Articles - > Creative SoftDVD

Title:	Creative SoftDVD
Description:	A review of Creative SoftDVD
Author/Publisher:	Digital Digest
Ease of use:	Beginners
Latest Version:	1.0 (details)
OS Support:
Date Added:	Jul 2, 2000
Last Updated:	Jul 2, 2000
Page Viewed:	6147 times

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Categories:

Main Categories: DVD/SVCD/VCD (MPEG-1/2), Play, Reviews
Sub Categories:
Playing Videos -> DVD Playback (Software Based)

Introduction:

Creative's first attempt at a Software DVD player produced the Zoran based SoftDVD 1.0 - and it wasn't very good. Once again, Creative has choosen to use the decoders from another company, but this time they seemed to have choosen wisely - in choosing the Intervideo WinDVD decoder.

Review:

Decoding efficiency :
Video Quality :
Video Support :
This player uses the same video decoder as WinDVD 2000, please refer to WinDVD 2000's review for more information. Excellent support for Creative GeForce cards.

Audio Quality/Support :
Excellent support for SB-Live cards, 4/6/AC3 SPDIF modes are all available (see picture below). This player uses the same audio decoder as WinDVD 2000, please refer to WinDVD 2000's review for more information.

Creative SoftDVD's audio selection

TIP :

Creative SoftDVD 3.0.3.0 uses the same decoder as WinDVD - and so you can use DVD Genie's WinDVD 2000 section to change regions/settings to tweak this player

User Friendliness
The Creative Playcenter has a nice interface, some would say nicer than WinDVD's. There is the bookmark function, which is always useful, and easy access to all menus and options using the usual right-click menu. The only thing that is wrong is that you cannot change as many settings as you could using the WinDVD player - I guess this is where DVD Genie comes in.

Internet Support
N/A

	Review Summary
Decoder : InterVideo Efficiency: Average Quality : Excellent User Friendliness : Average Acceleration Support : Good Comments : A smart move by Creative to base their player on the Intervideo decoder. Still problems with some features not working and compatibility problems

	System Requirements
Processor : PII-350 (without HWMC) Graphics card : 8MB PCI card (16MB AGP recommended) Memory : 32 MB Sound card : 48kHz PCI recommended DVD-ROM drive : 1x or better DVD-ROM drive Operating system : Windows 9x HWMC - Hardware Motion Compensation - DVD acceleration

	Review Rating
80%

	Review Links
WinDVD Troubleshooting soft-DVD players comparison table Creative Homepage InterVideo Homepage

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Revision History:

Version 1.0:

Date Updated: Jul 2, 2000

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