Can software/hardware decoders coexist?

[matteng]

Can I run both a hardware decoder and a software decoder on the same system? For example, I have a hardware decoder which I use for viewing DVDs on a television, but when watching DVDs on my computer monitor, a software decoder seems to give a higher quality. Will I be able to install two separate programs, one for the hardware decoding and one for the software decoding? If so, are there any special settings or utilities I need? Thanks in advance.

[squidgy]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought you'd still need player software like PowerDVD or WinDVD to play movie DVD's even if you do have a hardware decoder. It includes all the decoding software itself, so that's what it uses unless a hardware decoder is available, or if you've configured it not to use the hardware decoder.

I could be wrong, though, matteng's post made me wonder about this, and since it's related, I thought I'd stick it in the same thread in the hope that someone can comment on this at the same time. Thanks.

[Mpegger]

I run my Hollywood+ and PowerDVD just fine here. I find that the Hollywood+ gives a better, sharper, cleaner image then PowerDVD, but its audio options as compared to PowerDVD are next to none. Either you use a external Dolbly Digital decoder with the Hollywood+, or live with plain 2 channel sound if you have a 4 channel sound card.

[epicasino]

As far as I know hardware decoders use their own software. Software decoders (like PowerDVD) can't use a hardware decoder (that's why they are "software" decoders), but they can use "hardware acceleration" if your video card has it. Using hardware acceleration decreases quality a bit though.