Passkey resolving display issues

[MacEachaidh]

I've been experiencing some problems with playback of Blu-ray discs in PowerDVD, and I'd appreciate any thoughts on whether my analysis of the problem seems reasonable.

Thanks in advance for any help. Please bear with me while I explain.

I'm running PowerDVD 14 Ultra on Windows 7 x64, with 8GB of RAM and an nVidia GT-740 graphics card with 2GB of DDR5 RAM onboard.

I've experienced consistent problems with a number of new Blu-ray purchases, where the sound stutters and the display streaks, stutters and pixellates. Because these discs were of the same region as my system, I didn't initially run them through Passkey.

But then I discovered that if I load Passkey first, the same discs play back with no issues. To me, this seems to mean that the issue is PowerDVD not coping with the latest copy protection routines; when they're removed from the data flow, the problem goes away.

Is that a reasonable conclusion?

PowerDVD 14 hasn't been updated since last October, so it seems logical that more recent protection routines have been introduced since then. Cyberlink hasn't confirmed that there are issues in the software, though they have said they're working on an update, so I suppose that's an answer of a kind.

For reference, some examples of discs that have this issue for me:
Kingdom of Heaven, the new UK steelbook version.
Buried, the new UK steelbook version.
Interstellar, the UK digibook version.

But I'd like to be sure of the cause of the problem. Does anyone have other thoughts, please?

[90312]

Makes perfect sense to me.

[Wilson.Wang]

I've experienced consistent problems with a number of new Blu-ray purchases, where the sound stutters and the display streaks, stutters and pixellates. Because these discs were of the same region as my system, I didn't initially run them through Passkey.

But then I discovered that if I load Passkey first, the same discs play back with no issues. To me, this seems to mean that the issue is PowerDVD not coping with the latest copy protection routines; when they're removed from the data flow, the problem goes away.

Hi,

It's true. PowerDVD could not play the protected disc sometimes.

This is why we need Passkey.

Wilson

[Aureal]

we pay the original Bluray
we pay PowerDVD software

and still we have issue...

this is illogical for me.. but it's true.

That's why I bought passkey.. bluray format is a hell and very difficult on PC scenario (i wonder if in the "home scenario" with standalone BD player the problems are the same..)

bye!

[signals]

PowerDVD14 has been replaced with PowerDVD15 Ultra. Although I have had trouble with 15 on one or two discs (BD).

[MacEachaidh]

Makes perfect sense to me.

Thanks for the rely, 90312. ;-)

Convincing Cyberlink of it is a whole different matter, though.

It's annoying, because I don't want to pay the upgrade prices Cyberlink is asking for version 15, for what would at best be a bug-fix. (None of the new features matter to me, since I'm not interested in upgrading my media yet again to 4K or streaming video throughout my house.) But if the current version is already behind standard commercial technology, maybe I need to look elsewhere. Sadly, PowerDVD's major rival, TMT, has been dumped and is no longer being developed. Harrumph.

Yes, Wilson, hooray for DVDFab Passkey!!

[MacEachaidh]

PowerDVD14 has been replaced with PowerDVD15 Ultra. Although I have had trouble with 15 on one or two discs (BD).

What kind of trouble, Signals?

[signals]

Mac
It crashed after refusing to play (empty window) a couple of new release discs on the day of release. Both played fine later. Note that this was running PDVD15 "barefoot", i.e. without Passkey.

[MacEachaidh]

Thanks Signals. I've had similar things in my recent travails with version 14, where the CPU utilisation suddenly spins up to 100% and I can't shut PowerDVD down. When this happens, even mechanically ejecting the disc (via the button on the drive) takes 15 minutes or more to respond.

To be clear, it's absolutely not DVDFab's doing, and I've only raised it here on the Passkey forums because I thought other Passkey users might be in a position to have noticed similar behaviour on their systems -- and also, as I asked before, to check my reasoning.

But it's a worry if it's also happening in PowerDVD 15. And it's frustrating not being able to get past Cyberlink's never-ending checklist of it's-something-else's-fault before they'll be willing to consider the issue in their own software.

Ah well, thank goodness for Passkey. ;-)

Now, if only the BluPath database would get better at recognising non-mainstream non-US releases ...

[signals]

What you describe is vary similar to what I saw one on at least one occasion. But it has not repeated since then, about a month ago. Don't remember which discs, I test quite a few.

Cyberlink's never-ending checklist of it's-something-else's-fault before they'll be willing to consider the issue in their own software.

LOL so true, I never bother to contact them.

They are working on improving the non-US disc version data, disc availability has always been a large part of the problem.

[MacEachaidh]

They are working on improving the non-US disc version data, disc availability has always been a large part of the problem.

Yes, I can understand that it would be. And thanks for the update on that.

Is there anything users can do to contribute, since we have the discs?

[signals]

Not that we can discuss openly (for your privacy and safety), I will send you a PM.

[MacEachaidh]

Hi Signals,
Any chance that you might get round to sending that PM please? I'm still keen to know.

Many thanks,
Mac

[signals]

Hi Mac. Sorry for the delay.