Blu Ray Drive

[Disco5]

Can I run a Blu Ray Drive with the following specs:
2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550/4GB RAM & ATI Radeon HD 4800 1GB G/C?

Would blu ray films run ok or would it lag and not be worth upgrading?

 

[hat]

It'll be fine. Your card has full H.264 support, so it'll handle those blu-rays just fine. Be warned, however, it's not easy to put a blu-ray in a PC and just play it. You need specific software to play a blu-ray.

 

[Bill_Bright]

One of the big problems with playing Blu-ray disk movies in computers is the licensing. For any device (or operating system) to play pre-recorded Blu-ray movies, a licensing fee is supposed to be paid to the Blu-ray Disk Association. If Microsoft added Blu-ray support in Windows, it would add several dollars to the cost of every license consumers purchased. Since most Windows users don't care to watch pre-recorded Blu-ray movies on their computers, it makes sense not to include that in Windows.

So when buying a Blu-ray drive for your computer, if watching pre-recorded movies is a requirement, it is generally best to buy a "retail" drive as they generally come with the necessary software and license. Otherwise, as hat noted, you will need to obtain that software separately.

 

[Jetster]

^ and keep in mind Blue Ray OEM drives do not have the software to play Blue Ray disks

 

[Bill_Bright]

Right. I assumed that distinction was clear when I said to buy a "retail" drive, but I probably should have made the distinction instead of assuming - assuming always gets me in trouble.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

That's why it's less hassle and cheaper in the long run to just buy a compact home theater BD player, vs a built-in one for PC. Now granted, you CAN get CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra for as low as $40 when it's on sale, and it does play Blu-rays, but I've seen lots of people say you have to keep paying to upgrade to the latest version of it, because movie studios will change their licensing keys, then it won't work on newer movies. This is not the case with home theater Blu-ray players.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/46883049...75035&wl11=online&wl12=46883049&wl13=&veh=sem

 

[JL87]

I agree that a bluray drive for a pc is very hit and miss, and probably not worth it cost-wise, but it's not a total loss.

Last year I needed a new drive for my pc and found this one for a reasonable price on sale of 35.99 (Ignore the price in the link, it's not what I paid for it!)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136268

A decent, but not 100% solution for a player.

http://www.leawo.com/blu-ray-player/

I admit I haven't played a bluray on my computer in several months, but of the few I did try it did an ok job playing them. Some functions are missing/clunky but I'm guessing this has more to do with the fact that blurays are limited by the reasons stated in other posts.

As others have posted, if you need a player that will work with all blurays, a standalone player is the best bet!

 

[hat]

Another option is to rip the disc, copying a file to your PC that you'll have no issue playing. The issue with this, though, is blu-ray discs can be scrambled to discourage ripping. If you have a tv series disc, for example, the episodes can be all out of order. If you have a movie disc, there could be tons of titles to rip, all with varying lengths. If you choose the wrong one, the movie will play all out of order, as if somebody mixed the chapters up. You'd have to do some digging to figure out how to handle that.

 

[Atomic77]

who would want a blue ray on there computer there is really no need for it yet unless you don't have a tv or something or no place to watch movies.

 

[eidairaman1]

K-Lite or ccc

 

[Bill_Bright]

who would want a blue ray on there computer there is really no need for it yet unless you don't have a tv or something or no place to watch movies.

You've never heard of a HTPC? Plus you can save up to 100GB of data on writable Blu-ray disks.

 

[commission3r]

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lg-wh14ns40-blu-ray-writer-optical-drive-14x-bdr-cd-106-lg.html
use powerdvd for playback

 

[Shou Miko]

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lg-wh14ns40-blu-ray-writer-optical-drive-14x-bdr-cd-106-lg.html
use powerdvd for playback

Just keep in-mind that PowerDVD ain't happy with all dedicated sound cards u should be fine with most if not all standard onboard audio with Realtek audio chip.

 

[Frag_Maniac]

http://www.leawo.com/blu-ray-player/
Some functions are missing/clunky but I'm guessing this has more to do with the fact that blurays are limited by the reasons stated in other posts.

The main problem with Leawo, is it does not support any menu functions. That is because the founders of the Blu-ray format have refused to allow it on any free or open source player. Heck, they still don't allow extra content even on rental Blu-ray discs.

 

[Atomic77]

Nope I never heard of that.

 

[Bill_Bright]

That is because the founders of the Blu-ray format have refused to allow it on any free or open source player.

Nope I never heard of that.

Not without a licensing fee paid to the founders. This is exactly why Blu-ray support is not included in Windows, Mac, or Linux operating systems too. The Blu-ray conspirators... err... I mean Blu-ray consortium demands this fee (I've heard varying amounts from $5 to $10 per license) for every OS and every device sold if they support Blu-ray. For the estimated 300 million Windows 10 users alone, that would be $1.5 billion to $3 billion Microsoft would have had to pay - which of course would have been passed on to us consumers. Not going to happen as that would be unfair since most users don't watch Blu-ray movies on their computers.

Same with OEM Blu-ray players. If you want to play pre-recorded BDs you either need to buy software separately that includes BD licensing rights, or you buy the full retail version of the player. Or you buy a Blu-ray player intended for the home theater/home entertainment center and use that with your computer.

If you meant you never heard of a HTPC, when then ask your friend Google.

 

[Jetster]

Back when it started it was between Toshiba DVD-HD formats and Blue Ray by Sony and a couple of other companies. Sony realized the mistake (in their eyes) that was made with DVD. Which is why Sony players will only play limited formats. While other companies like Phillips will play any format (except Blue Ray) because of the license required.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I'm not sure it was a mistake for Sony. If it was, they are still laughing all the way to the bank.