Blu-Ray with new 27" iMac

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Blu-Ray with new 27" iMac

Ok, hi all. This is my first post here and is regarding something I'm very curious about. I've been nursing my old iBook G4 along for a while now and have figured that when I purchased a new computer at the end of the end or early next year, it would surely be another laptop. Then I saw the tech specs on the new iMac...

I'm wondering, is it possible to run blu-ray discs on an external player with this new computer? I know there have been issues with using blu-rays on OS X, where you'd have to play them off Windows or something, but am not sure if this would be an issue with the 27". It's such a beautiful screen that it would be disappointing to not be able to run HD discs on it.

I went up to the Apple Store today for some window shopping (that joke never gets old to me) and I completely fell in love with the computer. LOVED the new mouse and everything except the seemingly overly small keyboard. They were quite busy and the one guy I talked to wasn't sure about hooking up an external BD drive. It's probably the difference between me getting the 21.5" with baseline RAM settings or a 13" MacBook Pro and going all the way and getting a 27" with lots of extra RAM and Video RAM.

Was extremely impressed with what I saw and am leaning towards the 27", but would like to know in advance if I could run BD discs down the line on it. The display is really lovely.

Message was edited by: atnumbers

iBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Oct 22, 2009 6:37 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 22, 2009 10:22 PM in response to atnumbers

You can burn to Blu-Ray discs using third-party software, but support for Blu-Ray is not in Mac OS X itself (except I heard the new version of Final Cut Pro can burn directly to Blu-Ray). I don't know of any Blu-Ray video player software for Mac OS X.

You can connect the 27-inch iMac to a Blu-Ray movie player (the type of device you connect to an HDTV) using the Mini DisplayPort connection (and the appropriate adapter). The one on the 27-inch model is for video input and output. Then, you can play play Blu-Ray movies on the iMac, but it will be acting as an HDTV, not a computer.

There is no way to know if Apple will support Blu-Ray in the future.

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Answer 2

frocco

Level 1

10 points

Oct 27, 2009 3:04 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

How does the blu-ray solution work for you?
In effect, the imac is just a display for the player?
How is the quality?
What player did you get?

Thanks

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Answer 3

Oct 27, 2009 3:21 PM in response to frocco

I don't use Blu-Ray myself. You'll probably have to wait a few weeks until someone actually uses it with a Blu-Ray player device, and writes an article about it. Yes, when using the Mini-DisplayPort as a video input port, the iMac acts as a display. However, the iMac (the computing part) is still running, and you can supposedly switch the display from showing the iMac's screen and external input using a keystroke.

These articles have more information

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/21/applesnew_27_inch_imac_designed_to_also_work_as_adisplay.html

http://gizmodo.com/5388567/apple-imac-review-27+inch-and-less-chin

but they did not use the iMac's display with a Blu-Ray player device.

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Answer 4

Oct 27, 2009 3:54 PM in response to atnumbers

I've been using an External Lacie Blu Ray drive as well as an External LG Blu Ray drive in a caddy for a few years now and they work for everything other than watching Video as a DVD/Blu Ray drive. You can use Toast 9 and above for burning discs but you can also convert your Blu Ray discs to MKV files for watching in VLC by using a free program called MakeMKV which works superbly. If you have AppleTV or Sony PS3 you can then convert the MKV to MP4 using Handbrake. It's not ideal but Blu Ray is great for backups and I prefer to make digital versions of my Blu Rays than let my kids scratch the originals to bits.

I've just got my 27" iMac today and the MKV files from my Blu Ray discs look incredible so I'd highly recommend Blu Ray and iMac 27".

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Answer 5

Oct 29, 2009 4:52 PM in response to atnumbers

YES you can run an external blu-ray drive on a mac. Also with an HDMI to Mini-Display port connector you will be able to connect and blu-ray player for watching movies... but you will have to wait til the proper bi-directional cables are released by someone given that this particular iMac has a port than can be both input and output whereas until now they are usually only output.

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Answer 6

Oct 30, 2009 2:32 AM in response to Marcos Duran

That's actually incorrect now. It was assumed this would be the case but as per all the teardown's of the new iMac it turns out that it will only work with other Display Port devices. See http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/10/26/testsconfirm_apples_27_imac_only_supports_displayportinput.html for details.

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Answer 7

Nov 2, 2009 1:02 AM in response to Infotech 24 7

Yeah, it only works that way, for now...
Let's wait for the new iMac to be free of all those alarming bugs & troubles, then let's wait for Apple or some other to come up with a solution for making it a 27" Cinema Display.
Apple is about waiting, people... !

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Answer 8

Dec 3, 2009 7:30 PM in response to atnumbers

Apple's video for the iMac shows it playing commercial movies with the voiceover saying that the 21.5" iMac displays 1080p and the 27" has 78% more pixels "taking it well beyond HD...you're viewing HD content with tremendous clarity." This means that you can watch HD commercial movies on both iMacs. How is this possible if you can't connect a Blu-Ray (or HDVD) player? Netflix doesn't stream HD to Macs. Is this false advertising?

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Answer 9

Dec 3, 2009 7:39 PM in response to Thomas Kehoe

720p is considered "HD." 720p is fairly common these days. There are some services that offer 1080p video over the Internet now, and the trend will increase over time. For example

http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/2009/11/1080p-hd-comes-to-youtube.html

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Answer 10

Jan 17, 2010 7:25 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

so can anyone confirm if a bluray drive (NOT bluray player) can be connected to the imac and a software to play BD movies on the imac?

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Answer 11

Jan 17, 2010 5:27 PM in response to muscleflex

I have not heard of any Blu-ray movie playing software for Mac OS X. In other words, there are no current equivalent to DVD Player or VLC Player for playing Blu-ray movies on a Mac, using an external Blu-ray capable optical drive.

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Answer 12

kguy

Level 2

420 points

Jan 17, 2010 6:49 PM in response to muscleflex

Hi- yes and no.

You can connect an external bluray player like this one...

http://gadgets.softpedia.com/news/Play-Blu-ray-Movies-on-Your-Apple-Mac-For-Unde r-99-1259-01.html

BUT you will have to use bootcamp or Parallels to watch bluray movies on the iMac.

So technically no you can't watch it using OSX, but you CAN watch using Windows under bootcamp or parallels. Not the best of solutions, but hey, it will work.

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Answer 13

Jan 18, 2010 12:36 AM in response to kguy

thanks for the replies...
now - another question... do you think apple has plans of introducing an imac with a bluray drive in the NEAR future? like maybe this Summer?
coz if iTunes 9 will support bluray.. then maybe i should wait before getting an imac?

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Answer 14

kguy

Level 2

420 points

Jan 18, 2010 1:05 AM in response to muscleflex

Unfortunately no one knows that, and you shouldn't trust anyone who says they do until it is officially announced (if ever) Apple is legendary for their ability to keep secrets.

If bluray is your absolute make or break on the iMac, and the bootcamp/parallels route is something you don't want to do (and potentially be stuck with doing for years) than you should probably pick up a windows 7 pc.

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Answer 15

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,308 points

Jan 18, 2010 1:06 AM in response to muscleflex

do you think apple has plans of introducing an imac with a bluray drive in the NEAR future? like maybe this Summer?

Apple have described the Blue Ray licencing system as a "world of hurt" for the end user. Apart from that no one here knows what plans Apple have for anything, and speculation is beyond the terms of use for the forum.

Regards

TD

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