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[jmone]

I see that dual BluRay / HD-DVD drives are now down to $300 (eg LG GGV-H20L) and am thinking of adding one to my HTPC.  Given that MC12 does not (yet) support playing of either format I thought I'd ask:
1) how people are playing these disks and
2) if anyone has got play back integrated with MC 12 T'View some how

Thanks
Nathan

PS - Any JR comment on BluRay / HD-DVD support 

[Doof]

MC support of HD-DVD and BluRay is the only thing holding me back from buying the LG.

[JimH]

It's probably time for us to take a look at them.

[jmone]

It's probably time for us to take a look at them.

 

[Matt]

Is there any way to get Zoom  or WMP to play these discs?

We're not sure if the underlying playback system will be DirectShow, DVD intefaces, or a new implementation.

[fitbrit]

On doom9 and AVS forums, there's a post (by sarah99) detailing how to achieve HD-DVD/BD playback in MediaPlayerClassic, if that will help?http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=892527

[Matt]

That thread makes it look awfully sloppy still.

Most people are using AnyDVD to circumvent the DRM.

Otherwise, only PowerDVD filters work but they're locked to PowerDVD Ultra player.

It also looks like only every other disc works for a lot of people since there's no standardization about the format on the disc.

It's just silly that using a new technology on a computer should be such a hassle.  Why not include playback filters right on the media to encourage computer usage instead of invent elaborate systems to exclude computers and favor dedicated hardware?  The licensing fees for the media could easily cover the cost of this software.

Computers are the ultimate multimedia platform, yet they're often treated like scary second-class citizens.  (i.e. why can't my computer be my cable TV tuner, why were high-def audio CD alternatives basically unusable on a computer, etc.)

[glynor]

It's just silly that using a new technology on a computer should be such a hassle.  Why not include playback filters right on the media to encourage computer usage instead of invent elaborate systems to exclude computers and favor dedicated hardware?  The licensing fees for the media could easily cover the cost of this software.

Computers are the ultimate multimedia platform, yet they're often treated like scary second-class citizens.  (i.e. why can't my computer be my cable TV tuner, why were high-def audio CD alternatives basically completely unusable on a computer, etc.)

Speak on brother.

It's because the Media companies are run by people who "came up" before the age of computers, and who really don't understand the technology at all.  It makes me angry and sad.

They're only shooting themselves in the foot in the long run, I suspect, though.  It is as likely to lead to the non-adoption of either HD-DVD or BluRay, as to anything else.  They really think they can control the market completely, and use it to further monetize their activities, despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Like I've said before... The end-game is downloadable content.  The longer they drag their feet, the more it gives the independent companies time to develop solutions on their own.

[jmone]

Couple of comments:
1) The "best" solution would be for JR to have in MC12 the licences do decrypt and play Blu Ray  / HD DVD (aka Power DVD) but I'm sure this costs $$ for the licence from the two camps.  I'd be happy to pay extra for a "Blu Ray / HD DVD" plugin to enable this in MC12
2) The alternative is to enable (through filters by the look of it) playback / control of content on un-encrypted Blu Ray / HD DVD disks and let users seek third party tools if they want to remove the hurdle with commercial disks (eg AnyDVD HD etc).  This should be relativly easy as it may just need some tweaking of what filters are used in what order etc to get it going without much change to MC12

Regardless of the views of the competing standards there are now reasonable demand for playing both format and given the size of the HD content and the speed & costs associated with downloading, I just don't see that downloads will be viable for the majority anytime soon. 

I'd certianly encorage JR to look at playback of these disks....I'll even buy one of these combo drives to help test out! (sick of having to play the disks in the PS/3 and don't want another "dedicated" box just to play these).  FYI I will from now on only be buying High Def disks and they just look terrific and take advantage of my new Kuro (60" 1080p set).

Thanks
Nathan

[glynor]

Regardless of the views of the competing standards there are now reasonable demand for playing both format and given the size of the HD content and the speed & costs associated with downloading, I just don't see that downloads will be viable for the majority anytime soon.

I agree with your premise.  Unfortunately, I doubt seriously that all the pieces are in place.  Even Microsoft is refusing to offer Blu-Ray or HD-DVD decoding support out-of-the-box on Windows Vista's WiMP, most likely due to licensing costs.  These costs are extremely significant (I'm unclear on the exact fees involved but it isn't cheap at all).

Plus, there are so many hardware hoops you have to jump through to enable full-quality playback (short of using a crack method).  You can't use VGA or (most) DVI outputs, you have to have a video card and monitor that fully support HDCP (and even some of them that said they do, turn out not to), and you have to make sure you're running at the proper resolutions (if your video card doesn't have 2 HDCP keys, then you can't run at higher desktop resolutions than 1080p or HD playback won't work), the software code path has to be "protected" (which in effect limits you to Vista), and on and on...

All in the name of DRM that was cracked immediately, and continues to be re-cracked before the discs that employ the new methods even come out.  Its absurd.

[jmone]

I agree is everything you say....but I just want to play my Ridgy-didge (oz slang) disks please!

On a more serious note - I see that Nero8 also has inbuilt support for these disks so their filters may be of use....

Thanks
Nathan

[fitbrit]

I just had a great evening of movie watching with my mother-in-law and wife, using MC. Even the M-I-L was impressed with all those movies at my fingertips. Now there's no doubt about it; I'm definitely getting the full version for just $40. I'd happily pay $50 for a Hi-def module; that'd still be cheaper than the full version of PowerDVD with all of its nonsense, e.g. not allowing hi-def audio without downsampling it, breaking the playing of BD and HD-DVDS ripped to hard drives in recent updates etc. Some of these 'precautions' aren't even stipulated by the DRM-mongers.

[jmone]

It's probably time for us to take a look at them.

Just ordered my GGC-H20L - BluRay / HD-DVD drive for the HTPC!  Look forward to seeing what it can do and how to integrate playback of these disks in MC12.

Nathan

PS - It will no doubt take weeks to arrive from the US to Australia  and by then we will be on Christmas / Summer Holidays  ...

[jmone]

FYI - a bit more goggling around indicates that at least Cyberlink and ArcSoft now have plug-ins for MCE

Windows Media Center Edition Plug-in 
The program comes with a Windows Media Center Edition plug-in built right in! The plug-in provides a "10 foot" user experience: big buttons and compatibility with your remote control mean you can use TotalMedia Theatre to watch your HD DVD and Blu-ray movies from the comfort of your couch

in addition to using one of the decrypter packages.....