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TheMG
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TheMG

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Why is there no full-featured freeware BluRay player software?

8 years since the initial release of the BluRay format and to this day there is still no freeware alternative that fully and correctly supports all BluRay features, and all of the freeware programs that can play BD movies in some capacity, require other programs such as AnyDVD HD to decrypt the discs in order to play them.

Heck, they can't even get basic functionality such as the menus!

I assume the details of the BD format as well as the encryption keys are a closely guarded secret and only software developers who pay expensive royalty fees have access to it? Am I right or am I way off?

Camelot One
MVM
join:2001-11-21
Bloomington, IN

Camelot One

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You are close. It's not that anything is secret, it's that it is all copyrighted, and thus requires licensing. Freeware would have to find a way to generate income to pay for the license.
BoulderHill1
join:2004-07-15
Montgomery, IL

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Yup, Kind of like what Camelot says.

BluRay format is is a copyright protected media format that requires one to license the right to use it.

So sort of like you guessed, you must pay this royalty fee to the owner of the copyright in order to use it or develop products to use with it.

Same like it is for Microsoft products.
TheMG
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TheMG

Premium Member

I guess there is no end to the greed of these corporations.

Stuff like this stifles innovation and reduces the options available to consumers.

$70 for PowerDVD, $88 for ArcSoft... no thanks. Especially since you need to buy a newer version every few years to keep receiving encryption key updates to play new movies. What a ripoff.

On the DVD side of things... there are more freeware players out there than you can poke a stick at.

Camelot One
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join:2001-11-21
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Camelot One

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Limiting consumer options is the point more than the money. Software and devices have to be built to specific requirements.......and with specific limitations, in order to qualify for licensing. Its all about controling the options.

printscreen
join:2003-11-01
Juana Diaz, PR

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Well, those companies spent quite a lot of money developing the format. They need to recover the investment and make a profit to stay in business. They do that via licensing. Do you really think that Sony developed the Blu-ray standard to give it away for free?

ImpldConsent
Scouts Out
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said by TheMG:

there is still no freeware alternative that fully and correctly supports all BluRay features

VLC? They recently released updated libraries for BD

JimE
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join:2003-06-11
Belleville, IL

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VLC works for some and not others, works with some discs and not others. It's not officially supported.

Sly
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join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

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After putting it off endlessly, I finally bit the bullet and bought a lifetime license for AnyDVDHD. It works with just about any player and is seamless. It lets me use my home theater. Figured it was either that or buy a stand alone BluRay player. There are no free options... at least options that are hassle free.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
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lots of it is control issues, the movie industry hates VLC with a passion because it does things like allow users to skip their ads and piracy PSAs and previews. with BluRay they get all their restrictions back and in working order.

Sly
Premium Member
join:2004-02-20
Tennessee

Sly

Premium Member

One advantage of AnyDVDHD... I never see ads or warnings. I ended up choosing JRiver over VLC because of the MUCH better sound quality. But to the OPs question, I haven't seen a free player worth using. Media Player Classic-HC worked fine occasionally but I had to tweak it constantly between and sometimes during movies.
TheMG
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said by ImpldConsent:

VLC? They recently released updated libraries for BD

Tried that already. Doesn't handle multichannel audio correctly and it's far from being full featured in that you can only play the main feature (unless you browse to the specific files on the disc) and no menu support.

ImpldConsent
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ImpldConsent

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said by TheMG:

Tried that already. Doesn't handle multichannel audio correctly and it's far from being full featured in that you can only play the main feature (unless you browse to the specific files on the disc) and no menu support.

Gotchya - just throwing it out there. I didn't see many recommendations based on your OP.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
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I think unfortunately unless BluRay gets cracked properly we will never see freeware to play them properly. The DRM is gone but I am guessing what is needed to drive the menus has not been reverse engineered yet.