Blu-Ray Playback

Castiel · Apr 15, 2011

Hello Forum.

I am looking for some software that is great for Blu-Ray playback for a PC. I am looking at a Lite-On Blu-Ray player for my Pc, but reviews say that the software that comes with it is crap. Is there anything out there that y'all know is great Blu-Ray playback for PC besides Power DVD.

Thanks!

Techtu · Apr 15, 2011

VLC Player

Castiel · Apr 15, 2011

Techtu said:
VLC Player

That requires me to rip the Blu-Ray for VLC to play it. I really don't want to do that, I want playback from the drive.

Techtu · Apr 15, 2011

Sorry about that.

Castiel · Apr 15, 2011

No its cool. I've been looking at Nero 10 to use.

CJCerny · Apr 15, 2011

Corel's WinDVD and Arcsoft's Total Media Theater are your only other two choices.

lilhasselhoffer · Apr 15, 2011

Yeah, I have to agree with the rest of the forum. Lite-on's players have absolutely crap software. Not to mention the crappy support for digital audio output. I have had less issues with quality after I rip the stuff into an mkv. For disc playback it does eventually work, but requires a lot of initial work to get thing started.

Besides the crap software, check that your OS is supported. I tried to install it on xp x64 and the software had a fit. Apparently M$ never released updates to x64 that allows the authentication for hi-def playback. However, they have released it for x86 sp3 and all later OSs. Funny that the seller implies that x64 will see the drive (it does), but never say anything about playback support.

The other options are all pay to play, and they have a rather steep introductory price. I would suggest you start out looking into stand alone players. They are coming closer to the price of a drive (not counting the extra software purchase), but you don't have to deal with all of the playback issues.

avatar_raq · Apr 15, 2011

How about Cyberlink PowerDVD 10?

streetfighter 2 · Apr 15, 2011

I encountered this issue when I was building my HTPC. Unfortunately it's rather non-trivial

. None of the public/open-source players natively play blu-rays, at least not yet . . .

I got Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 9, which was pretty good but I had some problems with it and my laptop. I went on AVS forum, which is where all the HTPC experts hang out, and I found out about Total Media Theater (previously mentioned by CJCerny). Most of the patrons of AVS forum agreed that Total Media Theater was the way to go (NOTE: I last checked in mid 2010). I haven't tried it yet myself because I already plopped down 100 bones on PowerDVD . . .

Shoulda done my research before I wasted my money. . . :ohwell:

EDIT: Somewhat recent comparo of TMT3, PowerDVD 10, WinDVD 10.

Processor	Intel i5-3570K @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard	Asrock LGA1155 Z77 Extreme 4
Cooling	Cooler Master Evo 212
Memory	16GB (4X4) G.Skill Ripjaw 2 DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	Nvidia gForce GTX 660ti
Storage	1x Samsung 840 EVO 256GB 6Gb/s, 1x WD 500GB 6Gb/s, 1x WD 80GB 3Gb/s
Display(s)	ASUS VH242H Black + 2 HP 2311x 23" LED
Case	Fractal Design R4
Audio Device(s)	Realtek OnBoard Both
Power Supply	Cooler Master 850w
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

Processor	Intel i5-3570K @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard	Asrock LGA1155 Z77 Extreme 4
Cooling	Cooler Master Evo 212
Memory	16GB (4X4) G.Skill Ripjaw 2 DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	Nvidia gForce GTX 660ti
Storage	1x Samsung 840 EVO 256GB 6Gb/s, 1x WD 500GB 6Gb/s, 1x WD 80GB 3Gb/s
Display(s)	ASUS VH242H Black + 2 HP 2311x 23" LED
Case	Fractal Design R4
Audio Device(s)	Realtek OnBoard Both
Power Supply	Cooler Master 850w
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

Processor	Intel i5-3570K @ 3.4Ghz
Motherboard	Asrock LGA1155 Z77 Extreme 4
Cooling	Cooler Master Evo 212
Memory	16GB (4X4) G.Skill Ripjaw 2 DDR3-1600
Video Card(s)	Nvidia gForce GTX 660ti
Storage	1x Samsung 840 EVO 256GB 6Gb/s, 1x WD 500GB 6Gb/s, 1x WD 80GB 3Gb/s
Display(s)	ASUS VH242H Black + 2 HP 2311x 23" LED
Case	Fractal Design R4
Audio Device(s)	Realtek OnBoard Both
Power Supply	Cooler Master 850w
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

System Name	Main Rig
Processor	Athlon 5350
Motherboard	AsRock mITX
Memory	4gb
Storage	120gb Kingston HyperX SSD
Display(s)	Samsung Syncmaster 740N
Power Supply	Corsair 430 watt

System Name	Simon
Processor	Core i7 5820K @ 4.4GHz @1.25v core, 1.9v input, 1.12v system agent, 0.9v cache - 24/7 & P95 stable
Motherboard	ASUS X99 Deluxe U3.1, BIOS 3101
Cooling	Corsair H110i GTX + 2 x Corsair ML140 Pro Red LED, exhaust @ top panel
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX 4x 8GB 2666 MHz 16, 18, 18, 35, 2T (Stock)
Video Card(s)	MSI GTX 1080 Gaming X (OC BIOS), +60 MHz GPU, +450 MHz Memory
Storage	Samsung 960 Evo 500 Gb, WD Green + White Label, total 17 TB
Display(s)	3x Samsung CFG73 (24" 1920x1080, 144Hz) in 2D Surround, LG C7 OLED TV (55", 4K, 60Hz)
Case	Corsair 760T + Corsair SP120 Perf.Ed. + 3x ML 140 Pro Red + DEMCI Dust Filter Kit + DeepCool RGB LED
Audio Device(s)	Creative SB Z, Topping E30 + SMSL SP200, Hifiman 4XX, beyerdynamic 770 250Ω, Audeze iSine 10, HD6xx
Power Supply	Corsair RM1000i + APC BackUPS RS1500 (modded w/ 130 AH Kung Long Batteries) + APC Smart UPS SUA1500i
Mouse	Razer Naga Chroma + Reflex Lab Extended Mouse Pad + Xbox One S Controller + 3 x Xbox 360 Controllers
Keyboard	Corsiar K70 RGB (2016 Edition) Cherry Mx Red w/ custom Arabic-legend shine-through keycaps
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64 - ver. 20H2
Benchmark Scores	Onkyo TX-NR626 AV Receiver, speakers: 4x Yamaha NS-M325 + Yamaha NS-C3290 + Proson Libre Sub 8.1

Blu-Ray Playback

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