[mythtv-users] Can MythTV play blu-rays?

[Scott Knight]

on 6/27/2012 9:35 AM Brian J. Murrell carved the following into a picnic 
table:
> Sure it would be nice to have myth doing that too (and it would also
> mean getting the high-def audio passed from my mythfrontend through my
> TV to my receiver on the optical connection that already exists there)
> but it seems like just too much work and resources (just how big a FE do
> you need to be able to run a windows VM that can host anydvd?) to be
> able to do at the moment.
I have been watching this discussion and just thought I would throw my 
opinion in.  Should have jumped in earlier, but I liked where the AnyDVD 
discussion was going.  The idea of running that in a VM is interesting.

The model I have settled in on here is to rip every disk that shows up 
into the video library with DVDFab from my Windows workstation. I 
started out with DVDs way back at the beginning of my MythTV career in 
2004 by making iso files.  Then, I decided I liked the flexibility of 
ripping the "Full Disc" method, which basically just strips out the 
content protection and throws down the disc structure to a directory.  
Takes a fair amount of disc space, but that is cheap and only getting 
cheaper by the second.

MythTV has been able to handle both DVD and Blu-Ray file structures for 
a long time (though it doesn't do the Blu-Ray menus yet). Consequently, 
I haven't had a physical disc in any of the frontend machines in years.  
Any additional Blu-Ray features just play after the main movie or can be 
selected manually from the menu.

As for the hardware, I have a dedicated backend (big drives, raid, rack 
mount, etc) in a basement closet and the frontends are a combo of 
integrated Nvidia mainboards (9300/9400) and a first gen Zotac MAG ION.  
All handle the Blu-Ray content with ease, but don't do the HD audio 
codecs.  I recently (like last weekend) threw a GT 430 into the main 
family room frontend so that I could get full HD audio there since it's 
the only place with a fancy A/V system...the rest are just using TV 
speakers.  I am in A/V heaven with a ~5 year old Core 2 Duo frontend.

Just in case you didn't know, you are not going to get full HD audio 
over optical. There is not THAT much difference between Dolby DIgital 
and DTS-HD/TrueHD anyway.  Hell, my wife could barely discern the 
difference between the new Def Tech Mythos 10 system and the old "a/v 
system in a box" speakers that they replaced. :-(
> The last thing I need to add to what is already perceived around here as
> our "fragile" myth system (the last 6-12 months have not been terribly
> good) is more fragility.
I can sympathize.  The family really seems to appreciate a system that 
just works, but they are well accustomed to needing to wait for a reboot 
or Blu-Ray rip.  I always remind them that it's a fair amount of work 
for me to provide a huge library of personal recordings that don't 
contain commercials throughout the house...even on their own 
computers...and with a sufficient amount of complaining, it can be 
turned off for good.

Scott