Leopard support for Blu-ray

[runchuckrun]

Sorry if this is common knowledge here, but I'm a bit behind on the features of the upcoming Leopard release of OS X.

Will Leopard offer any kind of built-in support for Blu-ray readers/writers? external or otherwise?

Specifically, I want to author Blu-ray disks from my mac.

 

[twoodcc]

i'm not sure, but i would like to know also

 

[fishkorp]

Toast supports Blu-Ray burning already.

But looking at the DVD Player features, there's no mention of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray playback. So I'm guessing you still can't watch the movies, but can archive data on Blu-Ray media with Toast if you have a burner.

 

[projectle]

One can watch homemade movies from HD-DVD and Bluray, however not the commercial titles (from what I hear).

This is definitely one of those "subject to change" things, though.

I would not be surprised if this functionality is missing from the GM release and then will be added in a later software update as soon as Apple starts shipping computers with these drives.

 

[runchuckrun]

Thanks for the replies...

I'm a bit disappointed that Apple doesn't push the boundaries in optical media, but hopefully they'll get around to updating Leopard later on...

 

[projectle]

The biggest thing is the DRM system in place on the commercial discs.

It really comes down to who the studios want to give licenses to, and it would seem unlikely that they would give one out to someone who does not even have any hardware that currently has the drives.

Right now, Windows OEMs are getting away with including the drives and then bundling Intervideo's WinDVD player or CyberLink's PowerDVD player which is specially licensed for commercial disc playback.

Even then, studios are continually revoking Intervideo's keys and requiring them to update their software to continue to play back discs due to piracy concerns.

This really is not Apple's call. While they are supporters of BluRay, they still need to be issued the AACS keys in order to play back commercial content.

 

[clockwrkz]

Anyone know of any 3rd party applications which can play back HD content on the Macs yet? Would be great to fully take advantage of the MBP hi-def screens.

Either that, or any movie download/rental services which support 1080p content downloads?