Which DVD decoders work well in Vista?

[sync]

Which DVD decoders work well in Vista?

[JohnnyMalaria]

What do you mean be "decoder"? DVD playback or ripping?

For playback, Vista Home Premium and Ultimate have built-in support.

[sync]

I mean playback. I should have said "which DVD video decoders".

[JohnnyMalaria]

If you try to play DVDs via Media Player in Vista, it may not work (disc not recognized or something similar) - but if you launch Media Center and use it to play DVDs, it works very well.

[redwudz]

I use VLC for DVD playing as it handles the DVD format fairly well, menus and all, otherwise you may need to install a MPEG-2 codec. For most MPEGs and AVI, I like GOM player because of a simpler interface.

[sync]

If you try to play DVDs via Media Player in Vista, it may not work (disc not recognized or something similar) - but if you launch Media Center and use it to play DVDs, it works very well.

Yes, but I don't like Media Center.

I'm looking for a decoder to use with Zoom Player.

[redwudz]

You need the Pro version of Zoom to play DVDs with menus and navigation. I'm trying the Zoom WMV Pro version on my Vista computer and it works fine with a commercial DVD after a little setup. Or, as mentioned, VLC will also play a DVD and can use the DVD menus, etc.

[sync]

I have the Pro version. Which dvd video decoder are you using?

[redwudz]

FFDShow Video Decoder, ffdshow Audio Decoder, DirectSound Speakers (High Definition Audio Device) and the Video Renderer is VMR9 Windowless.

I haven't tried any other settings, as I don't have surround sound hooked up at the moment, just stereo.

[sync]

I get a filter connection error when I use FFDShow Video Decoder. At least I know now that it should work and it is worth troubleshooting.

[redwudz]

I reset FFDShow to default, then tried it again with the same selections as above, so it should work. I don't see a version # on FFDShow.

OK, I think I just figured it out. I had installed the Vista Codec Pack 4.3.5. last week. That may be why it's working this way.

I don't normally use codec packs, but this one seems to have a good track record of no problems and uses well known programs: http://www.digital-digest.com/software/Vista_Codec_Package.html The latest update was yesterday.

[sync]

You can see which decoder is being used while playing a DVD in ZP by right-clicking and looking under 'filter properties'.

[david3321]

ffdshow Audio Decoder, that is a good one

[redwudz]

Yes, it lists the same ones I posted above. If I try to register the filters, it can't find ffdshow.ax, but it plays perfectly anyway. When I check the graph, ffdshow.ax is listed from the Vista Codec Pack, so apparently it is using it.