Windows 7 Media player will not play back BluRay disc's

Agree, Blu-ray on a computer (PC or Mac) is currently for geeks only and totally not user-friendly.

In your case, the issue is that with Blu-ray, the whole playback-display chain must be made of HDCP compliant devices, for instance your graphic card, but also your TV.

HDCP is a content protection measure that prevents unauthorized copies (even though fair use copies are tolerated or even legal in most countries). The graphic card has no way to know whether the data goes to a TV or some illegal recording device, so the flow of data is just shut down if the device is not HDCP.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth\_Digital\_Content\_Protection

I do play most of my Blu-ray movies on TV too (from the computer), I suppose my TV is modern enough to have HDCP, but even if it was not, I would be able to play my movies without any problem because I remove the HDCP copy protection code with AnyDVD HD.

Yep, another geeky (and costly) tool. It also removes other copy protection codes for DVDs and the very few CDs that have it.

Removing these copy protection measures is a mandatory and undocumented/unintuitive step if you want to either build a digital media library (by ripping your discs to your computer drive) or play them on every kind of device you own. Every DVD/BD ripper includes such a feature, with more or less success, and just like your living room Blu-ray player if you have any, they require a constant connection to the Internet in order to upgrade and read and decrypt the latest movie discs produced, unlike DVDs which can play any movie years after the player's release.

AnyDVD acts like an intermediate between the disc and the computer, as it decrypts on the fly all the HDCP-encrypted data for any application that tries accessing the disc, so you don't even need a dedicated ripper, you can just as well copy the disc content to your hard drive using drag and drop in plain old Windows Explorer. But that piece of software is bloody expensive... :[

Sorry I didn't answer you correctly the first time, but you mentioned TV playback only now.

I thought you had problems playing and displaying Blu-ray discs on your laptop, and I didn't understand why the problem would be limited to rented discs only, not purchased ones.

Yea.... I do not know if it is Microsoft or HP the Note Book I have. I thought when I bought this HP with Windows 7 and a Blue Ray player, that I would have the benefit of having two great products in one. NOT THE CASE.

Try to hook up the external HDMI to your TV and watch a rented Blue Ray movie. It will not allow you to watch a movie on an external unit. So, I can watch this rented movie on my note book but not on my great big plasma.. Not the greatest idea that the design team took into account when they wrote the programing. These guys may be smart when it comes to programing beyond that..... they are just stupid.

Don't give me this bull that it is about protecting or stealing a version of a movie. I just want to watch a blue ray on my plasma. PEOPLE OUT THERE, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY WHEN YOU BUY A COMPUTER AND SPRING THE EXTRA BUCKS FOR THE BLUE RAY.

 IF YOU WANT TO WATCH A BLUE RAY ON YOUR TV, YOU'LL NEED ONE THAT IS A STAND ALONE BLUE RAY PLAYER.

Amazing how these computer geeks are so out of touch with the regular person. Computers need to be designed in a way for the everyday person can make it perform a simple task. We are not computer geeks, we do not want to spend 10 hours a day in front of a computer like you. There is a whole world outside that is far more stimulating then sitting in front of a computer.

We just want our computer to do what we want,  then move on to the next thing. Life is to short to waste on time spent in front of a computer..

I'm trying to break this down logically.

I don't know whether licensing fees like this are standard for the entire production run of an object (player, program, etc.)  for a single cost, or are per object.

But my Memorex blu-ray player only cost me $99.99. Presumably, then, whether it was averaged out over the units made or applied to each unit, the license applied to my purchase of that item had to have been far less than $99, as both Memorex and the company that I purchased it from have presumably made profits over this license and the cost of production and shipping.

I would also assume that my blu-ray player, being one model out of dozens among different manufacturers, has a much lower installation base than Windows 7. So I would assume that either way that the license is sold, the cost added to Windows 7 would be equal or lower than the cost added to my blu-ray player.

Microsoft is not above charging exorbitant prices for their programs (see Windows, Office, programming suites,) so I don't think adding even $50 to Windows 7 would faze people--I think as time goes by, the lack of blu-ray support is going to be a much bigger problem for them.

Shame, shame, shame. I can accept that my X-Box doesn't play blu-rays--it wasn't designed to, and it came out years ago, when blu-rays were still iffy. But with Microsoft saying it wants to combine media--link TV to computer, Xbox and Windows live accounts--not letting me watch my blu-rays is just ridiculous. The format has cemented itself as the true successor to DVDs, but Microsoft continues to live in the past without putting forth a reasonable answer as to why.

It is well within Microsoft's capabilities to add native BluRay support to Windows Media Player. Why havent they? Cost. BluRay data disks are supported by Windows, because the technology needed to read a BluRay data disk doesn't have any licensing issues associated with it. The technology to play a BluRay movies on the other hand require a "license". Every company that makes a standalone BluRay player bought the rights to use the technology, as did every (legitimate) company that makes a BluRay movie playing software. The costs for these license is recovered by the company when they sell you the player/software. Microsoft could, of course, also by the rights to include native BluRay movie support, but they would then have to pass on the cost to you. In your case, this would probably be fine, but think about all the people that don't watch BluRay movies on their PCs... BluRay drives are still rare to find in computers, and even those who have BluRay hardware, don't always want to watch movies on their computer. Why should they pay $20 for Windows for a "feature" they never use? Unfortunately you are in the minority at present. As soon as that changes (meaning that a significant portion of Windows purchasers have the hardware ability and desire to play BluRay movies), you can bet support will come with Windows.

The rep is suggesting that as a way to do what you want, you should look into third party software. He is however also cautioning that since it is third party, any problems you have will need to be resolved by contacting the third party.

And the reason Microsoft doesn't have a W7 blu-ray edition with the associated cost is absurd.