Playing Blu-ray movies on the go on a laptop or in the living room on an HTPC with a Blu-ray drive doesn't have to be difficult, but if you want true HD video quality and the experience of navigating disc extras and menus, you'll need a Blu-ray media player that's up to the task. Here are five of the best Blu-ray compatible media players, based on your nominations.
Earlier in the week, we asked you which application you used and thought is the best for the job. You responded, and now we're back to highlight the top five.
Photo by Michael Spencer.
CyberLink PowerDVD
PowerDVD, in many cases, is pre-installed on systems that ship with Blu-ray drives, and ships along with Blu-ray drives that you order to install into a desktop or HTPC. PowerDVD fully supports Blu-ray discs, upscales standard definition content, plays just about any other type of video, and even supports audio playback and photo slideshows. PowerDVD Mobile allows you to take some of your media with you on your Android phone or tablet, and PowerDVD Remote allows you to turn your smartphone or tablet into a remote control for your PowerDVD enabled system. The app also supports 3D Blu-ray discs, and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Power DVD comes in three flavors, Standard for $40, Deluxe for $56, and Ultra for $60.
ArcSoft Total Media
Total Media and Total Media Theatre all bring you full Blu-ray support, support 3D Blu-ray, and supports upscaling other standard definition video, both locally on your system and DVDs you put into your system. Total Media also supports streaming video from YouTube and other Internet sources, the ability to change your system's region code to match the disc you want to play, and serves as an all-in-one media management tool and player for almost any video and audio type and format. Total Media Theatre will set you back about $100, but you can download a free trial to make sure it's for you before you buy.
SlySoft AnyDVD HD
SlySoft AnyDVD HD is a great tool for freeing your discs and media from being locked in to specific players, regions, or formats. AnyDVD HD lets you play any disc (in another player), regardless of its region code, and doesn't even require an HDCP-compliant graphics card or display. What this means to you is that the tool gives you more freedom to watch your Blu-ray discs on any display you choose and over any video connection you have available. AnyDVD HD has also made a name for itself as the tool that can unlock DVD and Blu-ray discs that other desktop players refuse to play. It's available as a free trial for 21 days, but after that you'll have to cough up 63 EUR (approx $82 USD) for a full license, plus one year of software updates. The price goes up depending on how many years of updates you want to pay for, up to a 119 EUR ($155 USD) lifetime subscription price.
PotPlayer
PotPlayer was developed by the same developer behind our pick for the best video player for Windows, KMPlayer. It's free, plays Blu-ray and other HD video, supports discs and ripped video, and even supports HD video embedded in ZIP and RAR archives. It's simple, and doesn't offer the bells and whistles that a lot of the other, more expensive tools do, but if you're looking for a siple, lightweight Blu-ray player, it can't be beat. There are 32 and 64-bit versions available, and there are plenty of skins available so you can customize the look and feel of the player.
Corel WinDVD Pro
Corel WinDVD Pro is another tool that ships with a lot of systems that have Blu-ray drives pre-installed. It supports 3D video and even comes with 3D glasses in the box, if you're buying the most recent version. If you're a 3D fanatic, WinDVD Pro promises to convert your 2D videos to 3D so you can enjoy them with your passive 3D glasses on, but if 3D is too gimmicky for you, it's a very capable Blu-ray player that can play the discs you insert and upscale standard DVDs with no problems. WinDVD also includes a wealth of video enhancement tools that can clean up ripped video and disc playback to make your video look cleaner and brighter on large and small screens. It also has a free trial available, but a full license will set you back $59.99.
Now that you've seen the top five, it's time to vote for an all out winner.
Honorable mentions this week go out to VLC, which is a natural choice for many people, since it's free and most of us have it installed on our systems anyway. Another honorable mention is the venerable None?many of you said that you don't bother with a specific Blu-ray player, and you prefer to rip your Blu-ray videos and stream them to your TV at home or load them on your laptop if you plan to take them with you on the go, or use a standalone Blu-ray player in your home theater instead of dropping a Blu-ray into your HTPC.
Did your favorite not get enough nominations to make the top five? Did we miss a feature you love about one of the candidates above? Whatever you think, let's hear it in the comments.
Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/f04qro08pAQ/five-best-blu+ray-playback-suites
lemony snicket lemony snicket jim thome jim thome fun fun fun fest fun fun fun fest move your money
No comments:
Post a Comment