There are all the usual PowerDVD extras. TrueTheater enhances video and sound for the best quality; an ultra-configurable library helps you manage your media collection; there's excellent media streaming (DLNA) support, built-in online movie info, a music store and more, all of which can be remotely controlled from iPhone or Android devices via PowerDVD's companion app.
Version 14 comes with a free year's subscription to 10GB of space on CyberLink Cloud, where you can store media, sync it across your devices or share it with others.
This new focus on the cloud is supported by a new Power Media Player app, which supports streaming or copying your media across iPad, Android and Windows 8 devices.
Expanded video format support sees PowerDVD able to handle High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC/H.265) movies, the latest UltraViolet content, and more.
PowerDVD sees much improved YouTube support. "Pin" a YouTube video and it can be watched offline, and viewed just like any other clip: upscaled to HD or 3D, enhanced using TrueTheater, and browsed via PowerDVD's fast forward and slow-motion features.
CyberLink says the new release includes a further 50 new and enhanced features.
As you might expect, the end result is far from lightweight. After installation and setup, PowerDVD grabbed 391MB on our test PC.
The program does have an amazing feature set, though. It's easy to use, and despite its many modules, launched and worked very quickly for us. If you need a media player which does absolutely everything, PowerDVD is still the very best choice around.
Please note, PowerDVD is available in three main editions. We've described the high-end PowerDVD 14 Ultra. PowerDVD 14 Pro drops CyberLink Cloud, 3D and UltraViolet CFF, as well as the Power Media Player. PowerDVD 14 Standard also drops Blu-ray and AVCHD support.
