Can OS X Sierra Play UHD 4K Blu Ray Discs?

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Level 1

5 points

Can OS X Sierra Play UHD 4K Blu Ray Discs?

In the past I have successfully used my MacBook Pro to play blu ray discs from an external USB blu ray drive. I recently purchased a new movie on a UHD 4K blu ray disc, but Sierra cannot recognize the disc. I am trying to determine if this is a problem with my blu ray drive or with Mac OS X Sierra. Has anyone else been able to mount a UHD 4k blu ray disc on their Mac?

FYI, the drive I am using is a Samsung Portable BD Writer Model SE-506CB/RSWD external blu ray drive with TS01 firmware. The specs on the drive indicate that it should be able to handle three- and four-layer blu ray discs, but I have yet to witness evidence that this is the case. Again, I can play 1080p blu ray discs just fine with my current setup, but Mac OS X Sierra has yet to mount my UHD 4k blu ray disc.

Let me know if you have been able to read the new UHD 4K blu ray discs on your Mac. Please include the model of your external blu ray player and note which operating system you are using.

Thanks,

Dan

Posted on Apr 23, 2017 3:17 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

John Lockwood

Level 6

13,685 points

Apr 24, 2017 3:09 AM in response to hanmari

If your Blu-Ray drive was capable of reading a UHD 4K disc - even if it could not play it then I would have expected it to be mounted on the desktop, if it is not being mounted then this implies your drive is not compatible with UHD discs.

Strictly speaking as far as I am aware there are no legal Blu-Ray players for the Mac and certainly no legal UHD 4K players for the Mac. Yes there are some (non UHD) Blu-Ray players for the Mac but these do not have as far as I am aware true legal licenses for playing Blu-Ray which is why they do not fully support using the Blu-Ray menus as one example.

Even on the Windows side there are still very few UHD compatible drives. The following Pioneer drives are apparently compatible https://www.extremetech.com/computing/243463-new-pioneer-ultra-blu-ray-burners-p ack-4k-playback-16x-burn-speeds and in theory if you put one of these in a classic Mac Pro or an external USB enclosure it might at least mount UHD 4K discs on a Mac meaning you could then try playing it.

Note: I believe UHD 4K discs would use H.265 aka HEVC and it would depend on whether your Blu-Ray player software supports that - plus the newer encryption, also H.265 will require a much more powerful Mac/Video card than mere 1080p Blu-Ray which uses mainly H.264.

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Answer 2

hanmari Author

Level 1

5 points

Apr 23, 2017 4:10 PM in response to danielfromrandolph

Thanks for the reply. From what I have been able to read, it seems that the main issue is that the new UHD 4K Blu Ray discs use a new form of copy protection and the industry has been hesitant to license decoders. Any blu ray drive that can read three- and four-level blu ray discs should be able to navigate the file contents of the discs, but will be unable to play the disc contents without a licensed copy protection decoder.

However, I am unable to get Mac OS X Sierra to even mount the UHD 4K disc. This leads me to believe that I will need a firmware upgrade on my external blu ray player before it can read the new format. I won't hold my breath, as even Samsung refuses to acknowledge their Portable BD Writer SE-506 models on their support site. I may have to wait for a mac-compatible UHD 4K external blu ray drive to hit the market. And then I'll need to purchase UHD 4K blu ray movie playing software that can decode the new copy protection scheme.

With an extremely restrictive licensing process, high prices on UHD 4K blu ray players, and the lack of any competition or third-party drivers for existing blu ray drives, it is becoming very apparent that the copy protection people are hindering the UHD 4K industry. Talk about shooting yourself in your own foot.

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Answer 3

drx1

Level 1

9 points

Aug 5, 2017 9:47 PM in response to John Lockwood

not a good answer... I guess the best is that 4K is not ready - what a shame. Most moderns cards - even mid range should run 4K @ 60hz or better. So 4K/UHD is a new, "bag of hurt"? Why is Apple so hesitant to make computers? You know the old Mac Pros were the best they Apple ever did, hardware wise. Then 2013 happened...

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Answer 4

Yutulan

Level 1

4 points

Aug 11, 2017 8:48 PM in response to hanmari

Till now, there are mainly two ways to enjoy 4K videos: 4K external media player device and 4K media player software installed on computer. Several professional 4K player devices can play 4K videos, like Sony/LG 4K Ultra HD Media Player. 4K TVs such as Samsung UN65HU9000, have been invented. But they are all sort of expensive. There are also many computers which support 4K playing, especially after the release of Mac OS X 10.9.3(compatible with limited computer types). Now more and more Windows and Mac computers supports 4K playback with the help of 4K media player software In terms of price, watching 4K movies on computer seems to be a good choice. Then which 4K player software can support 4K video playback perfectly?

There are many free or paid 4K media player software, such as VLC and DivX Player, etc. They can support 4K videos and the playback quality is high to a certain extent. But according to real feedbacks from 4K users, they also experience some troubles when playing 4K videos with 4K player software on computer: the playback is stuttered; the fast-forward and fast-backward scroll bar don't work properly; the image is fuzzy, etc. Therefore an excellent 4K UHD player is quite necessary for getting a better viewing experience.

Compared with other 4K media players,UFUSoft Mac Blu ray Player seems to be the best. It has been well updated to fix the entire current 4K player software bugs to play 4K videos perfectly and smoothly. Thanks to its professional technology, this player will surely support the incoming 4K Blu-ray movies in the near future. It has both Windows and Mac version to meet all the playback needs.

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Answer 5

Apr 23, 2017 3:36 PM in response to hanmari

I think the problem is that it is a 4K disk and the it may need a driver to let it run 4K

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