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

[pmac]

To add to the price discount if you use a coupon code I just received for making an account save an extra 5%

MEMBER5 add that when checking out

EDIT: Member10 works as well , I just experimented with a few.

[stevo4264]

Until the 9th September powerdvd 14 ultra is on sale for $69.95

[stevo4264]

Originally Posted by pmac

To add to the price discount if you use a coupon code I just received for making an account save an extra 5%

MEMBER5 add that when checking out

EDIT: Member10 works as well , I just experimented with a few.

Still working Thanks for the extra discount

mine for 62.95

[zafisher94]

Sorry if this is a common question, but I'm overwhelmed trying to go through all these pages, especially considering I'm a noob when it comes to hardware and software.

I recently purchased an external blu-ray drive (Buffalo BRXL-PC6U2) and I'm stumped on what software I should get. I want to be able to play my blu-rays, but I also want to be able to rip them to create backup digital copies to keep on a portable hard drive. I'm on a mid-2010 iMac and a mid-2012 Macbook Pro.

I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks!

[RickWJ324]

Originally Posted by zafisher94

Sorry if this is a common question, but I'm overwhelmed trying to go through all these pages, especially considering I'm a noob when it comes to hardware and software.

I recently purchased an external blu-ray drive (Buffalo BRXL-PC6U2) and I'm stumped on what software I should get. I want to be able to play my blu-rays, but I also want to be able to rip them to create backup digital copies to keep on a portable hard drive. I'm on a mid-2010 iMac and a mid-2012 Macbook Pro.

I'd really appreciate any help. Thanks!

For video playback, I'm a big fan of Total Media Theatre from Arcsoft. I believe however they may have recently discontinued selling it...but I'm not sure.

[DarknessBDJM]

Originally Posted by RickWJ324

For video playback, I'm a big fan of Total Media Theatre from Arcsoft. I believe however they may have recently discontinued selling it...but I'm not sure.

They did unfortunately due to some sort of legal bout with Dolby. TMT still has the best video quality and easiest interface to use that I know of, but I have been looking to see if anything is better now.

[HDTV1080P]

PowerDVD 15 Ultra is what I am currently using, it’s a small improvement compared to last years PowerDVD 14 Ultra version. I purchased the retail box version of PowerDVD 15 Ultra that comes with a CD-ROM and a 192 page PDF users guide. Appears to load discs a little faster compared to last year’s version.

[SeaFox]

CorelWinDVD Pro 11 -- Free

Currently on sale for $60.00 at New Egg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16832106433

- Mail-in rebate $30.00
- $30 off promo code: EMCASNP37

Final price is the $2.99 for shipping the stupid product key card.

[HDTV1080P]

http://images10.newegg.com/uploadfil...un2315lh15.pdf

[SeaFox]

Originally Posted by HDTV1080P

The product key card is stupid

What's stupid is having to pay $2.99 for the shipping. I bought the same deal myself several months ago on a similar promo and it's more like a piece of thicker, coated paper -- and they ship it in a padded envelope. A plain envelope would would just as well and cost less than a buck for materials and shipping.

[HDTV1080P]

Thanks Seafox for the promo information, Amazon has the Corel WinDVD Pro 11 retail box in stock with a CD-ROM disc for those that prefer the CD-ROM disc over downloading.

I might try Corel WinDVD Pro 11. It supports Blu-ray 3-D also but no mention of upscaling to simulated 4K Ultra HD. However upconversion to simulated 4K can be done with ones A/V receiver or 4K display. In the future native 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray software for consumers will become a reality when native Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are released.

Its always good to have a second Blu-ray player software package installed on ones PC in case there is a incompatibility issue with certain Blu-ray titles.

http://img.windvdpro.com/en/docs/WinDVD_version_comparison_NA.pdf

[HDTV1080P]

Originally Posted by SeaFox

What's stupid is having to pay $2.99 for the shipping. I bought the same deal myself several months ago on a similar promo and it's more like a piece of thicker, coated paper -- and they ship it in a padded envelope. A plain envelope would would just as well and cost less than a buck for materials and shipping.

If its a product key, it would be better if they just email the product key number and then no shipping is needed. What I like about PowerDVD is the retail box contains the CD-ROM and printed manual.

[SeaFox]

I assumed there was some legal requirement the number be given in a physical method.
The mail-in rebate is truly mail-in (you have to clip the barcode from the keycard).

I got my BD drive as OEM to save money, so I didn't have any official commercial BD playback software before this, only a program from some third-rate Internet company (BD playback software that is obviously based on VLC in some way, but works with commercial discs, too).

WinDVD Pro may not be the best regarded package, but you can't argue for the final price you're paying in this case.

[Deletr21]

Just installed an OEM LG BT30N Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer on a desktop pc using an EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Superclocked Video Card and an ASUS vs239h-p IPS/HDMI Monitor.

Need advice on which Blu-Ray player software to use. Also, would I continue using a DVI cable with separate sound to speakers into the computer or an HDMI cable?

Many thanks.

[HDTV1080P]

Cyberlink PowerDVD 15 Ultra is currently the best of the best when it comes to playing Blu-ray movies on any Windows based computer. Both DVI and HDMI will carry the standard HDCP version 1.4 encrypted 1080P connection to a computer monitor or home theater flat panel screen. The disadvantage of DVI is the fact it only carries video information and no audio information is sent over DVI. If you have a modern A/V receiver with HDMI connections then using HDMI from a compatible video card will allow a consumer to bitstream the lossless audio tracks to their A/V receiver for internal decoding to PCM. When no A/V receiver is used consumers normally then use the analog audio outputs on their motherboard to get surround sound when connected to amplified computer speakers (In that case it does not matter if the connection is DVI or HDMI).

[Deletr21]

Wow, that was fast - thank you very much. Everything I have read thus far leads to that conclusion but there are so many different opinions I thought I'd better log in here and seek expert advice, which is exactly what I received. I was sorta hoping there would be something free available which would work. Just curious, do either UFUSoft Blu-ray Player for Windows 8.1/8/7 or MPC-HX x64 work at all?

[Deletr21]

Forgot to mention that we are currently using the Blu-Ray player on this desktop computer which has desktop speakers and sub plugged into the speaker port but at some point may move it into another room and connect HDMI to a TV. We ripped all our cd's with dbPoweramp to FLAC to play with Foobar2000. Sometimes we stream that audio from this computer to an NAD AVR in our living room home theater via Aperion Audio Zona Home Link. Trying to keep up.

[Deletr21]

Woops, forgot to ask you to clarify HDCP:

When you stated that, "Both DVI and HDMI will carry the standard HDCP version 1.4 encrypted 1080P connection to a computer monitor or home theater flat panel screen," do I take that to mean that because both my monitor and GPU have DVI and HDMI connectors that they are automatically HDCP-ready? Nothing in the specs of my GPU or monitor mentions HDCP even though they were both purchased recently.

[HDTV1080P]

Some BD-ROM drives sold by Pioneer,LG, and others comes with a free older version of PowerDVD 10 software. All modern monitors and graphics cards purchased in the last several years has HDCP on all digital connections like Displayport, HDMI, and DVI.

[Deletr21]

Ah! All is clear now. Thank you once again.