Dear Lifehacker
My laptop came with a Blu-ray drive, but I can't seem to play Blu-rays with it, and everyone says I need to buy extra expensive software to use it. Even VLC can't play them. (I thought it played everything!) Is paying $50 my only option?

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Sincerely
Miffed Movie Lover

With Blu-ray here for the long haul it’s important to understand a few things about what makes the best Blu-ray player software for your computer. Video & Audio: Quality Matters The best Blu-ray player software can read a variety of discs, not just Blu-ray. 1-16 of 103 results for 'blu ray reader mac' Showing selected results. See all results for blu ray reader mac. Type: USB3.0 Tray Loading Blu-Ray Reader BD Combo - Free Software. New Internal Blu-ray Reader CA21N SATA Slot in 3D Blu-ray Player DVD CD Writer for iMac Mac Mini and Other laptops. The BDR-XD05S can write to BDXL 1 discs, Blu-ray discs and is backwards compatible to support DVD and CD media. Blu-ray playback requires additional software (not included). Of course other Mac software that supports optical drives can access the BDR-XD05S also.

Dear Miffed,
Everyone you've talked to is half right. Sony's licensing on Blu-ray is obnoxious, and it means it's pretty difficult to play Blu-rays on your computer—in fact, Windows is the only operating system that can play them back natively. However, there are a few workarounds. Here are the best ways we've found for easily playing Blu-ray on a PC. Note that Windows users can use all three methods, while Mac or Linux users will need to go with the more complicated methods two or three.

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External Blu Ray Drive Mac Software

The Default Method: Blu-ray Software

The only officially supported way to play Blu-rays on Windows is to, as you say, use a commercial program like CyberLink PowerDVD. Usually this retails for around $50. However, if your computer came with a Blu-ray drive, you should already have some sort of Blu-ray-capable software on your computer. Very few manufacturers will ship a computer with a Blu-ray drive without including compatible software. Check to see if a software Blu-ray player came pre-installed on your system that you just didn't know about. If you've reinstalled a clean copy of Windows, you'll either have to reinstall it from your computer's recovery DVDs, or use one of the methods below.

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If your computer didn't come with a Blu-ray drive and you added it yourself, the drive should have come with a CD that includes something like PowerDVD on it. I always, always recommend keeping the CDs that come with your computers and hardware just in case they contain important things you need later. If you threw it away by accident, you'll either have to buy the software anew or use one of the more complicated methods below.

The Easy Method: Watch Your Movie in 30 Minutes using VLC

The easiest way to watch Blu-rays without commercial software is to use a program called MakeMKV to rip the movie, and then watch it using VLC. To do this:

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1. Install MakeMKV as described in our original Blu-ray how-to.
2. Insert your Blu-ray disc. Make sure you have enough space on your drive (depending on the disc, this could be up to 50 GB).
3. Fire up MakeMKV and head to File > Open Disc and choose your Blu-ray drive. MakeMKV will open the disc, and then present you with the titles on the disc. Hit the MakeMKV button and your movie should start ripping.
4. When it's done, just double click on the resulting file and it will play in VLC.

This is definitely the easiest way to watch your Blu-ray movies, but you'll have to wait for the movie to rip. It shouldn't take long, so as long as you plan ahead at least a half hour, this is definitely the method to go with.

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The Complicated Method: Watch Your Movie Now with XBMC

Alternatively, the XBMC media center software has a Blu-ray plugin that works similarly to the above. You'll still need MakeMKV, but it's pretty easy to set up:

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1. Install MakeMKV as described in our original Blu-ray how-to.
2. Install the Blu-ray pluginas described in our feature on plugins in XBMC 10.
3. Insert your Blu-ray disc. Make sure you have enough space on your drive (depending on the disc, this could be up to 50 GB).
4. Open up XBMC and go to Videos > Video Add-Ons > BluRay Player with MakeMKV. From there you should be able to play the main movie on the disc. It might take a few moments to buffer, but I've found that it works pretty well.

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That's it! Whenever you want to watch a Blu-ray movie, you should be able to just open up XBMC and fire up the Blu-ray plugin to watch your movie. It should stream pretty nicely, but note that streaming is an experimental feature of MakeMKV, so you might have a buffering issue once in a while. In my experience I've found it to work quite well, though.

Note that if you'd prefer not to use XBMC, you can also stream Blu-rays from MakeMKV to VLC as described here. I chose to feature the XBMC method since it only requires manual work the first time you do it, after which it becomes easy, while the VLC method requires you to manually set up the stream every time.

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As you can see, the licensing issues surrounding Blu-ray make it a bit more difficult to play them on your computer than DVDs. Hopefully, though, one of these methods works for your needs, and will help you watch those high definition movies on your computer or home theater PC.

Sincerely,
Lifehacker.

P.S. Got any of your own favored methods for playing Blu-ray discs? Share them with us in the comments.

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You can contact Whitson Gordon, the author of this post, at whitson@lifehacker.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.

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We’ve been reviewing the best Blu-ray player software since 2010. In that time, we’ve considered dozens of applications and spent hundreds of hours performing hands-on testing, conducting quality evaluations and comparing programs. In our most recent assessment, we chose Power DVD as our top overall pick. This software performed the best in both our performance and usability tests. It also has every feature we look for in good Blu-ray player software.

Best Overall

PowerDVD

Power DVD is a great program. Not only did it score the highest of all the programs we reviewed in our performance and usability tests, it also has all the tools we look for.

For example, this program enables simultaneous viewing options, so you can watch your Blu-ray on your computer as well as your television, smartphone, tablet or other mobile device. Additionally, you can download a mobile app and use your phone as a remote control, which is great if you’re watching movies on your computer in bed.
If you’re using a Windows device that has a touchscreen, you can use it to control this software. Not all Blu-ray player software can do that. It also has powerful upscaling technology that allows you to watch a standard-definition DVD on your big screen with minimal distortion. You can even connect to social media and let your friends know what you’re watching.
This program is light on your system resources; in our tests it consumed only 15 percent of our computer’s processing power. For comparison, other programs we evaluated took up to 45 percent.

Best Value

Macgo Blu-ray Player

If you’re just looking for Blu-ray player software and nothing more, then Macgo Blu-ray Player is the way to go. It costs less than $30 and delivers an excellent experience.

It doesn’t have things like a power manager, virtual remote control, environmental settings and BD-Live support, but if those aren’t things you care about, there’s no need to pay for them.
Even though it lacks in some areas it does have the capability to upscale your standard definition movies to take full advantage of an HDTV or computer display. When we tested this product, we noticed that this software upscales as good as our top choice, making it a great option for those who still have old DVDs lying around. However, while it’s great at HD upscaling, it lacks the ability to upscale for 3D movies. So, if you have an old 3D DVD, you’ll have to settle for the standard definition version.

Lightest on System Resources

Leawo Blu-ray Player

If you’re looking for a program to play Blu-rays while you do other things on your computer, the Leawo Blu-ray Player is the best choice.

When we tested this software, it used only about four percent of our system resources. Other programs we reviewed use nearly half of your processing power to play a movie. With the Leawo, you can watch movies on your computer and do other processor-heavy tasks without slowing down your movie or other programs.
Because it’s so lightweight, you’ll miss out on a lot of the extras found in the best Blu-ray player software. For example, you don’t get HD upscaling, environmental settings, simultaneous viewing options or BD-Live network support.

Fastest Playback

Aiseesoft Blu-ray Player

Blu-ray Reader For Laptop

When we tested the best Blu-ray player software, we timed how long it takes from when you push the play button to when the movie actually starts playing. It only takes five seconds for Aiseesoft Blu-ray Player to start showing your movie.

This is the fastest time we recorded. For comparison our top choice takes up to 15 seconds to begin playing. The longest time we saw was in WinDVD, which took 22 seconds. However, there are some serious drawbacks to this software. It lacks many of the features we look for in this category, including HD and 3D upscaling, as well as lossless audio playback. It’s also quite heavy on your system resources, taking up to 44% of your processing power.

Best HD Upscaling

WinDVD Pro

It not only plays Blu-ray discs perfectly, but you can also use it to play DVDs and CDs. It can also upscale standard-definition DVD footage for HD screens.

And it effectively smooths out pixelation and artifacts that can result from upscaling.
You’ll still get great features, such as customizable skins, environmental settings, BD-Live network support, power manager, social media connectivity and more. However, you won’t be able to use your smartphone as a remote control or take advantage of your device’s touchscreen.
It is worth noting that this is the slowest-starting Blu-ray player we reviewed. During our test phase, we timed how long it takes each program to begin playing a disc after the play button is pressed. WinDVD Pro took 22 seconds. Others we tested took as few as 5 seconds.

Why Trust Us?

We have been reviewing the best Blu-ray player software since 2010. In that time, we’ve considered dozens of applications, engaged in hands-on testing and ranked them accordingly. We tested each Blu-ray player program to determine the extent of its features, settings, functionality and ease of use. We evaluated the types of media discs and digital files they could process and the quality they produced. We looked for quality software that came with multiple types of customer support and was compatible with as many operating systems as possible.

How We Tested

Performance Tests
This grade is based on whether the software accommodates a variety of disc and digital file types without excessive drain on the central processing unit. We judged programs on their capacity to play the video without lag, buffering or any other distortions or delays. We also judged them on the amount and efficacy of audio and picture optimization settings.

Usability

This grade reflects how easy the software was to use, its important features and settings, and how well it performs each task. Good player software should have an interface that is immediately easy to understand and navigate, causing no doubt or frustration in accessing features. We also judged customization options and other features, such as the modifiable video effects.

CPU Usage
We played a test DVD and monitored our computer's CPU strain while running the software without any extra features or programs activated. The percentage shows the amount of processing power used while playing a movie in full screen. Higher percentages will mean that your computer may run slower if you are running multiple programs, or you may hear the computer fan running to keep the processor from overheating.

Further Information

It’s tempting to think that with the rise of streaming media and cloud storage for purchased movies and TV shows that things like DVDs and Blu-rays would soon be obsolete. However, in an interview with Twice, Blu-ray Disc Association representatives Dan Schinasi and Victor Matsuda paints a different picture. They noted that physical Ultra HD Blu-ray players sales were up 133%. And the association is going to be broadening its efforts to spread public understanding of Ultra HD Blu-ray technology.

With Blu-ray here for the long haul it’s important to understand a few things about what makes the best Blu-ray player software for your computer.

Video & Audio: Quality Matters
The best Blu-ray player software can read a variety of discs, not just Blu-ray. Look for one that can also play DVDs, CDs and rewritable discs. It should also be able to handle digital video and audio files such as AVI, MKV, MP4 and MP3.

This kind of software has convenient uses beyond playing Blu-ray movies. Some programs have the capacity to upscale standard-definition movies to high definition, or 2D movies up to 3D. However, if you choose to create a 3D movie, you'll still need compatible equipment to properly view it, including 3D glasses and a 3D-capable TV.

Blu-ray movies are meant to sound as good as they look. Good Blu-ray player software provides Dolby and Digital Theater System support and lossless audio playback, even when you use headphones or connect your computer to another device via HDMI cable. Additionally, the software should be able to fully handle all intended DVD capacities, including multi-language output for any DVD that offers it.

Controls & Conveniences: Connect, Customize and Control
Tweaking various settings in a video player system can pay off when you finally get to enjoy a perfect-looking video. Most software offers modifiable video effects, letting you adjust picture hue, saturation and brightness. It should also look good when you are navigating the player; a few software options let you customize the player skin, layout and background.

Movie player software is a must-have for Windows 8 and 10 users, since neither of them come with a free native media player. Some of the software applications we reviewed have Windows 8 touchscreen compatibility for the interface, blending seamlessly with your computer system and letting you watch all your favorite movies.

Some of the Blu-ray player software in our lineup has social media connectivity, so you can post status updates and comments via Facebook or Twitter about any video you're watching. Some programs work with the BD-Live network to access special features via the internet.

Because we all have so many different and constant uses for our computers, it's important that your media player doesn't drain your battery or dominate your CPU capacity while you use it. The best Blu-ray player software offers a power manager to help preserve your laptop battery life and reduce CPU consumption if you need to run other programs simultaneously.

Help & Support: Don't Get Stuck, Get Help
Software should not only perform its assigned functions well, but also provide you with optimal customer service should there be an issue. A good software manufacturer offers several means of technical support, whether it's direct contact with the support representatives via telephone or email, or self-help resources. The latter option encompasses, typically on the manufacturer's website, simple tutorials, a frequently-asked-questions section, and a knowledge base or a user forum where users of the software can communicate and help each other.

How Much Does Blu-ray Player Software Cost?

You can expect to pay anywhere between $30 and $80 for Blu-ray player software. This might seem very steep just to play discs on your computer, but considering all the additional features you get, it’s worth the price.

Best Free Blu-ray Player Software

VLC Media Player is a free, open-source program that’s been around since 2001. It has adapted quite well to new audio and video formats as they’ve been developed and released. If you want a free Blu-ray player application, this is probably your best bet.

Figuring out how to use VLC to play Blu-rays takes a bit of research and involves manually inserting DLL files deep in your computer’s directory. You also have to create special folders, download obscure files from third-party websites and more.

This kind of virtual surgery on your computer has the potential to cause major problems if you don’t do it properly, and you run the risk of getting malware if you download the needed files from an untrustworthy source. And you never know if the instructions you’re getting from the internet are correct until you spend a good deal of time trying to get the software to work.

If you don’t know what you’re doing in this regard, it’s best to stick with paid programs.

Blu Ray Reader Software Mac

PowerDVD

This program scored high marks in all our tests. It’s the easiest to use, produces fantastic images and audio and has every feature you could ever need.

Leawo Blu-ray Player

This Blu-ray player uses only four percent of your computer’s processing power, which means you can use the player without worrying about slowing the other programs running on your machine.

Macgo Blu-ray Player

E-reader For Mac

For less than $30, it’s the best Blu-ray player software you can buy for the money. It doesn’t have all the extra features of our top choice, but it’s excels at playing Blu-ray discs nonetheless.