WTF? Software DVD Decoders are NOT free???

[hotrodder]

Using DVD Player to play DVD discs
With DVD Player, you can play DVD discs from a DVD drive connected to your computer. You can also use your DVD drive to play software and music CDs.

To open DVD Player after you have inserted a disc, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to Entertainment, and then click DVD Player.
Notes

DVD Player appears on the Start menu only if you have a DVD player and a hardware or software decoder installed. For more information, check with your DVD and computer manufacturers.
For help with DVD Player, click Help in DVD Player.
Related Topics
(notice the part about having a player already installed)

 

[JackBurton]

Uhh, maybe you should just get a CD-ROM.



<< But someone told me those are NOT FREE???? WTF?? is this for real?? Why is such simple SOFTWARE decoder have a price? How much do they go for? This is ridiculous >>


I can't even believe you thought that.

 

[Noriaki]

S3's motion compensation is excellent. It's even better than ATi's I believe. And the scaling is even better. nVidia's is not so good.

Honestly, I think the Savage4 is probably the best card to buy for DVD playback. Anand had a DVD features round up a while back, and I don't even ATi was as good as S3. ATi is quite good, and has a better all-round card (gaming performance and what not). But I don't think for straight DVD they were as good. ATi of course has iDCT which helps unburned your CPU, but that's just number crunching...S3 actually has display assitance features the Radeon isn't as good at.

 

[Kinki]

Depends on what u mean by &quot;downloading it for free&quot;...... *w@r3z* I just saw the latest w@r3z release of WinDVD last week on some ftp, but too bad I don't have a dvd drive or I would be jumping all over it with my cable modem ^_^



<< I just bought a nice Toshiba 12x DVDrom for $56 shipped.. it's bare drive.. nothing else..

I don't know too much about DVDroms.. I know I don't need a hardware decoder card because my comp is fast (750Mhz, Geforce2) and thought I'd just DL the software decoders from the net. (like powerdvd &amp; windvd..)

But someone told me those are NOT FREE???? WTF?? is this for real?? Why is such simple SOFTWARE decoder have a price? How much do they go for? This is ridiculous

And all this time I thought they were free.. like winzip (it's shareware but fully functional.. u know what im saying)

~mOo >>

 

[GTaudiophile]

Just buy an ATI Radeon. You'll get the best DVD decoder in a videocard around, and DVD software. Or you could just download the trial version of WinDVD from their site and cra...

 

[DeeK]

As if DVDs are a well-understood, unencumbered open standard. You can't get much further from the truth.

Here's the deal: In order to play DVDs, the program must decrypt them first. In order to be able to decrypt them, you must buy a license from the DVD Copy Control Association, or you will be sued by the Motion Picture Association for distributing a &quot;circumvention device&quot; under the Digital Milennium Copyright Act. Don't think you're immune if you're not from the US. The DeCSS decryptor was released onto the 'net by a Norwegian teen, but being in Norway didn't prevent his house from being searched and his computers seized.

The agreement a company signs in order to get a decryption license is what dictates that they are not allowed to ignore region controls or disable Macrovision. Also, there are licensing fees associated with other portions of standard DVDs, such as Dolby Digital.

Essentially, there's no real legal way to make a free DVD decoder. The content producers are so paranoid of being &quot;Napsterized&quot; that they are pursuing both technological and legal restrictions on DVDs that make a free player pretty much impossible.

 

[dingdongdingdong]

email me . ismecyber@hotmail.com i will send you a link that have power dvd full version for free

 

[CuriousAndy]

uhh already got i.. =X

 

[HaVoC]

This DMCA schit is really peeving me off! I'm sick of anything being associated with MPEG2 being saddled down with encryption, &quot;digital rights management&quot; and all that other big brother crap.

 

[Chadder007]

Pssst....a lot of DVD movies come with a basic free software DVD player. The Matrix and Gladiator both have one included....more than half of them do.

 

[Workin']

DeeK you are right, but since when does being right matter?

 

[TunaBoo]

Hos my Kyro 2 I am getting TODAY going to play DVD's on a 1.43 GHz T-Bird system?

 

[EpsiIon]

Well, I, too, was under the impression that, if I ordered a DVD-ROM drive, it would come with a DVD decoder, regardless of whether or not it was OEM. I, too, was mistaken. It's a good thing my parents just bought that laptop (with a DVD-ROM and PowerDVD) from Dell... Otherwise I'd have to lay down another $50 to get full functionality. Oh well...

Epsilon

 

[Huma]

yeah, I bought a car once and was pissed as hell when I found out I had to put gas in it. The salesman didn't even tell me before hand.

CARS SHOULD COME WITH UNLIMITED GAS!!!!

 

[JackBurton]

I heard you ACTUALLY have to change your oil too! What kind of crap is that!

 

[lacunae]

well, obviously a &quot;bare drive&quot; is just that... bare.
but some video cards come with, other components too...
for a friend's computer (that we put together from parts),
we ended up with 3 different dvd players (didn't install
them all obviously) -- dvd software came with the dvd-rom,
video card, and sound card.

 

[Muerto]

I bought a decoder card with mine so didn't need a software decoder. But having to pay for a software decoder is stupid. The DVD-ROM should come with one. :|:|:|

 

[Blayze]

<< PowerDVD = $49.99 >>




if those are the real prices you can pick up a hardware DVD decoder for that

 

[Galadala]

Nothing is free in this world!!!

But most of the time DVD Drives come with software or at least trial versions. DVD decoding software takes lots of time to develop like everything else so I'm sure that the companies that make them need to make a profit as well.

Besides, hardware DVD decoder cards are almost obsolete now because we have such fast CPU's that there is no need for seperate DVD processing.

Lesson of the day: Never buy a OEM DVD Drive!

 

[Soulchaser]

You could just buy VCDs cause their players are free and VCDS are a lot cheaper than DVDs. I haven't tried any VCDs yet though so I don't know about quality.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

Which vcd player is free?

 

[huanaku]

You can get windvd2000 at www.ebccomputers.com for about 12 bucks + shipping (oem). Check local stores as well.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

why you guys like to buy illegal oem software (not sale with hardware is illegal)?
why not just get them from warez site for free if you like to use illegally?

 

[yiwonder]

<< Which vcd player is free? >>


Windows Media Player will play them if you open the .dat file in the MPEGAV folder. The file should be called avseq01.dat or music01.dat or something similar.


<< I haven't tried any VCDs yet though so I don't know about quality. >>


The quality is no where near DVDs and are hard to find in the US. I know I saw them when I lived in Asia and it seemed to me the main reason they were popular was because you could easily get pirated versions of movies cheaply.

 

[Recneps]

<<why you guys like to buy illegal oem software (not sale with hardware is illegal)?>>

Do you have a link some were to this up? The dealer may be violating thier contract with the company but that does not make it illegal. We the purchaser have no Idea what kind of contract the dealer is under and there for we can't be held responsible for the contracts inforcement.