Best way to play bluray without all the BS?

[Triumph]

I hate this format. I just want to put in my movie and watch it. Well, my first problem is that I have a shitty player, a Sony BDP-S301 that is notoriously slow. But then you have all of the extra bullshit that goes along with bluray, the slow menu interfaces, the attempts to download bullshit, splash screens you can't skip past....I just put in The Wrestler to watch. Or rather, I put it in TEN MINUTES AGO, and it is finally playing. I don't appreciate being locked out of the menu access while it tries to play trailers for other movies.

So, any hackable players that can get me past all this shit?

 

[Rifter]

I find the best way is to rip to HDD then watch. obviously this takes setup time as you wait for it to rip to HDD but then you dont need to deal with previews and menu crap you hit play at it starts at the movie.

 

[sdifox]

rip the movie is your best bet. I hate locked out menus.

 

[alent1234]

part of the problem is the blu ray spec. I think that the executable is on the disc and needs to be loaded where with HD-DVD it was in the player and it only had to load the data.

PS3 is the best blu ray player there is

 

[alkemyst]

PS3 is the best blu ray player there is

When cost is an object. Many of the newer players are just as good/fast as it is.

 

[Anubis]

either rip it or use a HTPC with a program like anydvdhd that lets you just play it, you however lose menu support, which theu will prob fix at some point

 

[JimKiler]

I agree that the menu system in DVD and BD is obnoxious. I wish it was like CD or LaserDisc where it would start playing the movie or music right away.

 

[blackangst1]

part of the problem is the blu ray spec. I think that the executable is on the disc and needs to be loaded where with HD-DVD it was in the player and it only had to load the data.

PS3 is the best blu ray player there is

I would take an Oppo over a PS3

 

[KeithP]

I have come to the point whenever I watch a BB movie, I pop the disc in the player before I am ready to watch it.

That way, when I finally get around to switching the input on the TV to the BD player, it has already gone through with all the pre-roll and all I have to do is hit "play." That just seems like the easiest way to deal with it all.

-KeithP

 

[Jinny]

this was posted in the other thread lol:

 

[JimKiler]

this was posted in the other thread lol:

Funny, but now it is missing the great anti piracy commercial included on movies.

 

[ret]

If you want to play a Blu-ray movie without using your computer then you need a standalone player (or at least PS3).
If you want to play it on your PC with every feature possible then you need a paid player like PowerDVd or TMT.
And if you need to play the Blu-ray without BS, you need a free player.

So, maybe, even if you are not a pirate, the best option to save time is to use free software although it should be the opposite. Bussiness is strange nowadays.

 

[alent1234]

this was posted in the other thread lol:

a lot of times the preview trailers are just as good as the movie or better

 

[Oyeve]

I use macbrplayer on my HTPC. Works great and is pretty fast. Free too!

 

[AnitaPeterson]

OK.... detours like the jpeg posted above thrice are fun (and express the truth!)... but this doesn't get us any closer to a definitive answer. I'd also like to hear an answer to this question, as far as HTPC software is concerned. But in the Windows world, not Apple.

As far as hackable standalone players... here, in Canada, Wal-Mart sells a SEIKI BD player, which is:

a) Cheap ($78 every day, as low as $48 on sale)
b) Hackable via a simple remote code to play DVDs and BDs from all over the world (Videohelp.com is your friend!)
c) Quicker to load the media than anything from Sony, Panasonic etc.
d) Able to skip all the crap.

 

[ImpulsE69]

a lot of times the preview trailers are just as good as the movie or better

Maybe the FIRST time, but if you are buying a movie to keep, you probably intend to watch it more than one time, and do not want to be forced to sit through all that endless nonsense EVERY time. I'm sure there are some die hards that do, but really...

 

[soulcougher73]

this was posted in the other thread lol:

LOL So true. going to go home tonight and (((HUG))) my HTPC

 

[Muse]

I find the best way is to rip to HDD then watch. obviously this takes setup time as you wait for it to rip to HDD but then you dont need to deal with previews and menu crap you hit play at it starts at the movie.

I was thinking this today, and I was thinking specifically of the fact that AFAIK there's no way to choose a preferred subtitle stream on your Blu-ray or DVD. I've been shopping for a Blu-ray player that would let you do this and have had no luck. Some disks have quite a few subtitle streams and to have to go sequentially through them to turn them off is a PITA. For example, Alien Anthology has 10!:

SUBTITLES: English, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Norwegian and Swedish.

The only way around this (if you are ripping a DVD to a disk) is to rip with a ripper that does allow you to choose your preferred subtitle(s). I've been doing this for years with DVDs and I suppose it's possible with Blu-ray too.

Obviously you also have the advantage that with at least some rippers you can eliminate those irritating splash screens, warnings, trailers, you can even just rip the movie if you want, although I don't always want to do away with featurettes.

 

[Muse]

I have come to the point whenever I watch a BB movie, I pop the disc in the player before I am ready to watch it.

That way, when I finally get around to switching the input on the TV to the BD player, it has already gone through with all the pre-roll and all I have to do is hit "play." That just seems like the easiest way to deal with it all.

-KeithP

But that doesn't get you past the trailers, does it? I never watch trailers anymore.

a lot of times the preview trailers are just as good as the movie or better

You are watching some shitty movies.

 

[Muse]

OK, so consensus has it that you must rip your disk to dispense with the bullshit. I have my means of ripping DVDs and I've been 95+% successful with it. If one method doesn't work well, I try another, usually starting with DVDShrink and seeing what develops. I've managed this success with free programs.

I presume that when ripping blu-rays your target is a HDD, not a disk (I almost always rip to a single layer disk with DVDs, occasionally span to a second disk). What ripper(s) are best/OK/etc. with blu-rays? What do you use and why?

 

[Muse]

If you want to play a Blu-ray movie without using your computer then you need a standalone player (or at least PS3).
If you want to play it on your PC with every feature possible then you need a paid player like PowerDVd or TMT.
And if you need to play the Blu-ray without BS, you need a free player.

So, maybe, even if you are not a pirate, the best option to save time is to use free software although it should be the opposite. Bussiness is strange nowadays.

What free players will play a Blu-ray movie? VLC?

Then, of course, you'll need a blu-ray capable drive in your PC.

 

[sdifox]

OK, so consensus has it that you must rip your disk to dispense with the bullshit. I have my means of ripping DVDs and I've been 95+% successful with it. If one method doesn't work well, I try another, usually starting with DVDShrink and seeing what develops. I've managed this success with free programs.

I presume that when ripping blu-rays your target is a HDD, not a disk (I almost always rip to a single layer disk with DVDs, occasionally span to a second disk). What ripper(s) are best/OK/etc. with blu-rays? What do you use and why?

I used the dvdfab 8 ripper. It's free. It's hit and miss on what it can rip.

Handbrake if you need to compress it.

Pretty much all media players will play mkv.

I use MPC-HC

 

[Triumph]

what's all this about a HTPC, why not just buy a $300 laptop with a BD drive and hdmi out and set that next to my TV? can software like powerDVD (or bluray equivalent) more easily bypass all the menu shit?

 

[velillen]

what's all this about a HTPC, why not just buy a $300 laptop with a BD drive and hdmi out and set that next to my TV? can software like powerDVD (or bluray equivalent) more easily bypass all the menu shit?

From what i remember in trying out total media theatre 5 (awhile gao mind you) was that if you played off a disc it was the same as if it was in a PS#/standalone. you still had the ads to go through.

What ripper(s) are best/OK/etc. with blu-rays? What do you use and why?[/QUOTE]

I use Makemkv for ripping my movies. Simple to use and works 99% of the time. I dont convert so i just keep the untouched audio/video/subtitles and toss em on my server.

 

[Anubis]

What free players will play a Blu-ray movie? VLC?

Then, of course, you'll need a blu-ray capable drive in your PC.

AFAIK none of them will nativily you have to either hack something to make it work or use another program that has the fix built in that works with players


I use AnyDVDHD for this and play my BRs in PotPlayer, anydvdHD takes about 10 seconds to work its magic and then you can straight play the movie without having to see any of the BS. HOWEVER you have no menu support which you may find annoying

if you use powerDVD or total media you still have to sit through the FBI bullcrap and most other things, as the "menu" option is locked out like it is on a external player