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What Blu-ray playback software are you using?

Depends. PowerDVD is about the last Blu-ray software left standing, and I use it if I want to access the extras on a disc. If I'm watching the main movie, I run AnyDVD HD which allows me to use the player of my choice. JRiver Media Center by itself can play the main movie on some discs, depending on the copy protection.

I generally use MPC-HC. However, any player I use for the main movie must be able to use LAV filters and the madVR renderer. With madVR I can control my HD picture enhancements instead of being stuck with those built into PowerDVD.

However, if you want "simple", go with PowerDVD. Beyond that, it becomes a time-consuming hobby (but the results are worth it, IMO). If you've never heard of LAV and madVR, go "simple".
 
Dave3000 said:
What do you do when you run out of hard drive space?
Click to expand...

My media servers use Unraid as their OS, so all I have to do is upgrade a smaller drive in the array with a larger drive from Newegg/Frys/etc. As long as my parity drive isn't smaller than the upgrade drive the array gets more space with no data lost.

Right now my capacity is over 50tb so it isn't really a concern.
 
I installed PowerDVD for BluRay playback. If I'm just playing the image then VLC or Kodi, depending on the computer.
 
I right now don't have a blu-ray player. Well I have an Xbox One but I don't use it for blu-ray playback anymore because of dropped/skipped frames every 5 to 15 minutes. I have PowerDVD Ultra 15 Ultra but I don't use my PC anymore for playing blu-rays because my blu-ray drive is too loud during playback and if I pause for a long time when I get back to playing a movie, about 10 seconds later it will stutter because it's reading from what's cached ahead in memory and when it's done reading from the cache, my drive will start to spin up and stutter the video in the process for a few seconds as it gets up to speed, and it sometimes results in lip sync issues. My next blu-ray player will be a 4k one, and I think it will be the upcoming Sony one. 4k and HDR support is a must for me on any device I'm going to buy from now on because I'm going most likely buy a 4k TV later this year. In fact I try to avoid buying a normal blu-ray version of a movie if there is a 4k blu-ray version available which includes a normal blu-ray version.
 
In my opinion, there is no good Blu-ray playback software. I tried a number of different software players a number of years ago (including PowerDVD, WinDVD etc) and after much frustration, I eventually switched to standalone players...now using PS3 and some Samsung BD-player that I grabbed from Target. Now, each is connected via an AVR sitting next to one of my two HTPCs.

The scenario typically went like this...install software and it works for awhile until one day, you put in a disc and you are informed that you need an update to allow for playback. Grudgingly, you update the software and after attempting to play the disc it either still doesn't work or is buggy. So after multiple round of trouble shooting with tech support you are told that you must pay to upgrade to the latest version of the software in order to play the latest disks.
 
PowerDVD here, if you are watching BRD movie, ripped or direct, its definitely worth investing into. I have 2 year old version and it still working!
 
I have VLC, used to work fine on my ONE BD disc, did something and now needs resorting out. I've bought PowerDVD 3 times and I'm tired of buying new versions to fix it.

My vote is get a standalone player so you never have to fuss when you just want to watch the movie.
 
PowerDVD 16 Ultra/VLC for ripped blu-rays if/when I watch on my PC. A Samsung 3D BD player on my home theater.
 
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Earlier in this thread I hadn't settled on software. Now I have.

Leawo Blu-ray Player. Setup hassle was non-existent. Just picked up my first blu-ray disc as well. Drive is a LG bd-rom I picked up back in 2014 and set aside, unused, until I found some software.
Total cost to play blu-ray on my pc?? $35 !! (disc excluded)
 
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I too use the Leawo free-ware player . Latest version is very good and plays almost everything with decent audio and video too.
 
So pop in a rented brd in your PC and it starts playing? That sounds good, finally another option besides powerdvd after a long time...
 
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