After many attempts of getting HD-DVD to play on the PC, I thought I would give Blu-Ray a shot. After two hours of playing, it was an easy setup. This is a list of my parts used....

Core 2 Duo 2.13 Ghz
Intel DG965WH MB - http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/DG965WH/index.htm
MSI NX7900GT-VT2D256E HD HDCP Video Card
2 GB dual-channel Ram
300GB Seagate Sata II HD
2 - 400GB Seagate Sata II HD's (Ripped DVD's)
Sony BWU-100A - http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7942934&st=blu-ray&type=product&id=1152227797037
Avermedia 1500 MCE (Not required for BD playback)
ATI HDTV Wonder (Not required for BD playback)

Sanyo PLV-Z4 projector connected via DVI to HDMI cable.

I have been testing Vista RC1, so I was able to do a fresh install of MCE 2005. The hardware was completely built with the exception of the Blu-Ray drive. My MCE machine resides in a utility room off the back of my living room, so I installed the drive in a external enclosure, and connected it via a USB cable. After all the hardware was in place I installed MCE 2005 fresh, ran the updates and installed all the regular drivers. I then installed the Purevideo HD driver and the Purevideo Decoder. (The purevideo decoder is not required for BD playback, but is needed for DVD playback.)

Then I installed the Cyberlink pack that came with the Player (Including PowerDVD). I tried to playback a movie with no success, and after reading the manual, on page 41 it clearly states "the supplied software cannot play back BD-ROM Movies although the hardware supports BD-ROM playback." So after some searching I found this... http://www.cyberlink.com/multi/download/patches_1_ENU.html
The top link is a download that enables BD-ROM movie playback. Could it be this easy? Could this be the key? YES!!!!!! It works like a charm! I had to tweak the audio and the video seems vivid, but I will play with those settings tomorrow.

The only thing that remains is getting a link in Media center to open PowerDVD to play the Blu-Ray disc's. I had my machine set up at one point to play movies through Theatertek, so I can only assume I can do the same with Cyberlink....

Need sleep now...

Charles

Chris or Brian, I'm sorry, I ment to put this in the HDTV forum...Could you please move it over...

Sorry...
Charles

I saw a Sony Blu-Ray laptop at a Sony Style store and it only had a link off of More Programs in MCE.  It had a link to WinDVD BD which just minimized MCE and opened WinDVD BD in a window on the desktop.

What movies have you tried yet?

I did the exact same thing, I added a link to the /All Users/Start Menu/Accessories/Media Center/More Progams. I can use the remote to control the FF/RW/Skip/Pause/Play/DVD Menu, but there is no way to exit the program to go back to Media Center. So I just leave WinDVD up in the background and open media center overtop of it. It actually works pretty good.

I played with PowerDVD and tried to get the settings right, but ended up downloading the Japanese version of WinDVD 8 which plays BD fine. I tried to get the HD-DVD version working first with no luck, but uninstalled and installed the BD version and it worked just fine, color and everything is great. It is playing back at a lower resolution, but I think I need this update to get full resolution... http://sony.storagesupport.com/BDupgrade/index.htm

I finally watched a full movie last night, Underworld Evolutions. Kate Beckensale, mmmmmm....

Charles

I recall reading an article that stated some software shipped with preinstalled Blu-ray drives (on PCs) actually had the ability to capture screen shots. The article then concluded that it would be possible to create an application or modification (crack) that allowed an entire movie to be copied via this screen capture method and audio could then be spliced in later.

Perhaps, the lack of included BD player software is simply Sony’s way of dealing with some last second issues with the software that may be otherwise undesirable,…..from their point of view,….

As for the software that already shipped, they can always find some way to shore it up:

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/support/bdhd_support/troubleshooting.jsp

When trying to play Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD titles, PowerDVD displays an error message "Device Revocation..." Issue: PowerDVD displays “Device Revocation. The player was revoked by this title. Do you want to update from server?” error message when you are trying to play a Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD title. Cause: Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD have adopted AACS (Advanced Access Content System) to protect the digital content. AACS keys are required to play some Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD titles. AACS keys were integrated into your PowerDVD for copy protection purposes. Occasional renewal of the AACS key is required. This error message appears because the title you're playing requires a newer AACS key. Solution: Click “Yes” in the error message dialog to connect to the CyberLink Web site and download the updated version of PowerDVD for AACS keys renewal. For more information on AACS keys, visit www.aacsla.com/home.

You better have a 3.2GHz P4 or faster, Core Duo T2xxx series, Core 2 Duo E6xxx series, Athlon 64 FX series (FX-60 2.6 GHz and up), Athlon 64 X2 series (4200+ 2.2 GHz and up), or Turion 64 X2 (TL-60 2 GHz and up),….if not,…you better get up to speed,…

http://www.cyberlink.com/english/support/bdhd_support/system_requirement.jsp

I know the system specs are harsh but that’s what Cyberlink is citing and the Intervideo solution isn’t any less demanding,…

If you look at the systems currently shipping with such drives you will see that they do indeed meet these specifications.

Jedi,

Sorry if my posts were confusing. The included software (PowerDVD) was unable to play BD out of the box. But with the update patch, it was able to play back BD but the picture looked washed out or too saturated. I played with the settings and was able to get the BD picture looking great, but then all DVD's & TV looked aweful.

I had read on other forums that people were using the Japanese version of WinDVD 8 to playback HD-DVD & BD, so I thought I would give it a shot. For me it would be dual purpose since I already have a large collection of HD-DVD's. I was unable to get HD-DVD working, but I was able to get BD to play just fine without having to change any color, gama, etc..changes.

Sony also has an update next week (October 1st) for PowerDVD, so I will try that patch to see if it makes PowerDVD look better. If so, I will use PowerDVD for BD and go back to tweaking WinDVD to work for my HD-DVD player.

I hope all that makes sense. I am going tomorrow night to BB to pick up 5 or 6 more BD titles to play this weekend. So I will let you know if I have any issues playing back any of them, although at this point I dont see any issues.

Charles

Much thanks for clearing that up, Charles.  Yeah I kind of glossed over the fact that you were messing with the HD-DVD drive.  I was kind of stunned that Blu-Ray was actually working for somebody.  Here I was looking to be an early adopter, but I get passed up by the early, early adopters.

But now I have another quandry.  $700, I can barely afford that at the current time, but if only there were more I could do with the BD drive.  Of the list of Blu-Ray titles, the only one I'd reely care to buy is Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back which of course I've already seen.  There are a lot of classics.  Several would be great to add to the home movie library eventually.  I suppose Lethal Weapon is a buy'er.  But of the list of released vids, and upcoming releases, I'm just not compelled to part with my cash just yet. :(  I'd rent a lot of things I'm sure, but to buy is a bit more of a commitment to me.  There's also the worry of encountering MPEG-2 macroblocking on early releases.  I guess the only real course is to talk myself into signing up with NetFlix.

Jedi,
I faced the same quandry as you regarding the early codecs BD are using. I was also thinking that the HD-DVD format would ultimately win out, and was discouraging others not to purchase BD. I guess I changed my mind when the titles started to hit the shelves and most of my favorite movies were on BD. Since I purchased one of the first HD-A1's I was hoping that blu-ray would flop from the start, but it seems both formats are doing well in stores.

My hope is that both formats might flourish and co-exist in the market. Then hybrid players will be created and software support for both will continue. Early adopters often times lose in the long run, but in this case it may be different if both formats can co-exist.

Charles

This patch is for LG customers using CyberLink BD Solution. It will enable Blu-ray Disc playback for PowerDVD. Software from NVIDIA is also required to support playback. After downloading the CyberLink patch, please visit NVIDIA's website to download their driver:

 http://www.nvidia.com/page/purevideo_hd.htm

CyberLink PowerDVD
No. 1 DVD Experience
Version: 6.6

Category: Patches
File Size: 38 MB
Language: 9-language version Release
Date: 09/19/2006

Today Cyberlink released the patch for the packaged software that comes with the BWU-100A. http://sony.storagesupport.com/BDupgrade/index.htm So if you have an HDMI compliant video card, the Nvidia Purevideo HD drivers & and HDMI compliant display, you should be pretty much good to go.

I have not installed this update yet, but will do it tonight when I get home and publish my findings.

Charles