08-26-2011, 06:49 PM

This was advertised on this Forum.

Has anyone tried it - does it work please?

08-26-2011, 07:22 PM

If no one reports back by tomorrow afternoon, ask again. I'll try to make some time in the morning to attach the HD-DVD/B-R drive from my Win machine to test it out.


edit:
I ain't all that picky - but it'd sure be nice if all these people that want to put up an English language business web site would get an English speaker to proof read it for them. Makes me extremely leery if they can't even do that much for their site.

08-26-2011, 08:43 PM

My guess is that it does. Just tried the player on my MBA. Browsing via wifi to the RAID1 device attached to my Win 7 machine and spent just a few minutes with several files.

Played each from beginning for maybe a minute, then tried moving around using the slider to random times in the movies.

AppleTV .m4v played very good
avi rip played very good
video_ts folder played good - tried one with two movies in it and menus all worked with the cursor also
DVD iso - same as above

VLC or nothing else I've found for OS X can play any of the following.

B-R iso - 25 GB file played pretty nice - only a very little bit of pixelation
B-R iso - 35 -40+ GB files played - some pixelation and occasional cutting in and out not enjoyable for me - but this probably has more to do with trying to stream it via wifi
m2ts - 25 GB size - would not play - it opened it which is more than anything else I've tried will do

will try later via ethernet on my MBP

None of the above are encrypted

08-26-2011, 09:01 PM

Yep, it will play the m2ts. Had to select Open Disc instead of Open File and select the top level folder. Opened it right up.

08-26-2011, 09:14 PM

Thanks for that info. It might be worth the price just to play some m2ts files I have. You have gone above and beyond as usual.

08-26-2011, 09:16 PM

Originally Posted by Slydude

Thanks for that info. It might be worth the price just to play some m2ts files I have. You have gone above and beyond as usual.

That's what I was thinking too. If he keeps it up we may have to put him on permanent.

08-26-2011, 09:25 PM

Don't do that. Then he might start slacking off and we would have to figure this out for ourselves. lol

08-26-2011, 09:34 PM

What I'm hoping when I check it out in the morning before the wife gets on the TV, is that I'll be able to stream via ethernet to my MBP that is now connected to the TV and can stop having to use Handbrake to re-encode all of them.

The options seem a little strange.
The B-R iso you open by selecting Open File
Then if you've ripped it into the video_ts equivalent for B-R, you use Open Disc.
Seems backwards.

08-27-2011, 05:23 AM

Thanks Bob.

I have tried it with files made from DVDs with Handbrake - all seems fine. However I already have several Apps which will play those, including iTunes, VLC, DVDPlayer, etc.

I am wondering if it is worth going out and buying a Blu-Ray Player which will connect via USB, without needing to replace my TV (which is not HD Ready).

Options so far are:

1. Stick with DVDs - of which I have hundreds
2. Buy a Blu-Ray Player with USB and attach to the iMac
3. Buy an HD Ready TV as well as a Blu-Ray Player
4. Buy an all singing, all dancing Full HD TV with Blu-Ray and repurchase all my films as Blu-Rays, leaving me with hundreds of surplus DVDs.

Number 4 is NOT going to happen. Until now I have been more or less OK with Number 1.

This software might get me to try Number 2 - which no doubt would lead to Number 3 at least.

Thoughts please?

08-27-2011, 06:28 AM

My continued testing here first.

Tried streaming via ethernet to my MBP connected to a 58" plasma.
They play, but still same issue of pixelation and stuttering.
Did not have this issue with my Win 7 HTPC streaming across the network from a server in the same location with same hookup.

Then tried my MBA on battery, with a USB connection to the RAID1. Played flawlessly.

Next step, the only B-R player I can try is sitting in my HTPC. So, have to crack the case open to try it on my Mac.

As to your larger question, will think about that some before I suggest. Will tell you that I had approx 1,000 DVDs when I made the switch to HD. And of course, I was an early adopter.

08-27-2011, 07:10 AM

This is with my LG HD DVD Blu-ray combo drive attached via USB to the MBA.

Couple of screen shots - Die Hard and Avatar.




Pretty fast motion scene here is why the screen grab doesn't look too hot.

The good news, with just the first 3 or 4 B-R discs I tried, it seems to play them all brilliantly.
The bad news for those that still have a HD DVD collection, it's a no go.

The nice thing about the player, it bypasses all the warnings, the half a dozen previews that your regular players won't let you skip, and goes right to the movie. They've done a nice job there. Which means it's probably illegal as all get out and have not paid the appropriate bodies for what their software does, unlike the legitimate purveyors of Blu-Ray software players in Windows land like Corel, Arcsoft and Cyberlink.

08-27-2011, 08:37 AM

Nighthawk:

I wouldn't recommend anyone replacing all their DVDs. I certainly have not done so. Gotta have more money than I have to do that. Out of the nearly 1,000 DVDs I have, I'd guess I've upgraded less than 25 of them to Blu-ray. I did however quit purchasing DVDs, almost immediately. Same as when wide screen came out on DVD - immediately stopped purchasing 4:3 format even though I didn't yet have a 16:9 TV.

I also can't afford $25+ a pop for movies. Guess we each have our own threshold. It's got to be a movie I really want in HD before I'll pay more than $17-20. We quit going to theaters when they introduced commercials in them, so that budget goes toward our movies also. Beside which, the 2 of us can't go to a Saturday matinee for less than about $13 (without spending a dime at the snack bar) any more. My HD disc collection is probably only in the 200 range (that's over the last 5-6 years or so) and last time I figured it out, I was averaging about $13 per disc and now I own it instead of a one time viewing in the theater. You have to be willing to wait for most movies awhile if you want to do that, but there are plenty of places between Amazon, Warner Brothers, etc. that put Blu-rays on sale.

If you don't have an HDTV, the only good reason to get a B-R player is so that you can begin the switch over for new purchases. Eventually, that TV is going to break down and you will have a HDTV. Have one friend that purchased one of my old HDTVs and doesn't have a B-R player. He only purchases movies that are combo B-R/DVD until he gets a player.

Personally, I'v been recommending the upgrade to HDTV for about 4 years now to anyone that is into movies, football, basketball (you just won't believe how much better basketball is in 1080 - omg - and you'll wonder how you ever watched on that other TV). And I had a couple of the best analog sets money could buy when I transitioned.

I'd probably recommend a dedicated Blu-ray player than a Blu-ray drive attached to your iMac, unless it's sitting next to the TV and you're already using it (or plan to use it) as a HTPC. This player does bring the Mac into the realm of being a HTPC. A HTPC that can't play Blu-ray, imho, is not a HTPC at all.

08-27-2011, 09:31 AM

Wow, bobtomay - you really went out of your way to thoroughly test it. Thanks for that. I downloaded it last night when I first saw this thread, but like you, was a bit leery due to the "Engrish" on the site.

It appears that this is a Japanese company. Not to stereotype, but typically the spammy/junk software is usually Chinese.

Very pleased to see a B-R solution for the Mac, even if it means having to use an external drive.

08-27-2011, 09:45 AM

Thanks Bob

I suspect eventually I will try a Blu-Ray Player, ideally one which will connect to a PC or Mac with USB as well as the HDMA connection to a TV. This will lead to a few Blu-Ray disks (Avatar, maybe HP, maybe Bourne) and perhaps later an HD Ready TV.

At least this software gives me a way of doing that on the Mac instead of having to dig out a PC and use that.

Replacing all my DVDs is not really an option - much too expensive. Unfortunately, I already have all of the films I listed above on DVD.

I don't really understand why this software supposedly needs to connect to the Internet to play disks. Why is that? AFAIK, you have a device and/or software to decode a disk and play it. I am not looking to rip or copy any of these disks, just play them in the normal way

08-27-2011, 09:48 AM

They're using VLC also per their FAQ's so it looks like it will also play anything VLC does.

Maybe they'll give me a free copy if I offer to edit their site into "real" english.