How to play Bluray MENU on TV media player

[samards]

Many years I have the same problem of playing HD content on my TV from Hard disk.
With old DVD-s, I have no problem, DVD menus are nicely shown and rendered. But with HD content - if I make Bluray content, menu will be simply skipped and only the content of the movie will be shown.

I'm using android TV box with KODI 17.6. So, KODI will not show Bluray menu.

Is there any software for android TV box that is capable to show Bluray menu? Or is there a way to make any HD content with menu that can be shown on TV from hard disk? I want to use a media player box, and not computer.

[usually_quiet]

I did a search and found there is a proprietary "XBMC" fork for Android (apparently developed by an Android box maker) which claims to be able to play Blu-ray discs with menu support but there are few catches: To use this feature someone must pay a membership fee and only some chipsets are supported. Finally, the product may violate the GPL.

Due to its questionable legality, I am not going to recommend this software. However, since I found it without too much difficulty anyone who really wants to find it should be able to do that.

[Cornucopia]

That's the difference between an authored disc and raw data files and the difference between the DVD-Video spec and the BDMV spec:

To play menus, and those other authored features, you MUST have an authored spec-based player, not just a raw file-based player.
The DVD-Video spec has long since been decrypted, decoded, reverse-engineered to the point that there are FOSS softwares that can play (nearly) the full DVD-Video spec. Either disc or ISO.
The Blu-ray spec is much newer (2006 vs. 1995), and the IP involved is much more tightly controlled and hawkishly guarded, so there is no FOSS software that fully covers the spec. Only paid, licensed software such as Cyberlink.
Which is why what you see in things like KODI and other free players is only raw files when it comes to BD level.
Until such time as the BD spec gets more fully reverse-engineered, or the powers that be let it be more opened up (not gonna happen), that's just the way it is.

Scott

[flashandpan007]

Time to move on from menus. Create a mkv file, play it and be happy. Higher resolutions, framerates and many other better video specs are also supported by mkv file container.
If I remember correctly there is a feature in Matroska spec to support menus, but I have no idea what player has implemented any kind of it.
I think I google a bit, although I don't need that feature ...

[Cornucopia]

Matroska implementation of menus has, AFAIK, never gotten off the ground, spec-wise. So, clearly no players would support it if it wasn't even close to finalized.
Neither does MP4 have menus.
Divx menus MIGHT be importable (muxable) to either spec, but I'm guessing player support for them is nil, so what's the point.

(Chapters are a different matter)

Nothing's changed in this regard in the last year or so...
You want menus? Stick with Authored media.

And, BTW @flashandpan007, there are (still) many of us who WANT to use menus. Filesystem-level navigation has its own set of problems/complications. I don't have an issue with it, but I have to provide support to users who do.

Scott

[flashandpan007]

I‘m happy with filesystem level navigation for several years now ... over a decade already... man I am getting old

[lingyi]

Certain Dune models can play Blu-Ray menus https://www.duneplayer.com/faqs/bluray.html. However, it's not specified if they play Java menus which are on some discs.

As I posted in another thread, for price of a Dune player, I'd get a cheap laptop or SFF PC and use that with a wireless keyboard and/or a remote mouse. The catch is their are a limited number of options for Blu-Ray software players.

[lingyi]

For DVDs with movie only, I'll remove the menu. However, if it contains extras or multiple episodes (series, shorts, anthologies) I'll keep the menu for ease of use as well as keeping everything in order.

[samards]

My additional problem is that I don't want to use PC, I'd like to use small media player connected to TV. So my options are even more limited.

Menus are absolutely necessary, as I make my home videos , and do not want to watch every time all that I recorded, I want always to jump to the scene.

Actually I even do not need bluray, I need just some way to watch HD with the possibility to jump to the scene, and I need the thumbnail for that scene, that I know where to jump to.

Just like in my camera, I have AVHCD format there, and in playback mode I see the thumbnail for every scene, so I can just play it. Strange that even that is not possible when I extract it to comp, or is it? With KODI I would also expect that you can just make a picture and join it to the movie clip, but still didn't find the way...

[dwisniski]

I keep an older Popcorn Hour A-210 around for this exact purpose, to play DVD and Blu-ray rips with menus. They can still be found on eBay relatively cheap. I got mine for $40.

[samards]

I keep an older Popcorn Hour A-210 around for this exact purpose, to play DVD and Blu-ray rips with menus. They can still be found on eBay relatively cheap. I got mine for $40.

Does Popcorn Hour a-210 show full BD menu? I mean do you get the thumbnails?
Or only Lite version of menu, with only text and chapter names?

[dwisniski]

I keep an older Popcorn Hour A-210 around for this exact purpose, to play DVD and Blu-ray rips with menus. They can still be found on eBay relatively cheap. I got mine for $40.

Does Popcorn Hour a-210 show full BD menu? I mean do you get the thumbnails?
Or only Lite version of menu, with only text and chapter names?

The A-210 does full menus, and can do a BD-Lite mode as well. I use it to play my backed up BD-ISO rips, and it does full menus and navigation. Also, it doesn’t recognize the Cinavia watermark, so no problems there. It’s not really made to stream video (I use my Amazon Fire Tv box for that), but for playing files off a hard drive or network, you can’t beat it.

[samards]

I keep an older Popcorn Hour A-210 around for this exact purpose, to play DVD and Blu-ray rips with menus. They can still be found on eBay relatively cheap. I got mine for $40.

Does Popcorn Hour a-210 show full BD menu? I mean do you get the thumbnails?
Or only Lite version of menu, with only text and chapter names?

The A-210 does full menus, and can do a BD-Lite mode as well. I use it to play my backed up BD-ISO rips, and it does full menus and navigation. Also, it doesn’t recognize the Cinavia watermark, so no problems there. It’s not really made to stream video (I use my Amazon Fire Tv box for that), but for playing files off a hard drive or network, you can’t beat it.

Great to know that, thanx! I'l try to find it... I've seen that PH C-200 can also show full BD-J Menus, so one more option...

[samards]

By the way, I have a chance to buy DUNE HD Smart D1 (from 2010), does anyone know if it can play full BD menu?

[dwisniski]

By the way, I have a chance to buy DUNE HD Smart D1 (from 2010), does anyone know if it can play full BD menu?

Yes, the Dune HD Smart D1 will also do full Blu-ray menus.

[samards]

By the way, I have a chance to buy DUNE HD Smart D1 (from 2010), does anyone know if it can play full BD menu?

Yes, the Dune HD Smart D1 will also do full Blu-ray menus.

Many thanx!

[samards]

I tried Dune HD Smart D1 player and I was quite amazed with the quality.

The movie reproduction is flawless, no interruptions, just very smooth. I thought that my old movies are made with bad software - but it is not so - I played them with a bad media player. So there is a reason why is something more expensive obviously

Dune shows blue-ray menu and you can use it. But it is not flawless. Player shows only the first menu page, and you can click on scenes, no problem, but if it is a multi-page menu, then next pages are not clickable, you can see them, but they do not work.

So I am wondering if there is a way to replace menu with the new one with only one page...

[flashandpan007]

I played them with a bad media player

Which one exactly did you use?

[samards]

I played them with a bad media player

Which one exactly did you use?

If I can remember it is MXQ Pro with 1GB RAM, or something like that. Its android TV box using KODI for video.

[Flagg99]

I know this is an old thread, but get a NUC. I picked up an i5 with 8gb ram, ssd, pretty darn cheap (under 200$ USD).

That plus Kodi (can do some Blu Ray menus) or better yet DVD Fab Player (better at menus). They give out free license codes for it each year. Power DVD is an option then but I believe it supports Cinavia (gross) and its SMB support sucks.

Android is a bigger problem because there is no JRE for that platform. Blu ray menus are java based. Some streaming boxes like Dune etc do work. And VidOn XBMC claims to have menu support on certain chipsets. But why bother?

Honestly a NUC running windows and Fab Player means menu support and no Cinavia. It's the same size as an android player and way more powerful. I stream BDMV folders off my NAS (an old PC) with zero issues.