4K UHD Blu-ray Playback on PC Desktop is officially dead in 2021?

[BijouMan]

Originally Posted by apollo828

Up to a certain point, it should. The software has to go online in order to support new AACS versions. If you have an older disc, you should be fine, unless Cyberlink is monkeying with the software in other, unnecessary ways. Newer AACS versions? That's a roll of the dice.

If newer discs use newer AACS versions, then how come people with the OPPO machines (released in 2017) are still able to play the latest discs? The final update was back in 2019. In the early days of the format, they were talking about discs that would require online authentication the first time they were played on a given machine, but as far as I can tell, no such disc was ever released.

[apollo828]

Originally Posted by BijouMan

If newer discs use newer AACS versions, then how come people with the OPPO machines (released in 2017) are still able to play the latest discs? The final update was back in 2019. In the early days of the format, they were talking about discs that would require online authentication the first time they were played on a given machine, but as far as I can tell, no such disc was ever released.

It depends on if the player keys have been revoked. That has happened to PowerDVD in the past, and it's possible they'll be revoked again in the future, either because they've been compromised or as a preventative measure in case they're currently being used but nobody has noticed.