Makes It Easy to Watch Blu-ray(ISO) on Windows Media Player

Question:

Hey Guys, is there anything I can download so I can play my Bluray movies using Windows Media Player? I’ve seen a few threads around here talking about using Windows Media Player to play Blu-Ray Discs. I am well aware of the whole “Windows doesn’t support Blu Ray” thing and Cyberlink’s software (the stuff that came with my Blu Ray drive) doesn’t always work for me. I have trouble playing certain discs using it. How are you guys getting Media player to play these discs? Is there a plugin I can buy somewhere? Plus, how does one play ISO image files in WMP?

Windows Media Player Blu-ray(ISO) Support

Windows Media Player is capable of playing all types of media. However, many video formats, such as Blu-ray(ISO), are proprietary and typically require a royalty payment in the form of a license to its owner. In order for Microsoft to include support for Blu-ray(ISO) discs, it would have to pay Sony a royalty, which would likely mean passing on that cost to consumers. Instead, Microsoft chooses to let the consumer decide on whether to pay to use Blu-ray technology.

It’s not a fresh topic! Windows 8.1/8/7 Media Player no longer has the support of Blu-ray(ISO) playback. But still now there are so many people looking for ways to play Blu-ray(ISO) on Windows Media Player. So here I will show to the possible solutions.

Play Blu-ray(ISO) on Windows Media Player on Windows 8.1/8/7

The hot solution many people choose is to download and install a codec pack which includes the codecs Windows Media Player doesn’t have. Here, the mediaplayercodecpack.com website offers a popular pack for Windows Media Player. The pack includes a number of popular codecs like Blu-ray, which allows you to watch your Blu-ray(ISO) movies using Windows Media Player. The pack is free. You can download it on CNET or directly go to the developer’s website.

2 Alternative Solutions to Play Blu-ray(ISO) in Windows Media Player

1. Use VLC Media Player

If you have no desire for downloading the codec pack, why not try a piece of alternative Media Player to play Blu-ray (ISO) video. As an alternative, you can use the VideoLAN program, which is also known as the VLC Media Player. The VLC media player is an open source program developed by the VideoLAN organization.

The VLC Media Players comes with a large library of audio and video codecs pre-installed. For some people, this option serves as an alternative to using the windows media player which needs to be manually upgraded and tweaked in order to play certain file types. The newest Blu-ray discs released and BD ISO files in the market can be played back as well. Noticeably, Blu-ray(ISO) playback is a paid feature. But you could embrace the DVD, HD video, common video and audio playback without spending a dime.

2. Use Blu-ray(ISO) Ripping Tool

The other option, is to simply install Pavtube BDMagic – a commercial, closed-source Blu-ray Ripping software that will play all of your upencrypted or encrypted Blu-ray and DVD discs. (Read Top 5 Best Selling Windows/Mac Blu-ray Rippers Review)

With this ripping tool, you can lossless backup the Blu-ray with exactly the same file structure; rip Blu-ray(ISO) to Windows Media Player highly compatible WMV videos, so that you can playback in Windows Media Player without scratching discs or using the disc drive frequently. What’s more, you can also rip Blu-ray to other popular video formats like MP4, M4V, MKV, AVI, MOV, VOB, MPG, 3GP, FLV, SWF, F4V, etc. bypassing the AACS and BD+ copy protection. Besides, you can extract audio from the Blu-ray movies: MP3, AC3, WMA, M4A, WAV, OGG, AAC, MKA, MP2, AIFF, FLAC, etc. audio formats are supported. Just get it now and follow the guide below to rip Blu-ray(ISO) for playing in Windows Media Player.

Steps:

1. Load Blu-ray(ISO) movies.

Insert the Blu-ray disc to Blu-ray drive. Download, install and open the Blu-ray to Windows Media Player Ripper. Click “Load File(s)” button on the main interface of program to load your Blu-ray movies. It will recognize the ISO image file automatically so that you will not have to run virtual drive to mount the ISO any more.

As you can see, you can view the movie on the right viewing window and take snapshots of the movie scenes.

2. Select output format for Windows Media Player.

Click “Format” > “Common Video” and choose “WMV3 (WMV9)(*.wmv)” as the output format, or  choose “WMV HD(*.wmv)” from “HD Video” as the best format for playing on Windows Media Player. And set the output saving folder by clicking “Output” and choose a folder to save the ripped files.

And you can also rip Blu-ray to suitable format for Samsung Galaxy YP-G70, VLC Media Player and Big Television Screen.

3. Start the Blu-ray(ISO) to WMV conversion

Finally, click the “Convert” button to start ripping Blu-ray(ISO) movies to WMV for playing in Windows Media Player. The ripper can help you finish the task soon, to save your time and work.

When the conversion finishes, you can click “Open” button to get the final output files. Open Windows Media Player and then add items to the Windows Media Player Library for playback.

Tips for ripping Blu-ray(ISO) movies to Windows Media Player:

1. Select desired subtitles and audio track: Click the drop-down list of “Subtitle”, then all the subtitle info in the Blu-ray will be displayed for you to select. To select your desired audio track, just click the pull down menu of “Audio”, and then the popup drop-down list will give you the detailed information of all audio tracks, including language, audio codec, and stream ID.

2. Join BD/ DVD chapters into one: If you would like to rip the whole movie into one file, select all the Titles and check the box “Merge into one”.

3. Maintain 5.1 surround sound: Click “Settings” and select “5.1 channels” in the drop-down list of Audio Channels.

4. Keep audio and video sync: To get perfect A/V synchronization, you need pay attention to frame rate when ripping BD/ DVD movies to Windows Media Center. You can click on “Settings” and try with different frame rate, like 30fps, 29.97 fps, 25fps, 24fps, etc. “Original” is not recommended.

5. Set auto shutdown: Once “Convert” button is clicked, ViewLog pops up. You may check “Shut down computer after conversion” in the ViewLog before conversion starts.

For general information about Blu-ray disc technology, take a look at the Blu-ray disc association website.