Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Matt]

With tonight's build, you can play a Blu-ray inside Media Center using the PowerDVD engine.

To try it, you'll need PowerDVD installed.  Then in Media Center, pick: File > Open URL... > -powerdvd z:\
(replace z:\ with the letter of your Blu-ray drive)

The good news is I'm watching a Blu-ray inside Media Center now.  Menus work.  Play / pause works.

It's a solid C-.  We're not sure how much better we'll be able to make it, so please consider it all an experiment.

[raym]

This is awesome news.... unfortunately I can't test it yet as i don't have a suitable drive. Which are you using and is this a consideration at all in terms of compatability with MC?

Edit: also, what version of PowerDVD is required?

[JimH]

Matt bought an LG drive.  I think it's both Blu-ray and HD.  The PowerDVD came with the drive.

[Matt]

This is awesome news.... unfortunately I can't test it yet as i don't have a suitable drive. Which are you using and is this a consideration at all in terms of compatability with MC?

Edit: also, what version of PowerDVD is required?

I got the LG Blu-ray / HD-DVD combo drive.  I didn't care about HD-DVD, but the drive had good reviews and specs.  It comes with PowerDVD 7.3, which is what we're testing against.

I think any Blu-ray drive would be fine.

So far I'm luke-warm on the whole experience.  The picture is sharp, but not really "gee-whiz" compared to a DVD.  This is on a 9 foot screen.  And it won't play on my three month old monitor because it doesn't have HDCP.

[Jim beat me to it, but I'll leave this anyway]

[KingSparta]

No Lightscribe?

Is The Technology Dead On Blue-ray?

[Mastiff]

Matt, you don't need HDCP if you use AnyDVD HD! I have the same drive (got it from the US in October or November), and on my screen they really look good. The sharpness isn't the main thing, it's the details. Still the jump from VHS to Laserdisc was the biggest change I have had in quality. Second biggest was LD to DVD. This is a close third on that, but it's probably mostly for the enthusiasts.

Edit: But I'm gonna try this out this weekend, it's very interesting because the PowerDVD interface sucks rotten !"&%!¤"%& through a straw!

[Matt]

Matt, you don't need HDCP if you use AnyDVD HD!

I actually did this just to see what it'd look like.  And it worked.

But AnyDVD HD is over $100 after the trial, and it doesn't support BD+.

[jmone]

Can not wait to try it and report back (serves me right going away for a couple of days!)

[Mastiff]

Matt, are you sure? From the changelog of 6.1.9.6 Beta:

New (Blu-ray): AnyDVD ripper copies BD+ titles
New (Blu-ray): Removed "BD+ not supported" warning, as all available BD+ titles can be copied with AnyDVD ripper, or can be watched on HTPC without HDCP using PowerDVD 3104 and AnyDVD. Reports indicate, that burned BD+ titles work on PS3 and standalone players as well.

Of course, the crystal ball of SlySoft was slightly off at that time (October last year):

Note to Twentieth Century Fox: As you can see, BD+ didn't offer you any advanced security, it just annoyed some of your customers with older players. So could you please cut this crap and start publishing your titles on HD DVD? There are thousands of people willing to give you money. 
Note to people considering to invest in HD media: Please buy HD DVD instead of Blu-ray. HD DVD is much more consumer friendly (e.g., no region coding, AACS not mandatory). Don't give your money to people, who throw your fair-use rights out of the window.

If I'm not mistaken, SpiderMan 3 has BD+, and I can rip that and play it back from the hard drive with older versions of PowerDVD (newer versions won't do hard drive playback of HD). But I think that's possible to avoid by ripping to an ISO file and mount that with PowerISO or Daemon Tools. Maybe there has been a new version of BD+ in the meantime that AnyDVD can't do?

All this makes me think about the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons, with the movie companies in the role of Wile, PowerDVD and other "legitimate use" software as the bombs, AnyDVD as the speed of the Road Runner and the consumers as Road Runner and sons! Of course the Road Runner clan always wins in the end, so I have no idea why the DRM mafiae doesn't give up! At least they have seen the light with music.

[jmone]

Mmmm it "sorta" works on my systems (Vista 32-Bit, LG Combo Drive, PowerDVD HD).  The disks plays and I get Audio but just a Black Screen (note: I also get a little PowerDVD window appear).  All plays fine in PowerDVD

FYI - On my display (60" 1920x1080 Pio Plasma) there is a very noticable difference between DVD's and Blu-Ray (if it is not a poor transfer).  The DVD's look very "soft" in comparison.

Thanks
Nathan

PS - Let me know if you want any logs etc.

[jmone]

Actually BD+ has not been cracked by Slysoft (yet??).

AnyDVD HD will allow you to rip a disc, even with BD+, however it currently does not remove BD+ so there are limitations on those titles

The main limitation I've found is if you have a Non-HDCP System (or a driver bug like I do) you need to use an older Build of PowerDVD HD (like 3319a) that allows you to play a BD+ disk where AACS has been removed (and hence the need for HDCP).  Later builds of PowerDVD will not play a BD+ disk where AACS has been removed.  Unfortunatly some of the newer disks (eg Profile 2) don't play properly with these earlier builds.

Nathan

[Mastiff]

Yeah, which is why I have a dual boot for Blu-ray. One with an older version that will play back disks from the hard drive, and one with a newer version that will play back the latest titles. I thought BD+ was removed when I ripped them to disk. My bad. Anyway, I'm still the Road Runner! Even thogh I drive a Suburban and a Starfire, not a Superbird...

[Alex B]

Regarding to the new HD formats, xen-uno just posted an interesting link. The linked article is mostly about MS's "premium content" policy in Vista.

.. Done with MS OS'es after XP. Vista looks to be udder crap. Even though this may be dated, and some issues corrected, this should make you think twice if you haven't downgraded to it yet, or make you wish you hadn't if you have ...

http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html

(I have missed xen-uno's posts and opinions. He seems to come back only about yearly.)

[Alex B]

BTW, does Cyberlink have some kind of a monopoly to produce a "legal" Blue-ray player?

Wouldn't it be possible for JRiver to make similar agreements with the appropriate parties?

[JimH]

Yes, but maybe not practical.  Here's the group:
http://www.blu-raydisc.com/general_information/Section-14009/Index.html

From their FAQ here:
http://www.blu-raydisc.info/faq.php

What is the fee for FLLA?
The fee for FLLA is $15,000 per each licensed category for all formats except RE1.0. The maximum fee to be paid under each format agreement is $30,000.

For RE1.0, the fee is $30,000 for first category, $20,000 for second category and the maximum fee to be pad under format agreement is $60,000.

If we could get the license for $2,000 or $3,000, we might do it.

Hopefully, most players will come with PowerDVD or something else we can hook.

[Mastiff]

Alex, did you read that article? I haven't got the time... I'm guessing that the conclusion is exactly the same as mine: Use Vista only for what you must. Like HD material. Not because you can't play it on XP, but because you have to use overlay for PowerDVD in XP, but you get it to use EVR with Vista, and that looks noticeably better, at least on my system!

Jim, most players comes with PowerDVD. Of various flavours, though. Some have the full version, while others (like the LG combi drive) has the OEM version. But the PowerDVD people actually updates that one to newer Blu-ray versions, so there's not much of a difference in real life, I think.

[Alex B]

Alex, did you read that article? I haven't got the time... I'm guessing that the conclusion is exactly the same as mine: Use Vista only for what you must. Like HD material. Not because you can't play it on XP, but because you have to use overlay for PowerDVD in XP, but you get it to use EVR with Vista, and that looks noticeably better, at least on my system!

For the most part, yes, but I am not sure if it provides any clear conclusion.

I have no experience of Blu-ray (or HD DVD) playback yet, but I have played self-made HD video on XP with good results. I am not going to upgrade to Vista anytime soon unless it comes bundled with a new PC that I may purchase.

[jmone]

FYI - Current Blu-ray players include:
1) Power DVD
2) Nero Showtime with HD Plug in Pack
3) Arcsoft TotalMedia

[jmone]

Hi Matt - any further on this?

FYI - I'm now ripping some Blu-ray / HD-DVD as ISO's an launching them from MC12 but still playing them in PowerDVD.

[Matt]

Hi Matt - any further on this?

FYI - I'm now ripping some Blu-ray / HD-DVD as ISO's an launching them from MC12 but still playing them in PowerDVD.

No news.  Interest for Blu-ray seems a little luke-warm.  I guess it's still early.

[ThoBar]

No news.  Interest for Blu-ray seems a little luke-warm.  I guess it's still early.

It is still early, but I'd say now's the time to try to look at it seriously. I've just bought myself the wife a 1080p TV, and am saving to fully deck out my HTPC with all the modern goodies - HQ sound, Multi-tuner TV card(s), Bluray drive (now that fight is over), Netremote, etc.

Although I still prefer the rip-save-play approach, I definitely want to be able to hire a Bluray movie, plonk it in MC and go. Now, I admit, I could do that with a PS3, but I'd prefer a single interface for media - which what I think MC is aiming at

I'm sure there'll only be more people in a situation similar to mine as we move through this year, and I think this would be a marketable feature best capitalised on early - while there is limited competition (a better ratio of google hits if nothing else ).

[jmone]

No news.  Interest for Blu-ray seems a little luke-warm.  I guess it's still early.

You may be right (I hope not for my sake) so I started a poll on the main board
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=46038.0
and so far 100% want it now (ok I'm the only voter so far)  


Thanks
Nathan

[Doof]

No news.  Interest for Blu-ray seems a little luke-warm.  I guess it's still early.

Well, I for one can say that I haven't put a Blu-Ray drive simply because MC doesn't support it yet. So we may have a chicken/egg situation here.

[richard.e.morton]

Well, I for one can say that I haven't put a Blu-Ray drive simply because MC doesn't support it yet.

snap.

[jmone]

With tonight's build, you can play a Blu-ray inside Media Center using the PowerDVD engine.

To try it, you'll need PowerDVD installed.  Then in Media Center, pick: File > Open URL... > -powerdvd z:\
(replace z:\ with the letter of your Blu-ray drive)

The good news is I'm watching a Blu-ray inside Media Center now.  Menus work.  Play / pause works.

It's a solid C-.  We're not sure how much better we'll be able to make it, so please consider it all an experiment.

Mmmm does not seem to work anymore with PowerDVD 8 Ultra (over V7)
Thanks
Nathan