What's new in Etymonix SoftReel 2.20
Jun 16, 2009
- Multiple fixes related to DVD playback:
- FIX: Crash with third-party DVD Navigator filters when "Drop frames to keep audio and video synchronized" setting was enabled
- FIX: DVD still pictures (menus) would not get displayed
- FIX: Possible video corruption when using Overlay Mixer
- FIX: DVBViewer 4.1.0.0 freezes when starting DVD playback
- FIX: MyTheatre 4.00 beta 11 freezes when starting DVD playback
- FIX: VCD/DVD playback with CyberLink DVD Navigator fails the first time but works afterwards
- FIX: Video freezes or remains black with DVD Navigator
- FIX: Picture slideshow VCD/SVCD discs would not play properly
- FIX: Improved frame rate change detection
- NEW: Implemented support for various picture aspect ratios (5:4, 3:2, 8:5, 5:3 and 17:9)
- FIX: Aspect ratio settings other than 'Automatic' would not work properly
- FIX: Aspect ratio setting change now takes effect on-the-fly
- FIX: Improved support for MPEG-1 streams
- NEW: Experimental support for Windows 7 RC1
- Minor performance optimizations
New in Etymonix SoftReel 2.10 (Dec 31, 2008)
- NEW: In registered version, maximum number of simultaneous video streams that can be played is now unlimited for all v2.x user licenses
- NEW: Enabled picture-in-picture (PiP) in third-party applications that support this feature, for all v2.x user licenses
- NEW: SoftReel now works with ProgDVB
- REGRESSION FIX: Seek while playing, seek while paused, or play after stop was broken in v2.10 beta 1, resulting in choppy video playback
- To allow users to better evaluate the video quality, the bottom watermark in the trial version is now briefly displayed periodically (once every few minutes) instead of being permanently visible
- Improved playback of unencrypted DVDs (but no menus yet)
- Improved support of third-party DVD Navigator filters
- Added DVD input format (MEDIATYPE_DVD_ENCRYPTED_PACK) to configuration settings to support Microsoft DVD Navigator (disabled by default to avoid breaking playback of encrypted DVDs)
- FIX: Improved smoothness of video playback
- FIX: In rare cases, loss of A/V sync was slow to recover
- FIX: Start of playback was sometimes slightly jerky
- FIX: Some pictures at start of playback were not being displayed
- FIX: In DVBViewer Pro, Preview and Mosaic views would not work with single-stream licenses
- Improvements for stability and robustness
- Improved compatibility with third-party filters
- Improved handling of non-standard streams
- Renamed input/output pins to "MPEG In" and "Video Out" respectively
New in Etymonix SoftReel 2.10 Beta 1 (Jul 11, 2008)
- Numerous fixes and improvements for DVB applications (DVBViewer, DVBDream, MyTheatre)
- Added deinterlacing support (performed by graphics cards) - NOTE: Deinterlacing is CPU-intensive
- FIX: Horizontal bands and artifacts around moving objects in interlaced video when viewed on progressive display screens
- Added configuration setting to toggle deinterlacing (default is enabled)
- Implemented 3:2 pulldown (telecine) support
- FIX: Various playback problems (A/V sync, choppy video, video played too fast or too slow, stuttering audio) with some streams (including VOB files)
- Microsoft MPEG-2 Demultiplexer is now supported (connection no longer fails)
- FIX: Improves playback of captured DVB files
- Improved video timing locking and accuracy
- FIX: Intermittent black flash in DVBDream
- FIX: A/V sync could drift over a long period of time in DVB applications
- Added support for changes to the stream format (such as resolution):
- FIX: In MyTheatre, audio plays but video remains black
- FIX: Changing channels in DVB applications was not functioning properly
- FIX: Video corruption (upside-down picture, wrong colors, slanted video, video wrapped around from bottom to top of window, video scaled incorrectly, video in top-left corner of window, duplicated image, etc)
- FIX: Frame rate changes caused various playback problems (A/V sync, choppy video, video played too fast or too slow, temporary video freeze)
- FIX: DVBDream crash when tuning some HD channels
- FIX: Access violation with some channels in MyTheatre
- FIX: Improved handling of non-standard streams
New in Etymonix SoftReel 2.01 (Mar 28, 2008)
- CRITICAL FIX: On multi-processor systems (includes processors with Hyper-Threading Technology, processors with 2 or more cores, or multi-socket systems), a buffer overflow condition can occur with some MPEG streams, causing stack corruption and unexpected termination of the application
New in Etymonix SoftReel 2.00 (Mar 10, 2008)
- Disabled "Use Overlay Mixer" setting in Windows Vista (playback would fail in Windows Media Player)
- SoftReel license would immediately expire in a user account without Administrator privileges
- A new installation of SoftReel would immediately expire if a prior version was not uninstalled properly
- REGRESSION FIX (introduced in 2.00 beta 5): On Windows Me/98/95, playback could not resume after stopping
- SoftReel setting "Use advanced video display (Overlay Mixer)" has been renamed to "Use Overlay Mixer"