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dannycorker · (This post was last modified: 2012-02-02, 00:03 by dannycorker.)

I've just built a HTPC using the A6-3500 as per eskros thread, and am thinking of adding a blu-ray drive for playing and (potentially) burning blu-rays. At the moment I have a separate blu-ray player, a Sony S373, and was wondering what the benefits and drawbacks would be of using the HTPC for blu-rays instead?

I assume I would need to set up some kind of external player, but how easy/smooth is it to play blu rays in xbmc? And do you get full menus as you would with a player, or jump straight to the film?

Also, would case fans be advised if adding a drive? I currently just use CPU cooler.

Thanks!

bluray · 2012-02-02, 00:15

dannycorker Wrote:I've just built a HTPC using the A6-3500 as per eskros thread, and am thinking of adding a blu-ray drive for playing and (potentially) burning blu-rays. At the moment I have a separate blu-ray player, a Sony S373, and was wondering what the benefits and drawbacks would be of using the HTPC for blu-rays instead?

BD-ROM always come in handy in HTPC, and all my HTPC's have BD-ROM in it. My kids enjoy pop in Redbox rental BD in it.

dannycorker Wrote:I assume I would need to set up some kind of external player, but how easy/smooth is it to play blu rays in xbmc? And do you get full menus as you would with a player, or jump straight to the film?

If you want all the original BD menus, chapters, etc, external player (TMT5, PDVD10, etc) is the best. You can use my guide in this thread to setup XBMC external player- Working External Player Solution. You can setup to playback PlayDisc directly on BD-ROM too! Smile

dannycorker Wrote:Also, would case fans be advised if adding a drive? I currently just use CPU cooler.

Thanks!

Whatever cooling fan you have in it now, it should be fine! Smile

dannycorker · 2012-02-02, 00:19

bluray Wrote:BD-ROM always come in handy in HTPC, and all my HTPC's have BD-ROM in it. My kids enjoy pop in Redbox rental BD in it.

If you want all the original BD menus, chapters, etc, external player (TMT5, PDVD10, etc) is the best. You can use my guide in this thread to setup XBMC external player- Working External Player Solution. You can setup to playback PlayDisc directly on BD-ROM too!

Whatever cooling fan you have in it now, it should be fine!

Thanks for the tips, I had a feeling you would be the first to reply in this thread! :p

Do you know how the quality of playback compares to standalone blu ray players? I am looking at this model at the moment: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004WZ0UBI/re...B004WZ0UBI

And for an external player, is there one you reccomend? A bit confused by them all after looking at them for the first time. If I use one, would I be able to configure my Harmony to control playback as well as it can natively in XBMC?

bluray · 2012-02-02, 06:32

dannycorker Wrote:Thanks for the tips, I had a feeling you would be the first to reply in this thread! :p

Do you know how the quality of playback compares to standalone blu ray players? I am looking at this model at the moment: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004WZ0UBI/re...B004WZ0UBI

That is an excellent choice. I use a very cheap/unknown BD-ROM in one of my HTPC's. It work as good as the more expensive BD-ROM.

dannycorker Wrote:And for an external player, is there one you reccomend? A bit confused by them all after looking at them for the first time. If I use one, would I be able to configure my Harmony to control playback as well as it can natively in XBMC?

I own both PDVD and TMT, and I preferred TMT5. ArcSoft TMT5 seems to work more seamless with XBMC than PDVD11&12. As far as remote control, I use the same MCE remote control to control both TMT5 and XBMC. It have all the basic controls to play/pause/stop/backspace. To get back to XBMC screen, I press stop and then backspace during playback using TMT5.

If you don't feel like paying for TMT5, the free MPC-HC should be fine too!

eskro · 2012-02-02, 07:04

he wont get bluray menus tho with MPC-HC.

bluray · 2012-02-02, 16:38

eskro Wrote:he wont get bluray menus tho with MPC-HC.

That is right, but it's a free solution. As I mentioned many times, to get all the original BD menus, chapters, extras, etc you have to setup XBMC external player (TMT5 or PDVD10/11/12). If you want stable 1080P video playback with DTS-HD/TrueHD audio, MPC-HC is a great free solution for XBMC external player.

eskro · 2012-02-02, 17:43

bluray Wrote:If you want stable 1080P video playback with DTS-HD/TrueHD audio, MPC-HC is a great free solution for XBMC external player.

or XBMC DSPLAYER edition

bluray · 2012-02-02, 18:01

eskro Wrote:or XBMC DSPLAYER edition

still no menu and still not as stable as MPC-HC..!

dannycorker · 2012-02-02, 20:06

I've given TMT and PDVD a try now, and think I'll stick with TMT. PDVD just seems to want to make everything more difficult! The only problem I have with TMT is a little pop up whenever I start a disc saying to check for an update or something like that. Can I stop this from appearing?