The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Playing Blu-ray with a Netbook

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by hendra, Jun 23, 2009.

  1. hendra

    hendra Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    157
    Messages:
    2,020
    Likes Received:
    6
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Has anyone tried playing a Blu-ray movie with a Netbook? An external drive may be required. I wonder if a Netbook is powerful enough to play BD.
     
    hendra, Jun 23, 2009
    #1
  2. paper_wastage

    paper_wastage Beat this 7x7x7 Cube

    Reputations:
    486
    Messages:
    2,596
    Likes Received:
    24
    Trophy Points:
    56
    netbooks?... with the nvidia ION, or GN40 chipsets, can play 720p.. 1080p might be a stretch though
     
    paper_wastage, Jun 23, 2009
    #2
  3. sirmetman

    sirmetman Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    679
    Messages:
    3,291
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    I couldn't track down the speed of the CPU in BD players, but my guess is that a netbook should be able to handle decoding provided the interface the external device is plugged in to can sustain bitrates high enough. Does anyone know for sure?
     
    sirmetman, Jun 23, 2009
    #3
  4. Clutch

    Clutch cute and cuddly boys

    Reputations:
    1,053
    Messages:
    2,468
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    66
    I dont think it can because of the graphics because most netbooks have a x3100 and I dont think it can do bluray (but the x4500 can),
     
    Clutch, Jun 23, 2009
    #4
  5. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,038
    Messages:
    3,071
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Most netbooks have intel GMA950, not x3100.
    Netbooks with those cannot play blueray videos on blueray disk. The CPU is too slow and there's no GPU acceleration. The decryption of the Blueray video alone will cripple the Intle atom CPU.

    However, if you're playing a pre-decodeded blue ray disk rip, up to 10Mbps in H.264 codec, a Netbook withGMA950 can easily handle 1080P and 720P HDvideos at 24P.
     
    jackluo923, Jun 23, 2009
    #5
  6. sirmetman

    sirmetman Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    679
    Messages:
    3,291
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    105
    So there ya go, I stand corrected. Of course, ripping pretty much any BluRay is illegal thanks to that brilliant law known as the DMCA, so we can't talk about that here...
     
    sirmetman, Jun 23, 2009
    #6
  7. chunglau

    chunglau Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    11
    Messages:
    509
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I don't think the GMA950 can play 1080p or 720p HD rips. Care to point to links that support your statement?
     
    chunglau, Jun 23, 2009
    #7
  8. iGrim

    iGrim Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    47
    Messages:
    380
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    It cant. Hes talking out of his butt.
     
    iGrim, Jun 23, 2009
    #8
  9. ViciousXUSMC

    ViciousXUSMC Master Viking NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    11,461
    Messages:
    16,824
    Likes Received:
    76
    Trophy Points:
    466
    Native blueray not a chance, but with the right codecs if it was ripped it can happen. But these codecs will take away from the quality some.

    There is a new piece of hardware out there (not on market yet) that goes in a mini-pci slot that does just this though, boosts a netbooks flash performance and allows HD playback.

    I dont use ether of said codecs, there are two of them that give major boosts in a low performance system, I think Jack knows both of them.
     
    ViciousXUSMC, Jun 23, 2009
    #9