Trying to Capture a Bat

[Charles 22]

As you may had guessed, I am trying to capture snapshots off the Blu-ray 60's Batman series which I just received from amazon Italy (region free).

My experience with Blu-ray is extremely limited, and the more I get into it, the less I want to be part of it, and apart from having a portable Samsung BD player for upscaling some dvds, I'm afraid my BD days are very numbered thanks to the suicidal policies of BD manufacturers who couldn't seem to care in the least that their BD's are virtually unplayable on computers.

My common player these days is the VLC, but as you can see, despite my long ago adding the "appdata" two file fix, it will not play Batman (among other things I get VLC to pick out a seeming episode file, and it will seemingly load for 5 minutes, and then do nothing. I have menus turned off as well). This does have rather immediate concerns for me, because I can ill afford not to figure this out quite soon, due to the fact that I also pre-ordered the Lost in Space BD set. I got it for the $99 price, but as this Batman one has cost me close to $70 total, I sure don't want to squander money on what has so far proved to be decorative coasters.

My BD goals are simple, but as far as Batman is concerned, and very probably Lost in Space, I need to figure this out within the next few weeks. My goals are these in increasing amount of difficulty: 1. Being able to play Batman on my 42" HDTV with the portable BD player (not all that necessary). 2. Being able to play Batman on the portable BD player, on my computer. 3. To be able to take snapshots, as I normally can, on ANY player. 4. To be able to frame advance as well as take snapshots on ANY player.

Now I'll admit I haven't tried switching the BD player to my 42" HDTV, and that MIGHT work, but my main goal is for #2- 4 above. I do this sort of thing on dvds all the time, and have achieved it on at least one or two BD movies, so the VLC fix does work, but perhaps to only a very limited degree on prerecorded BD. I am quite convinced I won't figure out how to get Batman to play before LIS comes out, if that means being limited to doing it the VLC way, because if it EVER gets adjusted to deal with this, it's probably at least six months down the line, and LIS allegedly releases in 5 weeks.

The options I've considered? I have had two of the big pay players and they have been a disaster for BD. My computer came with powerdvd, or powerBD, or whatever they call it, and if I'm not mistaken, while I could play my BD movie on it (and VLC plays it too) powerdvd will NOT take snapshots on BD's. VLC did at least. I am completely in the dark about this, though I have read up quite a bit. I just have no idea what is going to work. Right now, it seems getting another free player is an easy answer, that being potplayer, which I've yet to install.

I've also considered Slysoft AnyDVD HD, also Make MKV and Blu-ray Copy DVDFab. Is there a reasonable chance that potplayer will work for example? Sheesh, at this point I would be fairly content just to be able to play these new BD tv series. At this point, stuck in this position, I would much rather have the "dvd" version of Batman, though it would be more expensive and I would have to dump off this BD version, but I don't have that option with LIS, because LIS has no dvd version (yes, I have the earlier dvd version, which is pretty much unrestored garbage) along with this upcoming BD one.

I may at least take the portable BD player over to my 42" and see if I can get it to work on BD, but seeing as how that HDTV has no internet connection I doubt it. I'm not even sure I could manage it to load anything off a flash drive, except pictures maybe. At least I will feel somewhat justified paying this money for BD Batman if I can get it to play there.

So anyway, what's the point in buying BD anymore? Is there any player out there that has managed to not only play Batman, but also get snapshots off of it? I know nothing about ripping, but it seems some seem to think that you can rip them and therefore make your product at least playable, but I would much prefer just having a player which can manage what I want without resorting to ripping and anything similar to that. I'm not even sure VLC, for the time being anyway, could play a BD rip, since it does seem very suspect to deal with new BD.

I'll tell you, while watching BD on my 42" would be preferable for PLAYING, it just isn't worth buying BD at all if I have to go through this nonsense, assuming I can't find software that will do what I want on my computer. How can BD survive, when more than a handful of people have learned that with the protection being so ridiculous that it takes a computer expert to manage even playing the new stuff?

Anyway, if you have any suggestions as to what might be able to do snapshots of Batman, please let me know (if you have done it personally, off that very BD set, so much the better). I'll probably try potplayer pretty soon, and I may get into trying to get this portable BD player to work through my 42" HDTV. As far as I'm concerned, if I can't get Batman and LIS to work on my pc, it's history for BD.

[Baldrick]

I would try install dvdfab passkey(free version available now http://www.dvdfab.cn/promotion.htm?vid=avangate&aid=675 )

And then try play the blu-ray with potplayer or vlc. No menu support though so it might not be easy to select episodes.

[Charles 22]

Baldrick: Thanks for the advice. I have tried Passkey earlier, and I think it intervened in a BD at one time, but I let it lapse and didn't pay for the BD version. Also, it did something really strange, which I can't recall, when I tried to use it again, or maybe when I tried uninstalling it. Also, DVDFab, which I believe is from the same people, don't sound too encouraging about it's being able to break through BD protection. As well, I guess I MIGHT be able to download the thing again, that free version, but I'm afraid that it won't on this computer for the free trial and that it will give me trouble as before for whatever it did past the free trial. It is a tempting idea though, if for nothing else I could get it to play Batman. If it could do that on free, and I doubt it, then I would have hope that the pay version would as well. I would like to steer clear of paying $100 or what a lot of these BD helping software seem to charge.

As I said, VLC is my problem. I can see the episodes out there, but the BD player is seemingly loading it for like 5 minutes and just stops, with no result. I'm not sure if potplayer has to play them without the menus as well, but that's the next step I'm likely to try, since it at least doesn't cost $100. I've spent around $160 on two BD tv series, and I would hate to have to spend another $100 for software, and not even know if it would work to play them on the computer.

For the pay possibilities, I seem to be leaning towards Slysoft, but even there it's a problem, since the $100, or so, don't end there, since these are usually just 2 year licenses. Permanent licenses are probably another $20 more or so, which is even more to pay for something I don't know will work. I'm not sure if Slysoft has a free version, but I bet no free version will crack past this, as the free ones are often limited in BD capabilities. Just how much better the pay versions of the same product are, is the question.

I have gone to the DVDFab site and if I buy from them, this may be the best choice: Passkey for Blu-ray ($60). I'm pretty certain Batman uses AACS coding, which the Fab people say the trial version does not decrypt. Their English is a bit warped describing the Passkey for Blu-ray, but since they act like it will blow past anything, and they admit they know of AACS, it may be a reliable conclusion that I will eb able to play them that way.

[DB83]

Well I do not see how you will get these BDs to play on your Tv. They are PAL disks.

If you have a Blu-ray drive in your PC plus a software player then they will play.

But I am surprised that they are Region Free. They also seem to be too cheap for Official Warners BDs (The DVDs over here cost more than that). Me thinks you have counterfeit goods.

[usually_quiet]

@Charles 22 You could try Leawo Blu-ray Player, which is free and is supposed to have Blu-Ray menu support, although perhaps not perfect. I don't know if it has a snapshot feature. I have never used Leawo Blu-ray Player myself because I already bought PowerDVD Ultra and don't care about making snapshots.

PotPlayer allows making snapshots.

[Charles 22]

Well I do not see how you will get these BDs to play on your Tv. They are PAL disks.

If you have a Blu-ray drive in your PC plus a software player then they will play.

But I am surprised that they are Region Free. They also seem to be too cheap for Official Warners BDs (The DVDs over here cost more than that). Me thinks you have counterfeit goods.

From what I understand, these are not PAL, and are every bit the same thing as the Batman BD edition that has the batmobile with it, other than it's just a booklet and the discs. It looks very official, with the WB and FOX emblems on it. The same thing sells for like $88 here: http://www.amazon.com/Batman--Complete-1966-1968-Region-Italian/dp/B00PGTOAO2/ref=sr_1...italian+import
And this is the same thing I bought for cheaper from the Italian amazon: http://www.amazon.it/Batman-Serie-Completa-1966-1968-Blu-Ray/dp/B00PGTOAO2/ref=sr_1_1?...batman+blu+ray In any event, playing them on my non-PAL HDTV isn't that big a deal, but I would rather play it on the computer, which the BD player is very definitely PAL compatible (at least it is for dvds).

This has been a pretty big rage, that you can get the Italian import for so much cheaper, partly due to it being a more barebones set. The only difference, or so I've heard, is the outer box has an Italian description card glued to it, otherwise it's completely English throughout. It even has a Warner Bros. proof of purchase stamp on that card. I've never seen a more official looking box. The disc says "For rental or resale" on it, while it has all the proper logos as well.

[Charles 22]

@Charles 22 You could try Leawo Blu-ray Player, which is free and is supposed to have Blu-Ray menu support, although perhaps not perfect. I don't know if it has a snapshot feature. I have never used Leawo Blu-ray Player myself because I already bought PowerDVD Ultra and don't care about making snapshots.

PotPlayer allows making snapshots.

Thanks for the help, and I'll try potplayer first, and if it don't' satisfy, perhaps that Leawo. For those who want to take snapshots, the big studios have gone out of their way to bulldoze the BD software players into not offering snapshots JUST FOR BD. Yes, a lot of them do it for dvd. According to the legend, some idiot made a large amount of screenshots off a BD, and the studios were dim enough to think somebody would copy and entire movie that way, and thereby "copy" an entire BD. Personally, I think that is nothing more than coverup from the studios, to try to divert from the fact that they are making BD's, probably deliberately, so that they can't be played on computers. The question is, just how many people will want BD when they figure out they can't play them on computers due to increased so-called protection.

So on the one hand you have dvd which can be played anywhere you have a dvd player, and then you have BD which for the most part can only be played outside a computer. With the prices BD asks, it seems like a major drawback to me, especially because so many of the dvd restores can be pretty excellent. From their point of view, I can see rigging BD so they won't play on computers, but have you ever seen a BD that stated that it was "very unlikely to play on computers"? At least if the box stated that, and the websites that sold them, it wouldn't be so bad. But you have to buy something new to find out they deliberately rigged it so that you could only play them one way, and some computer geeks may not even watch tv any other way but through the computer (to say nothing of those that actually compute through a large screen tv). If you can't play the BD's but can see the data out there (and without VLC or similar program, I'm not sure you can do that) how do you know that the data has anything whatsoever to do with what you bought, or that it's not actually standard definition? Do boxes, much less websites, bother to warn all those who are savvy, what kind of encryption they use, so that if you know your player can't decrypt it, that the BD won't be useless to you?

[usually_quiet]

@Charles 22 Maybe you haven't noticed, but most people do not care about this like you do, and are not even remotely interested in playing Blu-Rays on their PC.

The majority of pre-built computers only have DVD drives, if they have an optical disc drive at all, because a Blu-Ray drive adds significantly to the cost of the computer.

The use of optical media with PCs is declining. More and more computer owners have turned to using downloads for obtaining software and prefer to use streaming for watching video because they don't want to bother with storing, organizing and carrying around shiny little plastic discs.

[DB83]

This one ?

http://www.amazon.it/Batman-Serie-Completa-1966-1968-Blu-Ray/dp/B00PGTOAO2/ref=sr_1_1?...eywords=batman

On this page it says:

Dettagli prodotto

Attori: Adam West, Burt Ward, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Stafford Repp
Regista: Oscar Rudolph, James B. Clark, George Waggner, Sam Strangis, Robert Butler
Formato: Blu-ray, PAL
Audio: Italian (Dolby Digital 1.0), German (Dolby Digital 1.0), English (Dolby Digital 1.0), French (Dolby Digital 1.0)
Lingua: Italiano, Inglese, Tedesco, Francese
Sottotitoli: Italiano, Inglese, Tedesco, Spagnolo, Francese
Regione: Tutte le regioni
Formato immagine: 16:9
Numero di dischi: 13
Studio: Warner Home Video

Even the BD German issue is some 50% more expensive than this one and that is Zone B/2. So why would Warners issue one specifically for Italy and be Zone/Region Free ?

Proper Blu Rays are not made to refuse to play in PCs. They can put anti-copy devices on them but they will still play fine.

[Charles 22]

@Charles 22 Maybe you haven't noticed, but most people do not care about this like you do, and are not even remotely interested in playing Blu-Rays on their PC.

The majority of pre-built computers only have DVD drives, if they have an optical disc drive at all, because a Blu-Ray drive adds significantly to the cost of the computer.

The use of optical media with PCs is declining. More and more computer owners have turned to using downloads for obtaining software and prefer to use streaming for watching video because they don't want to bother with storing, organizing and carrying around shiny little plastic discs.

Portable Blu-ray drives are quite inexpensive. In fact they're often cheaper than a DVR by a long shot, which is something one might hook up to an home entertainment system. Regardless of the reasoning, I know Hollywood isn't going to let up any pressure on the companies like WinDVD, and I'm sure those companies didn't "withdraw" such support because they all the sudden had this revelation you propose of "nobody wants hard copies anymore, at least not in connection to a computer".

Actually, considering what should be the ease of "capturing" video off computers (BD excepting for the time being), I would think your last statement is in direct contradiction to the facts (unless they too are discouraged by this BD brick wall). Yes, it is true most people aren't into 'capturing' but isn't that precisely what this particular forum is about? As well, I don't really care what MOST people think, nor have a moist finger up in the air to gauge such response. As long media is printed on dvd and Blu-ray, I will be an interested customer in it. I couldn't care less about streaming, etc. I merely want to be helped with my problem. Thanks. If you aren't interested in doing BD on computers, you needn't keep reading this thread. I promise I won't read any streaming threads as well.

[Charles 22]

DB83: I can't explain it to you. You see what it says, and I have it right here. Nothing the slightest bit unofficial about it, other than, as you say, it not playing seems to mean it's bogus (not that I believe that). Did you check the USA site? It's the same way, but somewhat more expensive for the time being (I provided both links and it's region free "and Italian" as well). Apparently based on customer comments, it's playing for somebody anyway, so certainly that's not an issue, unless they all lied or I was practically the only one sent a fake copy.

[usually_quiet]

@Charles 22 Maybe you haven't noticed, but most people do not care about this like you do, and are not even remotely interested in playing Blu-Rays on their PC.

The majority of pre-built computers only have DVD drives, if they have an optical disc drive at all, because a Blu-Ray drive adds significantly to the cost of the computer.

The use of optical media with PCs is declining. More and more computer owners have turned to using downloads for obtaining software and prefer to use streaming for watching video because they don't want to bother with storing, organizing and carrying around shiny little plastic discs.

Portable Blu-ray drives are quite inexpensive. In fact they're often cheaper than a DVR by a long shot, which is something one might hook up to an home entertainment system. Regardless of the reasoning, I know Hollywood isn't going to let up any pressure on the companies like WinDVD, and I'm sure those companies didn't "withdraw" such support because they all the sudden had this revelation you propose of "nobody wants hard copies anymore, at least not in connection to a computer".

Actually, considering what should be the ease of "capturing" video off computers (BD excepting for the time being), I would think your last statement is in direct contradiction to the facts (unless they too are discouraged by this BD brick wall). Yes, it is true most people aren't into 'capturing' but isn't that precisely what this particular forum is about? As well, I don't really care what MOST people think, nor have a moist finger up in the air to gauge such response. As long media is printed on dvd and Blu-ray, I will be an interested customer in it. I couldn't care less about streaming, etc. I merely want to be helped with my problem. Thanks. If you aren't interested in doing BD on computers, you needn't keep reading this thread. I promise I won't read any streaming threads as well.

Telling me to get lost because I don't have any interest in using BD with a PC is completely off the mark. I do not use streaming media services. I still buy and rent movies on optical media, especially Blu-ray. I already said I bought PowerDVD Ultra to play Blu-Ray. If you look at my computer details, you will see that I have a Pioneer BD burner.

I'm merely pointing out that you and I and all the others who play Blu-Ray discs on our PCs are a very niche market. Most of those buying Blu-Ray want to use hardware Blu-Ray players, not PCs, and many with PCs have stopped using optical media. There is no vast army of disgruntled folks who are discouraged from buying Blu-Ray discs simply because they can't easily make screenshots or because playing their discs with a PC requires paid software.

Even if there were no copy protection to consider, good free Blu-Ray player software would be scarce. Creating unlicensed software that understands the Blu-Ray structure not a trivial exercise. Maybe you are not aware of it, but authored Blu-Ray is far more complex and difficult to reverse engineer than authored DVD.

[Charles 22]

I have been doing a lot of legwork and have found that my driver on the BD drive, which gave me no troubles before, am running on a MS driver from 2006. I have found a 2011 driver for the device. I'll try getting that on it and see what happens.

[Charles 22]

@Charles 22 Maybe you haven't noticed, but most people do not care about this like you do, and are not even remotely interested in playing Blu-Rays on their PC.

The majority of pre-built computers only have DVD drives, if they have an optical disc drive at all, because a Blu-Ray drive adds significantly to the cost of the computer.

The use of optical media with PCs is declining. More and more computer owners have turned to using downloads for obtaining software and prefer to use streaming for watching video because they don't want to bother with storing, organizing and carrying around shiny little plastic discs.

Portable Blu-ray drives are quite inexpensive. In fact they're often cheaper than a DVR by a long shot, which is something one might hook up to an home entertainment system. Regardless of the reasoning, I know Hollywood isn't going to let up any pressure on the companies like WinDVD, and I'm sure those companies didn't "withdraw" such support because they all the sudden had this revelation you propose of "nobody wants hard copies anymore, at least not in connection to a computer".

Actually, considering what should be the ease of "capturing" video off computers (BD excepting for the time being), I would think your last statement is in direct contradiction to the facts (unless they too are discouraged by this BD brick wall). Yes, it is true most people aren't into 'capturing' but isn't that precisely what this particular forum is about? As well, I don't really care what MOST people think, nor have a moist finger up in the air to gauge such response. As long media is printed on dvd and Blu-ray, I will be an interested customer in it. I couldn't care less about streaming, etc. I merely want to be helped with my problem. Thanks. If you aren't interested in doing BD on computers, you needn't keep reading this thread. I promise I won't read any streaming threads as well.

Telling me to get lost because I don't have any interest in using BD with a PC is completely off the mark. I do not use streaming media services. I still buy and rent movies on optical media, especially Blu-ray. I already said I bought PowerDVD Ultra to play Blu-Ray. If you look at my computer details, you will see that I have a Pioneer BD burner.

I'm merely pointing out that you and I and all the others who play Blu-Ray discs on our PCs are a very niche market. Most of those buying Blu-Ray want to use hardware Blu-Ray players, not PCs, and many with PCs have stopped using optical media. There is no vast army of disgruntled folks who are discouraged from buying Blu-Ray discs simply because they can't easily make screenshots or because playing their discs with a PC requires paid software.

Even if there were no copy protection to consider, good free Blu-Ray player software would be scarce. Creating unlicensed software that understands the Blu-Ray structure not a trivial exercise. Maybe you are not aware of it, but authored Blu-Ray is far more complex and difficult to reverse engineer than authored DVD.

Okay usually_quiet, but you came across very much like a guy trying to tell me in a vague way to get lost, so please understand my response in kind. I do find it a little bit odd you would state what you did, considering what you're now saying. I also never suggested there was this large army out there, but it seems pretty stupid for them to do all the things I have stated. Given what you said, and there's a depressing frame of mind to back that to a degree, this pretty much amounts to the mentality that the BD industry is only interested in where the majority of their potential customers go. I just don't see a whole lot of economic sense in doing that. It's one of those chicken and egg sort of things. If those like us out there are of no concern for them, if it's really so niche, then why put up such a front to protect it? I see the point of it, but then I don't at the same time - they do what they do.

BTW, in my own case, I specifically bought a portable BD drive specifically so I wouldn't be confined with BD play to the computer. So I do have eggs in each basket without having to buy a whole other device for each tv/monitor. How much money can it cost them to make BD super-secure? How much money can it cost them to leave them fairly much as they were in the BD recent past. Why keep piling on? Again, I understand it, but at the same time it seems a bit whacked. I don't think it really helps sales at all, and instead of helping HDTV-based drives more, it instead just drives more people away from BD. Remember, this issue about me wanting to do what I want with it, ISN'T the main issue here. I have a bleeding BD that will not play, and I think it's directly because of the encryption (that is the context I made my statements about how suicidal this encryption could be).

I hope my pending driver update proves me wrong, but I'm not sure a 2011 driver is going to be able to accommodate for what I guess was an encryption, "in it's present form", which doesn't date back that far. I'm sorry I implied for you to get lost, but you did come across that way very much yourself. I did look over some computer specs on the users when I started out yesterday, but generally that bores me, and it just so happens you had the very opposite opinion, as though you are not what you in fact are. I had no reason to look at your specs and think it would run contrary to what you said. I was just believing you, what can I say?

Don't worry, I've heard all the stories about "where the industry is going" till I'm blue in the face. It just doesn't mean I believe it. To believe industry talk, BD would had completely eliminated dvd eons ago, and yet BD keeps still barely crawling along, getting every so slightly stronger by the month. If people can't get their BD to play, be that on a HDTV or computer, people will stop buying them. They keep on putting new encryption on there and they may be creating their own monster. They can be dismissive of hard media if they want, but, as I said, if it is, or will be basically nothing before long, then why put all this effort up to protect it (chicken and egg)? Yes, maybe one day I'll be a streamer, but for now it seems too costly and unpredictable to me, at least in comparison to a disc.

BTW, I have no problem paying for software to deal with this, after all, it's my finding the so-called BD software that I paid for, inadequate, meaning at least unable to do snapshots, that has me looking elsewhere in the first place (and played BD very badly, so bad I returned it in fact). VLC was the very first free player, and last, that I have ever used. If potplayer won't do this, assuming my driver update makes no difference, I'll still be looking, or not ever buying any BD again and cancelling my LIS pre-order. I just don't want to plop money down on something that the company says it will work, if it will not, at least for my purposes, and being able to play BD well on a computer is the minimum requirement. Yes, I would be very surprised if anything free will deal with the Batman encryption within a year, but it beats throwing money around almost randomly to find how I can not only play Batman, but also give it el snapshotto.

[DB83]

Since I can not see the disks or actually play them I must accept that they are genuine. Even that Amazon have been known to sell dodgy stuff.

I would still be interested if those disks play on your tv. If they do not then you know know the reason why.

As for a simple screen-capture and you did say that your version of PowerDVD plays the disk (might not always be the case and OEM products can not be updated) try a tiny little program called 'Automatic Screen Capture' or 'APS'. As you play the disk you can pause playback and just hit the Print Screen button. Each press then saves a pic of your screen to the folder of your choice and format of choice. I just tested this myself so I know it works.

And, no. from your topic header we might have thought you were filming wildlife.

[sum_guy]

1 Terrabyte drive $59. Plex Server free, streaming and or capturing very low cost, BD days are most likely numbered, and yes I know some of you are die hard BD users, I also have 3 BD players (all collecting dust now) and yes I know not everyone has a high speed internet connection, however, many do. When the cost to the major labels see the return on investment drop, anything can go away very quickly.

[Charles 22]

Since I can not see the disks or actually play them I must accept that they are genuine. Even that Amazon have been known to sell dodgy stuff.

I would still be interested if those disks play on your tv. If they do not then you know know the reason why.

As for a simple screen-capture and you did say that your version of PowerDVD plays the disk (might not always be the case and OEM products can not be updated) try a tiny little program called 'Automatic Screen Capture' or 'APS'. As you play the disk you can pause playback and just hit the Print Screen button. Each press then saves a pic of your screen to the folder of your choice and format of choice. I just tested this myself so I know it works.

And, no. from your topic header we might have thought you were filming wildlife.

My tv is over 7 years old, so if it don't play there, I wouldn't draw the conclusion that they are bogus, but with a very outside chance they could be. It had 12 large files on it, among others, and the disc allegedly has 12 episodes on it. I just tried my worthless attempt on updating my driver on the se-406ab BD player, and the stupid MS driver won't go away, despite that I uninstall it every time. Drivers are such garbage for me - almost always. Lame driver software claims it installs it too. Nothing had changed, and the BD still does what it did before. Actually, if this were bogus, wouldn't you think it would stop long before the five minutes it takes before it stops loading?

Yes, my title was awfully birdy, but it was a bird of another feather. I have OEM Powerdvd 9, which has played a BD or two before, but it claims it needs to update with Batman, takes one second and it's already over, then nothing occurs, as it still doesn't play. Can't play it, then no snapshotter is going to work. BTW, I do have the snipping tool with Windows 7, but it is much too cumbersome, but thanks for another suggestion I can keep in mind, as it probably blows snipping tool into the next county.

[Charles 22]

1 Terrabyte drive $59. Plex Server free, streaming and or capturing very low cost, BD days are most likely numbered, and yes I know some of you are die hard BD users, I also have 3 BD players (all collecting dust now) and yes I know not everyone has a high speed internet connection, however, many do. When the cost to the major labels see the return on investment drop, anything can go away very quickly.

It does sound as though that's of more use if I end up going the streaming way some day. One of the major problems I have had with streaming is I think the company's tend to try to mislead you as far as titles that aren't exactly mainstream, such that so many refer to 720X480 as HD, when anybody with half a brain knows better than that. Unfortunately you may not know it until it is downloading or streaming to you, and there you are with a resolution you didn't want and your money is gone. I have only the vaguest of ideas how to snapshot from a stream, and I'm quite sure it's not possible in some situations. I trust downloads far more than streaming, because at least I know every single time I can snapshot downloaded data, though there is an outside chance whichever player I'm using (VLC for now) won't like the file type.

[DB83]

I read some reviews about that set so it seems that there are some crazy pricing issues going around.

My mom taught me that if it looks too good then it should not be as good hence my suspicion. At one time I was tempted to get the dvd set from a UK store. Before Xmas that would have cost £60. It was £10 cheaper a few months later. Yet like I said, that BD set is even cheaper.

Amazon is also notorious for getting the info of its products wrong so even the German set may not be B/2. Also it was noted that the product description for the Italian set said 16:9 whereas the actual disks should be 4:3 pillar-box. The only way to check these is with a player attached to a NTSC tv

I think my BD drive came with PowerDVD8 and that did not last long with new disks. I am currently using V11. Sometimes that says that an update is necessary ( I know that no updates exist for what is now 3 or more versions down the line). I just cancel the message. Sometimes even close down the player and restart and it has not ultimately refused to play a disk yet. I only mention this since you might be able to pick up an older version (would not go lower than 11 tho) much cheaper than a current version if that trick does not work for you.

PowerDVD used to do screen grabs out of the box but that was removed many years ago.

[Charles 22]

DB83: Yes this is getting pretty interesting isn't it? I went to the regular "complete set" that has the batmobile, surely authentic, does not mention the screen ratio at all in product description, but it also says it's region free. I have been on forums where numerous people have stated that the Italian disks are precisely the same and do play, which I took to be American people commentating. They don't mention ratio as I said, but they do call it full screen, which I ordinarily take to mean 4:3.

Yes, I know of Powerdvd's capabilities, though I was always more of a WinDVD guy. Their Blu-ray version, back when I was on vista, was absolute garbage, and of course suddenly had no snapshot working for BD. I don't want to order that again, in the hopes it's been fixed enough, and that it night fare better on Windows 7.

Here's some more info. I might try running the BD player on the HDTV tomorrow, but for now I'm doing a few other things. I have a S2 of Friends in BD, and I don't think I've ever got it to play, but that is a fairly recent BD. I tried it on Powerdvd9 to the same result as Batman, It also failed just like Batman did on VLC. Now I'm really getting desperate, and got out a BD film I KNOW worked on both of them.

I ignored the update for dvd9 as best I could and it got around to playing Devil Dog: Hound of Hell which in terms of when it went BD, is a fairly old one. It played on dvd9 BUT NOT ON VLC! Man, there's some thing really wrong with my VLC (it goes into a longer load than it even did with Batman!), or perhaps VLC updates have sabotaged BD ability? Those two files you need, one going to appdata, are still there as always. If nothing else, since those haven't changed, they ought to play what they have before. Man this bites. I guess I'll have to uninstall the thing and download it again, then put in those two files.

Will I ever get any BD newer than three years old to work on either one of them any more? I don't know if I have the stomach to deal with VLC today, I'm just too bummed out. It is somewhat interesting to note, that I have two BD movies, and 2 BD series, and both of the movies worked at one time on both players, while both the series appear to never have. I think the blasted Devil Dog load on the VLC has been going 10 minutes now. I do recall one of my BD's took a long time to load and ended up working, back in the days when the BD's worked, so maybe another 30 minutes and she'll be good? Pitiful.

[hamilton accie]

Ok, first things first.
You mentioned that you are using a "portable bluray player" do you mean that it is an external bluray player that you connect to your computer with a USB cable or is it a small bluray player that can be connected to your HDTV with an HDMI cable ?

[usually_quiet]

Ok, first things first.
You mentioned that you are using a "portable bluray player" do you mean that it is an external bluray player that you connect to your computer with a USB cable or is it a small bluray player that can be connected to your HDTV with an HDMI cable ?

Good question. Sometimes Charles 22 refers to a portable Blu-Ray Player and other times he refers to a portable BD drive.

Samsung made a few USB Blu-ray drives, some of which are still available. A USB Blu-ray drive would need to be attached to a PC in order to play Blu-Ray discs. A TV's built-in media player wouldn't be able to use it to play commercial Blu-Ray discs via a USB connection.

As far as I could find out, Samsung made just one portable Blu-Ray player for the US market about 5 years ago (now discontinued), which has its own screen and runs on batteries, but could be connected to a TV with HDMI like a standard Blu-Ray player

[davejavu]

The model number quoted would appear to be an external drive, not a player.

[usually_quiet]

Yes, the Samsung SE-406AB is a USB BD/DVD combo drive, not a Blu-Ray player.

[Charles 22]

Sorry, haven't read all the replies yet, but I had come to the conclusion that my player is indeed considered a burner as well. I believe it's designated "player/burner", and that MAY make a large difference with these encryptions. I will however point out, that it does play two BD movies before this. The attractive thing to this model was that not only was it portable, but it also has two reading lights, which definitely helps with video stability in my useage. So perhaps a more traditional portable BD player is the answer? I couldn't care less that I don't have a burner that way, especially since I have burned maybe one dvd my whole life, and certainly never a BD.

The adventure into BD failure continues. Today, thus far, I have put the burner onto the HDTV through the USB connection of my Panny vhs/dvd player (HDTV doesn't have either a USB or an Ethernet connection). No success. I cannot even get the older simpler BD that works on the burner through powerdvd9 to do nothing more than it does anywhere else. I even selected my USB option of the tv! It only has one USB connection, which has worked before to see flash drive photos. I introduced another element into the search for BD failure, that is I decided to try to load another of the Batman discs, assuming I may just have one bad disc, as I believe there was some sets that had some pure failures of this sort. Nope, disc two has no difference in loading attempt mannerisms. So, now on to my responses. I'll probably uninstall my VLC next, not that fixing it will help with Batman, but at least want it able to play the BD it did before, even.......hmmm, having second thoughts now. If I have no intention of playing those working BD's again, so what's the point in fixing VLC? I guess maybe the thinking is that since I KNOW it can do the one BD movie, and it cannot for the time being, how do I know that very aspect isn't what is keeping it from playing Batman? I think it unlikely, but that is a good train of thought. I just hate to lose all my settings on VLC, but damn the torpedoes I guess!

This burner is great for doing snapshots on dvd's, which are the bulk of my work, so if I get another portable BD player, hopefully one that can do BOTH USB or use a power pack, I still have some use for the burner. Oh well, now on to the responses.

[Charles 22]

Ok, first things first.
You mentioned that you are using a "portable bluray player" do you mean that it is an external bluray player that you connect to your computer with a USB cable or is it a small bluray player that can be connected to your HDTV with an HDMI cable ?

It's a se-406ab which uses USB power only. Fortunately both my computer and vhs/dvd player (for the HDTV) are powered USB's.

[Charles 22]

Ok, first things first.
You mentioned that you are using a "portable bluray player" do you mean that it is an external bluray player that you connect to your computer with a USB cable or is it a small bluray player that can be connected to your HDTV with an HDMI cable ?

Good question. Sometimes Charles 22 refers to a portable Blu-Ray Player and other times he refers to a portable BD drive.

Samsung made a few USB Blu-ray drives, some of which are still available. A USB Blu-ray drive would need to be attached to a PC in order to play Blu-Ray discs. A TV's built-in media player wouldn't be able to use it to play commercial Blu-Ray discs via a USB connection.

As far as I could find out, Samsung made just one portable Blu-Ray player for the US market about 5 years ago (now discontinued), which has its own screen and runs on batteries, but could be connected to a TV with HDMI like a standard Blu-Ray player

You are correct on most counts. It doesn't run on batteries though. I intersperse using Portable player to portable drive, as I see that as the same thing. Just a different choice of words at different times. If I were to be really specific, though possibly wrong, I would call it my portable BD player/burner. I believe the B in the model name is the designate it as a burner. As well, If you were to look at my device mgr, it falls under the category of dvd/cd-Rom drives, rather than the disk drive category which I think is more common for players that don't burn. The model is a se-406ab.
I might screw around today and see if there is more I can do with the dilemma of the stupid MS driver not allowing my Samsung driver to take over, but that does seem like such an outside shot at helping in this matter, if I get it to switch.

[Charles 22]

Okay, you guys have come to the conclusion that "I don't have a player" despite that it does play BD. I suppose y'all are being succinct in describing it as that, as opposed to BD player/burner as I am now thinking of it. What conclusions do you draw when you realize it will play some BD, but seemingly not any of the newer stuff?

I'm starting to think there's only two more definite things I can do. Either buy a more BD traditional player for playing BD, or buy the Slysoft software to strip the encryption off. Even in the latter case, I'm not guaranteed it will play, and I would like so badly to just play it off the disc. This is so badly off, that I consider whether I can do snapshots very secondary in all of this, as there may be a software player somewhere that will ignore the fact that I'm running BD. I know VLC has no problem with snapping BD or HD from downloads (ah, back to that again - even if that were the best answer from a more practical standpoint, how do you overcome wanting to snap much of the entire series of both Batman and Lost in Space? Seems it would take a fortune or a VERY long wait. I'm also not sure I can snap while streaming in all cases).

[davejavu]

Your portable drive is just that, a drive, and it cannot and will never play anything ever by itself. The playing is done by the device/software you attach the drive to. It shows up in the CD/DVD drive section of you device manager because that is where optical drives go. The other disc section is for hard drives, either the ones inside your PC or attached via USB.

The Blu-Ray discs you have are never going to play through your vhs/dvd player as they are encrypted and that machine won't even be able to read Blu-Ray discs, never mind decrypt them. DVD's might work through that machine as it does understand the DVD file structure and encryption, but that is probably more by luck than anything else. Most DVD players expect to get DVD discs loaded into the built-in disc drive and not plugged into a USB port.

You will only be able to play them from your portable drive on your PC, but only if you have the appropriate software installed to decrypt the disc for playback. VLC will always struggle as the method it uses is unauthorised and legally dubious, and it relies on decryption keys taken from older discs. Newer releases are going to be a challenge with any free player on your PC.

If you absolutely have to play them with a free media player, for taking snapshots, you will need to use a decryption program like Anydvd HD and play them directly from the disc that way, or try to rip them to your PC hard drive first. If you can get that working you can convert them into a format you dvd/vhs player can understand to allow playback on your TV or just keep playing them on your PC.

This is assuming that the portable drive itself isn't broken. It is not uncommon for the lasers or motors to develop faults or fail completely making it impossible to read some, but not all, discs placed in the drive!

[Charles 22]

Your portable drive is just that, a drive, and it cannot and will never play anything ever by itself. The playing is done by the device/software you attach the drive to. It shows up in the CD/DVD drive section of you device manager because that is where optical drives go. The other disc section is for hard drives, either the ones inside your PC or attached via USB.

The Blu-Ray discs you have are never going to play through your vhs/dvd player as they are encrypted and that machine won't even be able to read Blu-Ray discs, never mind decrypt them. DVD's might work through that machine as it does understand the DVD file structure and encryption, but that is probably more by luck than anything else. Most DVD players expect to get DVD discs loaded into the built-in disc drive and not plugged into a USB port.

You will only be able to play them from your portable drive on your PC, but only if you have the appropriate software installed to decrypt the disc for playback. VLC will always struggle as the method it uses is unauthorised and legally dubious, and it relies on decryption keys taken from older discs. Newer releases are going to be a challenge with any free player on your PC.

If you absolutely have to play them with a free media player, for taking snapshots, you will need to use a decryption program like Anydvd HD and play them directly from the disc that way, or try to rip them to your PC hard drive first. If you can get that working you can convert them into a format you dvd/vhs player can understand to allow playback on your TV or just keep playing them on your PC.

This is assuming that the portable drive itself isn't broken. It is not uncommon for the lasers or motors to develop faults or fail completely making it impossible to read some, but not all, discs placed in the drive!

Yes, what you say about my vhs/dvd player makes sense, since itself isn't even BD capable, but I was hoping somehow the burner itself would do all the work, the signal pass through, and somehow the HDTV recognize it. All rather academic when the burner won't even load it seemingly. I guess you would say it is looking for a software player to help it, and of course the HDTV nor the vhs/dvd can help there.

I', not sure what you meant when you said that I would be lucky to even get dvds to work on that machine, which I assume you meant through the burner, using the vhs/dvd player's UDB port. Fortunately, that doesn't matter, since the burner will work on the computer for dvds and some BDs, but also that the dvd drive on the vhs/dvd does work, but only for dvds of course. I certainly have no desire to see if the burner would work through that machine, but I think you're trying to illustrate that with that in some doubt, it's more absurd still to think BD would work in that manner. Good reasoning to be sure, but it was just simple things I could try, and though I hadn't used it that way before now, I was getting a portable in large part to use in just such a way whenever I would get around to it. Certainly I would have great cause to do just such a thing even if Batman were loading completely well on my computer.

Thanks for all your input, as I'm thinking along the same lines a bit. As far as the possibility of the portable being broke, I find that extremely unlikely, since it is still loading that one BD movie through powerdvd9 and it is running dvds flawlessly. Do you think this is possible? That the studios are making encryption specifically against models that burn, but not against other ordinary portable BD players. Given your reasoning concerning the likelihood of anything BD working on the HDTV with the current vhs/dvd player there as my pass through, it would seem the need for a portable is superfluous. Then again, if I wan to play on the HDTV bad enough, I may get a proper BD player for it as well, but then if THAT would play BD, I still wouldn't have need for the portable on it. Sheesh, you're sort of forced to get a BD player, so another BD player can use it. Man, it gets rather absurd. I guess I could be contented never to see BD on the HDTV, and if not then just buy another BD player simply for it, as they must be pretty cheap.

Having said all of that, it seems then I need to confine my efforts to what to do with the computer BD player/burner period. As I said earlier somewhere, it's not like this drive won't be used for dvds, but I wonder if there's a good chance that a new, external basic DB player can really run Batman, or is it encrypted to even stop play on a computer altogether?

Just so you understand, I don't HAVE to play a free program to do snapshots as I used to use pay programs, but so many of the pay ones have no snap ability for BD's (the industry I'm afraid). The excuse that nobody does snaps, begs the question that since they are done with dvds, why would people that snap, NOT want to do so with BD's? Niche or not, BD's would only ADD to the desire to do snaps, and that's what the industry is afraid of. So that may be exactly why I have to run free programs to get the snaps, or perhaps strip the encrypting. I don't know about Anydvd HD, I've somehow come to the conclusion that they won't be able to help me here with Batman and LIS, or at least it will be a long wait till they do. Sheesh, I can't even get Friends to work and as recent a BD conversion as that seems to me, that was five blooming years ago! Seemingly, if I can decrypt all BD discs, I would think any player, even VLC could play them. it would be nice if I could get that, where I could use the same player due to such things.