Any way to rip 4K Blu-rays?

[Sebarino]

Sometimes I rip my Blu-rays for different purposes, whether it's to have them on an external drive and stream over the network so I don't have to put up with stupid menus and warnings, or to bring them into Resolve to learn color grading. So recently I saw an LG external Ultra HD reader for just $99, and I thought it was an OK price to have the same ability but with my 4K Blu-rays.

As usual I download the latest Make MKV and put in the Conclave 4K Blu-ray I just bought, just to test. Almost right away I get a barrage of angry messages saying that it's not working. I think that maybe it's because the Conclave disc is too new, and the decryption engine in Make MKV is still not up to date. So I put one of my first 4K Blu-rays from 2017, same thing.

So I think, maybe it's because it needs the player app that comes with it, the Cyberlink PowerDVD. So I install that (not the full suite because it sucks). I open the player, and it tells me that it needs to install something to be able to play 4K Blu-rays. So I click OK, it launches an installer, and it shows me this:


[Attachment 87215 - Click to enlarge]

I go into the BIOS, there's no SGX anywhere. I search my motherboard's manual and BIOS manual PDFs for "SGX" and not a single hit. So I assume my motherboard doesn't have it. Then I search online, and all I get is more confusion, but it seems to me that SGX is something deprecated in Windows 11 and basically it's a no go. Is that a fair conclusion?

And I also tried it on my Mac Studio, also with Make MKV, and got the same error messages, but to be fair the box the unit comes is says clearly that it doesn't come with a player app for macOS.

So it seems to me that the only possible way to rip or even watch 4K Blu-rays on a computer is to have a PC with a motherboard and CPU, both of which supporting Intel SGX, right?

[usually_quiet]

Forget about SGX. SGX is an obsolete security feature that was only available with certain Intel processors. After SGX was found to have been cracked, SGX was discontinued in subsequent Intel processors. Intel also disabled SGX in all the processors that had it via a firmware update.

Cyberlink's software won't work anymore now that SGX has been rendered obsolete. To watch a UHD Blu-ray using a PC you need to rip it to an MKV file with MakeMKV and play the file with VLC, MPC-HC x64, or some other compatible player.

To use MakeMKV for ripping, you need to obtain a compatible UHD drive and probably need to flash the drive with new firmware. There is a list of compatible drives here: https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19634&sid=df222ce41aa91203d5a03ef97ee8e2be However, very few of the compatible drives are external

[usually_quiet]

I decided to try Cyberlink PowerDVD 18 again to play an MKV rip I made from one of my UHD Blu-rays (Avatar: The Way of Water) j to refresh my memory about what didn't work when I used it as my software player. Long story short, using Cyberlink PowerDVD 18 as my player software, the MKV played OK and with correct HDR colors if I had my PC connected to a display that accepts 4K input and is HDR-capable.

However, most computer displays are not 4K resolution nor HDR-capable. So, I still suggest using VLC, MPC-HC x64 or another third-party player that can downscale video and tone-map HDR for a typical HD SDR (high definition + standard dynamic range) PC display.

[Sebarino]

To use MakeMKV for ripping, you need to obtain a compatible UHD drive and probably need to flash the drive with new firmware. There is a list of compatible drives here: https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19634&sid=df222ce41aa91203d5a03ef97ee8e2be However, very few of the compatible drives are external

Thanks for the tip! Actually, this external drive is in the list, but my internal LG drive, which is BD-XL but not Ultra HD, was on the list, so I flashed that one instead and I will return the external.

But I'm not sure how far back Make MKV goes when it comes to the AACS. The first one I put in, Mickey 17, gave me this:

The volume key is unknown for this disc - video can't be decrypted
DEBUG: Code 0 at `{q#WHE]"p5'4|CK:213132721
DEBUG: Code 0 at `{q#WHE]"p5'4|CK:213131341
Failed to open disc

But then I put Star Trek Into Darkness, one of my first Blu-rays from 2017, and it's going just fine. So I guess the database in Make MKV has to catch up to the newest ones at some point. I'm in no hurry.

And PowerDVD still wants to install that SGX thing if I try to play a 4k Blu-ray, so I'll just uninstall it.

[Sebarino]

However, most computer displays are not 4K resolution nor HDR-capable. So, I still suggest using VLC, MPC-HC x64 or another third-party player that can downscale video and tone-map HDR for a typical HD SDR (high definition + standard dynamic range) PC display.

Mine are, but they are cheap Samsungs, their HDR is terrible. But I would never watch a 4K Blu-ray on the computer monitor anyway, if I rip some it would be to put them on an external drive and watch with my TV set, or to play around with them in DaVinci Resolve and try to match color grading. The latter is my main reason for ripping an occasional 4k Blu-ray.

[usually_quiet]

And PowerDVD still wants to install that SGX thing if I try to play a 4k Blu-ray...

Yes. With SGX plus the Intel Management Engine driver and firmware now deprecated and disabled, PowerDVD cannot be used play physical UHD Blu-ray discs anymore.

The movie and extra features can still be watched using PowerDVD Ultra if they are ripped to MKV files using MakeMKV. Unfortunately, there is no longer a way to use the menus included on the original UHD Blu-ray.

[Wenny]

Most newer Intel CPUs and motherboards no longer support SGX, and some have even disabled it via firmware updates.

For ripping and playing 4K UHD Blu-rays, the currently most effective method is to rip the disc into an MKV file, then play it back with players like VLC or MPC-HC. Regarding MakeMKV’s inability to decrypt the newest titles immediately, this is normal since their keys database sometimes lags behind new releases. You might also explore commercial options like DVDFab if you want an effective and fast way.

[netmask56]

Most newer Intel CPUs and motherboards no longer support SGX, and some have even disabled it via firmware updates.

For ripping and playing 4K UHD Blu-rays, the currently most effective method is to rip the disc into an MKV file, then play it back with players like VLC or MPC-HC. Regarding MakeMKV’s inability to decrypt the newest titles immediately, this is normal since their keys database sometimes lags behind new releases. You might also explore commercial options like DVDFab if you want an effective and fast way.

You can always buy a perpetual license as I did for Makemkv and it works every time on my UHD Blu ray player. I have the recommended Archgon unit suitably flashed.

[usually_quiet]

Yes, definitely buy a license for MakeMKV if you are satisfied with its performance.