The new Corel WinDVD Pro 12 was released on the market around November 9th 2016

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The new Corel WinDVD Pro 12 was released on the market around November 9th 2016 (download only option, no retail box with CD-ROM). It will not support the playback of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, however it will support 4K Ultra HD HEVC video file playback in case one owns a modern day 4K Ultra HD camera to make their own homemade family videos, etc.

http://www.windvdpro.com/en/

http://www.windvdpro.com/static/wdvd/docs/windvd-version-comparison-en.pdf

Hopefully in the year 2017 the Cyberlink PowerDVD 17 Ultra software might offer 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc playback. It all depends on if the 2017 CES show has some new first generation 4K Ultra HD certified BD-ROM drives. If no 4K Ultra HD BD-ROM drives are released in 2017, then consumers will need to wait until 2018 for Cyberlink to release PowerDVD 18 Ultra software that will support 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. I am hoping 2017 will see some product released on the market for Windows PC’s, and then maybe MAC PC support.

Consumer standalone Blu-ray players since 2006 were always labeled as Blu-ray players. It totally shocks me that PC Blu-ray software is always labeled as “WinDVD” or “PowerDVD”. Maybe one day someone in the marketing department will start coming out with labels like “WinBlu-ray” or “PowerBlu-ray”.

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Corel WinDVD Pro 12 (brief user review)

I purchased and downloaded the latest version of Corel’s Blu-ray software program called Corel WinDVD Pro 12 (I am disappointed that they do not offer a retail boxed version with CD-ROM). As most people already know one needs to own a BD-ROM computer drive in order to play standard 2-D and 3-D 1080P Blu-ray discs. The ability to play 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs from a Windows PC is impossible in the year 2016 since no one has released a certified 4K Ultra HD BD-ROM drive yet (you need the hardware to exist on the market before the software can be made).

Corel’s new WinDVD Pro 12 is very similar to WinDVD Pro 11, except for some minor improvements. When I first installed the software and then tried to run WinDVD Pro 12, Norton Internet security blocked the program from running since it detected the application contained a high security risk called “Trojan.Gen2” type program detected. This has never happen to me with any Blu-ray software that I have every used before. I decided to trust Corel and disabled Norton from automatically stopping and scanning the WinDVD Pro 12 software program. Corel most likely has some type of software code in the new WinDVD Pro 12 that reports user activity or it automatically checks for a software update every time the program is launched. Perhaps Corel one day will work with Norton to fix this issue so consumers can have an easy installation process (A Norton live update can be created to fix this issue, if in the future Corel WinDVD Pro 12 is put on Norton’s approved Trojan.Gen2 type software list).

One improvement with Corel WinDVD Pro 12 is that I was able to get BD-LIVE to work for the select few Blu-ray titles that use BD-LIVE. The old WinDVD Pro 11 I could never get BD-LIVE to work. Just like the old version, WinDVD Pro 12 does not have any menu options to turn off or on BD-LIVE, etc. PowerDVD 16 Ultra is still better for BD-LIVE since one can set the size of the persistent storage used and also one can clear the persistent storage (very easy to use menu options in PowerDVD 16 Ultra). Another issue with WinDVD Pro 12 is that it works fine with modern graphics cards, however if one has an old graphics card in their Laptop computer when playing modern 20th Century Fox Blu-ray titles, the software displays so many digital artifacts on the screen when the movie starts, that its basically unwatchable. This is only an issue for people that have outdated graphics cards with no more driver update support. On the other hand PowerDVD 16 Ultra will always play 20th Century Fox titles perfectly or not at all (if the software detects old graphics card, a pop up menu will appear in PowerDVD 16 Ultra to let the user know there is a incompatibility issue with the hardware). The latest software update to PowerDVD 16 Ultra also has a work around for some old graphics cards, and some old graphics cards will now play the latest 20th Century Fox Blu-ray titles with no problems (If there is an issue with the hardware, PowerDVD 16 Ultra pops up a message letting the user know there is a problem with the hardware and Blu-ray playback will be stopped).

On the positive side there is some improvements to WinDVD Pro 12 compared to WinDVD Pro 11. As mentioned before I was able to use BD-LIVE with the new software. In addition, when launching the program there is a green check mark icon on the top of the program that lights up when the software is up to date. This is an improvement since the new program keeps people informed when there is a software update. With the old WinDVD Pro 11 one normally had to manually check on the Corel website and do a manual download when software updates occurred. Automating the update process is a nice improvement.

Playing Blu-ray discs looked and sounded exactly the same as the older version of the software. The new features in WinDVD Pro 12 is the ability to play 4K video files that one makes themselves or downloads from the web (Will not play 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs). Also the new software claims to support up to 240fps. Both Blu-ray ISO format and DVD ISO format playback is supported for consumers that create their own home made ISO files from family videos, etc. Plus HEVC codec is supported which is mainly used by 4K Ultra HD encoding equipment.

Overall PowerDVD 16 Ultra is still the King of the Windows PC playback software for standard 2-D and 3-D 1080P Blu-ray watching. The only advantage of Corel WinDVD Pro 12 is that it’s a little bit cheaper in price. Therefore I highly recommend consumers use PowerDVD 16 Ultra for their main Blu-ray disc playback software on a Windows PC. However WinDVD Pro 12 is also recommended for people that want to have a backup Blu-ray software program. There will be that rare case when PowerDVD or WinDVD will not play a new release Blu-ray title, and one needs to launch the other program until a software update is issued. My point is that PowerDVD 16 Ultra will work 99% of the time for the latest new release Blu-ray movies, but that 1% of the time you are going to need to also own WinDVD Pro 12 until a software update is issued for PowerDVD 16 Ultra. You still need two Blu-ray software programs in the year 2016 to play 100% of all Blu-ray discs 100% of the time. Some consumers also own two different brands of standalone Blu-ray players just in case a new release does not play on one brand of Blu-ray player. Over the last 10 years the Blu-ray format has greatly improved when it comes to reliability. It is getting to the point that the Blu-ray format is as reliable as the DVD format most of the time as long as consumers keep their Blu-ray software/firmware updated every 6 months or so (new encryption key software updates are required to play some of the latest Blu-ray titles on the market that use the latest AACS encryption codes).

[zrdb]

Will you PLEASE stop using that huge font?

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On Feb 7th 2017 Corel released a software update for WinDVD Pro 12, this software update is called “Service Pack 1”. Corel fixed the issue with false antivirus software warnings occurring. The automatic update feature worked great, its been a while since I used WinDVD Pro 12, and as soon as I launched the Blu-ray software program, the green check box in the right hand corner of the screen changed to red to let me know there was a update available. The update was much easier to install compared to past versions of WinDVD Pro. Therefore WinDVD Pro 12 does offer a nice automatic software update feature that is easy to use.


quote


"Service Pack 1 is now available for Corel WinDVD Pro 12. This update includes the following changes:

• Improved ISO format support
• Improved high-resolution user interface support
• Resolves an issue that causes false antivirus software warnings"

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Important update: After installing Service Pack 1 the audio CD’s and DVD discs played fine. However, when I attempted to play a Blu-ray disc Norton Internet security flagged WinDVD Pro12 as a high security risk again.So I had to tell Norton to ignore this program and trust the Trojan.Gen2 type program Corel launches when playing Blu-ray discs. So an issue that causes false antivirus software warnings was not fixed for people that use Norton Internet Security.

If after every software update to Corel WinDVD Pro 12 results in me needing to insert a Blu-ray disc and disabling features in Norton Internet Security, then I most likely will never purchase WinDVD Pro again, since this is totally ridiculous and time consuming problem to fix after Corel issues an automatic software update.

[prerich]

I'm going to try WinDVD Pro 12 today. I was rather fond of WinDVD back in the day and they allowed me to get the upgrade since I had a registered version of ....Windvd Pro 9!!!!

I'm wondering if the 240fps is an expansion of their TrimensionDNM as Cyberlink only allows this feature for non HD content. Many people do not like "soap opera" effect, but I'm going to try it when I get home and report my findings.

[prerich]

Move along...nothing to see