The "Key" To Free Blu-ray Playback On VLC & MPC-HC Media Players! (1 Viewer)

[Tony Bensley]

I got a second optical drive for my computer and set it to region 2. That solved all my problems playing different region DVDs and Blu-rays on my computer. The particular model I got (at eBay) came with software that allows you to change the region an unlimited number of times, but I find it more convenient to just have a separate drive for each region.

Hi Stephen!


And Region 1 DVDs will still play on Region 2 set Drives via VLC Player, at least based on my limited experience!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[jcroy]

(On a huge tangent, but very relevant).

The company that owned and developed anydvd has been shut down.

http://www.myce.com/news/slysoft-is-gone-forever-78664/


How much longer the company that owns dvdfab/passkey will be around, is anybody's guess.

Once these companies go out of business, these programs will eventually become completely useless for newer bluray discs. All the aacsla has to do, is update the particular encryption keys that these "frozen in time" programs do not recognize.

 

[Dave Upton]

This is sad news for me also, as I used their software to rip my physical discs onto my NAS at home.

 

[jcroy]

Over the years I got the impression that the developers behind anydvd were frequently the first ones which figured out a way of dealing with then-newer copy protection schemes on dvds and blurays, that the movie companies were creatively coming up with every few months.

It seemed like anydvd's competitors were frequently imitating the solutions that anydvd first found.

If the remaining competitors are to be viable, they would have to be come up with solutions on their own now. (Instead of copying anydvd's solutions).


My speculation as to why anydvd was taken out first, is two possible reasons:

1 - They were based in Antigua (and not China).
2 - Anydvd was the leader of the pack.

The western strong arm of the law probably thought it was easier to squeeze Antigua than places like China (or Russia).

Also taking out the leader of the pack, might slow down the momentum of anydvd's follower/imitator competitors in updating their programs to deal with newer and future variations of copy protection schemes.

 

[jcroy]

A third possible reason, which is much more mundane and less "conspiratorial", would be there wasn't much of a market left for programs like anydvd. (ie. The owners closing down, instead of pouring more cash into a black hole in the red).

No point in continuing if the operation is constantly losing money, with nothing on the horizon for profitability.

I doubt a decrypting program for 4K bluray would bring in a lot of new paying customers.

 

[jcroy]

This is sad news for me also, as I used their software to rip my physical discs onto my NAS at home.

(This may be a verboten topic, but I'll discuss it anyways in context).

Back in the day (circa 2000s decade), this probably would have been an issue to me if I was into the whole ripping + burning thing. But I didn't start buying a lot of dvds until 2011, which by then the whole burning thing seemed superfluous when many good dvd/bluray titles were showing up in local dump bins for $5 a pop or less.

Initially I had no intention of buying bluray, after when I read about the technical details of the aacs and bd+ drm schemes. Just from reading the technical details, there was no easy obvious way to crack the bluray encryption system completely. At best, it would be an "arms race" between the hackers and the movie companies + aacsla. (So far this has been the case with anydvd being the now-former leader of the pack). In contrast dvd's css encryption system was completely cracked forever (ie. the genie couldn't be put back into the bottle) due to its extremely poor design.

What changed my mind about bluray, was seeing the bluray versions of many movies I liked showing up in the local dump bins for $5. With the dvd and bluray versions being around the same price, it made more sense to buy the bluray. After several years of buying many blurays, I've come to the realization that I only watched most of these bluray movies (or tv shows) only once or twice.

Simultaneously also after a brief short time period of using programs like anydvd, passkey, etc ... I came to the realization it was largely a waste of time and disc space + resources in watching my blurays on the computer. In the end, I found it was easier to just watch my blurays on a standalone bluray player, than watching decrypted backup copies on the computer. Especially for stuff which I only watched once or twice.

In the case of dvds, the only stuff I really backed up and watched through the NAS were mostly basketcase dvd discs which had a lot of playback problems on my standalone dvd/bluray players (ie. skipping, freezing, too much pixelation, etc ...). The worst culprits were double-sided flipper discs released by Universal, Warner, Fox, etc ... during the mid -> late 2000s. But with Universal and Warner re-releasing many of these former "flipper disc" titles as single-sided discs sets, I've had less and less use for the NAS. (For example, stuff like the original Knight Rider, seasons 1-4 of Magnum PI, seasons 1+2 of Miami Vice, seasons 1-3 of Murder She Wrote, seasons 2-4 of The A-Team, etc ... which I picked up the single-sided discs re-releases, instead of dealing with my older cantankerous double-sided flipper disc copies).

(Fast forward to the present).

Nowadays, the only use I have for my computer dvd and bluray drives, is for checking whether there are any random bad sectors due to manufacturing defects on my newly purchased dvds and blurays. Blurays and dvds can be easily checked, by extracting the entire undecrypted iso from a disc. (Deliberate bad sectors due to drm are an entirely different matter, which can be easily dealt with independently). The few newly purchased discs I come across which have random bad sectors due to manufacturing defects, go straight back to the store for an exchange. Most of the time the new copies don't have any problems with random bad sectors, unless an entire batch is all defective.

 

[Konstantinos]

Slysoft shut down and RedFox has risen, a new version was released moments ago.

https://forum.redfox.bz/threads/alternative-to-anydvd-hd.68328/page-2#post-425806

 

[Tony Bensley]

The latest free Leawo Blu-ray Player version 1.9.5.0 includes the ability to take instant snapshots with Blu-ray titles, rather than having to use the multiple step Print Screen/Paste to Microsoft Bitmap Image method! Just right click anywhere within the display area and select "Snapshot" or use the Shift+S keys on your Keyboard. The images save to the snapshot folder within the Leawo folder, by default, and the display needs to be full screen in order to capture the image at its maximum dimensions, unless of course, the screen display exceeds 1920 x 1080!

The screen capture size is still limited by a PC Monitor's maximum resolution capability (IE. 1366 x 768), but it's a huge step in the right direction!

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Below are some screenshots to illustrate how the Snapshots on the Leawo Blu-ray Player are captured, and the file path.


Note the is full screened to capture the maximum resolution Snapshot:

Performing the Snapshot execution here would provide a smaller scale image, surrounded by black bars on all 4 sides. This is also meant to illustrate the alternate title accessibility option, which for this particular Blu-ray proved crucial, as the original disc menu would not display, in this case!:

The Snapshot File Path Display, accessible by electing the "Player Settings" below "Snapshot Shift+S":

A Snapshot from the DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (1936) Blu-ray, captured full screen (1366 x 768), using the Leawo Blu-ray Player Snapshot feature:

CHEERS!

 

[Konstantinos]

This is a great player.
I wish first of all they could fix the menu issue.
In some blurays, i can't play the menu.

 

[Tony Bensley]

This is a great player.
I wish first of all they could fix the menu issue.
In some blurays, i can't play the menu.

As a matter of fact, the Menu of my Dracula Legacy Collection Blu-ray with DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (1936) and SON OF DRACULA (1943) won't play on the Leawo Player! It is with this in mind that in one of my screen shots, I made sure to have the clickable video icons displayed. These are the only way that I can access DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, as the Leawo Player plays SON OF DRACULA by default! Before I downloaded the latest update, even clicking on the side icon didn't help, as the "Son Of" film would still play, even when I selected the other film! At least this issue seems to be fixed now, with the current version!

CHEERS!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Below are some screenshots to illustrate how the Snapshots on the Leawo Blu-ray Player are captured, and the file path.


Note the is full screened to capture the maximum resolution Snapshot:
View attachment 39405

Performing the Snapshot execution here would provide a smaller scale image, surrounded by black bars on all 4 sides. This is also meant to illustrate the alternate title accessibility option, which for this particular Blu-ray proved crucial, as the original disc menu would not display, in this case!:
View attachment 39406


The Snapshot File Path Display, accessible by electing the "Player Settings" below "Snapshot Shift+S":
View attachment 39407


A Snapshot from the DRACULA'S DAUGHTER (1936) Blu-ray, captured full screen (1366 x 768), using the Leawo Blu-ray Player Snapshot feature:
View attachment 39408

CHEERS!

Off topic, but it seems that Leawo introduced the direct Snapshot capture feature to their Blu-ray Player software just in time, as Microsoft is apparently planning to begin phasing out MS Paint on their Fall Creator's update for Windows 10! Pretty ironic term, considering Microsoft will be taking away a most valued platform for creation!

On a more positive note, here is a link to Leawo's page, which includes some helpful information, along with free download links for the latest version: https://www.softexia.com/windows/multimedia/players/leawo-blu-ray-player

CHEERS!

 

[cineescape]

I haven't checked out the latest version of Leawo Blu-ray Player, but I'm disappointed that VLC still can't play commercial 1080p BDs, at least not without all kinds of bugs.

Blu-Ray Support - Page 12 - The VideoLAN Forums

forum.videolan.org

And that after four years of user requests, Cyberlink still hasn't added zoom control of BDs to PowerDVD. https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/97330.page

Happily, JRiver-with AnyDVD HD running in the background-does offer zoom control, albeit without slow motion control of BDs. I think we do get very good quality slow motion of DVDs via VLC; and I even found the active audio enjoyable with some content. I'm hoping the next version of JRiver will have slo mo for BDs. At least I feel that these software are certainly worth paying for.

 

[Vern Dias]

Zoom player is another option that enables full zoom / aspect ratio controls and presets for both 2K & 4K BD.