Blu-Ray Player Software Recommendations

[Twitch213]

I'm looking to upgrade from Leawo's free Blu-Ray Player Software. The UI and "Menu" are terrible and it won't play some of my BDs. I thought a free program would've been fine since I have mostly DVDs, but it has been a hassle to navigate the handful of BDs that I've watched with it. 

 

I'm fine purchasing one but I have only heard bad things about different programs so I was hoping someone could help me find something else.

 

Also, I could just not know how to use Leawo correctly. So if anyone thinks that's my problem, let me know! ?

 

[Streetguru]

45 minutes ago, Twitch213 said:

 

An Xbone S works pretty well I hear

Last I checked Blu Ray playing software on PC sucked due to DRM BS

[FloRolf]

1 hour ago, Streetguru said:

An Xbone S works pretty well I hear

Last I checked Blu Ray playing software on PC sucked due to DRM BS

I advice against this. I bought my XBoneS basically just for 4k bluray and bluray playback and it's a pain in the arse. 

I've also tried PowerDVD12 (I think) on PC for Blurays and it also sucks balls. Best solution is a dedicated bluray player. They can also be bought for relatively cheap. 

[IrwinAllen13]

If a PC is a must then you have to investigate AACS2.0 and BD+ encryption. Pretty much you will have to pay for a solution, or depending on where you live you might have other options that are LEGAL. Based on what your location states, you don't really have any options other than pay for a Blue Ray Decryption program (like POWERDVD) or buy a bluray player.

[Twitch213]

Definitely not getting a new console. And I've only heard bad things about PowerDVD. I'd like to just get one of the premium programs but I guess no one recommends any of them? A dedicated player is a last resort.

[Stagea]

2 hours ago, Twitch213 said:

Definitely not getting a new console. And I've only heard bad things about PowerDVD. I'd like to just get one of the premium programs but I guess no one recommends any of them? A dedicated player is a last resort.

PowerDVD is probably the best PC software for this right now, but it sure isn't perfect. 

[dalekphalm]

On 2/19/2018 at 2:41 AM, Twitch213 said:

I'm looking to upgrade from Leawo's free Blu-Ray Player Software. The UI and "Menu" are terrible and it won't play some of my BDs. I thought a free program would've been fine since I have mostly DVDs, but it has been a hassle to navigate the handful of BDs that I've watched with it. 

 

I'm fine purchasing one but I have only heard bad things about different programs so I was hoping someone could help me find something else.

 

Also, I could just not know how to use Leawo correctly. So if anyone thinks that's my problem, let me know! ?

 

There aren't a lot of Software Blu-Ray players to begin with, and none of the Free ones will work well. Why? Because Blu-Ray is licensed. So a Free software either decodes the encryption illegally, or they don't get access to the latest codes and some discs simply won't play.

 

The best program USED to be Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre. It had the best interface, the best performance, etc. But Arcsoft discontinued it some time ago.

 

That means anyone who still owns a copy (I do), can still use it, but it won't be updated with new encryption codes, so newer discs probably won't work.

 

PowerDVD is probably the only remaining legit player. It has problems. It's kinda crap. But it's likely the best option out there.

[dalekphalm]

On 2/19/2018 at 4:59 AM, FloRolf said:

I advice against this. I bought my XBoneS basically just for 4k bluray and bluray playback and it's a pain in the arse. 

I've also tried PowerDVD12 (I think) on PC for Blurays and it also sucks balls. Best solution is a dedicated bluray player. They can also be bought for relatively cheap. 

What about the XBOX One S have you had problems with? I too own one. And it seems functional enough when playing Blu-Rays.

[FloRolf]

19 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

What about the XBOX One S have you had problems with? I too own one. And it seems functional enough when playing Blu-Rays.

It's a big pile of shit. I've had stutters when playing 4k blurays, which is pretty bad. 

Sometimes the thing needs updates which take forever even when my internet isn't actually too bad. That kinda ruins movie night.

Bluray Menu sometimes fucks up completely so i have to hard reboot the whole damn thing because it just doesnt work anymore. 

Generally Menu is shit with controller.

[dalekphalm]

12 minutes ago, FloRolf said:

It's a big pile of shit. I've had stutters when playing 4k blurays, which is pretty bad. 

Sometimes the thing needs updates which take forever even when my internet isn't actually too bad. That kinda ruins movie night.

Bluray Menu sometimes fucks up completely so i have to hard reboot the whole damn thing because it just doesnt work anymore. 

Generally Menu is shit with controller.

Hmm I see.

 

I haven't tried any 4K Blu-Rays yet (1080p TV). I also bought the Media Remote, because I use mine more as a Media box than a gaming device, most of the time.

[FloRolf]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

Hmm I see.

 

I haven't tried any 4K Blu-Rays yet (1080p TV). I also bought the Media Remote, because I use mine more as a Media box than a gaming device, most of the time.

Yeah, I bought mine only for bluray playback as well Was the cheapest 4k player back then but I'd never get one again. 

I have like, one hour Fifa game play and 2 hours Pac-Man on the console and that's it

[dalekphalm]

7 minutes ago, FloRolf said:

Yeah, I bought mine only for bluray playback as well Was the cheapest 4k player back then but I'd never get one again. 

I have like, one hour Fifa game play and 2 hours Pac-Man on the console and that's it

I got the BF1 edition, so BF1 came free. I then picked up Halo Master Chief collection, and Halo 5.

 

Other than those, I also have XBL Gold, so I've got like a few dozen free games from that.

[AshleyAshes]

5 hours ago, FloRolf said:

It's a big pile of shit. I've had stutters when playing 4k blurays, which is pretty bad.

Can you describe the 'sutter' in more detail?

[kirashi]

On 2/21/2018 at 8:27 AM, Twitch213 said:

Definitely not getting a new console. And I've only heard bad things about PowerDVD. I'd like to just get one of the premium programs but I guess no one recommends any of them? A dedicated player is a last resort.

DVDFab is the ONLY BluRay software that mostly works as advertised with all BluRays. They have a full suite of media tools, but also just a standalone player too, and can even remove Cinavia protection so you can watch the content you legally purchased a license for on any device you want, whenever you want, however you want. This is NOT an advertisement - I am just a happy user of their software, and make copies of stuff all the time for safekeeping and watching on my various devices. https://www.dvdfab.cn/

 

Is it expensive? You bet. Is it worth it? You decide. I even out the cost by billing the production studios via an undocumented indirect method each time I acquire content via the internet, although I do try to get physical copies of movies and TV shows that I do love. Piracy will go down when studios realize that people will buy more if you make content easier to acquire. I know it works because I haven't downloaded music from questionable sources since starting my Spotify subscription back when it became available in Fall of 2014.

[FloRolf]

7 hours ago, AshleyAshes said:

Can you describe the 'sutter' in more detail?

Puh, I haven't watched any recently but iirc it just skipped some frames from time to time. 

[AshleyAshes]

9 hours ago, FloRolf said:

Puh, I haven't watched any recently but iirc it just skipped some frames from time to time. 

Was it normally on slow or moderately slow camera pans and stuff, the kinda such that would typically exagerate stutter?

 

Frankly, I suspect the Xbox was operating fine and you're mistaking a 3:2 pulldown for the machine struggling.

[dalekphalm]

30 minutes ago, AshleyAshes said:

Was it normally on slow or moderately slow camera pans and stuff, the kinda such that would typically exagerate stutter?

 

Frankly, I suspect the Xbox was operating fine and you're mistaking a 3:2 pulldown for the machine struggling.

Indeed. If his TV can’t display proper 24p content, that’s possible. 

 

Traditional 60Hz TVs are particularly bad. You need to go with something like a 120Hz or 240Hz LCD TV, or most (all?) Plasma TVs. Or I suppose OLED is probably good too, considering they’re supposed to be the pinnacle of modern home entertainment TV tech. 

[AshleyAshes]

29 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

Indeed. If his TV can’t display proper 24p content, that’s possible. 

 

Traditional 60Hz TVs are particularly bad. You need to go with something like a 120Hz or 240Hz LCD TV, or most (all?) Plasma TVs. Or I suppose OLED is probably good too, considering they’re supposed to be the pinnacle of modern home entertainment TV tech. 

Yeah, I've seen it a lot, gamers confuse 3:2 pulldown for lag because they don't really understand 'frame time' even though outlets like Digital Foundry cover it all the time in regard to gaming.  Since it would be exceptionally strange for a functional Xbox One S to 'lag' during video playback.  Not to mention that HEVC decoding on the hardware decoder is basically a piece of cake.

[Zodiark1593]

Unless one is planning on ripping the Blu Ray discs, just buy a player and don't bother with Blu Ray on PC. They can actually be had cheaper than the PowerDVD player, and tend to be more reliable.

 

Even if you pay for a solution on PC, due to the ever changing encryption keys, you will likely have to buy again a year or so into the future. Blu Ray hasn't been truly cracked, which is why the state of Blu Ray playback is as terrible as it is now.  

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Unless one is planning on ripping the Blu Ray discs, just buy a player and don't bother with Blu Ray on PC. They can actually be had cheaper than the PowerDVD player, and tend to be more reliable.

 

Even if you pay for a solution on PC, due to the ever changing encryption keys, you will likely have to buy again a year or so into the future. Blu Ray hasn't been truly cracked, which is why the state of Blu Ray playback is as terrible as it is now.  

To be fair, true software players like PowerDVD will give you encryption updates, so as far as I'm aware, you're not forced to constantly upgrade via buying a new license. With that in mind, new features might be locked away behind a paywall by a newer version, such as 4K, HDR, and whatever the "next" thing will be.

 

But I still agree - a hardware Blu-Ray player tends to be more reliable. Though getting a newer one with network connectivity is a plus for firmware updates (sometimes required to watch new movies).

 

When I got my first Blu-Ray player, I also picked up Iron Man. I couldn't watch that movie until about 6 months later, when they released a firmware update. I had to burn the update onto a CD, and the player would read the file and pull the update off of it.

[AshleyAshes]

17 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

To be fair, true software players like PowerDVD will give you encryption updates, so as far as I'm aware, you're not forced to constantly upgrade via buying a new license. With that in mind, new features might be locked away behind a paywall by a newer version, such as 4K, HDR, and whatever the "next" thing will be.

 

But I still agree - a hardware Blu-Ray player tends to be more reliable. Though getting a newer one with network connectivity is a plus for firmware updates (sometimes required to watch new movies).

 

When I got my first Blu-Ray player, I also picked up Iron Man. I couldn't watch that movie until about 6 months later, when they released a firmware update. I had to burn the update onto a CD, and the player would read the file and pull the update off of it.

Yeah, while I've been collecting more BDs, I mostly rip them to play off my media server, but for consuming MOST of them, my PS4 will get the job done no problem.  Though I have some Region B disks from the UK that I'm SOL for.

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, AshleyAshes said:

Yeah, while I've been collecting more BDs, I mostly rip them to play off my media server, but for consuming MOST of them, my PS4 will get the job done no problem.  Though I have some Region B disks from the UK that I'm SOL for.

Yeah I do the same thing, but if I have an unripped Blu-Ray I want to watch, I'll pop it into the XBO S. Someone at work gave away Silence of the Lamb on Blu-Ray (looked brand new), so I took it home and watched it that night on the XBO S.

 

Still a fantastic movie.

[Zodiark1593]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

To be fair, true software players like PowerDVD will give you encryption updates, so as far as I'm aware, you're not forced to constantly upgrade via buying a new license. With that in mind, new features might be locked away behind a paywall by a newer version, such as 4K, HDR, and whatever the "next" thing will be.

 

But I still agree - a hardware Blu-Ray player tends to be more reliable. Though getting a newer one with network connectivity is a plus for firmware updates (sometimes required to watch new movies).

 

When I got my first Blu-Ray player, I also picked up Iron Man. I couldn't watch that movie until about 6 months later, when they released a firmware update. I had to burn the update onto a CD, and the player would read the file and pull the update off of it.

Good grief, terrible DRM in action right there. The PS3 was probably the best blu ray player in hindsight, though the DRM should be getting slammed in courts for breaking compatibility with older players. Not sure how studios have gotten away with such a DRM scheme, let alone the requirements for 4k pc playback. 

 

1 hour ago, AshleyAshes said:

Yeah, while I've been collecting more BDs, I mostly rip them to play off my media server, but for consuming MOST of them, my PS4 will get the job done no problem.  Though I have some Region B disks from the UK that I'm SOL for.

As I don't have a hardware player myself (I buy few enough Blu Rays as it is), I just grab a new beta key for MakeMKV, then copy to my drive. I don't really have a way to play them outside that. Old Blu Rays can play directly in Kodi or VLC with the right files and key database installed, though is very hit and miss.

 

Will region B not work on PC?

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

Yeah I do the same thing, but if I have an unripped Blu-Ray I want to watch, I'll pop it into the XBO S. Someone at work gave away Silence of the Lamb on Blu-Ray (looked brand new), so I took it home and watched it that night on the XBO S.

 

Still a fantastic movie.

One of my favorite movies. It puts the lotion on the skin or else its gets the hose again.  

[AshleyAshes]

1 minute ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Good grief, terrible DRM in action right there. The PS3 was probably the best blu ray player in hindsight, though the DRM should be getting slammed in courts for breaking compatibility with older players. Not sure how studios have gotten away with such a DRM scheme, let alone the requirements for 4k pc playback. 

 

As I don't have a hardware player myself (I buy few enough Blu Rays as it is), I just grab a new beta key for MakeMKV, then copy to my drive. I don't really have a way to play them outside that. Old Blu Rays can play directly in Kodi or VLC with the right files and key database installed, though is very hit and miss.

 

Will region B not work on PC?

Eh, Kodi's full menu support... Needs, er, some more time in the oven.   But they're def working on it.

A simpler solution may be to just burn region free BDRs of my legit Region B discs and then play them.  Ya know, in the off chance that I ever even want to use the menus in my a disc.