I need your knowledge, which blu-ray will play the widest verity of codecs?

[Testiculese]

I have a few things downloaded from the net, home video files, different formatts.

Can I just burn a data Blu-Ray disk with my computer and play it in a standalone player?
Are there any standalone players that will play DATA disks...if so which will play the widest verity of codecs?
I've been looking at the LG690 but am not sure.
Any Advise would be appreciated.

[johns0]

I have a sony bdp-s380 that can play xvid,mp4 and mkv with subtitles imbedded on data discs such as blu-ray and dvd.

[edDV]

I have a few things downloaded from the net, home video files, different formatts.

Can I just burn a data Blu-Ray disk with my computer and play it in a standalone player?
Are there any standalone players that will play DATA disks...if so which will play the widest verity of codecs?
I've been looking at the LG690 but am not sure.
Any Advise would be appreciated.

Levels of Blu-Ray player performance...

1. Plays authored Blu-Ray disc from BR media. (all players)
2. Plays DVD authored disc. (all players)
3. Plays authored AVCHD simplified disc* from DVDR or BR media. (many players)
4. Plays individual files directly from root of a data DVDR or BDR disc**. (formats*** vary by player).
5. Plays individual files directly from a USB flash drive****. (formats vary by player)
6. Plays individual files directly from an external hard drive*****.
7. Plays individual files directly from DLNA server over wired/wireless network******.

* can include simple menus
** DVDR files have bit rate limited by supported disc spin speed. BDR can go up to 50 Mbps.
*** Formats are made up of container, video codecs and audio codecs in combination.
*** MKV support varies. Most have difficulty with compressed headers found in many downloads.
*** MPG and MP4 are the most supported containers. Divx/xvid not so much.
*** Authored media requires random access transport streams (m2ts/MTS).
**** Most USB flash drives are too slow to play AVCHD/HDV camcorder files directly.
***** Most require FAT32 disk format. Some allow NTFS.
****** DLNA servers often re-encode files to lower bit rate. This significantly lowers quality.

Best player? Yet to be seen. Nobody here is in a position to test all players. The review sites rarely test a player in all the modes above. They are lazy. Manuals give an overview of containers and codecs supported but not the limits.

[aedipuss]

all i can tell you is my lg bd570 and bd670 players are dlna capable and play any reasonably made mkv/mp4/divx/avi file. been very happy with them.

[edDV]

My reference machines are Sony players, the latest a BDP-S370 (Costco BX-37 version). I've been testing its limits.

It does ok with many files detailed in this thread
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/328677-Cheap-Blu-Ray-Player-that-does-it-all-like-P...Sony+BX-37+M2t

I like that it directly plays HDV and AVCHD camcorder files. Also captured broadcast MPeg2 TS (M2t) files. All of these can be played directly from external USB flash or better from DVDR/BDR media. Requires a fast USB2 drive.

It struggles with MKV from USB2 but does much better from disc.

This model supports SD divx/xvid but later models dropped all support.

It supports DLNA. I'm still testing the limits. Currently it seems slow even with wired CAT6. Currently I think the blame is with the servers or default server settings.

Downside is it won't support external hard drives even FAT32. This wouldn't be as much an issue if USB2 drives were faster. You can't get Class 6-10 flash speed in a USB2 stick. The premium sticks seem to be Class 4. Typical sticks are Class 1 or 2.

[johns0]

My sony bdp-s380 plays mkv from usb with no issues and also plays from external usb hard drives in ntfs and fat32

[jman98]

REALLY not getting the "buy a Sony" advice. Really not getting this at all.

If you need to play files nothing beats a streaming media player of some kind such as a Western Digital or other model, but in the past this question has generally had people recommend LG players but I don't remember any model numbers.

[edDV]

REALLY not getting the "buy a Sony" advice. Really not getting this at all.

If you need to play files nothing beats a streaming media player of some kind such as a Western Digital or other model, but in the past this question has generally had people recommend LG players but I don't remember any model numbers.

Not recommending Sony, just reviewing it. The OP wants a Blu-Ray player. Others can compare their's to mine. You would think the review sites would include tests for non Blu-Ray codec and container performance and more detail on DLNA specs but they don't.

[Testiculese]

OK I'm a newb and maybe didn't phrase it right.

1)I have a Blu-Ray burner on my computer.

2)I have video files of different codecs. (Span many different years cameras/camcorders, tape-transfers)

3) I want burn those files directly on Blu-Ray disks as data files,, keeping their original formats. (to minimize the size they take up on disks, and because I'm a newb)

4)I Want a stand alone Blu-Ray player that will play as many codecs as possible from the data disk. So I have a greater chance of getting to see all those videos.

Will an LG BD690 play the disk I have described? I know some formats will not be watchable.

Sorry but this is important to me I have had HD crashes and lost really important home videos/pictures of the kids growing up. A HD crash and forgetting to backup your most important stuff really wakes you up.

[edDV]

Will an LG BD690 play the disk I have described? I know some formats will not be watchable.

Sorry but this is important to me I have had HD crashes and lost really important home videos/pictures of the kids growing up. A HD crash and forgetting to backup your most important stuff really wakes you up.

List the video/audio codecs and containers you have. Publish it here and ask users for a match.

Download the manual for the players you are interested in and note the codecs, containers, resolution and bit rates supported. Then when you limit the field, ask for user opinions on that model.

You are unlikely to find a player that "plays anything". The players are most likely to support h.264, MPeg2 and wmv-VC1 for video and AC3/DTS/Mp2/PCM for audio because they are part of the DVD/Blu-Ray specs. They are less likely to play divx/xvid, flash or DV formats.

You will typically get wider codec/container support on a stand alone media player but each of those has limitations as well.

For example, the LG_BD690 lists the following. They don't state resolution, bit rate or other limitations (expect many). Strange there is no mention of transport stream containers (ts, m2t, m2ts, mts) or program streams (VOB, ps). Taken literally, this eliminates most camcorder and DTV capture files unless they are re-muxed to a supported container.

http://www.lg.com/us/support/product/support-product-profile.jsp?customerModelCode=BD6...oduct-profile#
Page 10



PS: The spec sheet lists MPeg2 PS and TS for DLNA with no details (not h.264). Also adds DivX HD.

[Testiculese]

Ok looking at the video files I'm covered. Same with the photos. all the formats I have are listed. Do I need to ---forgive my ignorance-- encode them before I burn them or can i just burn them as data and play them.
I thank you all for putting up with my newbness and sharing your knowledge. This forum is great.

[johns0]

Burn the files onto data disks,no need to re-encode unless there is a problem with a file such as improper encoding.

[edDV]

Ok looking at the video files I'm covered. Same with the photos. all the formats I have are listed. Do I need to ---forgive my ignorance-- encode them before I burn them or can i just burn them as data and play them.
I thank you all for putting up with my newbness and sharing your knowledge. This forum is great.

Note that the LG BD690 is their high end $350 model. Other models may have reduced codec/container support .

I'm teaching you how to fish to the manual and spec sheet to get the specifics for each model. Even though they say a given codec and container is supported, your file may or may not need to be re-muxed* or re-encoded. The only way to know is to test the player. One way is to make a DVDR with samples of your video files at root. Take the disk to the store and see if they play.


* re-muxed means container is changed without re-encoding.

[Testiculese]

Walmart has the LG BD690 for 4251 on its website...gotta order then pick up at the store tho.

[aedipuss]

the lg bd670(bd690 without hard drive) does not play camcorder files in .mts, .m2t, etc containers. they will play some if you rename the files .mpg, but things like HDV renamed will play video but no audio(mpeg audio).

[edDV]

the lg bd670(bd690 without hard drive) does not play camcorder files in .mts, .m2t, etc containers. they will play some if you rename the files .mpg, but things like HDV renamed will play video but no audio(mpeg audio).

Those are the kinds of issues you run into. My Sony player does well with TS, MTS, m2ts but won't accept a hard drive over USB2. The next model added hard disk support but dropped support for DivX/xvid. Each player model is a different story once you move beyond basic DVD/Blu-Ray playback.

[Testiculese]

UPDATE:
Got the BD690. Using imgburn I've burned a bunch of data disks. It hasn't failed to play any file on any disk. As soon as iI hooked it up and gave it my network password it updated itself. Controls and display are very easy even for a dummie like me. In short I'm happy.

Heres the guide I used.
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=9512

[edDV]

UPDATE:
Got the BD690. Using imgburn I've burned a bunch of data disks. It hasn't failed to play any file on any disk. As soon as iI hooked it up and gave it my network password it updated itself. Controls and display are very easy even for a dummie like me. In short I'm happy.

Heres the guide I used.
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=9512

Let us know which formats you are playing. Are any of these HDV or AVCHD camcorder capture files? Those are the worst case for bitrate.