Wish to play Blu-Rays on PC...

Software:
http://www.arcsoft.com/totalmedia-theatre/

Hardware:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136252

This is what I use to play BR. There are a few other options that I'm sure others will suggest, but these have worked great for me.
Good luck!

The cheapest inexpensive blu-ray reader should be just fine. I recommend checking out newegg.

Blu-ray software that supports 3D includes TMT5, PowerDVD, and WinDVD. Imo, you're still better off just using a dedicated blu-ray player though.

IMO if you want to play disks, stick with the standalone player. For the PC, rip the disks to your HDD for playback and use a nice media frontend.

I second this.

I paid $45 for a BD drive and was forced to use PowerDVD. I say forced, because that is what came with the drive, and I found it terrible. If I wanted a better software I would have to buy TMT5, which is currently at $90 I believe. I fought endlessly trying to have PowerDVD play my Blu-Rays without stuttering on any scenes with movement. In my experience I did lose quality by going the PC route vs continuing to use my PS3.

I don't see why you think you need to spend $500 to get a good dedicated Blu-Ray player. I purchased a good dedicated(non 3D) player for $60 a week ago. You can easily get a good 3D player for around $100. Which would cost less than going the PC route and save you headache with trying to get the software to function properly.

Devices designed to do one thing and one thing only tend to work better. I've personally never liked any of the licensed blu-ray players for PCs. There are bugs, frequent updates, crashes, etc. With my Panasonic DMP-BDT220, I put in the disc and it plays. Other than occasional software updates, there's no fuss.

I've given up on BR for my HTPC, again, for the reasons stated here:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1447914/is-blu-ray-still-problematic-and-if-so-why

I've never had any real problems with using TMT5, at least concerning playback (had a remote issue with TMT3 and tha MediaBroswer issue with launching TMT5, but both are worked out). I don't ever play straight from the discs though, using AnyDVD HD to rip them to the hard drive.

To the OP, it really depends what you want. For me the primary purpose of having BluRay (and DVD) playback on my HTPC was that it allowed me to go down to having only one piece of equipment that handled both DVR funcationality as well as movie playback. Additionally, it allowed me to rip everything to my server and hence no dealing with discs. If neither of those are a concern, then a dedicated player will definitely be easier and MAY produce better quality. It's all about needs.

Even for legitimate playback of purchased/rental BD on a legitimate PC with legitimate TMT/PDVD etc you will not get many disks to play.

You still need AnyDVD HD running in the background for "nearly" perfect playback.

If you are going to use a PC for BD playback, you really need AnyDVD HD and TMT5 or PowerDVD (Non Cinavia versions)
AnyDVD will fix 99% of problems on any software player new or old versions included.
It can be just as good as a standalone and better in some cases, for example if you want to skip the menus/trailers/warnings, enable AnyDVD's Speedmenu feature and you can get straight into the main movie in seconds.
I have a PS3 and a Panasonic Standalone that I hardly use at all now.

My advice -
AnyDVD HD, TMT5 and PowerDVD all come with free trials, so why not test it for yourself and see how it works for you, if you don't like it then just buy another standalone and uninstall the software trials.

Edit - Sorry I just noticed you don't have a BD Drive in your PC so you can't test any software, in that case its up to you, it might be best sticking with a cheap standalone.
Edited by acejh1987 - 1/3/13 at 3:50pm

This is a wildly inaccurate broad-brush comment from my experience

I've never used a trial of or purchased AnyDVD HD (It's good software, but I've not had a need for it yet)

I've tried both PDVD and TMT with complete success. Granted that was only 10 titles, but surely the statement "you will not get many discs to play" would have warranted that 1 of those 10 wouldn't have played.

To turn the tables, which discs have you experienced trouble playing back with PDVD or TMT?

For playback w/o 3D (yet) you can also use the Free version of DVDFab Passkey

Passkey lite and XBMC Frodo have started the main title of every blu ray I've tested so far with no additional work other than navigating to the "Play Disc" option in XBMC

+1 on XBMC Frodo for 2D if you don't need menus , in my tests on 50+ discs (Combined with AnyDVD), Frodo selected the main title perfectly on all but 3 discs (2 had fake playlists) with Speedmenus enabled those 3 discs also worked in Frodo.

I'm not sure how PC BD playback got such a bad rep, I've tested hundreds of discs on various software and never had the issues that some people claim. I have had a few disc that TMT/PowerDVD didn't like but nothing AnyDVD couldn't fix (and I'm guessing DVDFab Passkey would do the same)

I think they've got a bad rep partly because you apparently must use decrypting software to get some titles to work. That's a pretty annoying and expensive proposition when a $100 dedicated blu-ray player can play all discs perfectly.

I'm talking about bad rep for BD Playback regardless of what software is needed.

Dark_Slayer just mentioned free decrypting software that works.

A $100 standalone can not skip menus/trailers/warnings and playback the main movie in seconds and will not playback discs from all regions, if you have one that does all this then please post the model number, so I can purchase and test it.

I'm not entirely sure how the free version of DVDFab Passkey works. From their website:

"Compared with registered version, this free Passkey Lite has its own limitation on dealing with certain protections on some DVD/Blu-ray movies. In other words, Passkey Lite cannot help you backup movies with certain protections, but, you can still freely watch them."

Does that mean it will decrypt all movies and allow you to watch them in TMT5? I'm not sure what "freely watch them" means. Is it actually decrypting them?

The OP didn't say anything about playing discs from other regions or skipping trailers and warnings, so I'm not sure where you're going with that. If those are his requirements, then obviously he should go with the HTPC route with AnyDVD HD + TMT5 or some other solution. If that isn't a priority, then IMO the average Joe would be better off with a dedicated blu-ray player.

The lite version decrypts the disc (in the drive for my use) for playback with any iso player that can then handle the A/V decode

My simple point is a PC can playback BD equally as good as any standalone and gives you more options (Such as all region and ability to skip warnings trailers)

What is it you can't understand from that point?

Also the OP never even asked about standalone players or even wanted to compare them - title of the thread - Wish to play Blu-Rays on PC...

Haha, I can assure there's nothing about your posts I don't understand. The OP is coming from a standalone blu-ray player. His concerns are cost and quality. I was wary of the DVDFab Passkey Lite solution, because DVDFab's own website implies that it cannot decrypt all blu-rays. I'm wagering a guess that the same blu-rays DVDFab Passkey Lite can't decrypt are the same ones TMT5 may struggle with. Dark_Slayer is suggesting that the Lite version is sufficient, although I'm still a bit wary as I assume he has only tested so many blu-rays.

Assuming that DVDFab Passkey Lite is sufficient, that's still ~$50 for a blu-ray drive + $90 for TMT5 (PowerDVD or WinDVD may be cheaper). If you end up needing AnyDVD HD or the paid version of DVDFab Passkey, that raising the price significantly. A good standalone blu-ray player can be had for less than $100.

Now if the OP definitely wants the added features of AnyDVD HD like removing trailers (which would again raise the price substantially), then by all means go for it. Assuming that isn't a priority, a dedicated blu-ray seems like a simpler and probably cheaper solution.

It started with How to train your dragon (Oct 2010'ish) on PDVD + HDCP compliant video card. Have been running AnyDVD HD ever since. Last month- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter would not play on TMT5 or WinDVD 10 + same HDCP compliant Radeon HD5670 . Only MPC-HC was able to open it.

And most recently...right before replying to your post. My Disney: World of Wonder BD (Wow) which I bought from Amazon.

TMT5 has the following message when I try to play the WoW disk without AnyDVD HD running in the background:

Check to see if you have the latest versions of PDVD and TMT5. Decryption keys used in BD can be setup to expire and you have to get a new one.
This is the reason why even BD players need continual firmware updates.

To check if this is the case set the clock on your PC back a couple of months and if it starts to work again, this is the cause.

Check with PDVD and TMT5 tech support on what their update policy is if this is the reason.

If it still does not work, did you update the video driver recently, it could have broken the HDCP component.
Edited by Tong Chia - 1/3/13 at 10:48pm

Based on these statements, I believe Derko believe if you he goes the HTPC route, you'll save significant many over getting another stand alone player. There's been plenty of potential issues going the PC route. If you have some tech savvy, I think it'll cost you about the same. I've been able to get BR playback with AnyDVD HD and Media Player Classic with K-Kite Codecs. It was just the movie, no extras. I didn't try to setup the audio fully for my HTPC.

Between the software and BR drive, depending on how long of subscription you get and kind of drive, I figured you're going to spend at least $100. Most likely in the $200 range. In addition, it's possible you may want or need to pay for software updates such as PowerDVD or TMT5. I've read sometimes they'll make you buy an upgrade. Maybe others who have used some of those program for a long time may be able to chime in. When it's is the case, it's additional $40 or more dollars. Depending on that frequency, the longer you use the HTPC, the more the cost blu ray goes up.

In defense, it's possible you could get a cheap enough stand alone player that doesn't continue to get supported by it's manufacture. This is important because the blu ray encryption is always evolving. Thus, it's possible to get a disc that won't play because the player is just too old. With new players, that's isn't as likely. Doing a quick search on Amazon and Bestbuy, you can pick up a new PS3 for $230 to $350. You may be able to get a cheaper if you went used at Gamestop or something.

If it's cost that's your concern, I would suggest getting a PS3. It's pretty good BR player. Supports 3D. Sony is very good about updating the firmware, so disc playback should not be an issue. Disc navigation is slower compared to new players.

I couldn't go back to sitting through that garbage. Skipping it is a must for me.

I started into HTPC/BR with TMT5 and occasionally got discs that wouldn't play. The free way is MPC-HC and makemkv, or use MPC and pay for AnyDVD HD.

Yep, running the latest TMT5 and Catalyst 12.10.

The ONLY robust and reliable solution (for me) is AnyDVD HD.

Using MPC-HC by itself for blu-rays is no longer a reliable solution. Some blu-rays now like The Hunger Games have a new form of copyright protection that messes with the playlist, making scenes play in a random order. The way around this is to use Anydvd's speedmenus, which requires a player that support HDMV menus like XBMC 12.0. Alternatively, a player can take advantage of the disc.inf file Anydvd creates in order select the correct playlist. JRiver can do this. AFAIK, MPC-HC can't do either of these things, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't play blu-rays directly so I cannot comment on that, but for mkv rips of blu-rays I have not seen an issue with random playlist order.

the thread is about bluray discs, not mkv files. why would a selected mkv file possibly play the wrong thing?

Haven't seen that at all. I use AnyDVDHD (without the speed menues, though I cam considering changing) and TMT5. My wife did get hit with the cinavia drm issue this morning watching MIB3. Solution is pretty simply though, just roll back to version 5.3.1.146. So long as you are using AnyDVDHD to strip the DRM and not play off discs, shouldn't be any issue.

Have you tried playing the Hunger Games blu-ray? I'm not sure what other movies have playlist obfuscation. Presumably, like Cinavia, this sort of thing will increase over time.