The Ultimate BLU-RAY player software faceoff (4 different computer software packages)

[javagenius]

Thsnk you for this thread.

I have MKV file (HD contents) and I want to author it to Blu-ray disk. So, I can watch it in a standalone Blu-ray player or PS3. Which software enables me to author it ??

thanks

[HDTV1080P]

EVGA X58 SLI Classified Desktop motherboard detailed memory info

Regarding the EVGA X58 SLI Classified Desktop Board mentioned on the first post of the thread. I should have originally mentioned the brand and model of the memory I used to get 12GB working at 1600MHZ. First I tried several models of OCZ DDR3 memory that claimed that they were triple channel designs especially made for the X58 motherboards. The problem I ran into is that several memory modules I tested that were labeled as X58 triple channel would burn out when under clocked to 1600MHZ with 12GB of memory installed. They just were either a bad quality memory batch I received or they just could not handle the heat being generated with 12GB running in triple channel mode at 1600MHZ even though the memory was being under clocked. I finally ended up using the OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Flex EX series that is marketed as a 2000MHZ DDR3 memory for dual channel use. Even though this dual channel Flex EX series memory is cheaper then the X58 triple channel memory models I tried it works perfectly fine in triple channel mode at 12GB. I built one PC for someone that is using this memory at 4GB in dual channel mode at 1867 MHZ and it works fine. I also built one PC that uses this Flex Memory in triple channel mode at 1600MHZ using 12GB of memory and it works perfectly fine.

The 2000MHZ OCZ DDR3 PC3-16000 Flex EX can handle extreme heat with its excellent heat sink that is built in. I am not using any liquid cooling at all to keep costs lower and the PC's are running just fine. I even tested them in an extreme high temperature environment over several weeks and this X58 EVGA motherboard and OCZ memory holds up very good with no liquid cooling even at high room temperatures. The motherboard and memory support liquid cooling for even greater performance.

One thing about this motherboard and memory configuration. It is extremely fast, I have never seen a faster home PC yet. The PC is also very stable and has never locked up. This speed does come with a cost. It does generate a lot of heat with the fans in the PC increasing the room temperature in the room. Perhaps maybe when I build the next PC I might use liquid cooling to keep the PC cooler and have less heat being generated.
Here is a link to the memory that was used in the motherboard

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_ddr3_pc3_16000_flex_ex_series

Update on memory issue


Normally the PC's I build for friends or family members are used for 5 years or longer and most of them leave the computer power running 24 X 7 over several years. Computers last longer when they are at a constant temperature and not being turned on and off constantly. Turning anything on and off causes a small surge, also a good UPS with power conditioner is ideal for PC's.

One person I built a PC for several months ago that uses the X58 motherboard with 12GB of memory started turning the computer on and off every day. Then one day this person had problems with the PC rebooting, loading windows ,and freezing. When I checked the PC out the memory test showed that the PC was running fine with no errors but it sometimes would have trouble loading windows and freezing.

The problem turned out to be the memory chips aging issue. The computer use to work fine with 12GB of memory running at 1600MHZ using a voltage applied to the memory of 1.70 Volts. The computer started having problems rebooting and locking up because the memory chips could no longer handle 12GB at 1600MHZ with only 1.70 Volts applied to the chips. The motherboard automatically selects 1.70 Volts for the chips and for months the computer ran perfectly fine at the 1.70 Volts setting for memory.

To compensate for the aging memory chips I took the motherboard voltage off automatic (which was a 1.70 Volts) and selected a voltage of 1.84 Volts. When the memory is set for 1.84 Volts the motherboard is reporting a actual 1.88 Volts being used for all 6 memory modules. So running at 1.84 volts setting (1.88 Volts actual) is needed now to handle 12GB at 1600MHZ since the chips are getting older.

The memory is rated to handle a maximum of 2000MHZ at 2.05 Volts. The 12GB of memory was running at 1600MHZ since that is the maximum speed the X58 motherboard can handle with 12GB installed.

So this persons computer is back to normal after I increased the voltage of the memory. Other X58 motherboard PC's I have built using the same memory have not needed to have a voltage increased after a few months. Of course the other system is using 4GB at 1867MHZ and I would need to build more computers using the X58 motherboard design with 12GB running at 1600MHZ to see if a aging break in period occurs with those memory modules. Less voltage is needed to the chips when slower speeds are used and/or smaller amounts of memory installed. More voltage is need to the chips when higher speeds and/or larger amounts of memory installed. It was very odd to have the memory age in a few months and require an increase from 1.70 to 1.84 volts. The good thing is the PC is working 100% again like normal running 24 X 7 with this small change in voltage. This person has started leaving their PC on 24 X 7 once again.

Liquid water cooling and other cooling systems I might use on future PC designs to improve performance and increase the life span of the computer. The advantage of liquid cooling is being able to over clock the PC if I choose to over clock the CPU and memory. On a normal fan cooling computer design I always under clock memory for the greatest stability.

The EVGA X58 Classified motherboard even has an option in the menu to use extreme cooling methods like liquid nitrogen for extreme overclocking for those that try to break computer speed records.

EVGA X58 SLI Classified Desktop motherboard detailed memory info

(Latest build has new 2200MHZ memory chips running at 1867MHZ with 12GB!!!)

I just finished building another PC for a family member that wanted a high performance Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit desktop PC and the ability to watch Blu-ray movies once and a while. I used another high quality EVGA X58 SLI Classified motherboard since all my other PC builds have been very reliable with this motherboard.

One of the most difficult problems today is trying to find good reliable high performance memory chips that work correctly and are compatible with the motherboard one plans on using. On my prior EVGA X58 motherboard builds I was using the OCZ DDR3 PC3 16000 Flex EC Series (2000MHZ memory modules). After searching the Internet for several days and placing orders with several companies that claimed to have those chips in stock, my orders were canceled and I found out that no one has that model in stock. With many people building new PC's around Christmas time and the release of Windows 7, it has caused some memory prices to go up and companies are all out of stock on many high performance models.

So I decided to try the new USA made Super Talent DDR3- PC17600 (2200MHZ memory). It took me a few days to find a company with those memory modules in stock. I ended up purchasing 3 of the 4GB kits. These new 2200MHZ modules take only 1.65 volts versus the old OCZ 2000MHZ chips were rated at 2.05 Volts.

I was able to reach 1867MHZ speed with 12GB on the motherboard with no errors for over 90 hours

On a prior PC build that used OCZ 2000MHZ memory I had to underclock the chips to 1600MHZ when using 12GB on the motherboard for error free reliable computing. When I first installed the new Super Talent 2200MHZ memory chips I was getting errors and they were generating too much heat when set to 1.65 volts. When I set the voltage on the memory chips to 1.5 volts in the motherboard BIOS (1.53 actual), I was able to run the 12GB of memory at 1867MHZ with no errors for over 90 hours using "MemTest 86 V.4 testing software. These new chips work great in triple channnel mode running 12GB at 1867MHZ on the EVGA X58 SLI Classified Desktop motherboard. With the voltage set at 1.5 volts the DDR3 memory even generate less heat compared to the OCZ DDR3 memory I used in prior designs.

The part number I used was "WS220UX4G8". Last time I checked the only place that had them in stock was SuperBIIZ:
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=WS220UX4G8&title=Super-Talent-DDR3-2200-4GB-2X2G-CL8-Dual-Channel-Memory-kit

So for all my future computer builds I might be using these new Super Talent 2200MHZ chips until someone comes out with something better.

[HDTV1080P]

PC loading speed info

I normally do almost all my BLU-RAY watching using a OPPO BDP-83 and a Pioneer Elite Signature series plasma screen. The OPPO BDP-83 and Sony PS3 are known as one of the fastest loading standalone BLU-RAY players and both players are also very good quality players. A fast desktop PC is faster then any standalone player. A fast PC running DDR3 memory has faster load times and navigation for BD-LIVE compared even to the reference OPPO BDP-83. BD-LIVE downloads are extremely fast on a personal computer with Verizon FIOS.

Here is some of the loading times I clocked on a EVGA X58 motherboard PC using Cyberlink PowerDVD 9 Ultra

1. On average I am seeing around 4 seconds loading time for standard BLU-RAY discs and around 8 seconds loading time for java based BLU-RAY discs.

There is a catch to the above loading speed numbers.Those numbers are with the movie already inserted into a LiteOn 8X BLU-RAY drive. The problem is it takes around 20 seconds once the close button is pushed on the drive for the drive and Vista to know a BLU-RAY disc has been inserted. So the below loading numbers are when the drive close button is pushed.

2. On average once the close button is pushed it takes around 25 seconds to load standard BLU-RAY discs and around 30 seconds to load a few java based discs I tried. This is great since other standalone players can sometimes take over 2 minutes.

[rpr692000]

for HW I got an ibutypower pc intel q9550 9800gt vid card lg ggw-h20l combo drive. Software I have WinDVD+BR 9 and PowerDVD ultra 9 also Nero 9 but not the plug in.

On Drill-bit Taylor I have had freezes on both software players. It isnt the movie as I was able to watch the whole thing over 3 days with player switches

Is arc-soft going to be worth yet another 99.99 or Corel's new winDVD pro 2010 for 99.99? Having already spent close to $200 for the other 2 I only want to get 1 reliable PLAYER is this possible?

D

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by rpr692000

for HW I got an ibutypower pc intel q9550 9800gt vid card lg ggw-h20l combo drive. Software I have WinDVD+BR 9 and PowerDVD ultra 9 also Nero 9 but not the plug in.

On Drill-bit Taylor I have had freezes on both software players. It isnt the movie as I was able to watch the whole thing over 3 days with player switches

Is arc-soft going to be worth yet another 99.99 or Corel's new winDVD pro 2010 for 99.99? Having already spent close to $200 for the other 2 I only want to get 1 reliable PLAYER is this possible?

D

If every other BLU-RAY movie is playing fine on your computer accept for one title then there is a problem with the disc or the BLU-RAY software needs to be updated. Try playing the movie on a standalone BLU-RAY player to see if it plays ok. I have once and a while seen borderline defective BLU-RAY discs that would play in a standalone player just fine but when played in a computer BD-ROM drive the drive had problems reading the disc. Exchanging the disc fixed the problem. But in my case the BD-ROM drive would not even play the disc at all but the standalone would. Also make sure the disc is clean with no fingerprints.

If this is just one title that is not playing then you might need to download a player software update to fix the problem. Also getting a new BLU-RAY software player might fix the issue if the other two can not play that title yet. The more BLU-RAY software players you own the greater are your chances of playing all the movies with extras.

[rpr692000]

Ive had freezing issues with Zombie strippers and turtles 3.

Don't have a standalone just the pc drive.

All software updates have been applied but Corel's latest is a June update since they now have a new version I wonder if that will be the last one?

Also have the latest lg firmware but the update slower than the software!

Does the Nero plug-in allow me to watch the movies in Nero showtime?

Will probably try Arc-Soft if I have issues again.

D

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by rpr692000

Ive had freezing issues with Zombie strippers and turtles 3.

Don't have a standalone just the pc drive.

All software updates have been applied but Corel's latest is a June update since they now have a new version I wonder if that will be the last one?

Also have the latest lg firmware but the update slower than the software!

Does the Nero plug-in allow me to watch the movies in Nero showtime?

Will probably try Arc-Soft if I have issues again.

D

Nero 9 suppose to support BLU-RAY but I have not tried it yet.
http://www.nero.com/enu/promo-try-nero9.html?NeroSID=7f214caf3b15e042963aab94e8a1977 e&utm_id=8597

So far the best software to use to play BLU-RAY's is from ArcSoft and Cyberlink PowerDVD 9 Ultra. There are many people that sometimes experience hardware or software glitches playing BLU-RAY movies on PC's. Sometimes the problem is with the quality of the BLU-RAY software being used, other times it is a problem with the hardware. Even if you upgrade your hardware in your PC it still is no guarantee that your problems will go away. If the freezing issue is only with the BLU-RAY software then your PC is ok. If your entire PC freezes where you can not move the mouse or the number lock key on the keyboard will not turn on or off and the PC needs rebooted then the problem is with the PC freezing. If the entire PC was freezing then there is a hardware problem.

If you run Memtest86+ version 4.0 for over 24 hours with no memory errors then most likely your memory and PC are working fine.
http://www.memtest.org/#downiso

[McBain]

Originally Posted by rpr692000

Does the Nero plug-in allow me to watch the movies in Nero showtime?

Nero 9 does not play commercial BD movies.

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by McBain

Nero 9 does not play commercial BD movies.

Thanks for mentioning that important info I did not mention. Nero 9 is only good for people that make their own home made family BLU-RAY videos or other BLU-RAY videos. Most commercial BLU-RAY discs use AACS and many now use BD+ which Nero 9 can not play.

[daytonaviolet]

great thread

so for a newb like myself, would you recommend PowerDVD9 ? or should i stay was the 7 or 8?

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by daytonaviolet

great thread

so for a newb like myself, would you recommend PowerDVD9 ? or should i stay was the 7 or 8?

I was not sure if this question was addressed to me so I did not answer it before. Power DVD 9 is the best and newest version and you might want to upgrade. If you are happy with your existing software and it is working for you then you can save some money by not upgrading.

[HDTV1080P]

Update on memory issue

This is an update to the memory issue mentioned in the following post
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=2384759&postcount=82

Normally the PC's I build for friends or family members are used for 5 years or longer and most of them leave the computer power running 24 X 7 over several years. Computers last longer when they are at a constant temperature and not being turned on and off constantly. Turning anything on and off causes a small surge, also a good UPS with power conditioner is ideal for PC's.

One person I built a PC for several months ago that uses the X58 motherboard with 12GB of memory started turning the computer on and off every day. Then one day this person had problems with the PC rebooting, loading windows ,and freezing. When I checked the PC out the memory test showed that the PC was running fine with no errors but it sometimes would have trouble loading windows and freezing.

The problem turned out to be the memory chips aging issue. The computer use to work fine with 12GB of memory running at 1600MHZ using a voltage applied to the memory of 1.70 Volts. The computer started having problems rebooting and locking up because the memory chips could no longer handle 12GB at 1600MHZ with only 1.70 Volts applied to the chips. The motherboard automatically selects 1.70 Volts for the chips and for months the computer ran perfectly fine at the 1.70 Volts setting for memory.

To compensate for the aging memory chips I took the motherboard voltage off automatic (which was a 1.70 Volts) and selected a voltage of 1.84 Volts. When the memory is set for 1.84 Volts the motherboard is reporting a actual 1.88 Volts being used for all 6 memory modules. So running at 1.84 volts setting (1.88 Volts actual) is needed now to handle 12GB at 1600MHZ since the chips are getting older.

The memory is rated to handle a maximum of 2000MHZ at 2.05 Volts. The 12GB of memory was running at 1600MHZ since that is the maximum speed the X58 motherboard can handle with 12GB installed.

So this persons computer is back to normal after I increased the voltage of the memory. Other X58 motherboard PC's I have built using the same memory have not needed to have a voltage increased after a few months. Of course the other system is using 4GB at 1867MHZ and I would need to build more computers using the X58 motherboard design with 12GB running at 1600MHZ to see if a aging break in period occurs with those memory modules. Less voltage is needed to the chips when slower speeds are used and/or smaller amounts of memory installed. More voltage is need to the chips when higher speeds and/or larger amounts of memory installed. It was very odd to have the memory age in a few months and require an increase from 1.70 to 1.84 volts. The good thing is the PC is working 100% again like normal running 24 X 7 with this small change in voltage. This person has started leaving their PC on 24 X 7 once again.

Liquid water cooling and other cooling systems I might use on future PC designs to improve performance and increase the life span of the computer. The advantage of liquid cooling is being able to over clock the PC if I choose to over clock the CPU and memory. On a normal fan cooling computer design I always under clock memory for the greatest stability.

The EVGA X58 Classified motherboard even has an option in the menu to use extreme cooling methods like liquid nitrogen for extreme overclocking for those that try to break computer speed records.

[HDTV1080P]

Cyberlink PowerDVD 9 works with Windows 7 but ArSoft TotalMedia Theater does not

Cyberlink PowerDVD 9 is working fine with BLU-RAY discs after upgrading a persons computer from Vista Ultimate 64 bit Edition to Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Edition. After I upgraded this persons computer to Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Edition ArSoft TotalMedia Theater would not work at all so I uninstalled it. I even tried running Total Media Theater in compatibility mode that simulates a Vista opertaing system with service pack 2 and it still would not run. I did not try re-installing the Total Media Theater software after the uninstall. The Arcsoft website does not mention the product working with Windows 7 64 bit.

The upgrade performed on the computer was a computer using the EVGA X58 SLI Classified motherboard with 12GB of DDR3 memory. More info on the computer can be found at the following thread
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=72239

Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit version is similar to Vista but with more advanced features. There are several professional reviews on Windows 7 one can read about online. Just like Vista demanded a lot of PC ram and processing power, Windows 7 Ultimtate 64 bit Edition uses a little more processing power and memory compared to Vista Ultimate 64 bit Edition.


The new TotalMedia Theater 3 Platinum version is compatible with Windows 7 . I might sometime in the future upgrade to the latest version.
http://www.arcsoft.com/estore/software_title.asp?ProductCode=TMT3P

[HDTV1080P]

No more 64 bit Windows support from Arcsoft on latest TotalMedia Theater?

Arcsoft Total Media Theater definitely does not work at all with Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Edition. I just tried installing a copy from the original CD-ROM and Windows 7 notified me that there is a known compatibility problem using the program and that there is no solution. I think even using the TotalMedia Theater 3 Platinum might not even work with 64 bit Windows 7. According to Wikipedia Arcsoft no longer supports 64 bit operating systems with the latest versions of TotalMedia Theater.

Quote
"Only older version of the software carry x64 Windows support."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TotalMedia_Theatre

This is very disappointing. So to use Windows 7 with Total Media Theater it sounds like one needs to downgrade to a 32 bit operating system. Total Media Theater worked perfectly fine with Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit Edition. Future PC's I build and install Windows 7 64 bit for friends and relatives will now be using Cyberlink PowerDVD 9 instead of Total Media Theater. Hopefully Total Media Theater will start supporting 64 bit operating systems again.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

According to Wikipedia Arcsoft no longer supports 64 bit operating systems with the latest versions of TotalMedia Theater.

This would be interesting news if true but wikipedia is also a user edited site so I'll need keep me eye on the subject to see what transpires.

According to the Arcsoft web site TMT 3 Platinum is Win7 compatible. Of course I wouldn't be surprised if there still might be some bugs that need to be worked out.

http://www.arcsoft.com/estore/softwa...ductCode=TMT3P

Perusing the arcsoft forums I've come across a number of posts talking about Win 7 and/or 64-bit support. There may be some misinformation going around online. Arcsoft has stated in the past that CS wasn't providing technical support for issues with Win7 until it was officially released (no betas, RTM, etc) and to contact CS for official technical support rather than posting in the forum and expecting the same.

http://www.arcsoft.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3909
http://www.arcsoft.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3755

Arcsoft has also stated that previous versions of the software don't support Win7 and you'd need the latest released version.

http://www.arcsoft.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=3978


EDIT: The Windows Vista compatibility list shows that TMT3Platinum is compatible with 32-bit but has an unknown status for 64-bit. We know TMT3 works fine for 64-bit Vista.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/com...soft&os=32-bit

The Win7 compatibility list shows that TMT3 is compatible with both the 32 and 64-bit versions.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/com...t%20totalmedia

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by rdodolak

The Win7 compatibility list shows that TMT3 is compatible with both the 32 and 64-bit versions.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/com...t%20totalmedia

Thanks for the info, but that list from Microsoft is incorrect. For example the Microsoft link shows that ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater version 2 is compatible with Windows 7 64 bit operating systems and version 3 of TotalMedia Theater only works with 64 bit operating systems accept for Windows 7. This must be a misprint on the Microsoft website. They most likely met to say version 3 works with Windows 7 64 bit but version 2 only works with XP and Vista 64 bit operating systems.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Search.aspx?type=Software&s=arcsoft%20totalmedia

The problem is when I try to install TotalMedia Theater version 2 from the original CD-ROM, after installation Windows 7 informs me that the program has a known compatibility issue with this version of Windows and that there is no solution yet. I do not remember the exact words but Microsoft is telling me that the program does not work with Windows 7 64 bit every time I try and install it.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

Thanks for the info, but that list from Microsoft is incorrect. For example the Microsoft link shows that ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater version 2 is compatible with Windows 7 64 bit operating systems and version 3 of TotalMedia Theater only works with 64 bit operating systems accept for Windows 7. This must be a misprint on the Microsoft website. They most likely met to say version 3 works with Windows 7 64 bit but version 2 only works with XP and Vista 64 bit operating systems.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/Search.aspx?type=Software&s=arcsoft%20totalmedia

The problem is when I try to install TotalMedia Theater version 2 from the original CD-ROM, after installation Windows 7 informs me that the program has a known compatibility issue with this version of Windows and that there is no solution yet. I do not remember the exact words but Microsoft is telling me that the program does not work with Windows 7 64 bit every time I try and install it.

There are some issues with the Microsoft list, but notice one of the links I posted, with thread ID 3909, specifically talks about TMT2 and Win7 64-bit. In that thread, an Arcsoft employee states that TMT2 should run without issues on Win7 64-bit.

Originally Posted by ArcSoft_Jason

Go into your TMT folder and run the ucheckupdate.exe application. It should run on Win7 and patch up the app to the Win7 compatible version.

According to the numerous threads I've read it appears that both versions need a patch to run on Win7. However, I'm wondering if you have an incompatible version whether the patch resolves any installation issues. If it does, you can't patch until you install the previous full install ... which would be a catch-22.

[jjwatmyself]

Brilliant dialog on the best Windows 7 blu-ray player. Now that it's November, what's the current opinion on Arcsoft TotalMedia vs. PowerDVD in terms of stability and Windows Media Center integration? Also, do you have recommendations on a BD-ROM drive, or any "don't buy" recommendations? I have a HP M9080N running Windows 7 x64, (stock) Nvidia GTS 8800 and a couple of ATI Digital Cable Card tuners. What I'm trying to do is get the 10 foot experience for blu-ray on my PC (room #1). I already have the 10 foot experience in room #2 using an Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender for TV and PS3 for blu-ray. Thanks!!

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by jjwatmyself

Brilliant dialog on the best Windows 7 blu-ray player. Now that it's November, what's the current opinion on Arcsoft TotalMedia vs. PowerDVD in terms of stability and Windows Media Center integration? Also, do you have recommendations on a BD-ROM drive, or any "don't buy" recommendations? I have a HP M9080N running Windows 7 x64, (stock) Nvidia GTS 8800 and a couple of ATI Digital Cable Card tuners. What I'm trying to do is get the 10 foot experience for blu-ray on my PC (room #1). I already have the 10 foot experience in room #2 using an Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender for TV and PS3 for blu-ray. Thanks!!

As long as you plan on only playing back BLU-RAY, DVD's, and CD's just about any computer BLU-RAY drive will work fine for playing discs. When it comes to optical disc writers there are some brands and models that are better than others at the quality of the writing process.

A 8X LiteOn BD-ROM drive works great for fast forward scans and fast reverse scans while scanning a movie at high speeds. Pioneer makes some very reliable BD-ROM drives and BLU-RAY writers.

I currently prefer Cyberlink PowerDVD 9.0 over TotalMedia Theater on a Vista 64 bit system. They both are very good software packages. Cyberlink PowerDVD 9.0 appears to be very stable running under Windows 7. I have not upgraded to TotalMedia Theater version 3 yet to test its performance on Windows 7 64bit, but other people claim it works fine under Windows 7. Also as mentioned in a prior post I do most my BLU-RAY movie watching using the OPPO BDP-83 standalone BLU-RAY player. I like the PC BLU-RAY players for the super fast BD-LIVE experience. BD-LIVE is the best when used on a fast PC.

[blckman]

Arcsoft just released a new patch for Total Media Theater 3. It has a number of fixes including support for future blu-ray titles, audio bug for Star Trek 3, compatibility fixes for the Windows 7 OS, compatibility issues with new Nvidia drivers, and many other fixes. The patch is 0_3.0.1.160 update. It should trigger you to update the software when you insert a disc the next time you decide to watch a blu-ray or HD-DVD. Peace....