2012 Multi-room HTPC (1 Viewer)

[DaveF]

And with that, I hope to start the build on Friday. Any tips on having a successful build?

 

[DaveF]

Parts are all here (except the flirc IR receiver). Build starts tomorrow!

 

[jcroy]

But blu's are the priority. This drive is hard to find and buy; generally finding info about internal PC blu-ray drives is hard.

The problem with the computer bluray-rom drive market these days, is that there's only one company left that is still manufacturing non-slim internal bluray-rom drives. That company is LG.

Just about everybody else has already exited the market for internal non-slim bluray-rom drives (ie. LiteOn, Sony, etc ...).

(For slim and external bluray-rom drives, Samsung and Pioneer are still manufacturing new models. But Samsung and Pioneer no longer make their non-slim internal bluray-rom drives).

 

[DaveF]

Interesting. I hadn't appreciated the consolidation in the market.

And now we're all waiting for UHD PC drives and software.

My initial plan was a mini-ITX case with a slim drive. But I decided a larger case was a better choice for my first try, and full size BD were faster than slim. Externals are also available and faster still, but more expensive and don't suit my aesthetic.

 

[jcroy]

Interesting. I hadn't appreciated the consolidation in the market.

And now we're all waiting for UHD PC drives and software.

The former already exists, but the latter doesn't appear to exist yet. Some current bluray-rom drives manufactured by LG can already read the 4k/uhd bluray discs on windows10. (Mostly LG models manufactured after December 2015, with a certain revision). So it's possible to copy an entire undecrypted iso from a 4k/uhd bluray disc, to the computer's hard drive.

No idea when the 4K/UHD viewing programs will be released.


At this point I don't bother watching my bluray movie discs on the computer anymore. Easier to just use my standalone bluray players to watch movies, than going through all the headaches of getting bluray to work properly on the computer.

These days I only use my computer bluray-rom drives for checking my newly purchased bluray discs, to see whether there are any random bad sectors due to manufacturing defects. Random bad sectors on a bluray movie disc will show up as skipping, freezing, etc ... when the disc is played on a standalone bluray player.

 

[jcroy]

Even in terms of costs, it is less expensive to just buy a standalone bluray player to watch bluray movies, than buying the official licensed software to watch bluray movie discs on the computer. (This is not including the cost of a buying a better faster graphics card, upgrading the player software, etc ...).

This is 10 years after bluray was first introduced to the market !!!

For that matter, actively maintained/updated "grey market" unofficial/unlicensed software for watching bluray movie discs on the computer, is just as expensive or more than the costs of buying a standalone bluray player.

 

[DaveF]

That's what makes this an expensive experiment compared to simply buying another $100 blu-ray player

 

[DaveF]

Windows 10 is installed and stable. (I lost about 4-6 hours on Win7 getting stuck on updates. The solution process was: Turned off Windows Updates, rebooted, and cycled the windows update service. I activated Win7 using the registry hack. Then I upgraded to Win10.)

I went to Micro Center and got a replacement SATA power cable, and the SSD is connected sensibly. (By the way, they've got some great prices. I could have saved $35 on CPU and HD if I'd bought those there.) I need to finesse the blu-ray drive position to the Silverstone facia and tighten the screws. And then try to clean up the wire routing in the case.

I've got trial installed of PowerDVD 2016. I tried out Mad Max as a quick check. I also installed Plex Server and tossed in some TiVo shows. Big chunks are working, but the details need work.

Issues I've encountered, to work on next:

• Video loses connection after wake-from-sleep requiring physically reconnecting the HDMI cable
• No Dolby Digital 5.1 for audio. Did a quick check and I get surround sound, but the AVR is recognizing a DD signal, and I had to manually cycle to a surround-sound mode. That was a five minute check, so I haven't spent any time on it yet.
• Flirc IR receiver is dead. Updated firmware per Flirc docs and now the software crashes on launch.
• Loud. The Silverstone fan is loud. I've not played at all with motherboard settings, fan controls, or the Noctua fan I bought.

Making progress.

 

[bigshot]

Even in terms of costs, it is less expensive to just buy a standalone bluray player to watch bluray movies, than buying the official licensed software to watch bluray movie discs on the computer

I agree 100%. It's also more convenient to play blu-ray discs on a standalone player. If you have a media server, MKV files are the way to go, not physical media.

 

[DaveF]

I may or may not be trying out techniques with my purchased blu-rays, that are not discussed at HTF, to mitigate those valid critiques.

 

[jcroy]

I agree 100%. It's also more convenient to play blu-ray discs on a standalone player. If you have a media server, MKV files are the way to go, not physical media.

Without going heavily into verboten territory, I've found that creating MKV files to be largely a waste of time and hard drive space. Too time consuming to produce in an assembly-line manner, even with a fast computer dvd/bluray drive without any "riplock". To compound the problem, it takes even longer with video compression programs like Handbrake. Sometimes the time it takes to run something through Handbrake, is just as long (or sometimes even longer) than the actual original movie/episode itself!

It would be great if I had a Cray machine in my basement to do all this compression + computation work. But unfortunately I don't have that kind of $$$$.

 

[jcroy]

Interesting. I hadn't appreciated the consolidation in the market.

Even for generic non-slim internal dvd drives, there's only really three companies left in that business: Samsung, LG, and LiteOn. For that matter, all three companies are using the same MediaTek controller chips in their dvd drives.

Other companies frequently license their brand-name and sell computer dvd drives originally manufactured by Samsung, LG, and/or LiteOn. For example, some recent Plextor and Asus dvd drive models are actually LiteOn drives. (ie. You could crossflash an original LiteOn firmware to an Asus or Plextor dvd drive which is actually a LiteOn drive in disguise).

Very little diversity compared to 10-15 years ago, when there were many more different computer dvd drive manufacturers. (ie. Plextor/Sanyo, BenQ, Sony Optiarc, etc ...).

 

[bigshot]

Without going heavily into verboten territory, I've found that creating MKV files to be largely a waste of time and hard drive space. Too time consuming to produce in an assembly-line manner

I'm the Director of a non-profit digital media archive, which has the legal right (issued by the U.S. Copyright Office) to de-encript and convert DVD and blu-ray discs to computer files. My IT volunteers and I have developed techniques to make the process relatively painless. It isn't instantaneous, but it is possible to produce both lossless and compressed MKVs efficiently, even with older computers (like the kinds that usually get donated to cash strapped non-profits!) If you are interested in hearing how our process works, check out the thread about our project in the Media Server forum.

 

[jcroy]

Interesting. I hadn't appreciated the consolidation in the market.

(Piling it on).

Rumor has it that Samsung might be exiting the computer dvd drive market, after some reports of Samsung halting all manufacturing of dvd drives back in mid-April.

http://www.kitguru.net/components/o...sst-has-stopped-manufacturing-optical-drives/

If this is indeed the case, then only LG and LiteOn will be left manufacturing non-slim computer dvd drives.

 

[B-ROLL]

The former already exists, but the latter doesn't appear to exist yet. Some current bluray-rom drives manufactured by LG can already read the 4k/uhd bluray discs on windows10. (Mostly LG models manufactured after December 2015, with a certain revision). So it's possible to copy an entire undecrypted iso from a 4k/uhd bluray disc, to the computer's hard drive.

No idea when the 4K/UHD viewing programs will be released.


At this point I don't bother watching my bluray movie discs on the computer anymore. Easier to just use my standalone bluray players to watch movies, than going through all the headaches of getting bluray to work properly on the computer.

These days I only use my computer bluray-rom drives for checking my newly purchased bluray discs, to see whether there are any random bad sectors due to manufacturing defects. Random bad sectors on a bluray movie disc will show up as skipping, freezing, etc ... when the disc is played on a standalone bluray player.

I don't have a 4K Monitor but Ahead NERO PLATINUM SAYS you can edit and save 4K files with it

https://www.nero.com/enu/?vlang=us

"
CREATE & EDIT
THE 4K Wow Effect for All Your Videos

After importing your videos from your cell phone, tablet, or camera, you can quickly and easily create, cut, and edit them in Nero using professional tools. What’s more, thanks to the Full-HD video edit preview function, now you can also do that using either single or double monitors. And if you really want to wow your audience with your slide show, Blu-ray Disc™, or DVD, the Platinum package offers the full range of effects and templates"

---
In checking into the LG drive I noticed some information on a forum (I will not link to) that seemed to indicate if you have one of the LG drives and a 4K capable video card you can play 4K HD blurays but you can't "back them up"

 

[B-ROLL]

Windows 10 is installed and stable. (I lost about 4-6 hours on Win7 getting stuck on updates. The solution process was: Turned off Windows Updates, rebooted, and cycled the windows update service. I activated Win7 using the registry hack. Then I upgraded to Win10.)

I went to Micro Center and got a replacement SATA power cable, and the SSD is connected sensibly. (By the way, they've got some great prices. I could have saved $35 on CPU and HD if I'd bought those there.) I need to finesse the blu-ray drive position to the Silverstone facia and tighten the screws. And then try to clean up the wire routing in the case.

I've got trial installed of PowerDVD 2016. I tried out Mad Max as a quick check. I also installed Plex Server and tossed in some TiVo shows. Big chunks are working, but the details need work.

Issues I've encountered, to work on next:

• Video loses connection after wake-from-sleep requiring physically reconnecting the HDMI cable
• No Dolby Digital 5.1 for audio. Did a quick check and I get surround sound, but the AVR is recognizing a DD signal, and I had to manually cycle to a surround-sound mode. That was a five minute check, so I haven't spent any time on it yet.
• Flirc IR receiver is dead. Updated firmware per Flirc docs and now the software crashes on launch.
• Loud. The Silverstone fan is loud. I've not played at all with motherboard settings, fan controls, or the Noctua fan I bought.

Making progress.

Regarding Dolby Digital
There may be two issues - the Trial versions often have Dolby Digital disabled as they would have to pay the licencing fee it's also an incentive to buy the full version

The other one may be that you need to disable onboard audio and use the video card software to enable Dolby Digital through HDMI. I only use ATI video cards so I'm not sure what NVidia calls their driver package ...

 

[jcroy]

In checking into the LG drive I noticed some information on a forum (I will not link to) that seemed to indicate if you have one of the LG drives and a 4K capable video card you can play 4K HD blurays but you can't "back them up"

This doesn't make sense without a decryption module somewhere in the chain.

The question is whether any of the video card manufacturers are willing to incorporate a hardware 4K bluray decryption module into their 4K resolution video cards. If not, then the decryption module will have to be in the software 4K video player. (I would be quite surprised if a hardware 4K decryption module is in the computer's main cpu unit).

 

[jcroy]

In terms of actually copying the 4k bluray discs, at this point it appears one can only copy the undecrypted files. Basically such undecrypted files are completely useless for viewing purposes.

To actually "back up" a 4K bluray disc to files that are actually "viewable", it would require a "grey market" decryption program which so far doesn't appear to exist (yet). The movie business wants to prevent this from happening.

 

[DaveF]

Interrupting 4K for a moment....

I bought PowerDVD 16. It's great for blu-ray. But I hadn't demo'd DVD before buying. DVD playback is jerky for me. It's like a cadence problem, it doesn't flow smoothly but it plays. I've posted in the Cyberlink forum asking about it.

Ok, back to 4K

 

[DaveF]

There's a Windows 10 Netflix app. Except it's only mouse controlled: no arrow keys so not great for remote-controlled HTPC. TBD on whether it's a good app or I'll stay with TiVo's Netflix app.