Blu-Ray

[bazanders]

Hi all

Have been a windows user for 20 years and have recently decided to try the mac way.

Bought a 27" imac 2 months back and gotta say i love it, have it set up exactly as i want now.

However i do have one issue and that is blu-ray. Is there any 3rd party software for playback without using bootcamp and windows/powerdvd.

I realise parallels/vmware is a no go due to drivers etc, just need to know if its a waist of time purchasing a blu-ray drive

 

[bobtomay]

I am still not aware of any software for OS X that will play commercial B-R or HD-DVD discs. Hence my HTPC runs Win7.

 

[bazanders]

I am still not aware of any software for OS X that will play commercial B-R or HD-DVD discs. Hence my HTPC runs Win7.

Thats kinda what i feared, shame. Ah well maybe 10.6.4?

 

[bobtomay]

Maybe if everyone that uses Toast, which can write Blu-Rays, sends them an email requesting a B-R movie playing app, they'll take it under higher consideration.

I wouldn't expect Apple to come out with the support any time soon. It's going to have to be a 3rd party developer I think.

Roxio could become the Cyberlink / ArcSoft of the Mac world.

I use ArcSoft's Total Media Theater as their latest software will still play HD-DVD where Cyberlink pulled that capability out 2 versions back. So with PowerDVD, you have to keep two versions on your machine.

 

[pigoo3]

Maybe I'm confused. Unless we're talking about an external blue-ray drive...I wasn't aware that the internal Superdrive on a 27" iMac was capable of playing blue-ray disks...regardless of what software is available.

So as this thread seems to be implying...is the internal super drive on a 27" iMac capable of playing blue-ray disks?

I thought one of the big complaints among Mac users was the lack of an internal blue-ray player or writer in any Mac.

- Nick

Edit: Nevermind...after rereading the OP's original post...it sounds like we are talking about an external drive!

 

[Kevriano]

As VLC will play BR streams (m2ts), I am wondering if it would read a BR disc from an external BR drive.

 

[bobtomay]

While VLC will play the format, it won't open a commercial B-R disc or iso even in windows. Have not tried it in OS X.

 

[Kevriano]

Ok, Bob.
I wonder if it will open the stream folder?

 

[Jaygray]

Maybe I'm confused. Unless we're talking about an external blue-ray drive...I wasn't aware that the internal Superdrive on a 27" iMac was capable of playing blue-ray disks...regardless of what software is available.

So as this thread seems to be implying...is the internal super drive on a 27" iMac capable of playing blue-ray disks?

I thought one of the big complaints among Mac users was the lack of an internal blue-ray player or writer in any Mac.

- Nick

Edit: Nevermind...after rereading the OP's original post...it sounds like we are talking about an external drive!

I recently started debating purchasing a Blu-Ray drive. I noticed that many models have a disclaimer indicating that additional software is required to play Blu-Ray movies. I get the idea that just because you have a Blu-Ray capable drive doesn't mean your Mac/PC can auotmatically decode the video on the discs.

 

[bobtomay]

I recently started debating purchasing a Blu-Ray drive. I noticed that many models have a disclaimer indicating that additional software is required to play Blu-Ray movies. I get the idea that just because you have a Blu-Ray capable drive doesn't mean your Mac/PC can auotmatically decode the video on the discs.

That is correct. Most retail drives will have a freebie older version or stripped down version of a Cyberlink player or something and then hound you to pay for the upgrade everytime it opens.

When you start looking at OEM drives, then you'll need to supply your own software.

The two major players are the 2 I have listed above. Neither of which are cheap with versions ranging from $50-$100. All the extras cost ya. You want Dolby Digital Plus & TrueHD support on your computer for example? Get ready to plunk down $100 just for the software.

 

[Nethfel]

Unfortunately, unless Mr. Jobs makes a major change in his way of handling things, there is a good chance it will be a while before we see BluRay video player support directly in OSX - I say this because Apple doesn't really like competing technologies, and BluRay directly competes with their HD iTunes sales.

Another thing to consider, right now, only QuicktimeX can directly use the GPU for H.264 video decoding - which makes for a problem for playing many HD files and bluray discs as you now need to use the CPU heavily for playback - so unless they make it easy for third parties to use the GPU for playback purposes, it will be a while before we see third party software supporting GPU for playback (assuming they would want to take the time to do it considering you can't buy a Mac currently with a bluray drive built in)

 

[TheGreatApple]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't the whole reason as to why Apple is way behind the curve on this one is all because they're trying to push their own HD iTunes experience and not blueray?