InterVideo has updated its WinDVD movie software to version 6. In the Gold version (£30 inc. VAT) you’ll find a few extras have crept in since WinDVD 5. There’s added support for CPRM (Content Protection for Recordable Media), Intel’s High Definition Audio, Spatializer audio and, of course, you still get Dolby 5.1 surround sound. When you install WinDVD 6 it offers to handle the playback duties for Windows Media Player, Real Player10 and Quicktime, if you have these installed. It’s hard to see that WinDVD 6.0 Gold offers much of an incentive for the typical laptop owner to upgrade their DVD software, but paying the extra £20 for the Platinum version makes things better.

There’s the Audio Booster Pack with Dolby Digital EX, 92KHz/24-bit audio and DTS decoding, which was also in WinDVD 5 Platinum. New in version 6 is support for DVD-Audio playback. You’ll need a set of surround sound speakers to make use of these features. Platinum also includes the grandly titled Mobile Technology Pack, which adds a profile to Power Saving mode. However, this feature only kicks in when WinDVD is running to maximise battery life without letting your laptop drop to a screensaver while you’re watching a movie.

You also get support for WMV-HD (Windows Media Video High Definition), which uses a screen resolution of either 1920 x 1080 or 1280 x 720 pixels. The system requirements for WinDVD 6 are quite reasonable, calling for a Pentium III 500MHz with 128MB RAM and Windows 98SE onwards, although a recommended system will have a Pentium III 1GHz, 256MB RAM and either Windows 2000 or XP.

The grim news is that WMV-HD demands Windows XP with 512MB of RAM and a processor rated at 3GHz or more. We’ve saved the best feature until last. The Platinum version includes Trimension DNM (Digital Natural Motion) to enhance image quality. InterVideo tells us that it is the first PC software company to use this technology, which suggests that it is built into some domestic players. Although Trimension DNM requires a 2.8GHz Pentium 4, it ran successfully on our XP1500+ Athlon. The picture quality was wonderful, matching a decent domestic DVD player. Every frame was sharp and colour reproduction was flawless, while blacks and whites were completely convincing.

PRICE £43/£50 (EX/INC. VAT)
RATING 7
OS COMPATIBILITY Windows 98SE Me/ 2000/XP
CONTACT
Online only
www.intervideo.com