WIN 10 Blu-Ray Player

[Casey H]

Hello All -

I just purchased a Blu-ray read/write drive for my 64 bit Win 10 Pro PC. I went with the OEM version (LGWH14NS40), assuming that VLC Media Player could play a commercial movie. Not so. I ran across some instructions online on how to make VLC work with Blu-ray disks, but I was unsuccessful in getting a movie to play.

So--I'm looking for some software that will play both Blu-ray movies and DVD movies. Online research hasn't helped much, as most of the options seem to have flaws. I don't need anything super fancy. It would be nice to be able to select a specific chapter to start a movie, and to do things like Pause, FF, or Rev. Pretty basic. All I really want to do is buy a movie at Walmart and be able to play it--either DVD or Blu-ray. Any software recommendations would be appreciated. It doesn't have to be free. Thanks.

Casey H.

[JoeP517]

Check out Leawo Blu-ray Player. I don't use it but saw it recommended on CNet.

[Casey H]

Yes thanks. That's one I noted along with Ufusoft and Aiseesoft. Then there's Power DVD.

[Lugh]

POT Player is my main video player. I don't play Blu-Ray discs with it, but it performs very well for my uses.

[Casey H]

I went ahead and loaded Leawo and got a message that said it couldn't find JAVA RTE, and that the MENU system wouldn't work without it. Do you want to install JAVA RTE. I declined and proceeded with the installation. True to form, a movie played just fine, but the MENU feature is grayed out. Further research this morning indicates that unlike DVD, Bluray software likes to use it for interactive purposes. I abandoned JAVA a long time ago for security reasons. So now looking for a player that comes without it. I'm wondering if Cyberlink or WIN DVD uses it. Frustrating!

Casey H.

[Casey H]

Tried Pot Player but it wouldn't load the movie

Casey H.

[Lugh]

I abandoned JAVA a long time ago for security reasons. So now looking for a player that comes without it.

You may not find that, Casey. Wiki says:

"At the 2005 JavaOne trade show, it was announced that Sun Microsystems' Java cross-platform software environment would be included in all Blu-ray Disc players as a mandatory part of the standard. Java is used to implement interactive menus on Blu-ray Discs…"

Please let us know if you do find a non-Java solution.

[Casey H]

Pot player seemed to install without adding Java, but like I said, it wouldn't play the movie. Error message loading the movie saying something like. "The file does not appear to contain any video." Or something like that.

Casey H.

[JoeP517]

Make sure you are using the desktop version of VLC not the Microsoft Store app. Did you follow the directions like those at How to use VLC to play Blu-ray discs?

[Casey H]

I'm pretty sure I did. I downloaded version 3.03 from the VLC website. I got to the two files from ... whoknowsmyname... website. I put the keydb.cfg file into the aacs folder I created in my user's appdata folder. I put the libaacs.dll file into the root of the VLC folder. The location of the keydb.cfg file seems strange as that would seem to function for only myself and not any other user. There also seems to be some confusion as to where these files are supposed to go. Different websites contain somewhat different instructions. Any way, I was unable to make it work. I suspect one or both of the files are bad, or I put them in the wrong location. I wouldn't mind trying again if someone spots an error in where I put things or if there's a better place to access the two files.

I ended up buying WIN DVD 12 from the Corel Website. They offered a 30% discount. I was originally unable to play a Blu-ray movie on it either. After significant trial & error, I determined that it was necessary to select a Blu-ray Region; the software didn't pull it from windows during the installation. Additionally it is necessary to make that selection without a disc in the tray. A disc in the tray grays out the selection button.

We'll see from here what happens. I only have one Blu-ray movie at this point. As always, thanks to all who weighed in on this.

Casey H.