HTPC Optical Drives with UHD and HDR capability

[ADF]

Hello, 

 

BLUF: I am in need of an internal optical drive that is has HDR UHD capability, and would like help if you know of some drives that are suitable.

 

Body:

I am a fan of HTPCs that replace most of the entertainment center to include consoles and BR players, i have one that i made a few years back however my drive is not UHD HDR capable, i was looking to upgrade it while also building HTPCs for my brother and his friend to move into the PC gaming world from console. 

 

They have both also requested optical drives capable of UHD HDR formats and playback.  However, I have only found 2 internal drives on the market that seems to have both capabilities Pioneer (BDR-212UBK), Pioneer BDR-212UBK and the Pioneer (BDR-211UBK)  Pioneer BDR-211UBK. 

 

The  BDR-211UBK is an outdated drive and found it on amazon, but the description is written strangely, in bold writing it says "Ultra HD Blu-ray is supported only if a display is powered by Intel Graphics and supports HDCP 2.2. If your computer includes more than one graphics processor, Ultra HD Blu-ray is supported only on the display that is connected and powered by Intel Graphics."

 

Does this mean i can't use a graphics card like a 2070 for the display output to use the drive for BD playback????  Or does it mean that i just can't have a Intel CPU without integrated graphics like a I5-9600KF, but am able to use a graphics card as long as the CPU has integrated graphics?

 

I don't see how that would be an issue.  I know that everything needs to be capable of it down the line to the monitor or TV, even now my graphics card and Pioneer ELITE receiver are HDCP capable... (refer to attached image)

 

in both of these drives too, the only mention of HDR is it saying that if you have a non HDR display media will be output as SDR and they do not simply advertise the HDR capability.  very confusing...  Please help..

 

I was curious if anyone had any other models, options or any luck with using these drives and could elaborate on the requirements for HDR UHD playback on PC? 

 

 

 

 

 

TLDR: I need to upgrade my BLU-RAY drive in my HTPC and build 2 HTPCs for other people with HDR UHD capable BLU-RAY optical drives.  However, i am unsure about the system requirements for a drive i found that may work and found another drive that may work but it doesn't state it is HDR capable, it only mentions that HDR media will be converted to SDR media if connected to a non HDR display.  i'm looking for insight, and suggestions as well as other options for drives.

[SupaKomputa]

For HDR to work you need a HDR capable display, if no hdr display found it will shown as SDR quality.

You also need a GPU that can process the HDR, bare in mind the HDMI port should be at least 1.4 for 4K-30fps.

 

For HTPC recommend a 2200g or better since vega can support HDR 10bit so you don't need another GPU which saves some space. And most hdmi port in newer motherboard have 1.4.

[ADF]

3 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

For HDR to work you need a HDR capable display, if no hdr display found it will shown as SDR quality.

You also need a GPU that can process the HDR, bare in mind the HDMI port should be at least 1.4 for 4K-30fps.

 

For HTPC recommend a 2200g or better since vega can support HDR 10bit so you don't need another GPU which saves some space. And most hdmi port in newer motherboard have 1.4.

I'm more looking for drives that are capable, and these systems will have gaming graphics cards as the primary output to be used as HTPC/Gaming computers to replace consoles.  The graphics cards will have 1.4 and will be HDCP capable.  1 drive i found though, states that it can ONLY use intel graphics to output UHD (doesn't make sense to me).  I just want to make sure that the drives i go with will have the capabilities and will work with and push through the graphics cards.

[PlayStation 2]

13 minutes ago, ADF said:

I'm more looking for drives that are capable, and these systems will have gaming graphics cards as the primary output to be used as HTPC/Gaming computers to replace consoles.  The graphics cards will have 1.4 and will be HDCP capable.  1 drive i found though, states that it can ONLY use intel graphics to output UHD (doesn't make sense to me).  I just want to make sure that the drives i go with will have the capabilities and will work with and push through the graphics cards.

It's essentially a DRM-thing that a UHD-BR disc needs to play, provided you have the software and hardware to play it back. I believe you have to use an Intel CPU's iGPU for playback and it's gotta be Kaby Lake or newer.

Welcome to the PC experience, where you're treated like a thief for buying very expensive hardware just to play these damn discs on your desktop.

 

To answer your question at hand, both of the Pioneer drives should support UHD-BR just fine. If your display supports HDR and the software supports HDR, it should also play back in HDR.

[ADF]

25 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

It's essentially a DRM-thing that a UHD-BR disc needs to play, provided you have the software and hardware to play it back. I believe you have to use an Intel CPU's iGPU for playback and it's gotta be Kaby Lake or newer.

Welcome to the PC experience, where you're treated like a thief for buying very expensive hardware just to play these damn discs on your desktop.

 

To answer your question at hand, both of the Pioneer drives should support UHD-BR just fine. If your display supports HDR and the software supports HDR, it should also play back in HDR.

Lol, Thanks man!  so just to clarify though, you are saying that the CPU needs to have integrated graphics (for whatever reason) but the display can come from the graphics card? 

 

The budgets for the two guys has me looking to cut costs (+-$20) by getting a 9600KF without integrated graphics, but i need the integrated graphics for everything to jive?

[PlayStation 2]

4 minutes ago, ADF said:

Lol, Thanks man!  so just to clarify though, you are saying that the CPU needs to have integrated graphics (for whatever reason) but the display can come from the graphics card? 

 

The budgets for the two guys has me looking to cut costs (+-$20) by getting a 9600KF without integrated graphics, but i need the integrated graphics for everything to jive?

You actually have to use the iGPU's output for it. Sorry if I wasn't clear about it.

[ADF]

11 minutes ago, handymanshandle said:

You actually have to use the iGPU's output for it. Sorry if I wasn't clear about it.

No you were pretty clear, i was just hoping i misunderstood...  That's really stupid though, i'm not a fan.  people can play HDR games from GPU's but the film industry wants you to use integrated graphics because what?  they think people can't figure out a way to screen record or something?? honestly i can't make sense as to why they are so particular.  I remember having issues playing back HD netflix with my GTX 1060 a while ago but my little mini acepc in the bedroom had no problem.  that got fixed though (i believe through updating definitions of HDCP enabled devices).  It's such a strange problem to have.