Multimedia Player with Blu-ray/HD-DVD support

[Guiboche]

I was thinking of buying a multimedia player like this:
http://www.tvixbox.com/product_details.php?product_id=17

The drive supports playback of ripped DVD ISOs with fully fuctioning menus, etc.

But is there ones out there that would support playing back ripped blu-ray and HD DVD content as well? With fully functioning menus, etc?

[Baldrick]

I haven't seen any such out yet. A xbox 360 with a "xmbc 360" would be perfect for that but I don't think we will se that for a while.

So you need a HTPC for that for now.

[bits]

I was thinking of buying a multimedia player like this:
http://www.tvixbox.com/product_details.php?product_id=17

The drive supports playback of ripped DVD ISOs with fully fuctioning menus, etc.

But is there ones out there that would support playing back ripped blu-ray and HD DVD content as well? With fully functioning menus, etc?

You must have a LOT of HDD space! To my knowledge no media players exist yet that do what you ask. The TVIX4100 is closest but not there yet.

Out of curiosity why rip BR or HD DVDs, why not just watch them using a BR or HD DVD player? Unless you do some very long re-encodes to h264 or VC-1 you will have huge files, even re-encoding will produce 6-9GB files but then what is the point, you have taken great PQ and made it less PQ.

[Guiboche]

I want to convert my entire DVD/Blu-ray/HDDVD library to digital so I can instantly access it all. So this is why I want to rip them instead of using a player.

And yes, I have the available space so this is not an issue.

It seams the only way to get it to work would be to demux/remux the files. But that's too much work.

I guess I'll have to wait a while for one to come along that supports Blu-rays/HD DVDs......

[rallynavvie]

I want to convert my entire DVD/Blu-ray/HDDVD library to digital so I can instantly access it all. So this is why I want to rip them instead of using a player.

And yes, I have the available space so this is not an issue.

Wow, and I thought I had a lot of disk space on my storage arrays

I have to think that if such a standalone player does come along that it will cost as much as a good HTPC build that supports all the same. If you're already using some sort of PC-based storage array for all the ripped files then why not just build an HTPC that fits the minimum reqs for both? You already have the BRD/HD-DVD and the storage available than what's with spending a few more $$$ to get what you want?

[Guiboche]

I already do have a HTPC. Sorta.

I have a Sony Vaio, with HDMI output. So there, I can play all my ISOs/Blu-rays/HDDVDs.

The problem I have with it is performance.

Yes, the specs are more then adequate for a HTPC, but there is still a significant amount of jitter during playback. Where a frame will be dropped every so often.

I've tried running ReClock on it. This works somewhat. But it won't work with the latest PowerDVD. So Blu-ray/HDDVD playback still suffers from a significant amount of jitter.

And this jitter is like in the miliseconds. 99 percent of the population probably wouldn't notice a 1/60th drop

But the multimedia players are flawless! So the reason I want to build around one of those rather then a jittery HTPC....

[rallynavvie]

It may be other drivers/hardware affecting it like your sound card. My onboard audio freaks out when trying to output AC3 or DTS audio. I used to get bad jumps in the playback but was able to reduce it some with AC3filter settings. A new video card fixed it. May also be an issue with HDCP since that is the root of all evil in this world.

[Guiboche]

Well it has an NVidia card in it. But, honestly, I have not been at all impressed with these so-called award winning cards.

This is my first time out with Nvidia (a GeForce Go 7600 GT 256MB in my Laptop and an GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB in my PC). Not only does the GeForce 8800 GTS exhibit the terrible 16-235 bug (with so fix in sight! Come on NVidia), but both have a significant amount of jitter. Even during simple DVD playback.

The sad part is my old PC from 5 years ago plays back DVD flawlessly. Even my super old AMD 400DX way back from 1998 plays back DVDs without a frame drop.

At least I can run ReClock on my PC (this does help). But again, ReClock doesn't really work on my Laptop (which is more than powerful enough to be my HTPC). I get a "ReClock is not compatible with your hardware" warning.

And my PC has an NVidia board, so I'm somewhat stuck with shighty nvidia cards till I dump the motherboard for something new...

I guess I will continue to wait till a multimedia player comes around with Blu-ray/HD-DVD support. Hopefully it won't be too long now