blueray movies without blueray burner

[piano0011]

Hello! I was trying to follow a tutorial on youtube on how to burn blueray movies, which have been converter into mkv files, using imageburn. The user states that it is possible to burn a movie on the blueray disc without having a blueray burner but when I inserted my disc, it cannot be detected. I am assuming that I would need to purchase a blueray burner? Thanks for your assistance!

[Backpain]

You need a blu-ray burner to burn to a blu-ray disc. Other wise it is just junk, no matter what program you use to burn with.

[Cornucopia]

1. It is possible to burn ANY kind of data on a Blu-ray disc, but to do so requires a Blu-ray burner, no matter what.

What data you burn depends on what you want to do with it.

2. If you want a standard BDMV (or BD-J) movie (the kind that plays correctly on BD settops), then you must convert & author using BDMV-compliant (or BD-J) software (burning can happen either through it or with a separate app such as ImgBurn).

3. You can burn "DVD-Video" onto Blu-ray media, but it's kind of pointless, because a standard DVD settop player won't be able to read ANY BD media (and a BD player would work better with BDMV or AVCHD formatted-video).

4. You can burn standard data files (including those files that were converted to MKV), but whatever player you try to play it on has to EXPLICITLY support the media, the disc's filesystem, the file format/container, and the video codecs/audio codecs inside the container. While support is steadily growing for various common types, this is still a crap shoot of compatibility.

5. You can alternately burn BDMV/BD-J video onto a DVD media, but if it is TRUE BDMV/BD-J, it may have trouble on some settops because those settops EXPECT BDMV/BD-J formatted material to ONLY be available on BD media.
More likely, you can convert & author & burn to the AVCHD spec onto DVD media, where Blu-ray players have a much better chance of being able to play that (because DVD media is a specific option as part of the spec). Even there, playback isn't universal.

If you bought Blu-ray media (BD-R, BD-RE) without already having bought a BD burner, you've wasted your purchase.

Scott

[Kerry56]

If you are trying to burn to a blu ray blank disc, then yes, you will need a blu ray burner. Blu ray uses a different type of laser than dvds, and that laser assembly simply doesn't exist in a regular dvd burner.

It is possible to create an AVCHD or blu ray video and burn that onto a single or double layer dvd. You'll have to compress the movie to fit that target size of course. You can import your blu ray movie into BD Rebuilder and have it output as a BD-5 or BD-9. You'll still need to play this back on a blu ray player, since the resolution will be HD, and beyond the capabilities of a regular dvd player. And not all blu ray players accept BD-5 or BD-9 discs, so you'd just have to try it on yours. It should playback from a computer dvd drive with no issues, using VLC or Media Player Classic Home Cinema.

[Cornucopia]

@Kerry56, I would amend your restrictions to include "target size & bitrate", because practically speaking, even if the size was already within limits, the bitrate might be too much for you DVD media+drive system to put out without buffer overruns (which would cause stuttering).

BTW, I did think of ONE exception, where you can "burn Blu-ray movies to non-Blu-ray media": If you specifically convert HD BDMV material to MKV (or similar) and play it ONLY on a HTPC (preferrably a HDD). But that's the equivalent of an AVCHD BD-5/BD-9 scenario anyway.

Scott

[piano0011]

Thanks! I think I might buy a blueray burner. Which is the best blueray burner I should purchase? There are the usb blueray burners for the pc and the other blueray burners for tvs, so I am confused which one to get. I would assume that I would need a USB one to connect to my pc? Thanks for your advice.

[sanlyn]

USB BD burners cost about twice as much as internal BD drives and generally work slower, but USB devices are portable. LG makes a popular USB model (but it really suffers via USB, is more suitable for eSATA). The ASUS BW-12DIS USB series is likely a better choice for better compatibility with different machines. Your preofile shows no PC specs or where you live, so more detailed advice would be difficult.

[Metroidn1f]

You sorta can burn blu-ray quality onto a dvd and have it work on a blu-ray player. You do AVCHD. There is a preset for it in MeGui, you wont be able to play it on a regular dvd player, but you can for sure on a blu-ray player. And it wont be 480p, it will either be 720p or 1080p, what ever one you choose. I recommend to use Dual Layer DVD's instead of just single layer so you get higher bitrates.