PC dvd player

[wclem]

I have a pc hooked to my tv in my living room. Mostly for streaming things like Netflix or YouTube and others. Can anyone suggest a good program to playback DVDs on windows 10? Preferably a freeware or inexpensive program. I usually just use my standalone player but this would be more convenient.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide.

[stickem]

I've used VLC media player for years. Never had any issues and free.

[wclem]

Awesome, forgot about VLC. Thanks for the help.

[Ziggy]

Yep, VLC works great for DVD playback.

How about Blu Ray playback? This one seems like a pain in the ass.

[wclem]

Sony and the fees have hurt with Blu Ray programs. The only thing I can find is Cyberlink. Sadly from what I read is that when the license updates annually you have to re-up your player. So for around a 100 bucks a year you can have play back LOL.

I have a little portable blu ray player that I wired to my pc, which is hooked to my tv. I attached the player to my end table and have the convenience being able to change a disc without having to constantly getting up. Binge watching the Twilight Zone has never been easier LOL. I used it mainly for burned AVI discs for shows but want to watch my regular dvds also. Sadly there are shows that still have not seen release. Unhappily ever after, all five seasons of Znation and so many others. So I have had to download some things. Streaming is nice but things come and go with that.

I guess there ways to rip blu rays to your hard disc and watch, but at that point why not just bootleg. I really want to use actual media and not have to download things. It just feels good to play my stuff on a real disc. Just like with games, nice to have the real thing. If somebody has a good alternative let me know.

[Ziggy]

I guess there ways to rip blu rays to your hard disc and watch, but at that point why not just bootleg. I really want to use actual media and not have to download things. It just feels good to play my stuff on a real disc. Just like with games, nice to have the real thing. If somebody has a good alternative let me know.

Yeah, same here. I like to play the actual discs. I've been mostly dissatisfied with Blu Ray players. I wish I could just use my PC, but it seems like you have to jump through hoops. I've read that you can use VLC, but there's a few add ons that you have to install/config and even after that you have to constantly update the keys.

The thing that really drives me nuts is bookmarking! You have to remember to press the green button to create a bookmark, my BD player has a fairly short auto off time after you pause it (and I cannot turn the auto off feature off) so if I forget to set a bookmark I'm screwed. And, on top of that, it's on a per-disc basis if you can even set a bookmark, and it seems like 90% of my BDs are NOT able to set bookmarks! Very frustrating.

[wclem]

Exactly. Going to try to call cybetlink

[Jagosaurus]

Rip BD to PC HDD with MakeMKV. Play back lossless file with VLC or Plex.

Most HD movie DLs offline aren't full BD quality. They'll usually be a compressed few GBs versus the full 30 GB BD.

[Ziggy]

Rip BD to PC HDD with MakeMKV. Play back lossless file with VLC or Plex.

Then do what with the BD afterwards?

[wclem]

Got a vague response from cyberlink. They said that powerdvd ultra will continue to be able to play blurays as long as the product is supported. My understanding is that there is an anual AAC update. This has something to do with disc authentication. It is supposed to be good for one year. So my take is that until your version has been obsoleted you will get a patch each year.

That is the best I can get from it. So I am gonna try it out. Sadly I will not know for a year LOL. If it works and I get at least a few years of patches then I would be happy. It would be like other programs and games that compatibility issues rise up with them. I would be ok with that. 4-5 years of use for a program that would likely become outdated anyway is acceptable. We have all bought new versions of programs due to being outdated.

Now if I am sitting there like an idiot a year from now with a coaster, then I will not be happy. I would call that a 1 year rental. I have no way to find out till 2021 LOL. If I can remember I will come back and update. I need to set an update once I install.

Wish me luck LOL