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[Willster]

I did a search and MC 19 is supposed to support Blu-ray.  When I try to load a BR disc, I get a dark screen that just sits there forever while the light on the BR drive blinks continuously.  Eventually, I just give up and use PowerDVD, which has no problems playing the disc.

To answer some of the obvious questions...yes, my computer has a Blu-ray drive.  The computer is a six core AMD with 8 Gigs of memory running Windows 7 Ultimate.  The display is an Epson High Def projector.  MC plays DVDs fine.

Perhaps there are some settings buried in the programming that need adjustment.  Anybody have a suggestion?

[jmone]

Hi Willster and Welcome.

Here is the Wiki on BD playback that is a good starting point - http://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Blu-ray

Do you have a BD reader loaded? (eg like AnyDVD HD)

Thanks
Nathan

[Willster]

Ok, I think I'm clear on this now.  My choice is to use a free program that came bundled with my BD drive or spend $50 on MC, which I already did, and also pay $110 for a 2 year subscription to AnyDVD HD.  $160 vs. Free.  That's a tough choice.  Looks like MC bites me in the ass again.

[6233638]

It's not JRiver's fault that Blu-ray discs are loaded with restrictive DRM.

[Willster]

I guess it's not PowerDVDs fault that it works for free either.  Why can't MC get past this issue the way PowerDVD does?

[jmone]

Ok, I think I'm clear on this now.  My choice is to use a free program that came bundled with my BD drive or spend $50 on MC, which I already did, and also pay $110 for a 2 year subscription to AnyDVD HD.  $160 vs. Free.  That's a tough choice.  Looks like MC bites me in the ass again.

No one is biting anyone.  Each prog has it's own focus and feature set.  Each allows you to try it before you buy to see if it meets your needs.  JRiver has chosen to date not to become a Licensed Blu Ray SW Player (and all that entails such as cost, restrictions, development effort etc etc).  Instead MC uses LAV Filters to provide playback of unencrypted 2D BDs though this does not provide a full feature set.  Most of us think this is a great middle ground.  Some use both progs in combination as MC's feature set does not include stuff that PDVD or TMT does, or vice versa.  

The wiki link I posted gives you a good overview of what MC will and will not do in relation to BD playback.

[Daniel Warner]

Plus, PowerDVD or TMT are certainly not free!  The free versions that come bundled with some drives are very often old or cut down versions with limited capability.

AnyDVD is only €69 for lifetime updates which comes to about $95

I'm just grateful MC can play BluRays at all, with all the other awesome features, it still makes it great value, so don't bash it.

Peace out.

[6233638]

AnyDVD is only €69 for lifetime updates which comes to about $95

FYI, you need AnyDVD HD for Blu-ray support.
 
 
And I bought a lifetime license for it about five years before I started using Media Center - it's not only Media Center which needs it to play Blu-ray discs, and many users (such as myself) may already have a license for it.

I guess it's not PowerDVDs fault that it works for free either.  Why can't MC get past this issue the way PowerDVD does?

PowerDVD is not free - your drive was bundled with it, but it is not a free product - a PowerDVD 14 Ultra license is very close to the price of AnyDVD HD here.
 
PowerDVD does not require software like AnyDVD HD because they pay the BDA a huge licensing fee to play back Blu-ray content.

Many people only buy Media Center for its audio capabilities, and so it would increase the price with no benefit for many users.

[coyi1895]

Many people only buy Media Center for its audio capabilities, and so it would increase the price with no benefit for many users.

That is true for me when I bought Asus Essence One DAC.  I got JRiver MC primarily for audio.  Mind you, I'm seeing lots of stuff for me to fiddle around with in Options

[glynor]

PowerDVD does not require software like AnyDVD HD because they pay the BDA a huge licensing fee to play back Blu-ray content.

The issue is more than just money, unfortunately, though that is a substantial hurdle.

It is also very unlikely that the BDA would license MC without a substantial reduction in other functionality within MC.  Basically, MC offers some of the very things they don't want you to be able to do, like:

* Ripping
* Maintaining a large library of ripped ISOs or converted files
* Video conversion and streaming to mobile devices
* Writing audio out to disk (via the Disk Writer output plugin)

JRiver would likely have to nix a large set of MC's functionality in order to officially support BluRay.

[6233638]

Even more basic than that, you wouldn't get HD audio without bitstreaming - it would be downconverted.

[glynor]

Even more basic than that, you wouldn't get HD audio without bitstreaming - it would be downconverted.

Oh yeah, that too.   

Stupid DRM.

[audunth]

Anyone tried this free alternative to AnyDVD HD? http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/344946-BDFree-freeware-released-decrypt-Blu-ray-DVD-free-alternative-to-anydvd

[glynor]

Anyone tried this free alternative to AnyDVD HD? http://forum.videohelp.com/threads/344946-BDFree-freeware-released-decrypt-Blu-ray-DVD-free-alternative-to-anydvd

Read the thread.

The guy only ever released three or so versions, and it was abandoned (for all I could find) way back in September 2012, if not before.  The guy's website also no longer responds (nor shows up in Google results).  I'm thinking that's a dead end, unless you have more recent news?

[phusis]

...and what pleasure it is with JRiver that after the Blu-ray disc is inserted (or file activated) and AnyDVD HD has scanned it, that the film starts IMMEDIATELY - sans trailers and what else could make the road long and twisted to final playback.