Summary: This article shows how to play Blu-ray with VLC on Mac and Windows 10/8/7 in detail, and at the same time how to solve VLC won't play Blu-ray.
Conceivably, VLC is the most popular as well as powerful free and open source tool in the market. The 2.0 and later version of VLC Media Player support Blu-ray media playback with some extra operations. You can download the latest version from VLC official website. However, for legal reasons, AACS and BD+ DRM libraries and keys still are not shipped. That means only Blu-ray disc with AACS libraries exposed (unencrypted Blu-rays) are supported by VLC. Feel frustrated? Don't worry! There are always solutions out there to get VLC and protected Blu-ray to play nicely. Below I will introduce some possible solutions. Check here.
How to Play Blu-ray Freely with VLC Media Player (Mac and Windows included)
Step 1: Go to videolan.org, download, install and run the latest version of VLC for your Windows or Mac system.
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You'd better upgrade to VLC 3.0 first if you are still using the old version. Please note that you will need to download the VLC Windows 64bit version if it is a 64bit Windows compute
Step 2: Go to: http://vlc-bluray.whoknowsmy.name/ to download the KEYS DATABASE(KEYDB.cfg) and AACS DYNAMIC LIBRARY(libaacs.dll for Windows or libaacs.dylib for Mac).
Step 3: Place your file to certain folder and start playback
For Windows Users
Please notice that there are two different files of AACS dynamic library available at a Windows-based computer, and you should download the 32bit file for VLC 32bit, and 64bit file for VLC 64bit.
1. Go to 'C:ProgramData', create a new folder in it and name it 'aacs'. After that, place your downloaded 'KEYDB.cfg' file into it.
2. Go to 'C:Program FilesVideoLANVLC', then drop your downloaded 'libaacs.dll' file into it. If running 64bit VLC, you will need to find your VLC directory in 'C:Program Files (x86)'.:
3. Now, you can easily launch VLC and use it to play Blu-ray disc on Windows for free. Just need to click on 'Media' > 'Open Disc' > 'Blu-ray'..
For Mac Users
1. KEYS Database Put 'KEYDB.cfg' in ~/Library/Preferences/aacs/ (create it if it does not exist).
2. AACS Dynamic Library
3. Run VLC and insert your Blu-ray disc into the Blu-ray drive, and open it with VLC, then your encrypted Blu-ray movie will start playing in VLC.
Tip: VLC does not yet support Blu-ray menus so you must manually select title to play. Not all Blu-ray movies are supported.
Errors You May Encounter When Playing Blu-ray in VLC
Even you have successfully installed VLC 3.0 or above and follow all the steps above, you likely still encounter errors like:
• This blu-ray disc needs a library for bd+ decoding, and your system does not have it.
• This blu-ray disc needs a library for aacs decoding, and your system does not have it.
• No valid processing key found in AACS config file.
• Missing AACS configuration file!
• Your input can't be opened.
• VLC keep Blu-ray loading but nothing presents.
This is because not all the commercial Blu-ray discs are supported by VLC media player so that you might encounter the problem from time to time. VLC can only deal with discs which its library has the corresponding AACS keys, yet the AACS and BD+ DRM libraries and keys won't ship with the Blu-ray discs, as their publishers seem to take everyone as a pirate, even you already spend money just for personnel movie enjoyment.
How to Play Blu-ray with VLC or Other Media Player without Limits
In case there are a lot of unsolved problems that you are experiencing every now and again when it comes to playing Blu-ray with VLC, there are better options that you can adopt so that you can continue to enjoy your Blu-ray videos. One of these alternative methods is EaseFab Blu-ray Ripper (available for Windows and Mac users), which is one of the powerful Blu-ray Rippers and converters in the market today. It has the ability to rip convert any commercial and homemade Blu-ray including DVDs to any format that you think of. These formats include AVI, MOV, MKV, M4V, FLV, 3GP, MPG, ASF, VOB, TS, HD MP4, HD AVI, HD MKV, HD WMV, HD MOV, MP3, WAV, AC3, AAC, MKA, OG among others. It Performance is a comparison to a common Blu-ray ripper. By just a single click, you can convert your Blu-ray movies, with fast speed and high quality.
It also provides optimized output formats for iPhone (iPhone XS Max), iPad (iPad mini, iPad Pro, iPad Air), Samsung tablets, LG, HTC smart phones and many other devices. A Mac version that named EaseFab best Blu-ray Ripper for Mac has been developed for Mac OS X users. It is user friendly and the steps involved in converting DVD are also simple.
1. Insert Blu-ray into your BD drive and launch EaseFab Blu-ray Ripper.
2. Add the files you want to convert and select your preferred output format.
3. Click the Convert button to initiate the Blu-ray ripping process. When finished locate your output folder and enjoy your movie.
To conclude, when you play Blu-ray files with VLC and found it didn't work, just don't give up your Blu-ray discs and there are several methods that can help you save your Blu-ray enjoyment. Renew your VLC, rip Blu-ray to VLC compatible format. Just like the saying goes, where there is a will, there is a way. Watching Blu-ray movies anywhere you like is easy as ABC now.
How to Use VLC Media Player to Play Encrypted Blu-Ray disc in Windows 8 64-bit or Windows 8 32-bit
Overview
Again, there is no Blu-Ray playback support with Microsoft latest Windows operating system, Windows 8, just as there is no native Blu-Ray playback support under Apple Mac OS X Mountain Lion. The lack of Blu Ray disc playback support in Windows 8 is not a big issue, as Windows XP, Windows Vista Basic and Windows 7 all do not offer native playback of Blu-Ray. But it is still a bit of imperfect for high quality Blu-Ray movie lovers.
To play Blu-Ray, you can use Blu Ray Ripper for Windows 8 to rip Blu-Ray to Windows 8 Support WMV or WMV HD or HD H.264 MP4 or use third party paid Blu-Ray player for Windows 8/10. And by doing some tricks, you can hire VLC media player to play Blu-Ray in Windows 8, Windows 10 64-bit or Windows 8 32 bit for free.
To better support Blu-Ray playback in Windows 8, Windows 10, VideoLAN and the VLC development team present the fifth version of “Twoflower” which is VLC 2.0.4(now the version is 2.2.1). The major updated VLC introduces an important number of fixes and improvements especially for Blu-Ray under Windows 8. However, for legal reasons, AACS and BD+ DRM libraries and keys still are not shipped.
This article will guide you step-by-step to download and place the AACS and BD+ DRM libraries and keys in order to play Blu Ray on Windows 8.
Step-by-step Guide to Play Blu-Ray with VLC in Windows 8 64-bit/32-bit and Windows 10
Step 1: Download a copy of latest VLC media player
Download a copy of latest free VLC media player which is version 2.0.4. Run and install.
Step 2: Download and place Keys database
Download the Keys database. Then put it in %APPDATA%/Roaming/aacs/. %APPDATA%/aacs/ should lead to C:UsersMY_USERNAMEAppDataRoamingaacs unless you have some wacky Windows setup. If you not have an “aacs” folder, create a new folder and rename to “aacs”.
- Open your user area (start->”your username”)
- Enable view hidden files and folders (Organise->Folder and Search Options->View{tab} and select “show hidden files…”->select ok)
- Open “AppData” directory
- Create a folder and name it “aacs” (no quotations)
- Place the KEYDB.cfg file in this folder directly from the unzipped Blu-ray playback addon pack.
Step 3: Download and place AACS dynamic library
For Windows 8 32bit, Windows 10 32bit, free download the 32bit AACS dynamic library. Then put the file in your VLC directory.
For Windows 8 64bit, Windows 10 64bit, free download the 64 bit AACS dynamic library. Then put the file in your VLC directory.
- Open “Computer”
- Open “Local Disk (C:)”
- Open “Program Files” [Or “Program Files (x86)” if running 64bit]
- Navigate to “VLC” directory
- Move appropriate file from unzipped Blu-ray playback addon pack to this directory (file located in “aacs/windows 32” or “aacs/windows 64” directory in pack)
Now, you can easily play Blu-Ray disc with VLC. Note: VLC 2.2.1 still doesn’t have menu support yet.
Codec Pack For Vlc Player
If you still have problems of playing Blu-Ray disc movies with VLC, I am afraid that there is no other solution but to hire a paid Blu-Ray player to play your Blu-Ray. You can also rip the Blu-Ray to WMV or H.264 MP4 for Blu-Ray back and easy access movies without a disc inserted. TechiSky gives another two popular method to play Blu-Ray disc movies in Windows 8 and play Blu-Ray movies in Windows 10 that may help you.