only 
  the DSP extensions of Enhanced 3DNow! have been implemented in K6-2+/K6-III+ 
  processors. The MMX extensions, which are also a subset of Enhanced 3DNow!, 
  are not implemented on K6-2+/K6-III+ processors. 


(build 0202)

* For original GeForce 256 Hardware Motion Compensation support under Win9x,
  it requires 32MB of video Ram. However, it is now working for GeForce 256-based
  cards with 16MB video RAM only.

* Features like Hardware Motion Compensation, Dolby Digital/DTS S/PDIF pass-thru
  and multi-channel Dolby Digital output are driver dependent and are now supported
  only under Win9x by most audio and video chip vendors. Those features are 
  not supported under Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 in current stage.

* An user prompt is added for recommending installing bus master IDE driver under
  Windows NT 4.0 environment during setup time.

* Fix a problem that on SiS630 systems with video driver V1.01b or later installed,
  Macrovision function can not work properly.


(build 0113)
* PowerDVD now works with Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000. However,
  Sevice Pack 3 or above must be installed for PowerDVD to work under NT 4.0.

  To maximize the performance of PowerDVD under NT 4.0, a bus master driver
  must be installed. In general, the driver can be found in the mainboard
  or system support disk/CD-ROM. You can also reach the web site of the system
  or motherboard manafacturer to doanload the driver.

  For different chipsets from Intel, VIA, AMD and SiS, they require different
  bus master drivers. Please read the system or motherboard manual for
  identifying what kind of chipset your system is using.

* Backward play is now supported (1x, 2x and 4x speed)

* DTS pass-thru is now supported on major sound chips which provide S/PDIF
  interface.

  The following sound chips are tested under Windows98 and Windows98 Second
  Edition (Both Dolby Digital and DTS pass-thru) :

    Aureal Vortex Advantage 8810
    Aureal Vortex2 8830
    Cirrus Crystal CS4624
    CMedia 8738 
    Creative Labs SBLive!
    Creative Labs SBLive! Value with option Digital I/O kit from Creative Labs or other vendors
    Creative Labs SBLive! Platinum
    ESS Canyon3D
    RealTek ALS300+
    Yamaha YMF744

  Yamaha YMF724 is not supported yet since the driver itself has some problem supporting DTS 
  stream pass-thru. However, Dolby Digital pass-thru is still supported. 
   
  DTS pass-thru under Windows95 is not fully tested yet.

* Add Motion Compensation support for Neomagic MagicMedia 256AV.

* Add Motion Compensation and subpicture alpha blending support for nVidia
  Geforce256 DDR version. 

* Add 4-channel Dolby Digital output and Dolby Digital/DTS S/PDIF pass-thru
  support for Aureal Vortex Advantage 8810, which is used in Aureal SQ1500
  sound card and on many motherboards.

* Add Dolby Digital/DTS S/PDIF pass-thru support for ESS Canyon3D-based
  sound cards.

* Add 4/6-channel Dolby Digital output support for Philips/VLSI ThunderBird
  Avenger-based sound cards.

* QSurround has been renamed to QXpander. QXpander is a technology developed
  by QSound Labs. This is an optional feature. 
   
* Fix a bug that current 4/6-channel output implementation for Realtek ALS300+
  will cause problems if the latest Realtek ALS300+ driver, which incorporates
  Q3D capability, is used.

* For Intel LX mainboards, SiS300 HWMC and GeForce256 Hardware Motion Compensation
  is enabled under Win9x.