New Screen and How to play DVDs

[nexusone]

Hi - just yesterday I purchased a Viewsonic VX922 19" LCD. Its just a brilliant screen for the money. Decided not to go widescreen as I wasn't 100% sure my graphics card would support it. Very happy with my decision after a year with a 15" CRT.

My computer is over 5 years old, PIII type, but still works fine. I recently added a DVD burner. I installed the NERO 7 provided, but thought it was awful and uninstalled it.

Now plan to install a version of Ashampoo I got on a magazine cover - anyone used it?

I'd also like to play a DVD on my new screen. I beleive I need to install a codec - any advice on which one is best to install.

Afraid I'm a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to multimedia.

Cheers,

Steve

[q9]

Klite codec pack should help - download it and install. Although Media Player should be able to play DVD's - depending what version you have. You could try upgrading that through Windows Update and see if it that works for you.

[manoftalent]

this site has a ton of stuff and is safe to dl from, I have used it many times.... http://www.click-now.net/downloads13.htm

and I burn my stuff with "sonic"...never had any drama with it , I would use windows media player to play with until you get used to playing media files ...

[nexusone]

Thanks guys - I will try the K Lite codec pack first.

Q9 - I did not know the meaning of your byline so Googled the S word. Well the results were explosive and I was worried all night I was going to get a visit from the Feds. I imagine they have all sorts of email and other scanning tools looking for such words. Anyway at least I am a little better educated.

Back to the subject - what do you know about AC3 filters and which one should be installed etc???

Steve

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

To play DVD movies I use PowerDVD which is designed for just that purpose. As such, it has full menu and chapter support, switchable screen format, etc, etc... the same as you'd expect from a DVD player hooked up to a TV. (And no need to chase up codecs. :wink:)

Another similar one worth looking at is WinDVD.

I think both programs are commercial SW, but have free functional demos available for DL. A quick Google should let you know one way or t'other.

[Master Splinter]

The VideoLan (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/) media player ticks all the right boxes for me. Supports more media types than you can poke with a stick, open source and free. It also lets you skip through those unskippable "you wouldn't steal a..." ads, FBI warnings, trailers and so on. (talk about punishing me for buying the disc - making me watch that rubbish every time, FFS, I just want to watch the movie!)

[munruben]

If you have windows XP you can download XP Codec pack which includes Windows classic media player. This pack will play just about any video you come across.
I think Klite also includes classic media player.

[PenTurner]

Power DVD is the one I fall back on when all the others fail. Amos:)

[nexusone]

Thanks for the advice guys. I ended up installing the KLite codec pack (because it was free). It also included Media Player Classic.

It worked a treat. Seems I can play just about any format in either Windows media player or classic player.

Cheers - Steve