DVD/1080p BD films available for download through JRiver on a Z Book Laptop equipped with a 32” CRT TV.
DVD/1080p BD films available for download through JRiver on a Z Book Laptop equipped with a 32” CRT TV.
I need to choose an external BD burner to duplicate a rare and unusual DVD film. At the same time, I also want this burner for sharing DVD/BD playback with my Oppo 95 BD player, where the Oppo connects the s-video output from my 32” Toshiba CRT TV in my bedroom using a set of custom-built floor-standing speakers featuring 15” woofers.
LOL, I prefer the CRT’s high contrast and its 4:3 screen format, which lets me display my vintage 1.33:1 aspect ratio content without the vertical black bars or cropping issues that occur with a 16:9 TV.
Right now, my Pioneer LX500 BD player connects to the HDMI input of this Black Box video converter.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...kX...sMQAvD_BwE
But I plan to replace the Pioneer player with an external BD drive and use my HP Z book G8 15” laptop.
https://h20195.www2.hp.com/v2/getpdf.aspx/c07607106.pdf
The laptop includes integrated graphics.
https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-RTX...536.0.html
With the external BD drive connected via USB 3.1 Gen 1, the laptop’s screen will turn off while its HDMI output sends the signal to the Black Box converter.
My main concerns are: when streaming DVD or 1080p BD movies through JRiver on the external BD drive and using the laptop’s Nvidia RTX A2000 graphics to power the HDMI converter, will the picture quality match what I see on my 32” CRT from the $1K Pioneer player?
Will the Nvidia graphics draw enough power to cause noticeable fan noise while playing a two-hour BD movie?
Or how likely would it be to lower the graphics resolution to reduce fan noise, even though the Black Box HDMI converter is producing low-quality composite video?
How probable is it that this BD drive becomes audible when playing two-hour BD movies?
Would the Pioneer model be as quiet as most other popular external BD drives (ASUS, LG, OWC, etc.)?
And could I reliably burn a copy of a DVD-R movie onto the drive in my desktop PC and transfer it to another DVD?
Honestly, playing back BR on PC is more complicated than it seems, especially coming from someone who has done it before. Because of the DRM restrictions, you need special software to make it work, and since UHD DRM is handled differently by most companies, it’s unlikely you’ll find discs that actually play.
To address your concerns, here’s what I can say:
As long as you use reliable software, the results should be consistent.
The graphics load will be minimal.
External drives usually make noise, but using anti-vibration pads might not make a big difference compared to your current player.
Based on my experience, the only company that produced better drives than Pioneer was Plextor, which has been out of business for at least ten years. So you should be fine.
1080p BDs are fine for me; I don’t intend to purchase any 4K BDs beyond the one a friend gave me. DRM isn’t an issue—just need to run the app in the background.
https://www.redfox.bz/anydvdhd.html
The application should perform particularly well with the JRiver player.
https://www.jriver.com/index.html
https://www.jriver.com/htpc.html
https://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php
Thank you for clarifying my hardware concerns. While testing
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Vertigo-Blu-ray/7748/
on the LG wh16ns40 drive in my PC case
https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/produc...ssis/GD05/,
I kept my ear near the front of the drive. Since the PC was assembled by
https://www.steigerdynamics.com/
the selected fans were very quiet, resulting in almost silent operation. At four feet away I didn’t hear anything.
Could it be better to use an external version of this LG drive instead of the Pioneer model? I’ve even heard that LG produces drives for Pioneer. How realistic is that?
Pioneer states they handle design and production in-house, so unless that's incorrect, they produce their own. I don't suspect any inaccuracy there.
I share the same LG drive you mentioned—it's not particularly quiet, but it works fine for movies once started since data isn't being read constantly. Most drives behave this way, though external ones tend to vibrate more because they're not fixed in place. I own a slim external drive that I use often for music ripping, and removing the single antivibration pad eliminated all vibration noise.
Generally, I'm not sure about the details of my HP Z Book's 15" screen. However, if I can utilize the laptop's display management tool to switch off that screen while its HDMI output sends the signal to the Black Box HDMI to composite converter, would it significantly reduce the laptop's overall power usage? That power supply tends to get quite hot.
Unless brightness is high, the display shouldn't consume much power, but it would be preferable if it was off. It's a good idea to check CPU/GPU usage during playback to identify any issues. The warm power adapter suggests the CPU might be active while playing.