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Will a Blu-Ray drive play regular DVDs?
- Thread starter eshell1
- Start date
GJSNeptune
[H]F Junkie
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- Mar 31, 2004
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- 12,372
Yes, and they often upscale the quality.
Yes, and they often upscale the quality.
The drive has nothing to do with upscaling. It depends on the player.
nobody_here
[H]F Junkie
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2006
- Messages
- 8,878
well, i went to liteon's site, found the $59 model on newegg, the iHOS104, and it shows its specs here
http://www.liteonit.com/global/inde...k=view&id=308&Itemid=170&limit=1&limitstart=1
http://www.liteonit.com/global/inde...k=view&id=308&Itemid=170&limit=1&limitstart=1
Joe Average
Ad Blocker - Banned
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- Apr 6, 2008
- Messages
- 15,459
As stated, the drives don't do anything but read the data from the optical media and pass it on to the computer for processing. Software handles playback and any other options you may want to do with that data... but the bare drives don't modify or process the data in any way. BD-ROM drives don't do upscaling or any fancy decoding - they just bounce a laser and read the pits and pass it on...
That Lite-On drive is a BD-ROM and reads Blu-ray media, DVD media, and CD media, so it's perfect for just a read-only playback machine.
That Lite-On drive is a BD-ROM and reads Blu-ray media, DVD media, and CD media, so it's perfect for just a read-only playback machine.
Are you guys saying that the the software needs to be of decent quality in order to get the best results from the BD drive?
All I'm concerned about is getting good quality (the full and true 1080p) Blu-Ray and standard DVD playback from a machine using an ATI 4350. Are these cheaper BD drives capable of doing so with proper software?
All I'm concerned about is getting good quality (the full and true 1080p) Blu-Ray and standard DVD playback from a machine using an ATI 4350. Are these cheaper BD drives capable of doing so with proper software?
Hamish Campbell
2[H]4U
- Joined
- May 15, 2006
- Messages
- 2,062
yes, they are.
The major differences in one Blue ray drive to the next are:
1) Physical Dimensions. They will all be a standard width and heigth (for 5.25" bay) unless you are talking slim line for laptops and slot loaders. However, the length may vary slightly. Some might be 175mm deep while others may extend out towards 200mm deep. Generally, this is not an issue unless your drive crashes into the PSU or CPU cooler due to chassis design. Some smaller chassis may not be deep enough to handle the longer drives. I think most vendors are trying to make the short drives now.
2) Noise operation. Some drives are just quieter than others.
3) Reliability. Some drives and some brands are just more reliable. Most people will have some level of brand loyalty. I have used drives from Lite On, LG, Pioneer, Sony, etc. I have not seen a significant difference in performance in any of these. My current BD drive is an LG becuase it plays both Blue ray and HD DVDs. I also have a Blue ray only drive from Pioneer in one of my other HTPCs. Both work pretty well, are quiet and I am happy with them.
As others have pointed out, it is really the graphics capabilities and s/w players and drivers that do the heavy lifting. All the drives should be capable of standard DVD playback, again, assuming you have the right s/w stack on your box.
1) Physical Dimensions. They will all be a standard width and heigth (for 5.25" bay) unless you are talking slim line for laptops and slot loaders. However, the length may vary slightly. Some might be 175mm deep while others may extend out towards 200mm deep. Generally, this is not an issue unless your drive crashes into the PSU or CPU cooler due to chassis design. Some smaller chassis may not be deep enough to handle the longer drives. I think most vendors are trying to make the short drives now.
2) Noise operation. Some drives are just quieter than others.
3) Reliability. Some drives and some brands are just more reliable. Most people will have some level of brand loyalty. I have used drives from Lite On, LG, Pioneer, Sony, etc. I have not seen a significant difference in performance in any of these. My current BD drive is an LG becuase it plays both Blue ray and HD DVDs. I also have a Blue ray only drive from Pioneer in one of my other HTPCs. Both work pretty well, are quiet and I am happy with them.
As others have pointed out, it is really the graphics capabilities and s/w players and drivers that do the heavy lifting. All the drives should be capable of standard DVD playback, again, assuming you have the right s/w stack on your box.