Thread: Trying to play BD on my PC can be daunting.

Why isn't Microsoft Windows 10 Home Blu-ray disc ready out of the box?

Christ, Windows 10 did not even come with a DVD player software out of the box. I had to download and install something like Pot Player.

They have BD player software online but you get a watermark unless you pay money for it.

I have a Pioneer Blu-ray burner drive in my PC. Why didn't Pioneer even make its optical drive plug-and-play out of the box for commercially bought Blu-ray disc movies?

Why can't computer hardware companies and Microsoft just make their products Blu-Ray and DVD ready right out of the box?

I tried some other so-called "BD player" software but it gave me some jazz about missing codecs.

I tried VLC to try to play a BD, but it's giving me some crap about libraries and codes.

Blu-ray error:
This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it. Your input can't be opened: VLC is unable to open the MRL 'bluray:///E:/'. Check the log for details.

Can't answer the initial question but there are reviews of software available - e.g. 9 Best DVD & Blu ray Player Software for Windows PC in 2024

Perhaps it has to do with Region coding of discs.

There are also licensing costs for H.264 and H.265, and Dolby audio codecs. Plus content protection requirements that have to be satisfied. As an educated guess, it's easier to deal with that cost and also to implement those requirements when you are supplying a full end-to-end hardware and software product that you also know is primarily for the playback of content that would benefit from it. Conversely, the end user can deal with the issue by installing their own apps and necessary hardware so that only those who really want or need the functionality have to bear the cost, and not everyone else who is just using email and a web browser.

Handbrake

Originally Posted by NekoAudio

There are also licensing costs for H.264 and H.265, and Dolby audio codecs. Plus content protection requirements that have to be satisfied. As an educated guess, it's easier to deal with that cost and also to implement those requirements when you are supplying a full end-to-end hardware and software product that you also know is primarily for the playback of content that would benefit from it. Conversely, the end user can deal with the issue by installing their own apps and necessary hardware so that only those who really want or need the functionality have to bear the cost, and not everyone else who is just using email and a web browser.

Since making this thread, somebody at another website, Craigslist, told me about the free Leawo player. Works great for me but it will bug me to install something like Java runtime?? each and every time I put in a new BD movie to play.

My living room entertainment system is now under construction so for now I must use my home office PC to play DVD or Blu-ray movies. I just ordered some new BD movies from amazon.com and they are not cheap. I'm starting a small new BD collection as I have over 250 movie titles on DVD in my collection I started since the mid-2000's. This is the first time I ever bought commerically-produced Blu-ray disc movies and here are the titles I opened up my new BD collection:

1. The Planet of the Apes 5-disc legacy collection: 20th-Century Fox/Roddy McDowell/Kim Hunter/Charlton Heston from 1968 through 1973. Disc number 1 right out of the factory-sealed box had smudges on the surface so it would not load into Leawo. I had to carefully clean it with the Phillips optical disc wet washer kit I have and wipe it spotless with the inclusded micofiber cloth and it plays perfectly now.

2. Patton

3. West Side Story

4. Top Gun

5. The Pack, Warner Bros, 1977

6. The AristoCats, Walt Disney Productions

7. 2001: A Space Odyssey, MGM, Stanley Kubrik


The Planet of the Apes 5-disc set was a horrible $99! Blu-ray disc movies have been out since the 2000's and yet they still seem to go up in price. In some cases, however, a DVD movie can be almost as spendy as its BD counterpart. I did not like buying one movie from Amazon Prime because the credits were cut off at the end. Buying feature films on disc ensures no part is cut out. I think audio/video quality should also be better off BD than streaming a movie anyway.

I was wondering why you just didn't use the Panasonic.

Originally Posted by JDBarrow

Since making this thread, somebody at another website, Craigslist, told me about the free Leawo player. Works great for me but it will bug me to install something like Java runtime?? each and every time I put in a new BD movie to play.

My living room entertainment system is now under construction so for now I must use my home office PC to play DVD or Blu-ray movies. I just ordered some new BD movies from amazon.com and they are not cheap. I'm starting a small new BD collection as I have over 250 movie titles on DVD in my collection I started since the mid-2000's. This is the first time I ever bought commerically-produced Blu-ray disc movies and here are the titles I opened up my new BD collection:

1. The Planet of the Apes 5-disc legacy collection: 20th-Century Fox/Roddy McDowell/Kim Hunter/Charlton Heston from 1968 through 1973. Disc number 1 right out of the factory-sealed box had smudges on the surface so it would not load into Leawo. I had to carefully clean it with the Phillips optical disc wet washer kit I have and wipe it spotless with the inclusded micofiber cloth and it plays perfectly now.

2. Patton

3. West Side Story

4. Top Gun

5. The Pack, Warner Bros, 1977

6. The AristoCats, Walt Disney Productions

7. 2001: A Space Odyssey, MGM, Stanley Kubrik


The Planet of the Apes 5-disc set was a horrible $99! Blu-ray disc movies have been out since the 2000's and yet they still seem to go up in price. In some cases, however, a DVD movie can be almost as spendy as its BD counterpart. I did not like buying one movie from Amazon Prime because the credits were cut off at the end. Buying feature films on disc ensures no part is cut out. I think audio/video quality should also be better off BD than streaming a movie anyway.

My Panasonic BD player is down now for living room entertainment rack construction. Nowhere to feasibly use it at the moment. I want to test my new BD movies anyway for product defects. The home office PC has a Pioneer BD burner drive. It's just handy for the moment to watch and test new BD movies. I'm really hankering to hear what they sound like on my new 2.1 audio sytem. My home office PC just has a pair of cheesy desktop stereo speakers.

Do Blu-ray movies tend to have higher levels of audio fidelty than do DVD movies?

I believe the above responses are correct, and I also believe the primary cause is the license cost. For the same reason, if you install Windows to a generic PC, you also need to purchase the critical HEVC extension from Microsoft Store for certain video functions from built-in or standard apps, unless your PC manufacturer already includes it for you.

Yes, Blu-ray does have higher audio fidelity (DTS-HDMA / TrueHD) than DVD (DTS / Dolby Digital)

Many of the BluRay drives (internal, or USB) come with a disc or download code for playback software. (But usually not the best, or partially functional)

You might check through the documentation/CDs that came with your computer, or the drive, if you added it on.

I have a lot of DVD’s and Blue ray discs dating back to the early 2000’s. To me they are a much better way to play movies than streaming. The audio is always better and video never buffers like streaming. My problem is my Denon DVD 2900 developed a sticky disc drawer, so I had to make a little hook to open the tray. I think it needs a new belt, but it is not simple to get at.
Also my Marantz Blue ray player stopped reading discs suddenly, not sure why.
I was thinking of buying the new Xbox series X,because I game from time to time. It also plays all disc formats apparently. Does anyone know if it plays DVD’s and Blueray discs as good as a dedicated player?