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Cannot watch DVDs within Vista Media Center or Windows Media Player 11
Hi, I have a new Studio Hybrid with Windows Vista Home Premium installed. It also cam pre-loaded with Cyberlink PowerDVD. DVDs play fine in PowerDVD, but I prefer to watch them in Vista Media Center b/c I am using this as a media PC hooked to my flatscreen and use a Vista remote for navigation...its just easier to get around than using a keyboard and mouse. Anyway, when I try to watch a regular, store-bought DVD using Media Center (or Windows Media Player 11) I get audio, but the image is pixilated and goes black. Vista Home Premium is supposed to have a DVD decoder included (Home Basic doesn't). Is there an issue with PowerDVD and the Vista built-in decoder not playing nice? Should I just try and uninstall PowerDVD?
Thanks in advance for any help.
DELL-Jesse L
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December 16th, 2008 10:00
MacNachtan,
Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.
Change the Hardware Acceleration by following the steps below.
Click Start in the lower left corner of Windows Vista.
Click Control Panel, click Appearance and Personalization, click Personalization, click Display Settings, and then click Advanced Settings.
Click the Troubleshoot tab, and then click Change Settings.
Note: Change Settings will be disabled if the graphics card drivers do not support disabling hardware acceleration.
Move the Hardware Acceleration slider until it is one notch to the right of None. This is the basic acceleration setting. Try them all with windows media player
Click OK twice, and then close the window.
MacNachtan
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December 21st, 2008 11:00
Its a Dell Studio Hybrid. The Intel on-board video chip's drivers won't allow you to disable hardware acceleration.
sarwarmd
3 Posts
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January 7th, 2009 19:00
Hi,
I have the same problem on XP. I tried to follow the similar as explained earlier and that did not help.
Thanks a lot in advance,
Sarwar
robskiday
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February 3rd, 2009 15:00
I have the exact same problem with a Studio Hybrid too - I have a feeling its a daft DRM protection issue. I can play store-bought DVDs no problem in VLC or PowerDVD, but they play back terribly in Vista Media Centre and WMP to the point that they are entirely unwatchable. The picture and audio is entirely broken up. What is interesting is that I could play a ripped DVD that had had the DVD protection removed without problem. It stands to reason therefore that DRM could well be the cause. I am in the process of downloading a trial copy of AnyDVD to see if this helps - as its meant to remove all DVD DRM (in the background) as soon as you load a DVD into your PC.
Why Vista Media Centre and WMP should have a problem with a completely legitimate commercial DVD is beyond me - it must be a bug at the very least - not being able to recognise a genuine DVD.
I have a feeling Dell are aware of this issue - why else would they ship the system with Media Direct (another basic barebones DVD player software)?
I also plan to pop by the local PC store at the weekend to see if there demo model does the same thing.
Will report back when I know more.