PowerDVD9 MCE plugin problems

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

Solved by

Apr 19, 2009 19:51

Hi folks. I just purchased PowerDVD 9 which comes with a Vista Mediacenter Bluray plugin. The plugin works great however I noticed that it doesn't fill the entire 16:9 screen (there seems to be a considerable blank border around the edge). Has anyone noticed this and how to eliminate it? There's no border when running PowerDVD by itself.

I'm using a ATI Radeon HD 4850 video card driving a HD TV thru HDMI.

Any help is appreciated.
-AJ

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 20, 2009 21:38

I see I am not the only problem with this.

Go to "Settings" and confirm the "Aspect Ratio" drop down control is "Letterbox" and is disabled.

I put in two support tickets but they can't seem to understand the problem. Given there is like *4* settings within the plug-in, I find that funny.

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 20:26

Solved. The solution is to set your display type to "Flat Screen" instead of TV then the overscan correction area goes away.

-AJ

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 20:29

Now if I can just find out why the PowerDVD MCE plugin displays a blank screen instead of playing a bluray disk when my HTPC is turned on from standby mode. The only way I can get it to play is to fireup PowerDVD and click play, then exit out and go back to MCE and run the plugin.

-AJ

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 20:45

Quote: Solved. The solution is to set your display type to "Flat Screen" instead of TV then the overscan correction area goes away.

-AJ

"Display" as in MCE's Display within Configure Your TV?

I did that and the "Aspect Ratio" is still disabled and set to "Letterbox" and the picture does not full the entire screen.

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 21:14

Settings - TV - Configure your TV or monitor. Make sure to select 16:9 aspect. The flat screen monitor fixed my problem.

In the PowerDVD MCE plugin, Settings - Display Settings, aspect ratio is set to letterbox and can't be changed. Is that what you mean?

You may have to change some settings in PowerDVD outside of MCE.

-AJ

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 21. 2009 21:15

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 22:17

Quote: Settings - TV - Configure your TV or monitor. Make sure to select 16:9 aspect. The flat screen monitor fixed my problem.

Lucky. It didn't fix mine.

Quote:
In the PowerDVD MCE plugin, Settings - Display Settings, aspect ratio is set to letterbox and can't be changed. Is that what you mean?

Yes, what about yours?

Quote:
You may have to change some settings in PowerDVD outside of MCE.

-AJ

Not sure what to change. It's set for FULL SCREEN and it displays as such outside of MCE. It seems like another PowerDVD bug.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 21. 2009 22:17

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 22:25

My aspect is locked on letterbox too.

What version of PDVD are you running?

-AJ

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 22:26

Quote: My aspect is locked on letterbox too.

What version of PDVD are you running?

-AJ

PowerDVD 9 current version

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 22:32

Very strange. Maybe try different monitor setups in MCE just to see what happens. It sounds like you have the same problem I had - a border around the edge that's needed for older tube TVs called an overscan area.

-AJ

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 22:35

Quote: Very strange. Maybe try different monitor setups in MCE just to see what happens. It sounds like you have the same problem I had - a border around the edge that's needed for older tube TVs called an overscan area.

-AJ

Correct. I have a 52" LCD and it fills up about 85% of it with a black border around the outside. It fills the entire window frame of MCE (Frame with the MINIMIZE/CLOSE buttons reside within the upper right corner) whereas standard DVD full fill the ENTIRE screen. It's killing me.

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 21, 2009 23:05

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This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Apr 21. 2009 23:06

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

Apr 22, 2009 02:33

Try this. Download the trial of Total Media Theatre - http://www.arcsoft.com/public/software_title.asp?ProductID=362&dyContent=LANG_DOWNLOAD

Uninstall PowerDVD, install TTM and see if their MCE plugin behaves the same.

I swithced from TTM to PowerDVD because I was getting jerky playback on some bluray disks. I may switch back if they improve the product.

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 24, 2009 13:09

No replies from CyberLink to this forum or support tickets. Laugh. Looks like I am going to pick up TMT.

Gert Juul

Newbie Joined: Apr 28, 2009 02:29 Messages: 1 Offline

Apr 28, 2009 04:18

Quote: No replies from CyberLink to this forum or support tickets. Laugh. Looks like I am going to pick up TMT.

Downloaded PowerDVD9, yesterday, I also have the same problem, BUT letterbox can be changed if you go in cinema mode. But the you have to control the mediacenter with at mouse and not the remote. So i hope Cyberlink can fix the problem

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 28, 2009 09:43

Quote:

Quote: No replies from CyberLink to this forum or support tickets. Laugh. Looks like I am going to pick up TMT.

Downloaded PowerDVD9, yesterday, I also have the same problem, BUT letterbox can be changed if you go in cinema mode. But the you have to control the mediacenter with at mouse and not the remote. So i hope Cyberlink can fix the problem

I don't have the MCE Remote. I can change to Cinema Mode but it's still disabled. After you change to Cinema, can you immediately change the Aspect Ratio control? If so, does it then go to full screen?

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

Apr 28, 2009 09:44

Got two worthless responses from Cyberlink. What a waste.

The first was to explain the problem which isn't complex physics

The second was requesting the version. I guess the latest version wasn't good enough.

I'll deal with it on my own given the quality I've received already.

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

Apr 28, 2009 19:24

What exactly is cinema mode?

Shawn

Newbie Joined: Apr 17, 2009 22:29 Messages: 12 Offline

May 06, 2009 22:53

Quote: Settings - TV - Configure your TV or monitor. Make sure to select 16:9 aspect. The flat screen monitor fixed my problem.

In the PowerDVD MCE plugin, Settings - Display Settings, aspect ratio is set to letterbox and can't be changed. Is that what you mean?

You may have to change some settings in PowerDVD outside of MCE.

-AJ

This fixed my problem too. I didn't save the profile change on my initial attempt.

But, I am going with TotalMedia Theatre 3.0 instead. The customer service alone makes it a better deal. PowerDVD is just a pain in the ass and not worth the money.

Thanks for your help.

Al

Newbie Joined: Apr 19, 2009 19:42 Messages: 10 Offline

May 07, 2009 18:05

Glad I could help. Good luck with TMT. I may switch back too once they fix the playback stutter problem I was having.

-AJ