Blu-Ray on PC Video Demo

Mar 8, 2011 by

Back on Episode 116 of Entertainment 2.0 we were discussing watching Blu-ray movies on a PC versus watching them using a stand-alone player. James uses his PlayStation 3 as his Blu-ray player, and I’ve begun using my Windows Media Center PC for Blu-ray playback. James put forth the argument that there still isn’t a solution for watching our beloved high-definition discs on a computer that feels truly integrated, and offers a really great user experience. A listener who goes by Twitter handle VinylFreak was in the live chat for the show and didn’t agree with James at all. James challenged him to prove it, and so he did just that. VinylFreak created a video of his setup which incorporates ripped Blu-rays (as ISO files) along with ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre 5, My Movies 3, and, of course, Windows Media Center. The video displays a pretty compelling user experience. Check it out, and let VinylFreak know what you think! Thanks for putting the video together!

MyMovies 3 / Total Media Theater 5 / 7 MC Demo from vinylfreak on Vimeo.

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  • Logan 5

    Very slick indeed. However, the hassle it takes to get Blu Rays ripped is a deal killer for me.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for showing everyone just how well it works vinylfreak. Yeah, TMT5 is kinda costly, but an HTPC > standalone player.

    Ripping isn’t hard at all, there’s a few great apps that you can use to rip. AnyDVD HD is a long time favorite, but I prefer DVD Fab HD for its extra re-encoding options, as it adds Handbrake-like functionality. But if you just want to rip the BD to your HDD, both will do the job.

  • Logan 5

    It’s not hard, no, but it is a hassle. This is subjective of course. What’s a hassle to one person might be no big deal to another. It does take a while to rip a BD. For me, it’s not worth it, but more power to all those for whom it is. Looks cool, to be sure, but the effort that goes into getting it there is something to consider.

  • http://twitter.com/VINYLFREAK TIM BLACK

    Not quite sure how you have gone about ripping your BluRays in the past, but for me ripping a BluRay to an ISO file is a 2 Mouse Click process with ANYDVDHD. I don’t do any re-encoding on any of my movies. Its just extra time I don’t have. I rip them at Full Fidelity. It takes 1 click to open the Image Burning function of ANYDVDHD and another mouse click to pick the folder its going into. That’s it. It all depends on your use case, its not for everyone.

  • Logan 5

    Thanks, Tim. The couple of time s I tried it it took 2 or 3 hours from start fo finish. That’s the part I couldn’t deal with. It took forever to get it done. Most folks I’m guessing put one on to rip at lunch or overnight or something, but it seems like it would take eons to get an entire collection ripped that way, and I’m too impatient for that! Granted, once it’s done, it’s done, assuming one has the hard drive space available to keep it all.

  • http://dbone1026.blogspot.com dbone1026

    On average it takes me 30-45 minutes to rip one BluRay. I use AnyDVD + Clown_BD which allows me to just grab the main movie (I have no need for the full disc). It is a simple few click process. Another option if you only want the Main Movie is to use MakeMKV

  • Logan 5

    Sounds like it’s time for me to get new gear! Thanks!

  • http://twitter.com/VINYLFREAK TIM BLACK

    Holy! Crap! I haven’t been to my Vimeo Stats page in several weeks……My demo video has been played or downloaded over 11,000 times! I am just amazed!  5000 of those coming out of France.
    Who knew!?  (9 Times in Romania…;-D  )