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Just put together a Windows Media Center PC running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-Bit. I want to add an optical drive, so I wonder if WMC supports BluRay disc playback?

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@Randolph the problem with Microsoft Marketing is that they consider third party applications :( I know that BluRay works on Windows, just no idea if it works with Windows Media Center. – Michael Stum Feb 7 '11 at 6:29
I deleted my comment and answered with a URL instead. – Randolph West Feb 7 '11 at 6:29

3 Answers

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You can play Blu Ray dics in Media Center if you have the latest version of either of these two programs:

TotalMedia Theatre 5

PowerDVD 10

Neither will allow you to play the disc from your computer through a media extender though. I came across this idiocy when trying to play Blu Rays or even regular DVDs through my Xbox 360 from my computer sitting 3 feet away. You have to have your TV directly connected to the computer AND you MUST have an HDCP capable monitor.

I find it much easier/simpler to rip any discs I have and reencode them into H.264. To do that: (Note: DVDFab ripper is free, AnyDVD has unlimited 30-day trial, MakeMKV is free & Handbrake is free)

  1. Download DVDFab or AnyDVD (there are a few others out there as well.
  2. Rip either the Main Movie or the entire disc to your hard drive.
  3. Use MakeMKV to create a file that Handbrake understands
  4. Use Handbrake to reencode the movie to H.264 (btw, check the Large File Size box so that the Blu Rays can take as much space as they need.)
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PowerDVD 10 works fine! As BluRay Discs tend to have non-skippable 10 Minute Menus and Intros I might look at your second option :) – Michael Stum Feb 9 '11 at 4:41
PowerDVD 10 does not work with my Intel Core i5 Ivy Bridge, complaining about allegedly insufficient graphic capabilities, inviting me to install a 100 MB (sic) update, and then shows the same error again. Also, it annoys me with forcing commercials upon me. - The second option works fine! – Lumi Dec 2 '12 at 22:03
@lumi I've actually switched to using AnyDVD & VLC. I have a brand new computer sporting a new Core i5 Ivy Bridge, 8GB RAM & was still getting choppy playback with PowerDVD 12. VLC doesn't integrate in with Media Center, but it works and is worlds better than PowerDVD. – Patrick Dec 3 '12 at 4:13
@Patrick, thanks. I'm also using VLC: DVDFab » MakeMKV » VLC. What doesn't work for me at the moment is direct BD playback using VLC + keys database and AACS dynamic library. I tried the 32 bit version on Win8 64 bit. Maybe just a temporary problem, will retry later. – Lumi Dec 3 '12 at 12:53
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According to the following URLs, it only plays ripped video and not the disc directly. You still need something like PowerDVD to play discs.

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up vote 0 down vote

I run Powerdvd 10 just fine on an i5 with integrated graphics. you should try booting up the BIOS menu. you can change the amount of memory that can be set aside for the integrated graphic.

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