14 DAY TRIAL // Not many users require a new media player but, when it comes to rendering Blu-ray content on your computer, paid solutions seem to be the easiest way to go.
DVDFab’s Media Player is advertised by the developer as “the world's leading Blu-ray Player Software” due to its being able to run Cinavia-protected content and support of up to 7.1 multi-channel audio output.
The application is regularly available for $49 / €36 and, before shelling out the money, it can be tested for a period of 30 days, with all features enabled.
Getting it on the system is an easy job that runs you through the regular installation screens; simply follow the on-screen instructions and you’ll have it installed in no time.
The interface is straightforward, with a simple main application window that provides only a minimum of options at the beginning. Opening files can be done by dragging and dropping them in the main screen or by browsing for the items manually.
The list of supported formats comprises all the popular video types (AVI, MPEG1/2, MPEG4, MOV, FLV, WEBM, VOB) as well as audio files (AAC, MP3, FLAC, APE, MID, OGG, WAV). Furthermore, video data packaged as ISO can also be opened with the player.
Alternatively, DVDFab Media Player detects the optical drives automatically and it can play the video available, be it an Audio CD, a DVD, or Blu-ray content.
A small menu icon in the lower right-hand side of the application screen allows creating a playlist with all the files you want to watch or listen to. The details available include name of the file and its duration.
Also in the lower part of the screen there are the play and volume controls, which are nothing special and offer the possibility to move back and forth through the items in the playlist. Options for speeding up the playback forward or back are present as well.
The context menu in the video window provides access to functions that allow video, audio, and subtitle adjustments along with jumping to the main menu of the disc in the case of DVDs and Blu-rays or any of the available chapters.
Unlike some media players with Blu-ray support on the market, DVDFab’s product brings to the table a set of choices for tweaking up the video by allowing modification of the brightness, saturation, and contrast.
There are also some predefined settings for making the image brighter or softer, depending on the display rendering the movie and the surrounding environment.
Watching movies with DVDFab Media Player is just a matter of loading a disc and instructing the program to run it, which can be done with a couple of clicks.
In some cases, more adjustments may be necessary for a better experience, and the general configuration panel of the application makes available some useful options.
The developer integrated the possibility to automatically pause the video when the program is minimized. If you close it in the middle of a movie, it can resume the playback from the last location so that you don’t have to seek it manually.
Hardware acceleration is available, and it can be activated for VC-1, H264, and MPEG2 codecs through DXVA (DirectX Video Acceleration). The alternative, which is the default setting, is to use software acceleration (requires more CPU power).
In the case of audio (Dolby and DTS formats are supported), amplification can be used up to 60db; and if the video is not in sync with the sound, DVDFab Media Player offers the possibility to enable a slight offset and align them.
With subtitles, the possibilities include loading a particular file, changing the position on the screen, its size and color, as well as the style.
File associations are not automatically enabled for DVDFab, but the developer provides the possibility to make our own settings. In the configuration panel you can assign opening of any supported file formats with the player.
Taking snapshots from the running video is an option encountered in most video players and DVDFab’s makes no exception. The pics can be grabbed as PNG, BMP, GIF, or JPG and stored to a custom location.
This media player does not come with a full set of features to make for a home theatre experience or the functions for enabling effects and presets fit for the surrounding environment; but it packs just enough to provide an easy way to watch Blu-ray discs as well as other video content.
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NOTE: We’re giving away a total of 20 licenses for DVDFab Media Player in exchange for comments posted on the campaign announcement page (comments in the section below are not eligible for the campaign).
The opportunity expires on December 31, 16:00 UTC (8:00 PT) so make sure you post your lines by then and please provide a valid contact email address.
