Home Theater Computer?

[Riddler The Slag]

Morning my friends. I am not entirely sure I am going to ask the right question but I really am having trouble figuring this out.

Is there some sort of media center or something where a person stores all of their blu-rays to watch any time. Like a computer etc....?

I see people do this and I am entirely clueless. Please help as this is something I am kind of interested in.

[bigshot]

I have a media server based on a Mac Mini. I run Plex and Kodi to catalog the files and give me a menu system with descriptions and graphics. It's connected to a bunch of Drobo disk arrays which are the protected storage. Google some of these terms and you'll get the basic idea.

Ripping blu-rays to digital files is possible, but not necessarily legal or space efficient.

[Starkscream]

I have a media PC integrated with my HT set up, but it's really just for music and random YouTubing with big speakers attached.

When it comes to storing Blu-rays digitally at 18-42 GB in my experience, you're talking a balance of a lot of storage and if\how much you may compress the rips. I stick to discs mostly because of this exact thing. That said, some people have found success in using software like Plex combined with network attached storage with multiple drives to achieve a digital movie collection.

[roar]

I believe any conversation of around the ripping/storage and subsequent playback of blu-rays is prohibited here on the forms... I think... it has been a while since I recall reading about this subject.

As others have already mentioned there are numerous methods to the playback of media files on a PC. Plex, Emby, Kodi, JRiver, MediaPortal so on and so forth.

There is a "legit" way to do it too if you've got deep pockets. https://www.kaleidescape.com/. They had shut their doors momentarily but I believe are back at it. I put legit in quotes because I'm not sure were they stand any more... regardless... it is the slickest solution you could ever hope for.

In regards to the size of digital blu ray files... hard drives are cheap, buy more and don't compress would be my recommendation.

[slimdude]

Storing blu-ray movies on a computer using any external media will occupy an enormous amount storage space on your hard drive, that you will need to purchase multiple external drives (which can be expensive) to accommodate your entire blu-ray collection. To eliminate all the extra work, time and money time to perform a consuming task such as this, personally I would just keep the movies stored (as is) in the rack, and save yourself the time and frustration. Unless it's really a necessity, why create a potential problem, more work and spend more money when you don't have to because, you already have the blu-ray discs anyway.. Make it easy on yourself.

[roar]

Originally Posted by slimdude

Storing blu-ray movies on a computer using any external media will occupy an enormous amount storage space on your hard drive, that you will need to purchase multiple external drives (which can be expensive) to accommodate your entire blu-ray collection. To eliminate all the extra work, time and money time to perform a consuming task such as this, personally I would just keep the movies stored (as is) in the rack, and save yourself the time and frustration. Unless it's really a necessity, why create a potential problem, more work and spend more money when you don't have to because, you already have the blu-ray discs anyway.. Make it easy on yourself.

I recently went back to playing physical media because I don't have a 4K ROM drive. The ease of playback on a well executed media center is second to none in the viewing experience. Taking physical out media of the case and loading the disc into the player and then waiting for all the forced messages and trailers is really for the birds once you've experienced the alternative. I find it so irritating having to sit through that.

The cost of storage these days is cheap. OP has 550~ movies at a generous average of 25GB that would put the need to about 14TB (Double that for redundnacy). 3TB drives are <$100. You're looking at < $1,000 to store your media... cheap? Perhaps the wrong word now that I've totalled that all up... but you could start with one drive and see if you like the experience and invest over time. What you have really nailed is the effort to back all that data up. It took me months to back up my modest <200 at the time collection. 500~ could take you a year!

I always think of this image when I play my fully legit paid for media...

[Show spoiler]

I think it sucks the people spending the money get an inferior experience.

[Riddler The Slag]

Yeah wasn't too keen on anything illegal.
I guess I will keep the physical media as is. Just takes up a lot of wall space is all. Having it in one place would have been nice.

Appreciate everyone's input.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by Riddler The Slag

Yeah wasn't too keen on anything illegal.
I guess I will keep the physical media as is. Just takes up a lot of wall space is all. Having it in one place would have been nice.

Appreciate everyone's input.

Have you ever thought about selling off the blu-ray movies that you rarely watch anymore, or don't have any interests on keeping? But you'll still may end up buying more blu-ray movies when new titles are released, then you would be right back where you've started from. Do you have a spare bedroom or a basement where you can store some of your blu-rays? There is no use of putting the discs in binders because, you will still have to empty cases to deal with.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by roar

I recently went back to playing physical media because I don't have a 4K ROM drive. The ease of playback on a well executed media center is second to none in the viewing experience. Taking physical out media of the case and loading the disc into the player and then waiting for all the forced messages and trailers is really for the birds once you've experienced the alternative. I find it so irritating having to sit through that.

The majority of blu-rays allow the viewer to skip over the trailers, and other advertisements, and go direct to the menu for the movie. All you have to do is press the forward button on the remote. You don't have to sit through them.

[roar]

Originally Posted by slimdude

The majority of blu-rays allow the viewer to skip over the trailers, and other advertisements, and go direct to the menu for the movie. All you have to do is press the forward button on the remote. You don't have to sit through them.

If that's the thing you're hanging your hat on so be it... but go ahead and pull out a stop watch and time from the moment you open the case until the moment the movie starts ... its no contest what the better experience is.

[jtu128]

Originally Posted by Riddler The Slag

Morning my friends. I am not entirely sure I am going to ask the right question but I really am having trouble figuring this out.

Is there some sort of media center or something where a person stores all of their blu-rays to watch any time. Like a computer etc....?

I see people do this and I am entirely clueless. Please help as this is something I am kind of interested in.

A $35 Raspberry Pi running Kodi will work perfect for you. However, if you are ripping your Blu-Rays to external storage that will require a rather large external HD and pray it never goes bad... not a very efficient solution.

[bigshot]

I agree that a media server is an infinitely better experience than fussing with physical media, especially when your collection is large. I operate a non-profit digital archive that serves film makers, so ripping and archiving isn't illegal for us. Having a large library that is instantly accessible and searchable in a variety of ways is extremely helpful for the researchers who use our collection. We have a proprietary database structure too, but our raw files are all catalogued in Plex.

[bluRazor]

I plan on backing up some of my collection soon. Maybe starting with some oop titles worth $ that dont have a ton of value to me. If backing up just movies & not extras id imagine you could save a ton of space.