Whereas PowerDVD 8 was a modest upgrade from PowerDVD 7, aimed at making PowerDVD more 'fun' as opposed to any real playback improvements, PowerDVD 9 sets the standard for home theatre playback with superior video and audio performance. Colours look more natural and contrast is greatly improved, so you'll see more detail in those extra dark and extra light movie scenes. To top it off, the program is simple to use. It adapts the video to your specific monitor or screen size so you'll have no more spaces, just optimal picture with the best ratio for your screen, and unlike most DVD player software it can play movies directly from your hard drive. If you only want a DVD player that supports MPEG-4 you'll save money with PowerDVD 9 Deluxe (from 25.29/$49.99). If you want to read Blu-ray discs, PowerDVD 9 Ultra (from 46.33/$69.99) is the way to go.