Playing Hi-Def movies in Windows

karym6

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Has anyone ever tried playing an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc through windows at all? I have been doing a bit of reading on this, and it looks like Vista may play an HD-DVD but I cant find anything to suggest it will play a Blu-Ray disc.

Has anyone else tried such a thing?
 
downloaded or through your DVD rom?

you can play ripped high def / blue ray no problem just need the correct codecs and software (VLC).

to play blue ray and hi def discs you will need a blue ray / hi def reader.

in regards to ripped movies, they come in mkv format and are HUGE, an average blue ray is around 8 gig compared to a 700 meg avi.

although unless you have a good graphics card and a big screen the quality on a 17 inch monitor between a high quality avi rip and an mkv is not that different to the human eye.
 
Not downloads, just off a disc. I am putting an HTPC together and have ordered a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD combo drive to go in it.

However I cant find any info on the internet that says Blu-Ray will play in Vista. However I guess this isnt a massive problem for me as I have a PS3 etc. Would be good to play HD DVD though, Transformers is going cheap.
 
is your tv high def mate?

you can use the media centre in vista it supports hi def.

also the new power dvd 8 plays blue ray and hi def.
 
Yup, I have a 1080p telly, so hopefully I should be able to hook it up via HDMI. I have never tried this before, so it will be a voyage of discovery.

If I play a film through power DVD 8, do I need to use its interface, or will vista play it through the media center interface?
 
Yup, I have a 1080p telly, so hopefully I should be able to hook it up via HDMI. I have never tried this before, so it will be a voyage of discovery.

If I play a film through power DVD 8, do I need to use its interface, or will vista play it through the media center interface?

it will play through the power dvd interface mate but when in full screen you wont see all that to be honest.
 
Nero showtime also handles HD format as well I believe. As someone else said, in Vista the media centre can handle HD no problems.
 
Nero showtime also handles HD format as well I believe. As someone else said, in Vista the media centre can handle HD no problems.

Vista handles HD, but do you know if it can do blu-ray? as MS was a supporter of HD and not blu-ray. or maybe the pc recognises both as he same?

just curious.
 
Did a quick check, Vista can ID blu ray disks but not play them back without extra software.
 
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