[HOT] Get Pavtube ByteCopy Giveaway worth $42 For free

Giveaway!!!! Giveaway!!!! Giveaway!!!!

Hi, Friend! I'm so excited to tell you the amazing news that we are going to have a giveway of Pavtube ByteCopy for Windows or Mac at 0:00 on March 23th, 2014, U.S.A. California Los Angeles time. This is only a 24 hours giveway which is providing the great and strong BD/DVD multi-track tool totally the same as Pavtube official (42usd) retail version; no time limit, no watermarks. 

Key features for Pavtube ByteCopy (Windows/Mac) are as below:

• Backup BD/DVD to MKV without quality loss (keep 1080p quality at 16:9 aspect ratio). 
• Convert/rip/shrink/copy latest Blu-ray/DVD movies for Android/iOS/Windows device, editing program, HD player, game console, etc. 
• Allow full preservation of all audio tracks, subtitles and chapter markers. 
• Remove unwanted subs streams and audio tracks 
• Preserve soundtracks and subs in multiple languages, e.g. English, Spanish, French, Deutsch… 

The giveaway page is here:

ByteCopy (Windows) giveaway:

http://giveaway.glarysoft.com/pavtubebytecopyv1.0-728/

ByteCopy (Mac) giveaway:

http://giveaway.glarysoft.com/pavtubebytecopyv1.0(formac)-729/

Note: The giveaway version may not be updated in the future.

How to get the giveaway?

The way to get licence is very easy and convenient. Just visit the Glarysoft Giveaway page and click download now when the giveaway start to get fully licensed software for free. Only available on 23th, please don't miss this chance.

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Got it? Great! I know you're gonna like the software but you can click the thumb to praise and say “Thanks” by tweeting this link and sharing on Facebook. By doing this, you're giving your friends a $42 dollar gift and you're supporting us to host more giveaways! Come on, sharing only takes about 5 seconds.

More featured titles:

• Pavtube BDMagic

Blu-ray Ripper is capable of 1:1 copying BD/DVD Disc content to local computer or external hard drive in original file structure with all subtitle tracks and audio streams preserved. Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper also supports backing up only movie content without extras to save time and storage space. At the same time, it rips/converts 3D Blu-ray discs, 2D Blu-ray discs, and standard DVDs to your desired HD and SD media formats.

• Pavtube DVDAid

Pavtube DVD Ripper provides movie lovers, children and people in any group with the easiest and fastest way to backup and rip DVD movies. It rips and converts DVD movies to MP4/AVI/MKV/WMV and many other video and audio formats with high quality. It lets you enjoy DVD movies on any portable device like iPhone 5, Galaxy S4, Lumia 920, PS4, Xperia Z, Surface, etc.

• Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate

Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate provides 1:1 backup Blu-ray/DVD movies from disc to PC hard drive for disc burning and ISO image creating. It converts Blu-ray, DVD and video to MP4/AVI/MKV/WMV any popular video and audio formats. Besides, it allows for video editing tools including trimming, cropping, splitting, attaching srt/ass/ssa subtitles and special effects to add more fun when watching movies and videos.

More step-by-step guides can be found here:

Bytecopy windows guides: http://www.multipelife.com/bytecopy/tips
ByteCopy for Mac guides: http://www.multipelife.com/bytecopy-mac/tips

Source: Pavtube ByteCopy for Mac v1.0 Giveaway [Save 42$]

Free watch Stallone’s The Expendables 2 Blu-ray on Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

With the help of this article, you can set the best video format for enjoying Stallone’s The Expendables 2 Blu-ray movies with Sony Xperia Z2 anytime and anywhere.

The Expendables 2 


The Expendables are back and this time it's personal... Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren),Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) -- with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) aboard -- are reunited when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job.

The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries. But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them. Hell-bent on payback, the crew cuts a swath of destruction through opposing forces, wreaking havoc and shutting down an unexpected threat in the nick of time - six pounds of weapons-grade plutonium; enough to change the balance of power in the world. But that's nothing compared to the justice they serve against the villainous adversary who savagely murdered their brother. That is done the Expendables way....

Director: Simon West
Writers: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Wenk, Ken Kaufman, David Agosto, David Callaham
Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Genre: Action and Adventure
Run Time: 1 hour 43 minutes

Want to to pre-order Sony Xperia Z2 and view Stallone’s The Expendables 2 Blu-ray movies on Xperia Z2 like me? Sony’s Xperia Z2 looks very much like its predecessor, the Xperia Z1 with which you can get the complete entertainment experience with 4K ultra HD video recording and movies, music and games to enjoy on a pin-sharp 5.2-inch screen.  However, without ripping, you can't directly Blu-ray to Xperia Z2.
No problem, with a useful Blu-ray to Xperia Z2 converter, you can easily convert Stallone’s The Expendables 2 Blu-ray movie to Xperia Z2 support format on Windows 8.1/8/7.

Software required:
Please download the right version of Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper first, and the following guide is based on windows version.

• Windows: BDMagic
• Mac: BDMagic for Mac
  

Rip Stallone’s The Expendables 2 Blu-ray movie files to Xperia Z2 supportted video 

Step 1. Run this Top Blu-ray Ripper, as the Blu-ray to Sony Xperia Converter.

Click "Load Disc" to choose Load your Blu-ray Disc. Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper, as the Blu-ray to Xperia Converter, will detect the real main title and check it by default.



Tip: You can select a subtitle language and then check Forced subtitles to output a video with only subtitles in the foreign language part.

Step 2. Select Sony Xperia Z2 compatible format.

Hit the "Format" menu you could choose the suitable profile for Sony Xperia Z2. When you cannot find the particular profile for your device from Pavtube BDMagic for Mac, don't worry, it includes several general presets which are compatible for most Android phones and tablets.

Tips:

1. You can customize video specs by clicking the "Settings" icon on program interface, you are allowed to set presets to get better video and audio performance on your Sony Xperia Z2.

Video

Codec: h.264
Size: 1280*720/1920*1080
Bitrate: 1500~2500
Frame rate: 24

Audio

Codec: aac
Sample rate: 48000
Bitrate: 128000
Channels: Stereo

Note: Higher Bitrate leads to better video quality in saved file, but it also creates larger video size. Don't forget the balance between video quality and size.

2. If you want to leave out the title and tail leader of the film when you transfer your Blu-ray to Xperia Z2, 

click "Editor", Then use the "trim" function to set start and end time of your videos. The length of the output video could depend on your own need.



Step 3. Start the Stallone’s The Expendables 2 Blu-ray to MP4 conversion.

When everything is OK, just press the "Convert" button to start the Blu-ray to Xperia Z2 MP4 conversion. It will not take much time. Just wait for the conversion process to get done.

After conversion, you can click "Open output folder" to quick locate the converted video. Then transfer and enjoy Stallone’s The Expendables 2 Blu-ray on Sony Xperia Z2 anytime and anywhere.

Additional Tips:
If you want to convert Blu-ray movie to MP4 with multiple audio tracks (languages) for your Surface, try our ByteCopy or ByteCopy for Mac. 

If you are looking for a powerful all-in-one ultimate video converter software to convert various 1080p/720p videos, Blu-ray and DVDs to your tablet or phone for enjoying, simultaneously saving time and effort, Video Converter Ultimate program will be a nice choice for you. If you are running a Mac OS X computer, iMedia Converter Mac is the alternative.

Related Articles:
Sony to Showcase Xperia Z2 at CES 2014 
Rip and Convert DVD movies on Sony Xperia Z2 in multi-track MP4 format
Easiest solution to play MKV, AVI, VOB, WMV, Tivo, MPG, Flash videos on Xperia Z2

Review: "Frozen" Blu-ray Warms My Heart

With over a billion dollars made, tons of merchandise, and lots of little girls replaying “Let it Go” incessantly (much to the annoyance of their parents), Disney’s Frozen is a phenomenon now. It almost feels pointless to review a movie that virtually everybody has seen, but I know some of you are interested in my opinion, so here we go.



I’ll tell you what I like about Frozen.

First of all, much like Tangled, it takes an existing fairy tale and very loosely adapts it, but it could be argued that the changes work in its favor, at least for movie storytelling purposes. Rather than the ice queen, named Elsa, being a straight-up villain, she’s reimagined as a misunderstood young woman who is hesitant to connect with anyone after an accident as a child nearly kills her energetic sister, Anna. Elsa’s rationale is very understandable: if she doesn’t get close to anybody, she can’t hurt them. This relationship strain reaches its peak on Anna and Elsa’s 18th birthday, when the two host an open palace gala, but Elsa’s powers are revealed to the shocked public. Scared, Elsa flees to the high mountains and carves out an ice palace for herself. It’s up to Anna to find Elsa and try to convince her to return home, hopefully mending their distant relationship in the process.

What I like most about Frozen is that it subverts our expectations of Disney movies. Elsa isn’t your typical “I hate everything just because” queen, but someone we pity and hope will come out of her shell. In fact, without giving too much away, the person who is actually the antagonist is not who we suspect. On a second viewing, I’m impressed that the movie is well-directed enough that the villain’s reveal is unexpected but doesn’t feel like a contrived and arbitrary plot twist either, because they keep this person just undeveloped enough to make their reveal a surprise. The motif of “true love” is also nicely subverted here in more ways than one. Early in the film, Anna courts Hans, a prince she’s convinced is her true love, but upon joining mountain man Kristoff in her journey to rescue Elsa, he makes her realize how hollow her relationship with Hans was. Without giving anything away, the finale also presents a unique take on “true love,” something which ties in nicely with the story’s theme.

As usual for Disney, the movie is eye candy in more ways than one. The kingdom of Arendelle, with its sprawling mountains, looks lovely, even during the scenes when it’s covered with snow (a nasty side effect of Elsa’s stress). It would be easy for a mostly white landscape to look bland, but they kept it varied enough. The ice effects and resulting reflections are similarly well-done, and we get to see them at work numerous times in the film. Great character animation rounds out the package, continuing the trend from Tangled of cute, expressive female leads (especially the plucky Anna) that make you forget you’re watching a CG cartoon and just let you get immersed in the character’s mannerisms and personalities.

Also like Tangled, Frozen combines a number of moods successfully. The infamous teaser trailer, where a walking talking snowman named Olaf and Kristoff’s moose Sven fight over a carrot on slippery ice, made the film look like a wacky Ice Age-style comedy, but the actual film is really more of a drama with infrequent comedic and action elements. It also introduces the non-dramatic moments without feeling disjointed or schizophrenic. Above all, though, what matters most is: Did I care about the characters? Yes. I wanted to see Elsa and Anna reunite, I wanted to see the villain get their comeuppance, and I stayed interested in the story throughout.

Most of my criticisms of Frozen are nitpicks and personal opinions. For one, the movie tries a little too hard to be a musical; a couple musical numbers felt superfluous and could’ve easily been spoken in dialog instead. And the song styles feel tailor-made to a future Broadway show. A cynical viewer could point to this and say, “Ugh, a movie just isn’t enough, is it Disney? You have to conquer musical theater too? I bet they designed it that way on purpose.” While some of the songs are indeed pretty memorable, there are others that I’m hard-pressed to hum even after seeing the movie twice. Didn’t really have that problem with Tangled.

Unrelated to the songs, a case could also be made for the Elsa/Anna relationship being repetitive. There are quite a few instances where Anna tries to convince Elsa to be warmer, but is rejected. Obviously, reluctance to change one’s personality is very true to life, but from a storytelling standpoint it does give that feel of, “Didn’t we already have a scene like this?” I also wasn’t crazy about Olaf, the comic relief snowman. He’s not really an annoying sidekick, and he has a couple amusing moments, but he adds little to the movie. Yeah, he gives comfort to Anna in a scene towards the end, but for the most part he exists to take up space and provide another tie-in toy for kids to buy.

Finally, if you really want to overanalyze Frozen, the argument could be made that the entire premise of the movie is based on a misunderstanding. I’m not referring to the distant Anna/Elsa relationship, either; I mean that when Elsa is revealed to have these freezing powers, she’s instantly assumed to be an evil sorceress. I know people fear the unknown, but why can’t the townspeople have a different reaction than “She practices black magic! Arrest her!” It doesn’t help that Elsa is forced to use the ice as attacks to protect herself when some soldiers come to her palace later in the film, thus perpetuating the misunderstanding that she’s violent and unpredictable.

However, despite these criticisms, I still very much enjoyed Frozen and was glad I saw it. But enough about the movie itself; what does the Blu-ray set give us?

“Get a Horse”, a brand new Mickey Mouse cartoon that played beforeFrozen in theaters, runs 6 min. It lovingly recreates the bouncy, rubber hose, full animation style of the ‘30s cartoons, but puts a twist on things after about two minutes by kicking Mickey out of the screen to render him in more realistic CG. Normally, that would be interesting enough, but the 2D and 3D animation keep interacting with each other. For innovation alone, this is a great short, but it also has a few laughs as well. An interesting thing about “Get a Horse” is how the dialog is primarily made of archival vocals, akin to 2011’s “I Tawt I Taw a Putty Tat”.

Unfortunately, any hopes of a comprehensive behind-the-scenes documentary on this release are dashed. “The Making of Frozen” runs a little over three minutes. The title is the most flagrant use of false advertising I’ve ever seen; it’s not a making-of doc like you’d think, but a musical number sung by various staff members. What a letdown. “D’frosted: Disney’s Journey From Hans Christian Anderson to Frozen” runs 7:39. It’s not really that substantial; it tells us what we already know in some cases (i.e. that Walt Disney had a thing for adapting fairy tales), and a good two minutes is just gushing about the backgrounds. And that’s really it for behind-the-scenes material. Surely there are some more stories to tell about the making of this movie. Why no feature length commentary, at least?

Also included are roughly seven minutes of deleted scenes. In the first, running 1:31, we get a glimpse of Elsa as a villain, before she became a tragic hero. This is what I wish they covered more in the “D’frosted” featurette: conceptual changes. In the next scene, running 2:37, we see Anna trying on different outfits and commenting on them to Elsa. I can see why it was cut. Another nothing scene running 1:17 concerns Anna suffering in the village before deciding to go find her sister. Finally, a 1:20 scene shows an alternate introduction to Kristoff, where he’s mountain climbing. Next to Elsa as a villian, this is the most interesting deleted scene, and I wouldn’t have minded seeing it fully animated.

If you’re into the song “Let it Go,” you’re in luck, because there are multiple music videos of it. The original teaser trailer forFrozen is also included. Finally, the Blu-ray/DVD version of the set includes a digital copy, so you can watch it on iTunes without the disc, or on your favorite mobile device. I myself don’t have a smartphone, but it’s nice to be able to watch the movie without putting the disc in my computer.

Frozen is a good movie with some refreshing defiances of expectations in certain areas. I didn’t love it as much as Tangled, the previous “reimagined fairy tale” Disney movie, but it’s still engaging and represents yet another sign that Disney’s been back on the right track since 2008. Sadly, though, the Blu-ray set is a disappointment, barely offering half an hour of special material. It’s a shame, because Frozen is a movie I would’ve loved to learn more about.

More movies review:

List of new movies hitting theaters March 2014
Movies and TV Series coming out on DVD at March 2014
Watch "Thor: The Dark World (2-Disc 3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray + Digital HD)" on 3D TV

Latest new Movies info: The Expendables 3 2014

The Expendables 3 2014

Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill... or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables' most personal battle yet.

Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Mel gibson, Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kellan Lutz,Terry Crews,Kelsey Grammer,Ronda Rousey,Natalie Burn,Sarai Givaty,Robert Davi,Randy Couture,Victor Ortiz,Glen Powell,Velizar Binev

Writers:Sylvester Stallone

Backup or rip "Bullet to the Head" Blu-ray/DVD on Mac for personal entertainment

An easy solution to backup "Blu-ray Bullet to the Head" to Mac HDD, so that you can watch it on your Mac, iPhone, iPad, TV and other devices together with your friends.

Lights go down, and the movie opens up with an odd sequence of a bullet being shot towards the audience and shattering the various studio logos. It then transitions into an out of context scene from later in the movie, in black and white. It left a bad taste immediately, feeling clumsy and odd. Bullet To The Head” is directed by Walter Hill (The Warriors) and stars Sylvester Stallone, Sung Kang, Sarah Shahi, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Jason Momoa.

My best friend loves this movie very much. We have already bought a Blu-ray and DVD disc of the movie. We found interactions fairly surprising that we want to keep the precious moment forever, then we can get them playable for personal entertainment anytime and anywhere.

As we know, most commercial Blu-rays/DVD are protected, "Bullet to the Head" is no exception. So we cannot move it to other devices directly. If you want to do so, you’ll have to roll off BD/DVD disc protection and convert the clean Blu-ray/DVD to suitable format for playback.

Among all the software applications, free or paid, Pavtube BDMagic for Mac is my first choice for two reasons. One is its easy-to-use feature with user friendly interface; another is its reasonable price and lifetime support. They also have a Windows version ripper, see this Pavtube BDMagic.

Mac Workflow: Backup or rip "Bullet to the Head" Blu-ray/DVD for personal entertainment

Note: Firstly you need to get an external Blu-ray drive, otherwise your computer will not recognize it as most built-in drive only works on DVD.

1. Plug Blu-ray drive to Mac computer, insert Blu-ray/DVD disc and launch Pavtube. See the disc-like icon on the top? Click it and you will see your disc name inside, hit it.

It seems this ripper breaks movie protection during the loading process, because once I took my laptop to kitchen where’s no signal, the program refused to take any of my discs. In case of that, pls ensure your Internet connection is OK.

2. Choose MP4/AVI format for playback.

There’re lots of preset inside “Format” list. I prefer "H.264 HD Video(*.mp4)" from "HD Video"  option as it’s widely accepted by most devices, like our iPhones, iPads, PC, or Android device.

 

You can also hit “HD Video> AVI HD Video(*.avi)” for watching Blu-ray/DVD on TV.

3. Convert Blu-ray/DVD movie on Mac for personal entertainment

Just hit the big “Convert”, now you can leave it working and do your own things. Oh don’t forget to cancel your computer auto-sleep mode. Wait for moments, click “Open” or “Open output folder” to find the converted MP4/AVI files.

Ok it’s done! Transfer converted video to iPad, iPhone, TV or other devices and enjoy your time watching "Bullet to the Head" with friends.

Review for this movie:

Stallone’s and Kang’s interactions are fairly surprising. Going in, I expected something akin to “two buddies fight the bad guys”. Except, Stallone’s character despises cops, and is basically an awful person. They sabotage each other with subtlety, which makes for some interesting sequences and arguably best parts of the movie.

The best thing about this movie is that it knows exactly what it is. It’s the movie you’ll pick up at a discount rack, and have a good time with, which could also be the worst thing about it. It’s not incredibly memorable, and fairly forgettable. There isn’t a stand out sequence, just a couple of generic shoot outs and fights. Also, for a movie called “Bullet To The Head”, there are a lot of gratuitous scenes of bodies being shot up in every place but the head.

“Bullet To The Head” has the right to exist. It’s B level, but not schlocky. It has some tension, but it isn’t painfully self serious. At worst it’s flat and boring, at best it’s a perfectly enjoyable average action movie.

Read more:

Movies and TV Series coming out on DVD at March 2014
New Movies coming out March 2014 List with Release Dates
How to Backup new released DVD discs on Windows 8.1/8?

Ripping DVD movies with Pavtube DVD Ripper (Windows/Mac) upgraded version now!

Pavtube Studio has updated DVDAid to 4.5.0 and DVDAid for Mac to 3.7.0.

Windows version



Version: 4.5.0
Supported OS: Windows XP/2003/Vista/Windows 7/Windows 8/Windows 8.1

What’s new:

• Support latest DVD
• Windows install package with digital signature
• Fixed some known bugs

Download here: http://www.multipelife.com/download/dvdaid/dvdaid_setup.exe

Mac version



Version: 3.7.0
Supported OS: Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks, 10.8 Mountain Lion, 10.7 Lion, Snow Leopard 10.6, Leopard 10.5

What’s new:

• Support latest DVD
• Update Mac pkg and dmg install packages simultaneously
• Fixed some known bugs

Download here: http://www.multipelife.com/download/dvdaid-mac/dvdaid_setup.dmg

From: http://open-mobile-share.com/pavtube-dvd-ripper-new-features/

Stream Blu-ray TrueHD and DTS-HD 7.1 audio from HTPC

The following post is reproduced from Bitstreaming Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD with the Intel Core i3, Published on Do it Yourself HTPC Blog, written by ddewaele, to whom I would like to say THANK YOU.

“When the Intel Core i3 platform was announced, it was hailed as being the holy grail for HTCP enthusiasts. The reason being that the Core i3 chip (that combines both CPU and GPU onto one physical chip) offers more then the current Atom based platforms have to offer. Not only is the Core i3 platform a lot more powerful compared to the Intel Atom platform, is also maintains a fairly low power consumption. Obviously, it cannot compete with the power consumption of the Atom. However, combine the Atom with an Ion chipset and a blu-ray player, and the difference becomes a lot smaller.

One of the biggest strengths of the Core i3, and the H55 chipset is that it also supports HDMI Audio Pass Through for Native Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD Master Audiostreaming.

The primary goal off this writing was to get the Dolby TrueHD & DTS-HD Master Audio up & running. And guess what …. it really worked !

I hooked up the Corei3 build to my Onkyo TX SR-507 receiver via HDMI




The receiver has support for HD audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio making it an ideal combo for a high definition audio experience.


Streaming DTS-HD/Dolby TrueHD from HTPC

Most Blu-ray discs contain either a DTS HD Master Audio, or a Dolby True HD soundtrack They’re basically the successors of the DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 coded. Most HTPC boxes support DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digitial 5.1 without much effort. Most Atom/Ion combos for example, when hooked up to a receiver through HDMI, will have no problem sending the DTS / Dolby stream to the receiver. With DTS HD Master Audio, or Dolby True HD, it’s a different story.

If you’re not all that familiar with audio formats, try to think of DTS or Dolby as a compressed format (much like a ZIP file). The audio is encoded or compressed (to consume less space on a Blu-ray disc). That encoded / compressed audio is sent to the receiver, and it’s the receivers responsibility to decode the audio stream. Because the receiver is receiving the encoded / compressed audio from the player (your HTCP), it notices this and turns on the DTS or Dolby symbol on your receiver display.

There are basically 2 types of audio

uncompressed audio = LPCM
lossless compressed = DTS HD / DD TrueHD

So bitstreaming means sending undecoded True HD or DTS HD Bitstream over a digital link (minimum HDMI 1.3) to an external device (receiver / amplifier). The amplifier with True HD and DTS HD decoding capabilities can then decode that stream, rather than the software on the HTPC.

An alternative to bitstreaming is software decoding. Here, a piece is software (ex: ffdshow) is responsible for decoding the True HD / DTS HD bitstream. It then goes on to send multi channel linear PCM to the receiver (MCH PMC). Here, your receiver is unaware that it’s receiving either Dolby True HD or DTS HD, so there will be no indicators on the receiver telling you that it is actually playing Dolby True HD / DTS HD. The receiver just gets the multi channel linear PCM and outputs that.

Cards that support bitstreaming :

Asus Xonar 1.3 HDMI
Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD.
ATI 57* graphic card series
The Core i3 HTCP build

Today I got my gigabyte motherboard replacement (the mini-ITX version I had originally ordered), so I could finally start building my first Core i3 based HTCP. The core components of the build are the GigaByte H55N-USB3 motherboard, and the Intel Core i3 530 CPU.



Everything was assembled in my Lian Li PC-Q07 mini-ITX case.


First some general figures on the Core i3 system:

Idle

CPU32/38 degrees

Intel stock cooler1200rpm (audible – but very quiet)

Idle (windows desktop)50W

Load (Prime95

CPU67/70 degrees

Intel stock cooler2500rpm (audible – noisy)

Idle (windows desktop)90W

I installed Windows 7 on it (I’ll write up my experiences with Linux in a future story). After installing all the drivers from the Gigabyte CD (+ updates received via the internet), the system booted and the Intel TV Wizard allowed me to calibrate the screen on my Sony LCD TV.


This allows you to calibrate the screen, as initially, there were black borders around the screen, so it needed to be stretched a little.



After that, it was time to configure my audio settings.

For some reason, the Realtek Digital Output was selected as the default playback device. I had to manually select the Intel(R) Display Audio as the default playback device in order to get sound up & running.

The sound settings in control pannel allow you to configure the playback device by selecting your speaker set (in my case, 5.1 speaker setup).
It also allows you to test the speaker setup by emitting a sound through each individual speaker.

Once this was done, the sound was up & running in both the windows environment, and my other media player software (XBMC, TotalMedia Theatre3,….)



The Intel Display Audio device supports all the major high definition audio formats such as :

DTS Audio
Dolby Digital Plus
DTS-HD
Dolbu TrueHD
Dolby Digital

I supports up to 8 channels.

Obviously, the DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD is the main interest for this topic.Test setupSoftware required for the tests

As the goal is to bitstream some Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio to the receiver, we’ll be needing some software to do so.

I’ve selected a commercial player (required for Blu-ray disc playback), and an open-source video player for HD media formats (H264 encoded video in a mkv container).

TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum. (trial version or full version)

Blu-ray movie player
Homepage : http://www.arcsoft.com/estore/software_title.asp?ProductCode=TMT3P

Media Player Classic – HomeCinema v1.4.2499.0 (latest version at the time of writing)

Free audio and video player for Windows.
Homepage : http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/

ffdshow tryouts revision 3556

DirectShow and Video for Windows codec with support for a wide range of audio and video formats, such as Xvid, DivX, and H.264.
Homepage : http://ffdshow-tryout.sourceforge.net/index.php
The latest stable beta is rev3154 (released on 20091209).
For these tests however, you’ll be needing rev3556 (built on 20100902)
Media required for the test

Obviously, if we want to test we also need some files containing high definition audio.Demo World contains a large number of Dolby / DTS trailers, some of them Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio.

There’s a lot of talk on the internet regarding the playback of these high definition audio codecs. Some say that you can only bit-stream them to your receiver when played from an original Blu-ray disc. We’ll soon find out….

I’ve downloaded 2 media files from Demo World that we’ll be using in the test :

Terminator 2 (Lossless) : DTS-HD MA 5.1
Bit Harvest (Lossless) : Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Inspecting the media files

When dealing with media files, it’s always very interesting to know what kind of video and audio tracks are included. Media Player Classic Home Cinema allows you to view the properties of a media file by either

right-clicking in the video screen and clicking properties
using the File menu – Properties
SHIFT – F10

Terminator 2 (Lossless) : DTS-HD MA 5.1
Video: WVC1 1920×1080 29.97fps [Video - VC-1, 1920x1080, 29.970 fps (1011,fd,00)]
Audio: DTS 48000Hz 6ch 1509kbps [Audio - DTS-HD Master Audio, 48.0 kHz, 6 chn, 1509.8 kbit/s (1100,fd,00)]
Subtitle [No subtitles]

Bit Harvest (Lossless) : Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Video: MPEG4 Video (H264) 1920×1080 23.98fps [Video - AVC (H.264), High Profile, Level 4.1, 1920x1080, 23.976 fps (1011,e0,00)]
Audio: Dolby AC3 48000Hz 6ch 640kbps [Audio - Dolby TrueHD, 48.0 kHz, 6 chn, 640.0 kbit/s (1100,fd,00)]
Subtitle [No subtitles]Test #1 : Playing a Blu-ray disc

The first test I did was playing a Blu-ray disc using TotalMedia Theatre 3 Platinum. As you can see, both the Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio lights started blinking on my Onkyo Receiver.




Test #2 : Playing a media file using TotalMedia Theatre.

We played the media files (m2ts) using TotalMedia Theatre :


The Dolby TrueHD movie was also bitstreamed correctly to the receiver.



Test #3 : Playing the m2ts media file using Media Player Classic

ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre is a great product, but it comes at a price. Most HTPC enthousiast use free players like Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC), VLC or XBMC. Would it be possible to bitstream the HD Audio using these free players as well ? Lets find out….

When playing media files using Media Player Classic, you’lI get this on the receiver :


Media Player has a DTS / AC3 Decoder. By default, it decodes 16 bit PCM as stereo to the speakers.


Be sure to change this to your 5.1 or 7.1 configuration in order to get surround sound instead of stereo.


We’re going to disable the DTS/AC3 decoder by adding an external filter. We’ll select the ffdshow audio decoder. (Options – Filters – External Filters – Add Filter)




When we now play the media file, the ffdshow audio decoder will be used (instead of the built-in DTS/AC3 Decoder)


During my first attempt with ffdshow, I still wasn’t able to get the DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD bitstreaming up & running. As you can see from the ffdshow audio decoder configuratio (output section), only AC3 and DTS were mentioned.


I was using the latest stable beta (rev3154).


When using the latest revision (at the time of writing , rev 3556), things started to change.


In the output section, I now had the option of selecting Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD. And from that moment on, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD was up & running using Media Player Classic HomeCinema.


Related Apps:

More Blu-ray Disc Media Players- PowerDVD, WinDVD, etc

Blu-ray Disc Rippers (for ripping Blu-ray to HTPC with original HD audio) – Pavtube Blu-ray Ripper (for Windows/Mac)

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