Santa Clara, Calif. — CyberLink launched Tuesday the next iteration of its popular PC-based optical disc and video playback software — PowerDVD 13 — offering such upgrades as lossless HD Audio (APE/FLAC) and AVCHD 2.0 1080p/3D support.
CyberLink, which said its PowerDVD software now numbers shipments of more than 100 million players annually, has improved the program with new levels of mobility support for most popular tablets and smartphones.
The software also includes improved “TrueTheater” picture quality enhancements offering “better-than original” images, even for Blu-ray Disc material. Without up-scaling, TrueTheater is now able to improve image brightness, detail and sharpness.
New UltraViolet digital download support will provide Cloud-based access to movies and TV shows in countries where the service becomes available.
PowerDVD 13 Ultra comes with more than 60 new and enhanced features, including new file playback in Cinema mode in addition to the aforementioned TrueTheater enhancements.
The software now has improved start-up speed and responsiveness, using new architecture and application optimization. The company said Blu-ray movies now start up to 58 percent faster with CyberLink’s BD-Live bypass option, enabling photos, videos and music to start playing back almost instantly.
Support is offered in PowerDVD 13 for all popular video, audio, photo and music formats from discs or files, including new AVCHD 2.0, lossless APE audio, 4K and MKV, and comes with a new mini player mode for music.
For enhanced mobile device compatibility, in addition to Apple and Android smartphones and tablets, PowerDVD Mobile is now available for Windows 8 tablets. This is said to be the only multimedia software to support MKV and DTS playback under Windows 8.
PowerDVD 13 users can also stream and copy content seamlessly across connected devices on home networks.
A new movie library is added offering key information including cover art, plot synopses and reviews curated from leading entertainment websites as well as CyberLink’s online community, MoovieLive.com.
Other new enhancements in PowerDVD 13 include: High DPI mode, auto TV’s refresh rate for DVDs, enhanced DLNA compatibility, a new subtitle rendering engine, folder drag-and drop support for starting playback, new playback controls and others.
CyberLink PowerDVD 13 is available now from the CyberLink online store in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Japanese, Korean, Russian and Portuguese.
Versions including PowerDVD 13 Ultra ($99.95 suggested retail), PowerDVD 13 Pro ($79.95), and PowerDVD 13 Deluxe ($54.95)
Upgrades from previous PowerDVD versions are available starting at $39.95.
The new PowerDVD Mobile and PowerDVD Remote apps can also be found on the Apple Store and Google Play Store. PowerDVD Mobile for Windows 8 is available from the Windows Store.
PowerDVD Mobile for PowerDVD 13 Ultra users is free; PowerDVD Mobile for PowerDVD 13 Pro/Deluxe users is $19.99 for iOS/Android.
PowerDVD Mobile for PowerDVD 13 Pro/Deluxe users in Windows 8 is $14.99.
PowerDVD Remote is free for PowerDVD 13 users.
