It is my understanding that because of the strict hardware security requirements that are in place a software decoding of Dolby Vision HDR is not allowed by the BDA on a PC, and instead consumers may need to wait until Intel releases a new CPU that offers hardware support for Dolby Vision HDR. However, at this time PowerDVD 18 Ultra does not support Dolby Vision HDR technology, maybe a future software update might add Dolby Vision HDR or maybe consumers might have to wait until PowerDVD 19 Ultra is released in 2019 before they see Dolby Vision support. Also support for HDR10 is included in PowerDVD 18 Ultra for those that have the latest desktop computer monitor with HDR10 technology (or for connection of a 4K Ultra HD projector or flat panel with HDR10). I hope that one day Corel well one day release a software player that supports 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs.

At the time of this post there is no other brand of computer software on the market that supports the playback of 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs. With PowerDVD 18 Ultra (also PowerDVD 17 Ultra offers this feature too), consumers can play the new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray discs on a Windows PC if they have the proper equipment. If one owns one of the rare flat panels or projectors with a 21:9 (2:35:1) aspect ratio, this years version of PowerDVD Ultra well intelligently adjust playback to make the image fill the screen without any letterboxing or black bars. There are several minor improvements with PowerDVD 18 Ultra and only one new feature for Blu-ray users.

There really is not that much difference between the 2018 PowerDVD 18 Ultra and the 2017 PowerDVD 17 Ultra software. Standalone Blu-ray players are always called Blu-ray players and sometimes called Blu-ray/DVD players on the retail box. Cyberlink still calls this software PowerDVD, instead of using a name like Power Blu-ray (Corel for some reason does the same thing with its Blu-ray software by calling it WinDVD Pro instead of Win Blu-ray). Installation of Cyberlink PowerDVD 18 Ultra was very easy.

Inside the retail box is a CD-ROM for easy installation on a Windows PC. Cyberlink PowerDVD 18 Ultra retail box with CD-ROM (brief user review)įor $ 98.99 plus free shipping I received the full retail box version of Cyberlink PowerDVD 18 Ultra.

Cyberlink powerdvd ultra 18