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

Anonymous
2009-10-25T16:16:04+00:00

I just installed Windows 7 premium home,full retail 64 bit version. I was surprised to find media player does not support BluRay playback. I read the previous post in this forum and see, as far back as May, that Microsoft was aware of the codec issues with BluRay playback on Win. 7

What is Microsoft doing to solve this glaring issue. BluRay has been around for a long time and I'm sure thousands of Windows 7 customers are going to be in the same boat as me. There are NO codec available through a Google search ( 64 bit) and I would be very reluctant to use one off the internet anyway (Virus issues)

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2009-10-28T13:18:41+00:00

Hi Patrick,

As we know that Blu-Ray is a patented technology so it requires appropriate codecs to be purchased and hence we cannot include it in our Operating System.

To play a Blu-ray Disc, you need to use a non-Microsoft program that supports Blu-ray playback and a device capable of reading Blu-ray Discs.

Check the below link:

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/MPEG-and-DVD-video-frequently-asked-questions

Hope this information is useful.

Amrita M

Microsoft Answers Support Engineer

Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-08-04T00:29:01+00:00

    Well not all BD players are equal, you need to look beyond the price, for instance how well it is integrated with Windows Media Center, or in my case, the ability to play BDs ripped on the hard drive, which I think only Arcsoft TMT5 offered at the time I looked.

    I tried 4 different players, and I don't remember if it was PowerDVD or WinDVD, but one of these 2 was so bad it almost made me vomit... ^-^

    But I agree, the current prices are usurious, at almost twice the price of the Blu-ray drive (under $60.) The Office 2010 suite starts at $110, so $100 for a software that can only playback Blu-ray and should in 2011 be built into Windows is pure madness. No wonder people pirate their software.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-08-03T23:55:39+00:00

    Well, I certainly wouldn't pay $99 for PowerDVD either. Not when I can download a full version of WinDVD Pro for $40. Here is a link: http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/us/en/Product/1189528458632#versionTabview=tab1&tabview=tab0

    I tried to make the URL a link, but when I clicked on OK it disappeared.

    I initially downloaded the free trial, but the free trial is not Pro, but standard WinDVD and it does not handle BR disks. When I downloaded and installed WinDVDPro, it did not work. I was using a video card with only DVI output and used an adapter to convert the DVI output to HDMI. When I replaced the video card with one I had for another machine project that had an HDMI output, it played beautifully.

    Of course this is similar the XP in the early days when you had to have a program like WinDVD to play regular DVD's. And of course with Vista you had to find a separate decoder if you wanted ot play mp4 files, but it played DVD's natively. Now Win7 plays DVD's natively as well as mp4 files. We shall see what Win8 holds for us.

    I was not happy about even paying $40, but it was the best option I could find at the time.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-08-03T23:25:56+00:00

    Well there hasn't been a new Windows yet, but I doubt Sony and alt have changed their licensing policy or Microsoft has plans to integrate Blu-ray to Windows 8.

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-08-03T22:42:43+00:00

    excuse me... heh, didn't flip to the last page... apparently they haven't.... I just hate the idea of going out and spending $99 on PowerDVD when people are complaining about that software too... hmmm.

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