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Yes Virginia, the Mini can play Blu-Ray (rips)

This thread title is misleading.. you're not actually playing BR discs, you're playing video files. Don't get me wrong, the info is top shelf, but I've been looking for a way to use a Mini to actually play BR, and I've been out of luck.

Since it isn't supported in OS X, I can only assume it would have to be a hack program to do real-time decryption as the movie plays, in which case it wouldn't advertised
 
belunos said:
This thread title is misleading.. you're not actually playing BR discs, you're playing video files. Don't get me wrong, the info is top shelf, but I've been looking for a way to use a Mini to actually play BR, and I've been out of luck.

Since it isn't supported in OS X, I can only assume it would have to be a hack program to do real-time decryption as the movie plays, in which case it wouldn't advertised
Click to expand...

youll need an external BR drive, and then osx still cant play it.. nothing can actually play it (such as DVD player etc). probably best to get it on a PC for the time being.
 
belunos said:
This thread title is misleading.. you're not actually playing BR discs, you're playing video files.
Click to expand...

The title doesn't say anything about discs.

Don't get me wrong, the info is top shelf, but I've been looking for a way to use a Mini to actually play BR, and I've been out of luck.
Click to expand...

The point of it, as stated in boldface font the first post, is that the Mac Mini has the muscle to play Blu-Ray-encoded video, which is 1080p, at extremely high bit rates and encoded in H.264, MPEG-2 or VC-1 with up to True-HD or DTS-HD digital audio.

Since it isn't supported in OS X, I can only assume it would have to be a hack program to do real-time decryption as the movie plays, in which case it wouldn't advertised
Click to expand...

It's more than encryption, there's also HDCP compliance, which I doubt the current Mini is (i.e., its gpu). If the Mini ever gets x4500HD, then it would be HDCP-compliant (still need BD drive and monitor that are HDCP-compliant).

basesloaded190 said:
Is there any other software for a mac that will rip blu-ray movies or is it just that anyDVD, because i know that's windows only?
Click to expand...

Nope, only AnyDVD HD can decrypt as far as I know. There are a couple of others (Windows side as well), but they are not reliable in my experience.
 
connection between mini and HDTV/audio

Hi Caveman, I am new to this game, and very interested to get a Mini. Your posts are very helpful, many thanks for that. I am curious which cables did you use to connect your mini to your TV and your sound system. TIA.
 
For audio, I have a toslink cable with a mini-plug on one end for the Mini. Your receiver or TV needs to have optical input for digital audio (e.g., Dolby Digital, DTS surround sound). Otherwise, and analog cable with 3.5mm stereo jack on one end for the Mini, and whatever is appropriate for your receiver/amp on the other end (usually RCA R and L jacks).

For video, I have a 25' VGA cable to my projector. But you have good timing. I just ordered a 1080p projector this morning and it has HDMI, so my video will be sent to it with a 25' DVI to HDMI cable. :D
 
caveman^^: wow that would have set you back a lot!!!!

i downloaded plex. WOW is it amazing. plays videos perfectly on my 2.16ghz MBP even when its running at 1ghz!!!
 
I'm baffled as to why a 2.16Ghz processor is running at 1Ghz in the first place.

Anywho, I have my Mac Boot Camp'd with XP and I'm considering putting together an external drive so I can watch Blu-Ray movies.

Yet, I hate to have to reboot every time I want to watch a damn movie.

Here's hoping for Blu-Ray support in 10.6
 
Cave Man said:
The title doesn't say anything about discs.
<snip>
Click to expand...

The title states the Mini can play Blu-Ray. The way a Blu-Ray disc is played is in a reader and played directly. The assumption can be drawn from the title of this thread that as per normal usage, the Mini can play a Blu-Ray disc directly.

If you had elaborated and rephrased it as "Yes Virginia, the Mini can play Blu-Ray ripped content" then you might have a point, but as it stands, it is misleading based on your approach.
 
Trip.Tucker said:
The title states the Mini can play Blu-Ray. The way a Blu-Ray disc is played is in a reader and played directly. The assumption can be drawn from the title of this thread that as per normal usage, the Mini can play a Blu-Ray disc directly.

If you had elaborated and rephrased it as "Yes Virginia, the Mini can play Blu-Ray ripped content" then you might have a point, but as it stands, it is misleading based on your approach.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. Besides, the thread was only directed at Virginia, and nobody else. :rolleyes:
 
Cave Man said:
Why are you running your MBP without its battery?

I think what's most remarkable is that Plex shows how poor Quicktime is at playback. Apple should be embarrassed.
Click to expand...
it gets too hot for my liking and the fans are loud, it also saves battery cycles because i dont plug in the adapter and pull it out every couple of hours. gives you less grunt but i couldnt give. it still plays so im happy.

neoelectronaut said:
I'm baffled as to why a 2.16Ghz processor is running at 1Ghz in the first place.

Anywho, I have my Mac Boot Camp'd with XP and I'm considering putting together an external drive so I can watch Blu-Ray movies.

Yet, I hate to have to reboot every time I want to watch a damn movie.

Here's hoping for Blu-Ray support in 10.6
Click to expand...

bceause of the battery not being there.

i would like to get a bluray burner.. theyr super cheap atm!!

Cave Man said:
If you remove the battery and run the MB(P) off the PS, the cpu downclocks to 1 gHz to avoid burning out the PS.
Click to expand...

i reckon its a good idea my apple :) i know some laptops cant work without the battery in, making it useless if your battery randomly dies and you need to do work on it.
 
Trip.Tucker said:
The title states the Mini can play Blu-Ray. The way a Blu-Ray disc is played is in a reader and played directly. The assumption can be drawn from the title of this thread that as per normal usage, the Mini can play a Blu-Ray disc directly.

If you had elaborated and rephrased it as "Yes Virginia, the Mini can play Blu-Ray ripped content" then you might have a point, but as it stands, it is misleading based on your approach.
Click to expand...

Sorry CM, I gotta go with Tucker on this one. Another reason being that the encodes from some old HD-DVDs have been ported over for BR, so really you'd be playing HD-DVD and that's not true either! You're actually playing the encoded/decoded content of the Blu-ray disc. That's like saying you're playing DVDs if you've backed up a DVD (forget that the Mini can actually read/play DVD through the slot drive).

Also, the Mini cannot output the next generation audio encodes that are found on many of the discs. You had to rework the audio in order to get it to play over the Toslink cable.

All that said, I agree that the post is informative and a lot can be learned from it. However, to those less informed on the matter it could sound like the Mini can handle Blu-ray discs. Specifically, the own BR organizations highlights that the name is the disc, not the digital media aspect. http://www.blu-ray.com/info/

Finally, I suppose the next Mini (or any other Apple computer) would need to have an HDMI 1.3 enabled audio/video solution to solve audio issue? How does that work on the new Dell compact that came out?

EDIT: CM: I saw in another thread that you said, "[Plex] also transcodes True-HD and DTS-HD audio to DD or DTS on the fly." Can you elaborate on this? Based on your comments above I thought you were having to manually do this in order to output the audio from the Mini.
 
Superman07 said:
EDIT: CM: I saw in another thread that you said, "[Plex] also transcodes True-HD and DTS-HD audio to DD or DTS on the fly." Can you elaborate on this? Based on your comments above I thought you were having to manually do this in order to output the audio from the Mini.
Click to expand...

Plex will drop True-HD or DTS-HD down to Dolby Digital or DTS (or analog) as the file is being read, then pass it through the audio port. This is good for people like me whose receivers can only play DD or DTS, and thus still get 5.1 surround sound. I don't have to do anything as I'm using the version of Plex released just a few days ago (which introduced this feature). Very nice.
 
Most HD-DVDs and BluRay disks are made from the same VC-1 video that was originally recorded, so the statement that CM is playing HD-DVD and BluRay is simply false. Cave Man is playing VC-1 High Def video on his Mini.....
 
Cave Man said:
Plex will drop True-HD or DTS-HD down to Dolby Digital or DTS (or analog) as the file is being read, then pass it through the audio port. This is good for people like me whose receivers can only play DD or DTS, and thus still get 5.1 surround sound. I don't have to do anything as I'm using the version of Plex released just a few days ago (which introduced this feature). Very nice.
Click to expand...

I assume that means it won't work for digital out? Does it automatically detect? Do you have both digital and analog out if that is the case?
 
Yes, it does work with digital optical out. My Mini is connected to my Onkyo by optical port and Plex sends True-HD and DTS-HD audio to it as Dolby Digital or DTS. When I play these movies, I am getting true 5.1 digital surround sound. However, if I play the same movie files on my Hackintosh or MBP with built-in analog speakers, I still get audio (albeit analog). I cannot tell you if this is analog surround (e.g., Dolby Pro Logic), only that it does work. Plex is just simply the best home theater app for the Mac.
 
Cave Man said:
Yes, it does work with digital optical out. My Mini is connected to my Onkyo by optical port and Plex sends True-HD and DTS-HD audio to it as Dolby Digital or DTS. When I play these movies, I am getting true 5.1 digital surround sound. However, if I play the same movie files on my Hackintosh or MBP with built-in analog speakers, I still get audio (albeit analog). I cannot tell you if this is analog surround (e.g., Dolby Pro Logic), only that it does work. Plex is just simply the best home theater app for the Mac.
Click to expand...

Excellent feedback. Thanks!
 
Cave Man, sorry if I missed this, but do you have any idea if 7.1 would work using your method. What I understand from reading the thread is that you don't have a 7.1 capable receiver so you obviously wouldn't have reported on it. Thanks!
 
Yes, it should work just fine. That's the beauty of optical (or coaxial) digital audio - it simply passes the audio file to the receiver; it's the receiver's job to decode it, not the computer's. It shouldn't matter if it's 5.1 or 7.1 or 9.1 or 2.0; so long as it's digital (True-HD, DTS-HD, DD, DTS) it'll get passed through and properly handled by your receiver.
 
Cave Man said:
Yes, it should work just fine. That's the beauty of optical (or coaxial) digital audio - it simply passes the audio file to the receiver; it's the receiver's job to decode it, not the computer's. It shouldn't matter if it's 5.1 or 7.1 or 9.1 or 2.0; so long as it's digital (True-HD, DTS-HD, DD, DTS) it'll get passed through and properly handled by your receiver.
Click to expand...

Nice, after I get married in a few weeks I'll be buying a mini and a 7.1 receiver and begin delving into the mac mini home theater.
 
Cave Man said:
The title doesn't say anything about discs.
Click to expand...

Not to nic pick, but blu-ray is a disc spec. Without the disc, it's not blu-ray mate.

In any case, here's to hoping 10.6 will bring about a HDCP compliant mini, with a br drive. I could see myself ripping a collection of regular DVDs, but not those big arse hunking HD movies.
 
I have a few simple questions......

- What mini do I need in order to play Blue ray using plex? Will the 1.83 core 2 duo work with the ram maxed out?

- I currently have an imac as a desktop...My Library of videos will be coming to that machine...The mini will be plugged directly into my router....Imac is wireless... What is the most efficient and easiest way for the mini to work with my library? Should I just have an external drive on the mini and move everything on that over the network? Or just keep everything with the Imac on an external and have the mini pull everything off that...What do you guys do? What size drives are you guys running?
 
basesloaded190 said:
Is there any other software for a mac that will rip blu-ray movies or is it just that anyDVD, because i know that's windows only?
Click to expand...

AnyDVD HD is the only one. Plus the term to use is "backing up", not "ripping", because the former is allowed by the DMCA and the latter is considered pirating. ;)
 
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