Blu Ray on an older system?

TheRoadWarrior · 9 Nov 2009 at 12:28

I've just got a new c2d Dell laptop with blu ray drive and i now realise what i've been missing with DVDs!

I'd like to upgrade my desktop to play blu ray too, ive a decent screen (Dell 2407-WFPHC) but the PC is pretty old. P4 3ghz, 2gb ram, AGP ati 9800pro graphics running XP.

If i were to pick up OCUKs blu ray SATA drive is there any chance of it being able to play BD properly? Would it work if i just upgraded my GPU?

Also i connect to my amp with a digital audio connection which then decodes dolby digi or DTS. Will this still work with blu ray, or is the connection/amp unlikely to transfer/decode the HD audio?

Engram · 9 Nov 2009 at 12:51

Hmmm.. you could actually do a reasonably accurate test by ripping a blu-ray disc on your PC, copying the output to your laptop, and then trying to play it.

That will tell you if your laptop is fast enough to do the decoding.

(Or you could download an HD video from somewhere and try that).

z0mbi3 · 9 Nov 2009 at 13:35

You'd definitely need to upgrade the GPU for the HDCP compliance (is your dell monitor HDCP compliant?). I'm not sure about the CPU, but I would have thought one of the more recent generation graphics cards (a low-end one would be fine) would help take the load off the CPU.

Engram · 9 Nov 2009 at 14:54

Probably not worth worrying about HDCP at this point though.

There are no discs using the full protection (where it imposes a lower resolution) and you can always rip the disc anyway.

z0mbi3 · 9 Nov 2009 at 15:06

As far as I know the player will stop him watching it if it's not HDCP compliant, and ripping is a lot of hassle just to watch a bluray you already have the disc of.

Engram · 9 Nov 2009 at 15:20

z0mbi3 said:
As far as I know the player will stop him watching it if it's not HDCP compliant

But isn't that only for a disc that uses that protection? None of them do. (Yet).

TheRoadWarrior · 9 Nov 2009 at 16:02

Yeah not totally up on the copy protection of blu ray yet. Do you just need HDMI to support HDCP, or is there some other firmware in the screen/video card required?

Gonna have a snoop online see what i can find out.

What am i looking for on a new budget GPU? HD Blu ray decoding? Is there a hardware standard to look out for?

md99 · 9 Nov 2009 at 16:07

Your graphic card must be hdcp compatible.

From my experience ripping Blu rays to m2ts files on your hard drive is a no-no. I've ripped over a hundred movies over the past year and they stutter when played through media player classic or vlc player so you won't get an accurate representation of if its up to playing them off a BR disc.

Regardless, your PC needs upgrading to view them.

z0mbi3 · 9 Nov 2009 at 16:55

Engram said:
But isn't that only for a disc that uses that protection? None of them do. (Yet).

I'm pretty sure my blurays wouldn't play in power dvd until I installed anydvd hd.

capriboy1978 · 9 Nov 2009 at 17:01

do you need to game on the pc? If not or rarely look at a 4670 or similiar. Cheap as chips and will play Blu ray discs all day long without issue.

GK7 · 9 Nov 2009 at 17:03

You should be able to get cheap HDCP compatible Radeon HD 2xxx,3xxx or 4xxx cards, all of which will playback blu ray discs with minimal CPU usage.

TheRoadWarrior · 9 Nov 2009 at 18:44

Thanks all. Done some digging, my 2407wfp-hc is HDCP compliant, initially i thought than XP wouldnt support HDCP but apparently with the correct video drivers it will.
Sounds like all thats holding me back is getting the drive and a cheap ati card, the 2600 sounds like a good bet- my old system is only agp so it cant be anything too new.

I'm happy enough with BD on the laptop for now, its got a great screen.. but at some point i'd like to get the desktop playing them too as my collection is growing. Hopefully buying a house soon so the pc will become a media centre.

james.miller · 9 Nov 2009 at 18:49

3ghz c2d or a HD decoding gpu is what you need.