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Blu-ray Support in Mac OS X 10.5.6?
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They won't be that large. The average size of my BR movies (video plus DD or DTS - but not DTS-HD or True-HD) is about 20 gb. Even if they manage 25 mbps (which I seriously doubt), you're talking 3 MB/sec. That'll take just under two hours.
I really doubt they'll get there, but who knows?
I recently put all my blu ray movies on a server in the form of an iso...curious if anything is out there that will allow me to play them via one of the new mac books??? Again, I only want to play the iso file, not the actual blu ray.
I don't have any BR movies so I can't say what that format's like, however I have several HD DVDs and they seem to average 24 Mb/s, for a total of around 15-25 GB depending on length.
Edit: I picked up The Dark Knight on BR and it's 35 Mb/s for the video (ie. excluding sound).
Well, one of the nice things about OS X is that it will mount an ISO natively. So what you need is a media player, like VLC. Don't know if VLC works with blu ray media, but it would be my first port of call.
That's pretty much the same for Blu-ray, provided you strip out the other languages. Pirates of the Caribbean 3 comes in at about 35 gb in its original m2ts container. The audio really takes up a lot of space when there are multiple tracks. When you strip out the other languages (in AC3 and True-HD) and select the AC3 core from the English True-HD track it comes in at 19 gb. Transcoded to m4v with Handbrake at 59% constant quality with AC3 Dolby Digital knocks it down to 14 gb, which still gives an excellent 1080p picture.
VLC has real problems with Blu-ray rips unless you have a beefy Mac. Plex, on the other hand, handles almost all Blu-ray m2ts files just fine.
m2ts??? so plex only works with blu ray iso files with m2ts...what about vc1 or mpeg 4??? I know blu rays use these as well???
m2ts is a container. Inside that container can be MPEG-2, VC-1 or AVC (MPEG-4 H.264) video. Plex plays 'em all just fine.
I think Apple may announce Blu-ray drives for their MacBook Pros, iMacs integrated desktops and Mac Pro tower desktop machines very soon.
I cite these reasons:
1) Apple has started to integrate hardware that includes HDCP support. It won't take much to just add built-in HDMI 1.3a cable support so you can connect a Mac with built-in Blu-ray player to a display that supports the HDMI 1.3 standard, which is essentially most non-CRT rear-projection TV's, plasma flatscreens and LCD flatscreens built within the past two years.
2) The price of Blu-ray hardware and software have dropped substantially in the past year or so. You can get Profile 2.0 specification players for well under US$300 now, and prices will probably drop under US$200 for such players within the next 4-5 months.
3) The Blu-ray Disc Association may offer a large-volume discount on technology licensing to Apple, especially if Apple can make Blu-ray drives standard on the iMac and Mac Pro models, possibly with a next-generation SuperDrive optical disc recorder drive.
4) Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download capacity limits or impose substantial penalties for exceeding these limits. That right there could put a kibosh on downloaded HD movies even if the resolution is only 720p. ISP's are doing this because of concerns all that downloading will put an excessive strain on the network infrastructure and also to discourage torrent traffic.
I cite these reasons:
1) Apple has started to integrate hardware that includes HDCP support. It won't take much to just add built-in HDMI 1.3a cable support so you can connect a Mac with built-in Blu-ray player to a display that supports the HDMI 1.3 standard, which is essentially most non-CRT rear-projection TV's, plasma flatscreens and LCD flatscreens built within the past two years.
2) The price of Blu-ray hardware and software have dropped substantially in the past year or so. You can get Profile 2.0 specification players for well under US$300 now, and prices will probably drop under US$200 for such players within the next 4-5 months.
3) The Blu-ray Disc Association may offer a large-volume discount on technology licensing to Apple, especially if Apple can make Blu-ray drives standard on the iMac and Mac Pro models, possibly with a next-generation SuperDrive optical disc recorder drive.
4) Internet Service Providers are starting to impose monthly download capacity limits or impose substantial penalties for exceeding these limits. That right there could put a kibosh on downloaded HD movies even if the resolution is only 720p. ISP's are doing this because of concerns all that downloading will put an excessive strain on the network infrastructure and also to discourage torrent traffic.
This must happen sooner or later.
Although by the time Apple implement it, the PC world would have moved onto the next technology...
Sony's first laptop with bluray drive came out about two years ago, and cost the same as a Macbook Pro. I'm not sure what's taking Apple so long.
OF COURSE Sony was the first, they were willing to take the risk, since they are the one that pioneered (so to speak) Blu-Ray. They wanted to get it in as many devices as possible to win the HD war.
We seem to forget that this time last year, the HD war was still going on. It takes time to implement this technology. Also, for most of us, watching HD on computers isn't worth the $200 extra. This is why we have home TVs.
Heh heh, I'm honoured to be quoted about 5 months after a post. But to address your post, I don't think that the HD war ever existed in the realm of computers - just home entertainment. I was mostly focused on the computer part of things.
Well, no... In our household, our portable Macs are the only TVs. This is rather common around here with young/urban, higher educated folks. So give us at least a BTO _option_, Apple!
Main reason why I think Blu-Ray will live on. Comcast is limiting the bandwidth to 250GB a month. So if you download 6 or 7 1080P movies, you are already over the limit.
So far my BR experience with OS X has been easy. I have an external LG BR/HDDVD drive. I put a BD-RE 50GB in the drive and OS X brought the disc up with the letters BD on it. i went to about this mac and the drive details state that it does BD and HD DVD. Next i formated the disc with disk utility and it worked fine. I even burnt some data on the disc using the burn folder and then an iso and it all worked fine. Next i put in my copy of Dark knight on BR into the drive, and i copied the contents onto my HD. next i loaded up Toast 9 and selected BD movie, it asks for a BDMV folder so i selected the one of Dark knight which i saved to my HD. once it loaded i burnt the disc. i then put it in my ps3 and it played back fine. Currently in Australia i can get blank BR discs for around $16AUD each if i buy in bulk including shipping.
And as for quotas on internet plans. Here in Australia 100Gb (not split into peak/offpeak zones) costs you $130 and the max limit for a home plan is 200GB. I would love to have 250GB for the price you guys pay.
And as for quotas on internet plans. Here in Australia 100Gb (not split into peak/offpeak zones) costs you $130 and the max limit for a home plan is 200GB. I would love to have 250GB for the price you guys pay.
And now the question to which you won't respond: Does it play Blu-ray movies (purchased from a store) in OS X?
hard formats in general are a dying breed
I think Apple is merely waiting for the death of hard format, which will occur sooner than later. There are companies already pushing technologies and hardware for direct HD media purchase/feed/download.
I submit that in the next 3-5 years media in any hard format will have gone the way of the dinosaur, save for archival purposes. Blu-ray is a technology that missed the boat:
why blu-ray is doomed.
I think Apple is merely waiting for the death of hard format, which will occur sooner than later. There are companies already pushing technologies and hardware for direct HD media purchase/feed/download.
I submit that in the next 3-5 years media in any hard format will have gone the way of the dinosaur, save for archival purposes. Blu-ray is a technology that missed the boat:
why blu-ray is doomed.
People said the same thing about audio cd's, but take a look around.
Try telling the average 30+ year old that you wont be able to buy a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray I think youll have an argument on your hands. People want physical media whether You or Apple or Any other company like it or not.
No it doesn't, and why would i want it to?
ive never played a DVD on my iMac or PC. I have a DVD player and a BR player hooked up to a 60 inch plasma. Why would i want to watch it on a 17inch or 24inch screen. Fair enough for HTPC users then you can play the specific m2ts file through plex or xmbc.
And as downloads go , it will be a while before the world can accommodate HD downloads that are close to BR quality. Personally i hope it doesn't happen, because you can bet that each store will tie there movies in DRM, and there will be alot of trouble between different devices and the different stores offering content. At least now you can buy a BD movie from any store and play it on any BD player
Strange response to his question
What about the drm on the discs to stop you from copying the files straight off (like you said you did in your post)?
What about all the people that bought blu ray players early on, and have all sorts of problems (like it not working) playing discs and special content?
I'm sure it's a bit different now, but it wasn't too long ago that the ps3 and software players on windows were the only 'fully' compatible blu ray players.
Strange response to his question
What about the drm on the discs to stop you from copying the files straight off (like you said you did in your post)?
What about all the people that bought blu ray players early on, and have all sorts of problems (like it not working) playing discs and special content?
I'm sure it's a bit different now, but it wasn't too long ago that the ps3 and software players on windows were the only 'fully' compatible blu ray players.
Your correct about the DRM in copying which of course isn't present in OS X, which allowed me to copy the files. But BR is still a standard media. IF we move to downloads, every company will have their own encoding and protection that will only work on certain players. Sure BR was like that at the start but its become alot more universal now. The main problem with BR is the need for an update now and again. honestly i would prefer OS X to stay the way it is, since it allows me to make easy copies of my BR movies
... I'm 40, soon 41. Haven't bought a CD, DVD or BR / hardformat media anything in 3 years. people told me I was nuts ten years ago when I ditched my landline for mobile only too.
*shrug*
If you're talking 22" (diagonal) or bigger 16:10 aspect ratio computer monitor, you forget that for most desktop installation you're sitting at most 2-2.5 feet from the monitor itself. As such, being so close you can see the difference between a DVD playback and Blu-ray playback quite easily, especially since on a computer-based DVD setup you don't have the niceties of 480p to 1080p unconversion!
Only thing is, so called HD movies online isn't real HD. They are still compressed. Compare the Blu Ray movie and so called HD online movie side by side and you will notice a very big difference. And we aren't even talking about the HD sounds.
I think Blu Ray will be here for a while until the technology and way to distribute them catches up. So you are looking more like 10 years rather then 3 to 5 years.