CyberLink PowerDVD 22 Ultra | Award-Winning Blu-ray, DVD, & Media Player Software | Play Virtually Any File Format [Retail Box with Download Card]

Reviewing: CyberLink PowerDVD 22 Ultra | Award-Winning Blu-ray, DVD, & Media Player Software | Play Virtually Any File Format [Retail Box] This software (one time purchase) allows you to play videos using a PC. I dont use a dedicated media server PC hooked up to a TV, but I do play DVDs and other video files using my desktop PC. My impression is that its very feature-rich, and I like it overall, but it has a very high learning curve, and I think the interface could benefit from some redesign to be more intuitive. It seems targeted to a very high-tech crowd, and not the every day user who just wants something simple for watching DVDs/Blu-Rays/Media Files. I find that the interface is *somewhat* similar to other players out there, such as VLAN or AnyDVD, both of which are freeware, but that this also has a host of advanced features not found with any other freeware Ive used. To get to those features, though, you really have to spend time learning it. That may not appeal to everyone. There are many different controls and menus for enhancing the video and audio quality. I happen to have a 1440p monitor for my PC, so I was really able to notice how much higher the resolution was using this player software. I played a DVD using VLAN and AnyDVD, then I played it with this software, and there is no question that the video enhancements in this software make a major difference in picture quality. Sound is also much better. I only have a 2-speaker system hooked up for audio, but even with that, the advanced sound controls really made for nice audio. One temporary issue I encountered was that when I switched on my wireless headphones, I was unable to hear the sound while playing a DVD. I had to really look through the settings for several minutes to troubleshoot why. It turns out theres a setting deep within the True Theater Audio Settings that needed to be unchecked (it was called Exclusive Output). Once I unchecked that, I was able to hear fine using my headphones. My biggest disappointment with this software is that there is no way to build a digitized library of your copy-protected DVDs. As far as I understand, you are allowed to make digital copies of your own purchased DVDs when they are strictly for your own use, so that you can watch the digitized file version and dont need to use the DVD player every time. This software unfortunately doesnt allow you to convert any protected DVDs to digital files, even when for your own use. I usually use Audacity, which is free, but it also takes a long time to convert DVDs to video files. I was hoping this would replace Audacity and convert my DVDs quickly and with enhancements built into the output files. Not so. However, you can convert DVDs you own the rights to, or that are not otherwise protected, but thats all. Im not opining whether that is good or bad, but you may want to keep this fact in mind if you are looking to convert your own purchased DVDs to digital files for viewing on multiple devices. When you launch the software, in addition to PC Mode, there is also a TV mode option. I have not played with that yet and have no idea exactly what all it does. But I can tell you that when watching DVDs on my PC, I will definitely be using this software from now on. The picture and sound quality are amazing. Even when playing mp4 files, you can make them look immensely better than with other players. Im rating it 4 stars but only because I thing the interface could be improved so that its a bit easier to use from the get go. If youre looking for something uber simple, yet reliable, then you might just want to stick with VLAN or AnyDVD, or the like. But if you have some tech savvy, and dont mind taking a chunk of time to experiment and figure out a new program, then this may be worth considering. Once you learn to use it, its great. Its just the learning part thats a bit of a shove uphill.

Ive always used Cyberlink whenever I had a trial version pop up on my computers and always loved it, but could never afford the full program and was sad when my trial period ended. This is great video software, everything Ive watched so far has been crystal clear, the colors vibrant and overall, my viewing experience has improved a lot. Software was easy to install, I had it up and running in about a half an hour, I believe it would have been much faster had I not been answering emails and doing other things on my laptop at the same time. Im very happy with Cyberlink. Overall, a great experience, from install to viewing.

Works great on my laptop.

The software works well and so far has played all of my Blu-ray discs thus far. This is an issue with Windows machines. However getting a working copy on both my desktop and laptop has not been without issues. I bought this software here and a copy on-line since I want it on two computers. That may sound odd, but I did not intend to order the software here but it got mixed into a larger order. The on-line copy installed and I was able to validate it and it performs as I noted above. The boxed copy however does not work. The Product key provided is coming up invalid invalid. Waiting for Cyberlink to fix the error. You wont be disappointed with the software, but go to Cyberlinks site you will be much happier.

This is just the same old, same old PowerDVD in a nice shiny box that includes an installation disc and the license key on a slip of paper. You can also download the software directly and use the key. It doesnt seem to have the annoying bug where the ui refuses to hide like some of my previous versions did. Basically, it plays blurays and is one of very few software that does. If you want to play them, you probably need this. There are a whole bunch of extra features that are probably useless to the vast majority of people. The software worked fine with Windows 11 and my hardware.

I got this software for only one reason… after getting myself a Blu-ray disk drive, I still could not watch my movies because the format was no able to be read on the native media software. With this software, I was able to watch my movies plus it gave me access to some other file formats which I previously could not view. Did the job well, highly recommended.

The CyberLink Power DVD software was easy to install on my laptop. Nothing hung up during install, and the program seems quite responsive. However, I find that the software doesnt do anything to improve the ease or performance of playing BluRay or 4K DVDs, watching TV online, or streaming 4K YouTube to my 4K TV that I couldnt already do with the original DVD player and the software that came with the computer, including organizing the digitized collection.