Viewing commercial Blu-ray disks on iMac?

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Viewing commercial Blu-ray disks on iMac?

I have an external Blu-ray drive (Samsung SE-506BB) USB connected to a 27" iMac. The current playback software is Macgo.

(1) The instructions for use say that a high speed internet connection is required for viewing disks that I own! Could someone explain this requirement? Does this mean that if internet is not available, viewing is not possible?

(2) I've had only 24 hours to experience this set-up... so maybe I have much yet to learn! So far, however, my main complaint is that the quality of playback leaves much to be desired: Any vertical edge (e.g., an individual's side) that is moving laterally across the screen shows serrations. Is this to be expected with currently-available playback software? Playing conventional DVDs via Apple's DVD Player does not show such serrated artifacts!

(3) Although I have no interest in burning Blu-ray disks, would the playback quality utilizing Toast 11 be superior?

MC511LL; Intel 2.8GHz i5; 27, Mac OS X (10.6.8), HP 309g; WD MyBook x 3; SuperDuper!; APC RS1500; TTP5.0.6; DiskW

Posted on Jan 30, 2013 9:48 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 30, 2013 9:57 AM in response to nkh

In response to #1 Yes you need an Internet connection to play the DVD, it's for the encryption on the BluRay Disk.

For #3 if your asking if you would be able to play commercial BluRay DVDs through Toast I believe the answer is no.

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Answer 2

nkh Author

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79 points

Jan 30, 2013 10:04 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

I'm truly dense on this issue of the required internet connection!

Could you explain this a bit more? What I find confusing is how am I able to playback these same commercial disks on a DVD player that is connected to my TV (and, presumably no internet connection)?

Is this a requirement just for Blu-ray, and not conventional DVDs?

Also... if I'm viewing a commercial Blu-ray disk (as described above), will the playback cease if I lose my DSL connection?

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Answer 3

MichelPM

Level 10

80,958 points

Jan 30, 2013 10:31 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

I have been thinking about adding a Blu-ray player burner to my iMac and now I am confused.

You need an active Internet connection to play a commercial Blu-ray Disc from a Blu-ray player/burner on a Mac?

I don't understand either. I have a Blu-ray player and the discs play fine with no Internet connection needed.

Doesn't make sense?

What app is a good app to use just to play a commercial Blue-ray discs on a Mac, then?

Does VLC work?

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Answer 4

Jan 30, 2013 10:31 AM in response to nkh

BluRay disks are strongly encrypted. It appears, from looking at he web site for Macgo, that they choose to have the decryption (or at least some aspects of it) take place on their servers.

Commercial BluRAy players just have all the smarts in the box. This has on drawback that you might have run into the need to constantly update the BluRay player with new software as new features are introduced to BluRay disks and as the encryption changes.

This is a requirement for BluRay disks only.

As for whether the disk will stop playing if you loose the Internet connection I can;t say. Iti is possible the connection is only needed for a period of time when the disk first loads. But you will need to ask the developer.

regards

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Answer 5

Jan 30, 2013 10:47 AM in response to MichelPM

It's needed on this particular piece of software. Other software might not need an active connection.

It depends on how much smarts they put into the software and how much they keep on their servers.

Message was edited by: Frank Caggiano - fixed typo

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Answer 6

Rudegar

Level 10

170,670 points

Jan 30, 2013 10:46 AM in response to MichelPM

sounds like your beef is with Macgo and most likely really with Sony who control blueray

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Answer 7

nkh Author

Level 1

79 points

Jan 30, 2013 10:52 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Thank's for holding my hand on this one, Frank!

This is a lot more involved than I ever dreamt...

It would appear then that there is virtually no way I can equip my Macbook Air to play Blu-ray disks when no internet is available. 😟

My question on the serrated vertical edges with lateral movement remains... I've written Macgo support on this, but no response so far. I've also written Aurora asking if their software would address this issue. From their advertising, however, Aurora looks eerily like Macgo!

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Answer 8

Jan 30, 2013 11:01 AM in response to nkh

Sorry can't help with the display problems, never tried doing BluRay on my Mac, hopefully you'll hear back from their support (which will be a good test too. If they don;t respond in a timely manner to a potential customer you can be pretty sure they won;t be much help once they have your money 😉)

There may be other software out there that does not have the Internet requirement but I think most will do as Macgo has done, place some of the intelligence needed to decode the disks on their servers.

good luck. If you find a truly standalone solution post back, I'm sure others would be interested,

regards

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Answer 9

MichelPM

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80,958 points

Jan 30, 2013 11:38 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

😟

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Answer 10

nkh Author

Level 1

79 points

Jan 30, 2013 11:47 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

You can be assured that I'll report back once I hear!

But this exchange has been a genuine eye-opener for me!

At this juncture, I've decided that I'll not be paying extra for a key to run Macgo on my Macbook! The main point of getting Blu-ray capability was to be able to view disks when away from home.

I think the advertising and "help tutorials" for this software is more than just a bit disingenuous: They show pictorially "how easy" it is to connect the Blu-ray drive and install their software... but no where do they show that the internet is also required! Yeh... they do mention rather cryptically (and as silently as possible) in the advertising that an internet connection is required... but they just "allow" the reader to infer that that is a mere requirement for downloading the software and for key validation!

I really cannot fathom why playing Blu-ray disks should be so onerous via a Mac! Afterall... stand-alone Blu-ray players (for one's home theater/TV) are now dirt cheap!

Why are there so many obstacles?

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Answer 11

Jan 30, 2013 11:56 AM in response to nkh

This articleMac Blu-ray Player software plays HD movies on your Mac talks about this software. It appears you only need the Internet connection the first time you put a new disk in.

I did a google search blu ray on mac got a lot of hits. There might be somehting in there for you.

regards

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Answer 12

MichelPM

Level 10

80,958 points

Jan 30, 2013 11:58 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Thanks Frank!

🙂

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Answer 13

nkh Author

Level 1

79 points

Jan 30, 2013 12:11 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Well... that is a bit more encouraging; quoting (with one mild correction):

"Once a disc gets its keys, you shouldn't need to go online again. If you try another disc, it's the same process."

So... that strongly suggests that if I want to play Blu-rays on my MacbookAir when I'm away from home, I should start up each disk at least once before starting out... and then, hopefully, it will remember that it's OK to let me view "my" disk! 🙂

I'll give that a try later by trying to play a previous disk with DSL router switched off...

Will report back.

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Answer 14

nkh Author

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79 points

Jan 30, 2013 12:40 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Well!!!!

That's solved!

Without an internet connection I'm able to play previously "validated" disks... but a Blu-ray that had not been previously played was refused!

How about that!

Thanks, Frank, for solving some of the problem!

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Answer 15

nkh Author

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79 points

Jan 31, 2013 4:39 AM in response to nkh

The issue of requiring an internet connection when utilizing software to playback commercial Blu-ray disks seems now settled: The internet appears to be required only on the first playing of a Blu-ray DVD; thereafter that disk is recognized as "legitimate" the next time you wish to play it (internet not required).

This has been verified for the Macgo software... and, I'd presume, the same applies to Aurora!

My concern over picture quality as mentioned in (2) in my original post remains:

Any lateral movement across the screen causes a smearing of the image... slowly moving objects are affected less. Lateral movement reveals what appear to be closely spaced horizontal "scanning" lines very much as one would expect on an old fashioned scanning TV. Adjacent "scanning" lines appear slightly offset laterally from each other such that vertical edges appear jagged for any object moving laterally across the screen. The faster the movement, the more annoying the effect!

I'm presently in email discussion with Macgo on this issue... nothing definitive as yet to report.

In the meantime, I have compared the Macgo software to that offered by Aurora: As far as I'm able to determine, both appear to be identical, and they behave similarly! Same objection as to how laterally moving objects are rendered! 😟

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