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

[SeaFox]

Originally Posted by SeaFox

CorelWinDVD Pro 11 -- Free

This deal is available again, plus you get a $10 Newegg giftcard -- so you even get reimbursed for the shipping:

http://dealnews.com/Corel-Win-DVD-Pr...h/1400862.html

[Justphil41]

Free DVDFAB pro player until 28 September 2015 at DVDFAB.

[HDTV1080P]

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

Click here for the latest October 2011 build, 24GB of DDR3 memory running at 1867MHZ
This is going to be a very simple basic face off between the 4 different BLU-RAY software packages available for the PC. I am sure someone else that has more time can write a more detailed and professional face off.
1. HP Quickplay: The first software I will briefly mention is the HP Quickplay. The HP Quickplay is only available for owners of HP desktop and HP Notebook computers. To test this software I borrowed a friends HP 20.1 inch Notebook that has 1920 X 1200 resolution, 4GB of ram, 7200RPM hard drive, and Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit Edition. The load times were 10 seconds or less for most BLU-RAY discs. The Quickplay software was updated to the latest version using the easy to use automatic software update feature. I was able to play all the BLU-RAY discs fine including bonus view profile 1.1 discs. The only major problem I had with this software is that it would lock up and needed rebooted when playing BD-LIVE profile 2.0 web based features. After the BD-LIVE web based bonus material was played the Quickplay software would not return to the main menu on Casino Royale Collector's Edition and I had to close the software and reopen it up to return to the main menu. I hope that a future software update will get this program working better with BD-LIVE discs.
The main face off between Corel Win DVD Plus 9.0, ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater, and CyberLink PowerDVD Ultra Version 8.0
All the computer BLU-RAY software programs add a 3:2 pulldown process and only support 1080P at 60HZ refresh rate instead of native 24fps (Even though ones graphics card may support multiplies of 24fps it makes no difference since the BLU-RAY software has added 3:2 pulldown before arriving at the graphics card). Also desktop computer monitors that handle 1080P only support 60HZ refresh instead of being able to handle multiplies of the original frame rate. I did notice the 60HZ 3:2 pulldown judder during camera pans and fast moving objects on some movies while watching them on a computer screen, something that one does not see on a standalone BLU-RAY player with a display that properly handles 24fps. Hopefully one day computer manufactories will support true 1080P/24 instead of just 1080P/60. **For all 3 of the software packages I tried everyone of them gives a message that Windows Vista Aero is not supported and the settings are being changed to Basic. This happened every time I pressed play and the Vista Aero would not return until the program was closed out. So this is a common problem with all BLU-RAY playback software, perhaps a future software update will support Vista Aero. ** Also all the BLU-RAY software packages play CD's and DVD's. Power DVD Ultra version 8 even supports video CD and Super Video CD.

All 3 BLU-RAY programs were compared on two exact identical computers I built. Here is the hardware used to compare everything.

1. 10,000 RPM 300GB hard drive
2. Quad Core processor
3. 8GB of 2000MHZ DDR3 memory running at 1600MHZ speed do to limitations in the Top of the line motherboard.
4. 5X Pioneer BLU-RAY drive
5. 18X SATA DVD-ROM
6. 24 inch ASUS MK241H 1920 X 1200 that can only refresh at 60HZ for 1080P mode (2ms response time).
7. Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit Edition
8. All the latest software drivers and windows updates installed
9. 1250 Watt Power supply
10. ASUS Striker II Extreme Motherboard
11. Verizon FIOS Internet Connection

2. Corel WinDVD Plus 9.0: The picture quality was excellent using WinDVD Plus 9.0 just like every other software player I tried in this faceoff. Corel WinDVD Plus 9.0 does not work with Vista's Autoplay feature like all the other software packages do when playing BLU-RAY discs. For example instead of the BLU-RAY discs automatically starting when inserted the disc, one needs to manually click on the desktop icon after inserting a BLU-RAY disc. One thing that disappointed me about this software is that I could never get the automatic update feature to work. When I had problems playing back Kill Bill on BLU-RAY I had to manually go to the Corel website and install an update patch since the product update feature when clicked on would always display the message "There are no updates available at this time." Once the patch was manually installed, most the problems with Kill Bill were solved. WinDVD plays profile 1.0 and profile 1.1 bonus view picture and picture BLU-RAY discs just fine. One major problem with Win DVD Plus 9.0 retail version is that it does not support BD-LIVE profile 2.0. Corel is suppose to be offering a update in 2009 that will support BD-LIVE for those that bought the retail version. Until the automatic update feature is fixed and support for BD-LIVE is added I can not recommend this software for the average person. The average person that watches only movies might not care about BD-LIVE but the average person would like to be able to use the automatic software update feature without having to manually search the Corel webiste for any software updates that fixes playback problems.

3. ArcSoft TotalMedia Theater or Extreme: Arcsoft offers two different programs. The $119.99 Total Media Extreme is mainly for someone that has a BLU-RAY burner and wants to edit and create their own home made family HD videos. The Extreme Edition also contains TotalMedia Theater. If one is only interested in playing BLU-RAY movies all one needs to own is the $69.99 TotalMedia Theater. One can upgrade to the Extreme later for $39.99 if they want to create their own HD family videos and burn them to a BLU-RAY. I ordered the retail version of the TotalMedia Theater with the retail box version instead of the download version. The retail box came with a professional printed manual with colorful retail display box and CD-ROM. Installing the software was very easy. As soon as the software was installed the product automatically notified me that there was a software update. I installed the software update which took only a few seconds with the Verizon Internet FIOS connection. This software fully supports Vista Ultimate 64 Bit Edition even though it mentions Vista 32 bit under the system requirements section. I watched an entire movie running it under 64 Bit Vista. This TotalMedia Theater software also supports BD-LIVE and DTS-HD Master Audio. I was amazed at the speed of the TotalMedia Theater software. The load times and navigation of the BLU-RAY menus were much faster compared with Corel WinDVD Plus 9.0 and Cyberlink Power DVD Ultra Version 8. I also noticed that the BD-LIVE feature worked perfectly when testing it with Kung Fu Panda and Casino Royale. In fact the download times were slightly faster then Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra Version 8. Nothing beats the speed of BD-LIVE on a fast computer. The speed is even faster then a Playstation 3. It took a minute or two minutes to download HD video clips to my computer using this software. The Sony BDP-S350 takes 5 minutes or more sometimes when it comes to downloading BD-LIVE content. Also the Sony BDP-S350 BD-LIVE navigation was very slow compared to TotalMedia Theater. Of course hard drives and DDR3 in a computer are faster compared to 16GB USB flash memory attached to the Sony BDP-S350.
TotalMedia Theater would have been my favorite software if it were not for the major software glitches I ran into playing Kung Fu Panda standard bonus features. The bonus view (profile 1.1) and BD-LIVE (profile 2.0) function worked just fine with no problems. The problem occurred when playing standard bonus features that any profile 1.0 BLU-RAY player should play. Sometimes after the bonus feature played the player would not go back to the main menu and would just freeze and lock up. I had to close the program out and reopen it up. For other bonus features like the "Dragon Warrior Training Academy" under the "Po's Power Play" section of the extra's in Kung Fu Panda the video and audio would freeze with audio break up most of the time. I tried rebooting the PC and also was able to duplicate the problem on the second PC I used for this test. Only once and a while did the "Dragon Warrior Training Academy" work correctly with no audio and video hiccups. It was really weird sometimes the TotalMedia Theater would play the section on the disc fine while other times it would not. When using Corel WinDVD Plus 9.0 and Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra Version 8.0, 100% of the time those BLU-RAY software players played the "Dragon Warrior Training Academy" just fine on the Kung Fu Panda BLU-RAY disc. Hopefully a software update will improve on the TotalMedia Theaters ability to play profile 1.0 bonus material. Of course this was just one disc, perhaps TotalMedia Theater would be fine with other profile 1.0 discs. It is too bad this happen while playing Kung Fu Panda, for if it were not for this playback issue, Totalmedia Theater would have been the best software out of the 3.

4. Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra Version 8.0:
I ordered the CyberLink Power DVD 8 Ultra English retail version instead of the download version. I received a nice colorful retail display box with a professional printed instruction manual and a CD-ROM. Installing the software was fairly easy with only minor issues (The main install window was hidden behind a larger window that never closed. Once I manually closed the one larger window the second install window was then visible for me to continue the installation). Some of the menus for this PowerDVD software are very similar to Totalmedia Theater. After installing the software I did a automatic update to see if there was any software updates. The product notified me of an update. I clicked to install the update which updated the software to the latest version. CyberLink PoweDVD Ultra version 8 supports BD-LIVE and DTS-HD Master audio. This software has a unique feature called Dolby Headphone that takes a surround sound from the BLU-RAY and tries to simulate surround sound into two speakers. I did not like the echo effect when using it with headphones so turned this feature off. I have heard Dolby Headphone tracks mixed in the studio and they sound better compared to a home player trying to mix the surround channels down to two channels for a simulated surround sound effect. The navigating in BLU-RAY disc menus was slow compared to the lighting fast TotalMedia Theater software. Every BLU-RAY disc I played with the Cyberlink Power DVD worked flawlessly with no problems. Kung Fu Panda had no issues at all with profile 1.0 bonus material. Bonus view profile 1.1 and BD-LIVE profile 2.0 material worked just fine. Even though the navigation was not as fast as TotalMedia Theater this Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra Version 8.0 is my favorite BLU-RAY software since I have not experienced any software glitches yet.
So now I have 3 BLU-RAY software packages on my computer. If I have a problem playing a movie, I have two other players to choose from that most likely will not produce the same problems. I originally only wanted one software package but ended up buying 3 so I could enjoy watching a movie and the bonus features like BD-LIVE without running into technical problems. If I could only have one software package installed on my computer I would have to choose Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra version 8.0 since I did not experience any playback problems with it so far. The problem with TotalMedia Theater I experienced could have just been an issue with playing that one Kung Fu Panda movie, and maybe other new titles would be fine. Since I plan on using Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra version 8 for all my future BLU-RAY disc playbacks on the PC there is always a possibility I could run in to a issue with a future title, but so far Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra version 8 seems to be the most stable software for playing BLU-RAY's. Totalmedia Theater is excellent in navigation speed and BD-LIVE downloads were slightly faster but if more titles have playback issues like Kung Fu Panda does then the slower more stable navigation of Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra version 8 is better for the average consumer. Being able to play everything on the BLU-RAY disc without problems is the most important issue for me and so far Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra version 8 has not failed once on the titles I tried.

Update regarding the latest hardware build for a PC with a BLU-RAY drive

When I originally created this thread back in November 22nd 2008 I was surprised that someone made the thread a sticky. Who every made this thread a sticky can un stick the thread if they want. I do not plan to update it too often. I do not use my computer for BLU-RAY viewing that often unless it is for the BD-LIVE feature (Disc load times and BD-LIVE is super fast on a computer running DDR3 memory. A fast PC outperforms any standalone BLU-RAY player every made so far when it comes to the BD-LIVE feature and disc load times). Still hoping some company makes a BLU-RAY computer software player that outputs true 1080P/24 instead of 1080P/60 with 3:2 pulldown (There are graphics cards that do a reverse 3:2 pulldown and output 1080p/24 but it would be ideal if the 3:2 pulldown process could be bypassed completely). I prefer using a standalone BLU-RAY player like the OPPO BDP-83 and a Pioneer plasma for most of my BLU-RAY watching.

Here is updated information on the latest computer I built for someone

Prior build comments:
Originally last summer and fall in 2008 I built a few computers that used the ASUS Striker II Extreme motherboard with 8GB of 2000MHZ DDR3 memory under clocked at 1600MHZ for stability (motherboard could only handle 8GB at a maximum of 1600HZ) . In generally the computer is nice and fast. There is one problem I ran into with this ASUS Striker II Extreme Motherboard on several builds and what I heard from other people that used the board: There is some type of hardware or software glitch with the motherboard that causes it to freeze and lock up once every month or two. The computer runs 24 X 7 but every so often it will freeze about every month and needs power cycled. Also a Vista blue screen of death occurs sometimes when watching BLU-RAY's and the computer needs rebooted. Of course I have also seen high-end several thousand dollar Laptops crash with a Vista blue screen of death when watching a BLU-RAY movie.

ASUS just recently came out with a BIOS update for the Striker II Extreme at the end of July 2009 called "BIOS 1203" , the description says "Improve the stability of certain memory". This is good news since I have been using BIOS 1104 for almost a year. Hopefully the new BIOS 1203 update will stop the hardware freezes that occur every month or two. I will have to wait to see since I only updated the BIOS a few days ago. No other computer design I built every locked up after being on for a month. This is not the Windows operating system freezing. It is the motherboard itself. http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=q8RE9mdlDnDHRRRR&templete=2

I built a couple computers using the Intel X58 motherboard design which is a lot better and very stable computer

Here is the latest computer I built for someone back in July 2009, and I am thinking about upgrading my motherboard to the new design.

1. 10,000 RPM 300GB Hard drive (Next computer I build I might use a solid state memory drive instead of a physical hard drive for even greater speed).

2. Intel Core I7 processor (Even though only one physical processor is being used, Device manager for Vista shows 8 processors in use since the processor is designed for extreme multi-tasking).

3. 12GB of 2000MHZ DDR3 memory being under clocked to 1600MHZ for greatest stability.

4. LiteOn 8X BLU-RAY drive, Reads DVD's at 16X speed and CD's at 48X speed (I like the 8X speed drive for improved Blu-Ray fast scan forward speed quality).

5. LiteOn 18 X SATA DVD-ROM.

6. 24 inch Samsung T240 monitor. 1920 X 1200 LCD monitor can only be refresh at 60Hz for 1080P mode.

7. Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit Edition with Free update coupon to Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Edition once it is released. Update: PC now using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Edition

8. All the latest software drivers and Windows updates installed.

9. 1250 Watt Power Supply.

10. EVGA X58 SLI Classified Desktop Board (uses the latest Intel X58 chipset and is very stable) I am very impressed with EVGA quality and customer service.

11. EVGA Graphics card.

12. Verizon FIOS Internet Connection.

So far the person I built the new high-end computer for has had no major problems. The person using the EVGA X58 SLI Classified Desktop Board has experienced no problems at all while watching BLU-RAY's and no system freezes or lock up's like what was experienced with the ASUS Striker II motherboard design. The computer is running in triple channel mode with 12GB of memory at 1600MHZ and it is super fast. When I find time I would like to upgrade my Striker II motherboard to the Intel X58 chipset design using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Edition when it is released.

EVGA X58 SLI Classified Desktop motherboard detailed memory info

Click here for the most update memory used for a Jan 2010 build

Regarding the EVGA X58 SLI Classified Desktop Board mentioned above. 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.

Update

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 is listed above in this post.

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]

The above post is old outdated information that was moved to make room for the latest information

[HDTV1080P]

The main thread has been updated with information on the latest 2015 build.

[douglasgrant1969]

Hi, does anyone have a really accurate DVD software player for laptop which shows SMPTE correctly?

I have to do detailed shot by shot analysis and I am using PowerDVD which came with my laptop which seems to be a little off by 1 or even 2 seconds at a time. Wondering what else you guys are using.

I seen something which will allow me to pause, bookmark and display time on screen correctly. Preferably free as I am a broke student. :-)

[Steve Smith]

Originally Posted by Justphil41

Free DVDFAB pro player until 28 September 2015 at DVDFAB.

Yes I got it, also the FREE Passkey.

[rollinwith26s]

Would this be a good thread to ask for advice about which Blu-ray drive I should upgrade my PC with?

[HDTV1080P]

The Pioneer BDR-2209 is still the top of the line drive available for a desktop computer.


http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...rives/BDR-2209

are there any other software packages that play bluray?

[Zhorik]

Originally Posted by lecongkhuong

are there any other software packages that play bluray?

There is the Leawo player that uses Kodi shell and is free.

Plus, Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre is no longer sold, although if acquired it can only play AACS v51 and lower.

[onyxbfly]

Originally Posted by Zhorik

There is the Leawo player that uses Kodi shell and is free.

Plus, Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre is no longer sold, although if acquired it can only play AACS v51 and lower.

Thanks for the heads up. I wasn't aware of any free software for PC or Macs. Do you know if it plays the menu or direct to movie?

[Zhorik]

Originally Posted by onyxbfly

Thanks for the heads up. I wasn't aware of any free software for PC or Macs. Do you know if it plays the menu or direct to movie?

The latest version seems to play Blu Ray menu.

[onyxbfly]

Originally Posted by Zhorik

The latest version seems to play Blu Ray menu.

Thanks for checking. I'm away from home this week. I'll try it when I get back. Ive been using DVDFab Media Player 2.

I really wish that TMT was compatible with Win10

[billy35]

I have an external hdd connected to my samsung 1080p tv almost all the time, with family photos and old dvd rips that I watch. Regarding blu rays, I would always watch them straight from disc, but this time I decided to rip it into mkv format, just like with some of my dvd collection and put it to an external hdd, then play through tv. The result was kind of mixed. When streaming straight from blu ray disc - the quality seems to be better and sharper, but watching the same exact thing, but streamed from hdd - it appears that image loses some of the detail. Its a 2.5 USB 3.1 1 tb hdd.

Is this a common thing or its only my eyes?

Thanks.

[SeaFox]

Originally Posted by billy35

I have an external hdd connected to my samsung 1080p tv almost all the time, with family photos and old dvd rips that I watch. Regarding blu rays, I would always watch them straight from disc, but this time I decided to rip it into mkv format, just like with some of my dvd collection and put it to an external hdd, then play through tv. The result was kind of mixed. When streaming straight from blu ray disc - the quality seems to be better and sharper, but watching the same exact thing, but streamed from hdd - it appears that image loses some of the detail. Its a 2.5 USB 3.1 1 tb hdd.

Is this a common thing or its only my eyes?

Thanks.

It sounds like you didn't rip them right. MakeMKV can do direct remuxxing. The AVC stream and audio is simply taken out of the blu-ray disc and moved to the MKV file -- no changes made. It sounds like you had a transcoding setting used, or were using another software product that doesn't do direct copying.

Compare the file size of your files to the data usage on the disc (for the feature, don't include trailers and bonus content) and if there is a large discrepancy that's what happened.

If you are sure you did do a direct copy, I'd say your TV is applying some filtering to the files that doesn't get applied when you use your blu-ray player (or vice-versa). SmartTVs often have digital noise-reduction features that are turned on by default (and might get re-enabled after a software update), and these settings can be source-specific, so even if you turned them OFF on the HDMI input your blu-ray player's using they might still be ON on the settings for the TV's player app. As for you blu-ray player, some players have DNR or edge-enhancement settings as well. So it's possible your player is adding a light sharpening to the picture that you don't get on the TV's file playback, giving you a false sense the BD quality is better. I'm betting on a bad rip or the TV's settings really.

[billy35]

Originally Posted by SeaFox

It sounds like you didn't rip them right. MakeMKV can do direct remuxxing. The AVC stream and audio is simply taken out of the blu-ray disc and moved to the MKV file -- no changes made. It sounds like you had a transcoding setting used, or were using another software product that doesn't do direct copying.

Compare the file size of your files to the data usage on the disc (for the feature, don't include trailers and bonus content) and if there is a large discrepancy that's what happened.

If you are sure you did do a direct copy, I'd say your TV is applying some filtering to the files that doesn't get applied when you use your blu-ray player (or vice-versa). SmartTVs often have digital noise-reduction features that are turned on by default (and might get re-enabled after a software update), and these settings can be source-specific, so even if you turned them OFF on the HDMI input your blu-ray player's using they might still be ON on the settings for the TV's player app. As for you blu-ray player, some players have DNR or edge-enhancement settings as well. So it's possible your player is adding a light sharpening to the picture that you don't get on the TV's file playback, giving you a false sense the BD quality is better. I'm betting on a bad rip or the TV's settings really.

Thanks a lot for your detailed answer! You are absolutely right, some of the noise reduction settings were still active on my tv (disabled for ps4 - blu ray/on for hdd input) as well as motion plus.. By turning them off - the image became a lot better, with natural grain, detail.. Thanks again!

Initially, I thought it was because of my hdd not being able to reproduce the exact same bitrate, being too slow, but probably this type of thinking was faulty on its own. Although Im still curious, how is my tv able to handle all these 1080p files without any problem, while playing the same file on my laptop causes a lot of heat and sometimes a bit of lagging? I mean, one would think a computer is much more powerful all around device than a tv, even if my laptop is 4 years old.

[HDTV1080P]

I am happy with my 4 year old 2015 PC that uses a ASRock X99 motherboard, and I have no plans at this time to upgrade my motherboard. However if I was going to build a new PC, instead of getting a Intel X299 motherboard I most likely would consider using a AMD X570 motherboard. Over the past decade Intel has always had faster and more powerful CPU's when compared to AMD. However that all changed when AMD released the Ryzen 9 3900X. According to current CPU benchmark tests the AMD Ryzen 9 3900X is the fastest CPU on the market and even faster then the Intel Xeon Platinum 8168 3Ghz that sales for around $5,890. The AMD Ryzen 9 3900X a few weeks ago was around $999, however with a recent price drop the CPU costs only $499 at Amazon. That is very amazing a $499 AMD CPU is outperforming both a $1,914.99 and $5,890 Intel CPU.


CPU technology is constantly changing and perhaps within weeks or months Intel will release a CPU that is faster and more powerful then the AMD CPU.


https://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html (CPU performance updated daily and prices constantly change)


https://www.asrock.com/mb/index.asp#AM4


https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards...form-Products/

[HDTV1080P]

AMD is now becoming the new top of the line leader in server motherboards. That use to be Intel. The new Supermirco server motherboard comes factory installed with two AMD EPYC CPU's which are the worlds first 7nm server processor. These motherboards can hold up to 2TB of DDR4 memory compared to 128GB for the typical consumer motherboard. Also this motherboard has two 10,000Mbps Ethernet jacks. Motherboard with two AMD installed CPU's costs $14,699.99. A complete computer system might cost $25,000-$35,000+ if full loaded with 15TB solid state drives.

https://www.neweggbusiness.com/produ...m=9b13-183-691

[HDTV1080P]

New top of the line Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD

Over the last 4 years solid state drive technology has improved in speed, reliability, and much smaller surface area while at the same time increasing the drive capacity. When I loaded Windows 10 Professional 64-bit I made the decision to upgrade my 2015 Intel 750 PCIe 3.0 x 4 solid state drive with a much better solid-state drive. Windows 10 boot drive can use a 16TB hard drive or an enterprise 15TB solid state drive, however the catch is only a maximum of 2TB is useable for the boot drive under Windows 10, therefore buying a hard drive or solid state drive larger then 2TB is a waste since the extra space would not be used. A larger solid state drive and hard drives bigger then 2TB are used as storage drives and not boot drives.



My 2015 ASRock Fatal1ty X99 Professional/3.1 motherboard has a 32Gbps Ultra M2 interface. The fastest consumer solid state drive on the market at the time of this post in September of 2019, is the Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 1TB sold state drive with a M.2 2280 form factor. This solid-state drive has a 5 year warranty and mean time before failure rating is 1.77 Million hours. The read speed of the AORUS is 5,000MB per second and the write speed is 4,400MB per second. That is around 5 times faster than 1Gbps Ethernet. This AORUS solid state drive comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacity (However even though the specs are exactly the same for the 1TB and 2TB SSD in terms of speed, according to Performance tests the AORUS 1TB is a little bit faster when compared to the 2TB model under real world conditions.



https://www.aorus.com/AORUS-NVMe-Gen4-SSD-1TB


Therefore I went with the Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD 1TB model for around $259.99 plus free shipping.


Using a 4 year old X99 ASROCK motherboard the solid state drive was recognized by the BIOS and with a 4 year old 128GB of DDR4 memory running at 2400Mhz, the only minor glitch was it takes around 30 seconds to get in the motherboard BIOS under the existing ASROCK firmware, however at 2133Mhz speed for memory getting into the BIOS is instant when the M2 Ultra slot is used. I left the setting at 2400Mhz with the drive installed in the M2 Ultra slot and the minor glitch of 30 seconds getting in the BIOS. Maybe one day ASROCK might offer a motherboard software update to fix this BIOS issue.



Anyways nice and fast speeds with this solid-state drive. This solid-state drive should work with almost any old or new motherboard with a M2 2280 slot like the X99 motherboards.


For those consumers that have an older motherboard without a M2 slot, one can purchase a dual M2 to PCIe adapter card for only $16.97 plus free shipping that will allows one to use a M2 solid state drive in just about any PC as a storage drive and sometimes as a boot drive. However, this adapter card when installed in a 12 year old ASUS X38 motherboard and a 11 year old EVGA X58 motherboard would only allow Windows to use the AORUS solid state drive as a storage drive and the latest BIOS update would not support NVMe style solid state drives as a boot drive. So X38 and X58 motherboard owners will not be able to use this top of the line AORUS solid state drive as a boot drive. I did not test it but in theory a X79 motherboard might be able to work with this solid-state drive.



For those consumers with very old motherboards like the X38 and X58 chipset then if you are having trouble finding a current in production PCI-e slot based solid state drive that works with those chipsets, then if the motherboard has a legacy SATA 3, SATA 2, or SATA interface the Seagate Nytro 1351 960GB (XA960LE10063 ) solid state drive would be ideal and will work with almost 100% of older computers. It has a 2 million hour mean time before failure rating, however since the slower SATA 3 interface is used the read speed is only 564Mbps and the write speed is only 536Mbps. The Seagate Nytro 1351 960GB costs $199.99 plus free shipping.


https://www.seagate.com/www-content/...07US-en_US.pdf




For desktop computers a bracket like the following is needed for the above Seagate solid state drive. 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch adapter.



https://www.newegg.com/riitop-25t35-...9SIA6V86Z27745