Blu-ray

[Cave Man]

I've seen a video of someone playing blu-ray movies on their macbook pro with an external drive. If a drive isn't hdcp complient does that mean that you can play the movie but you only get 720p?

No, it means it won't play it at all. Gotta have HDCP in the drive, video card and display, otherwise it won't play Blu-Ray discs.

Then again, macbook pro's hardware is hdcp complient, but the software portion is missing but available if you boot into windows right?

I'm pretty sure the video card in the MBP is compliant, and the MB's is almost certainly compliant (unless Intel has made two versions of x3100, with or without HDCP; or if Apple has disabled HDCP - which would not surprise me at all given their history of disabling their computers). But I suspect the displays are not compliant. If you connect either to an HDCP-compliant display (e.g., HDTV) then you'd be set, since all Blu-Ray drives and HDTVs sold today are HDCP compliant. So, yes, you'd have to boot into Windows to play encrypted Blu-Ray discs since there is no Blu-Ray player software for the Mac (come on Apple - gives us Blu-Ray Player app). If you drop the US$100 for AnyDVD HD, it will remove the HDCP requirement so that you can play Blu-Ray discs with any gpu or display and at 1080p.

Anyways, when you say "rip" and then play back with plex, do you mean encode the movie? Or can you use anydvd to remove the encryption, save it to the drive as an iso, use an iso loader, and then some software to play it back?

AnyDVD HD removes the HDCP requirement and decrypts the disc. It simply makes a copy of the m2ts files with these codes removed, all the while preserving the file structure of the disc (i.e., an exact copy of the disc on your hard drive, but without encryption or HDCP). It's still a Blu-Ray disc file, but now it can be played on any computer, even on a Mac (provided you use Plex or XBMC).

 

[MVApple]

No, it means it won't play it at all. Gotta have HDCP in the drive, video card and display, otherwise it won't play Blu-Ray discs.



I'm pretty sure the video card in the MBP is compliant, and the MB's is almost certainly compliant (unless Intel has made two versions of x3100, with or without HDCP; or if Apple has disabled HDCP - which would not surprise me at all given their history of disabling their computers). But I suspect the displays are not compliant. If you connect either to an HDCP-compliant display (e.g., HDTV) then you'd be set, since all Blu-Ray drives and HDTVs sold today are HDCP compliant. So, yes, you'd have to boot into Windows to play Blu-Ray discs since there is no Blu-Ray player software for the Mac (come on Apple - gives us Blu-Ray Player app). If you drop the US$100 for AnyDVD HD, it will remove the HDCP requirement so that you can play Blu-Ray discs with any gpu or display and at 1080p.

*edit*

So I decided to look more into plex and xmbc and I got this from the XMBC Faq

"Does XBMC for Mac support Blu-ray or HD DVD playback with out without menus?
No. There is not yet any C/C++ open source software out there yet capable of fully playing back Blu-ray or HD DVD so we can not add the code from somewhere in any case. FFmpeg (the open source codec-suit that XBMC uses) will probably relativly soon be able to decode all audio and video codecs used in both Blu-ray and HD DVD, but even when that happens you still have to get around the DRM encryptions used by the disc formats and there is not yet any C/C++ open source software library capable of that on-the-fly, nither is there any C/C++ open source software library out there capable of displaying Blu-ray or HD DVD menus. XBMC need C/C++ open source software libraries for all of these things to fully support Blu-ray or HD DVD playback. "

I did a search on the plex forums and I didn't get a clear answer whether or not blu-ray is suppoted either as an iso or outside an iso. Is the information out-dated?



AnyDVD HD removes the HDCP requirement and decrypts the disc. It simply makes a copy of the m2ts files with these codes removed, all the while preserving the file structure of the disc (i.e., an exact copy of the disc on your hard drive, but without encryption or HDCP). It's still a Blu-Ray disc file, but now it can be played on any computer, even on a Mac (Provided you use Plex or XBMC).

Oh so there IS a way to play blu-ray on a Mac I was planning on getting anydvd since I want to store my favorite blu-ray movies on a hard drive for easy access. It would be nice not to have to boot into windows anytime i wanted to watch a blu-ray movie, or to have to re-encode since I hate having to re-encode.

Anyways, I remember you gave me a link one time, but I believe that thread was talking about re-encoding to watch on the mac, but I wasn't sure. Well thanks for answering and I voted yes for a HTMac forum.

 

[mosx]

I'm pretty sure the video card in the MBP is compliant, and the MB's is almost certainly compliant (unless Intel has made two versions of x3100, with or without HDCP; or if Apple has disabled HDCP - which would not surprise me at all given their history of disabling their computers). But I suspect the displays are not compliant. If you connect either to an HDCP-compliant display (e.g., HDTV) then you'd be set, since all Blu-Ray drives and HDTVs sold today are HDCP compliant. So, yes, you'd have to boot into Windows to play encrypted Blu-Ray discs since there is no Blu-Ray player software for the Mac (come on Apple - gives us Blu-Ray Player app). If you drop the US$100 for AnyDVD HD, it will remove the HDCP requirement so that you can play Blu-Ray discs with any gpu or display and at 1080p.

You can do a quick google search and find out that Apple has chosen NOT to include HDCP support in the firmware of the GPUs in their computers. Even though the Radeons being used in the iMacs and the GeForce 8600M GT in the MacBook Pro support HDCP, the support is optional and its up to the manufacturer to include the support in the GPU BIOS. Apple opted to not include support.

So there is no official support or way to play blu-ray under Windows on a Mac. It also means that, even if OS X had something like DXVA, it wouldn't be possible to play blu-ray because of the lack of HDCP support.

Also, the X3100 has no hardware support for H.264. The support for VC-1 and MPEG-2 is also extremely limited on the X3100. The X4500 on the Montevina chipset only meets the bare minimum requirements for what can be considered "bitstream support" for those codecs.

So basically, no Mac out there can legitimately play blu-ray discs in Windows because Apple has chosen to opt out of including what can be considered a standard feature. Plus OS X has no hardware acceleration for video playback, so even if the GPU has hardware support for H.264 and VC-1 (like the 8600M GT), OS X would have to be rewritten with new drivers to take advantage of those features (Windows has this built-in) and the software would have to be written to take advantage of it to (as every piece of Windows software has been for more than half a decade now).

 

[MVApple]

You can do a quick google search and find out that Apple has chosen NOT to include HDCP support in the firmware of the GPUs in their computers. Even though the Radeons being used in the iMacs and the GeForce 8600M GT in the MacBook Pro support HDCP, the support is optional and its up to the manufacturer to include the support in the GPU BIOS. Apple opted to not include support.

So there is no official support or way to play blu-ray under Windows on a Mac. It also means that, even if OS X had something like DXVA, it wouldn't be possible to play blu-ray because of the lack of HDCP support.

Also, the X3100 has no hardware support for H.264. The support for VC-1 and MPEG-2 is also extremely limited on the X3100. The X4500 on the Montevina chipset only meets the bare minimum requirements for what can be considered "bitstream support" for those codecs.

So basically, no Mac out there can legitimately play blu-ray discs in Windows because Apple has chosen to opt out of including what can be considered a standard feature. Plus OS X has no hardware acceleration for video playback, so even if the GPU has hardware support for H.264 and VC-1 (like the 8600M GT), OS X would have to be rewritten with new drivers to take advantage of those features (Windows has this built-in) and the software would have to be written to take advantage of it to (as every piece of Windows software has been for more than half a decade now).

According to this guy, you can play blu-ray under windows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA2yVh_vSdI

He doesn't say much, other than stating that it was an experiment to see if it was possible.

 

[mosx]

According to this guy, you can play blu-ray under windows. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA2yVh_vSdI

He doesn't say much, other than stating that it was an experiment to see if it was possible.

Then hes using circumvention tools. https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5253314/ Apple's official word is that there is no HDCP support

 

[MVApple]

Then hes using circumvention tools. https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5253314/ Apple's official word is that there is no HDCP support

No he's not. The hardware itself is hdcp capable, but the software side on OSX does not support hdcp. Obviously, windows does support hdcp and the drivers under windows support hdcp.

You really have to stop stating assumptions as facts.

*edit*

MOSX you do realize that the link to the post you gave me ALSO contains a link to the entire thread right? You also realize that in that thread several people state that blu-ray and hdcp works under windows right?

Here is a quote, "Did a little testing last weekend running Windows XP with boot camp. My 17" penryn supports HDCP on both the internal lcd and connected to my home theater projector with DVI. This is using the windows graphics drivers included on the leopard cd. "

 

[Brien]

I think the real issue here (other than cost) is that Apple is probably taking their time rewriting OS X to be HDCP/BD compliant, no easy undertaking.

Although I'm really hoping (blindly!) the next MBP revision will have it, even if it's a BTO option.

 

[mosx]

No he's not. The hardware itself is hdcp capable, but the software side on OSX does not support hdcp. Obviously, windows does support hdcp and the drivers under windows support hdcp.

You really have to stop stating assumptions as facts.

*edit*

MOSX you do realize that the link to the post you gave me ALSO contains a link to the entire thread right? You also realize that in that thread several people state that blu-ray and hdcp works under windows right?

Here is a quote, "Did a little testing last weekend running Windows XP with boot camp. My 17" penryn supports HDCP on both the internal lcd and connected to my home theater projector with DVI. This is using the windows graphics drivers included on the leopard cd. "

Nice immature comment you made in your reason for editing

So one person supposedly gets HDCP to work while another person gets an e-mail from Apple clearly stating otherwise? You've got ONE PERSON on this entire forum stating their MacBook Pro supports HDCP.

Whats even better is that, if you look through his entire post history, he makes absolutely no comment about how he came to the conclusion that his MacBook Pro supports HDCP.

And yes, I realize that post has a link to the entire thread. How dumb of a question is that? The rest of the thread had no relevant information. As you made clear.

 

[MVApple]

Nice immature comment you made in your reason for editing

So one person supposedly gets HDCP to work while another person gets an e-mail from Apple clearly stating otherwise? You've got ONE PERSON on this entire forum stating their MacBook Pro supports HDCP.

Whats even better is that, if you look through his entire post history, he makes absolutely no comment about how he came to the conclusion that his MacBook Pro supports HDCP.

And yes, I realize that post has a link to the entire thread. How dumb of a question is that? The rest of the thread had no relevant information. As you made clear.

Yes Apple stated hdcp wasn't supported, thats true in relation to OSX not windows. Did you completely ignore the youtube video I posted where someone plays blu-ray through windows?

Ok so maybe hdcp isn't supported, but connecting a blu-ray drive and using windows on a macbook pro works. That's the whole point of what we are talking about.

 

[mosx]

Yes Apple stated hdcp wasn't supported, thats true in relation to OSX not windows. Did you completely ignore the youtube video I posted where someone plays blu-ray through windows?

Ok so maybe hdcp isn't supported, but connecting a blu-ray drive and using windows on a macbook pro works. That's the whole point of what we are talking about.

First of all, I'll admit to not watching the entire video, only a few seconds of it. I had assumed he was going to play blu-ray on an external display.

Which he didn't.

Watching blu-ray on the built-in display does NOT require HDCP (duh).

HDCP is only required if connecting to an external display.

But, again, blu-ray playback still requires Windows. Why? Because OS X has no video acceleration. In Windows its taking advantage of the GPU hardware to play the video.

Under OS X it'd be done by the CPU. So unless you want your system running WAY hot and the video not performing or looking as good as it could, you're still stuck with Windows.

And you still can't play it back on an external display.

 

[Cave Man]

So basically, no Mac out there can legitimately play blu-ray discs in Windows because Apple has chosen to opt out of including what can be considered a standard feature.

Nothing like a challenge first thing in the morning.

So, I fired up the MBP a few minutes ago under Windows XP, connected my USB2 Blu-Ray drive, inserted The Fifth Element BR disc, and....

It plays just fine. Blu-Ray on the MBP with its own display. (Somehow, a 15" display just doesn't do justice to a Blu-Ray video.) I have no circumvention software, unless you think that PowerDVD Blu-Ray player app that was bundled in my retail Sony BR-ROM drive box is circumvention.

Plus OS X has no hardware acceleration for video playback, so even if the GPU has hardware support for H.264 and VC-1 (like the 8600M GT), OS X would have to be rewritten with new drivers to take advantage of those features (Windows has this built-in) and the software would have to be written to take advantage of it to (as every piece of Windows software has been for more than half a decade now).

But this is completely unnecessary. Even a Mac Mini has the ability to play Blu-Ray movies (decrypted and de-HDCP rips, at least). Why would Apple want to add unnecessary code to OS X? Perhaps that's why Windows is so bloated?

 

[grooveattack]

am sure i read somewhere that Apple told Sony they are not interested in blu-ray drives from them until they have a thin slot loading, read and write drive that is affordable.

 

[yrsonicdeath]

Nothing like a challenge first thing in the morning.

So, I fired up the MBP a few minutes ago under Windows XP, connected my USB2 Blu-Ray drive, inserted The Fifth Element BR disc, and....

It plays just fine. Blu-Ray on the MBP with its own display. (Somehow, a 15" display just doesn't do justice to a Blu-Ray video.) I have no circumvention software, unless you think that PowerDVD Blu-Ray player app that was bundled in my retail Sony BR-ROM drive box is circumvention.

That's great news Cave Man. I was thinking about using an external blu-ray in that setup for my home theater for the purpose of being able to watch Blu-ray discs from Netflix. You've answered almost all of my questions regarding my home theater without me having to even ask them! Now we just need that home theater forum!

 

[Cave Man]

HDCP is only required if connecting to an external display.

...you're still stuck with Windows. And you still can't play it back on an external display.

Plays just fine on my Samsung 40" connected by VGA cable to my MBP under Win XP (PowerDVD).

 

[mosx]

So, I fired up the MBP a few minutes ago under Windows XP, connected my USB2 Blu-Ray drive, inserted The Fifth Element BR disc, and....

It plays just fine. Blu-Ray on the MBP with its own display. (Somehow, a 15" display just doesn't do justice to a Blu-Ray video.) I have no circumvention software, unless you think that PowerDVD Blu-Ray player app that was bundled in my retail Sony BR-ROM drive box is circumvention.

Perhaps you should have read the rest of the thread before making this comment

But this is completely unnecessary. Even a Mac Mini has the ability to play Blu-Ray movies (decrypted and de-HDCP rips, at least). Why would Apple want to add unnecessary code to OS X? Perhaps that's why Windows is so bloated?

Unnecessary code? What are you talking about? Hardware video acceleration is a modern technology that Windows has had for nearly a decade and that Linux is in the process of getting.

Hardware video acceleration (full bitstream support, not just the half-baked support that Apple used to have for MPEG-2 way back in the day) is BENEFICIAL to everyone involved. It means the GPU does all of the video work, not the CPU. That means your 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo won't be breaking a sweat running 100% of 1 core to do 1080p 45Mbps H.264 video. Your GPU does all the work and applies hardware enhancements, like deblocking, color correction, hardware deinterlacing where its needed. Modern GPUs can typically decode 1080p 50Mbps+ H.264 in a reduced power state as well, so it means your system runs cooler and quieter.

I can go on and on about the benefits of technologies like DXVA.

Calling it "unnecessary" is a sign that you really don't know what you're talking about.

Plays just fine on my Samsung 40" connected by VGA cable to my MBP under Win XP (PowerDVD).

If you're receiving a 1080p signal, then you're doing something to bypass HDCP. If you're using VGA, then I absolutely guarantee you that PowerDVD is downsampling the resolution (as required by blu-ray DRM) to 540p.

Point still stands. MacBook Pro does not support HDCP and you cannot legitimately get full quality blu-ray video out of a MacBook Pro.

 

[Cave Man]

Point still stands. MacBook Pro does not support HDCP and you cannot legitimately get full quality blu-ray video out of a MacBook Pro.

Whatever.