Minimalist enabling of Blu-Ray playback in Windows 7 Media Center...

[ichinisan]

I can't STAND PowerDVD! It's sluggish and poorly-designed. All I want is some background software that allows 7MC to handle Blu-Ray with it's own built-in interface. Preferably something that doesn't knock Vista / Windows 7 out of Aero mode. When Microsoft announced that Cyberlink would be the official / recommended way to enable BD playback in Win7, I expected something that worked similarly to DVD playback enablers with Windows XP MCE. If you had a valid DVD player / codec installed, Media Player and Media Center could also decode DVDs.

Does such software exist for BD? I really wish they would think of the people / OEMs who prefer a minimalist implementation. I think there is a HUGE market for it.

Will SlyPlayer work this way, enabling Blu-Ray in 7MC's built-in player?

[Oops. Please move this to the "High Definition Software" forum if necessary.]

 

[damnskippy]

Not sure about SlyPlayer but none that I know of. TMT seems to be a little lighter that PDVD but to me they seem pretty close to the same. You could rip them to an MKV and play them in 7MC but that is much more of a PITB to me.

 

[ichinisan]

Not sure about SlyPlayer but none that I know of. TMT seems to be a little lighter that PDVD but to me they seem pretty close to the same. You could rip them to an MKV and play them in 7MC but that is much more of a PITB to me.

Thanks. Does TMT knock Vista / Win7 out of Aero mode when they load a BD movie?

 

[Hawk]

Thanks. Does TMT knock Vista / Win7 out of Aero mode when they load a BD movie?

I think it does. I can't recall exactly though. One thing for sure it is better then powerdvd.

 

[Peer]

Thanks. Does TMT knock Vista / Win7 out of Aero mode when they load a BD movie?

There seems to be no definitive answer to that: I have one PC here with TMT3 on it and it doesn't switch off Aero.
James said, he has one, where it does...

 

[SamuriHL]

On Win7 it doesn't seem to affect Aero, but, on Vista it does. It's weird. PDVD9 currently has a bug that causes it to blast Aero no matter how you have it set. Hopefully that'll get fixed soon.

 

[damnskippy]

I use PDVD more than TMT, I prefer the interface. Most likely because I have used it forever. I only play movie only BD backups (well 85%) from ISO so I don't really have any issues with PDVD or TMT. If you play from the BD it is a different story.

 

[ichinisan]

On Win7 it doesn't seem to affect Aero, but, on Vista it does. It's weird. PDVD9 currently has a bug that causes it to blast Aero no matter how you have it set. Hopefully that'll get fixed soon.

I just tried TMT for the first time and it kills Aero in Win7. Launching the app or the MCE interface do the same thing.

This is a fresh Win7 install with the latest NVIDIA beta driver (current WHQL drivers reportedly have problems).

 

[SamuriHL]

I just tried TMT for the first time and it kills Aero in Win7. Launching the app or the MCE interface do the same thing.

This is a fresh Win7 install with the latest NVIDIA beta driver (current WHQL drivers reportedly have problems).

Yea, well, at the time I wrote that it was true. It's not anymore. WinDVD, PDVD, and TMT all kill Aero for BD playback now. And no, it's not going to get "fixed".

 

[ichinisan]

Yea, well, at the time I wrote that it was true. It's not anymore. WinDVD, PDVD, and TMT all kill Aero for BD playback now. And no, it's not going to get "fixed".

That's too bad. I wonder what technical limitation can't be overcome...?

I thought Win7 Media Center was designed to be Blu-Ray friendly. I really expected that Blu-Ray playback software could install a background plugin, allowing the standard WMP and the MCE players to handle BD...the way DVD was handed in XP.

Oh well...

 

[SamuriHL]

That's too bad. I wonder what technical limitation can't be overcome...?

I thought Win7 Media Center was designed to be Blu-Ray friendly. I really expected that Blu-Ray playback software could install a background plugin, allowing the standard WMP and the MCE players to handle BD...the way DVD was handed in XP.

Oh wel...

It's not a technical limitation. It's a mandate. Let's not go there.

 

[ollley]

It's not a technical limitation. It's a mandate. Let's not go there Bob.

Nice...:agree: