Ripping Bluray Discs
Ripping Bluray Discs
Hey, I just prefer to watch from my Plex server, don't judge me!
For a long time, I have used a variety of variety of tools to rip DVD’s and Blu-ray discs to watch without the media. While the software tools are essential, you also need a quality drive to read them.
I have long used Pioneer DVD/BD drives. At least since 2009. They have been strong performers, and until recently at least, they allowed the flashing of firmware that enables some extra functionality. Like removing region restrictions.
And that is important, as I occasionally buy sets and shows from other regions (usually the UK) that are just not available in the US.
Alas, my trusty Pioneer drive decided to shit the bed. Ah well, it lasted ~ 4 years, and was well used.
It was time to upgrade. The drive I was using was a slimline form factor that while being compact, it compromised on speed of reading and writing. It was also a bit noisy in operation. Its dying gave me the opportunity to buy a full-size drive (I already had an enclosure) to use and get vastly better read speeds (write speeds too, but I haven’t written physical media in probably 15 years), as well as a bit more longevity.
I also felt that it was time to be able to add UHD1 recordings to my collection. I like the Pioneer drives. They are robust, and well supported. Alas, a recent change has made them less usable to flash to support my activities.
But there is a source for pre-flashed, new drives that will drop in and work. For about $80 more than the bare drive, a person opens the box, does his magic, tests it, and then sells them. I Zelled him some cash, and 3 days later the drive arrived.
Since I have no UHD discs, I ordered a couple quick and easy from Amazon2, to test the UHD ripping.
The new drive is QUIET. The small form factor drive I had used was loud. Part of that was its size, but the reality is that there isn’t much noise deadening you can do in a tiny form factor:
I also paid extra for the higher end version. It was touted as having packaging that dampens the noise, and boy-howdy does it. I have ripped a handful of discs and it is a lot quieter than the fans on my PC. Blissfully silent, even when it is reading nearly 2 gigs per minute off the disc.
More importantly, it does work with the utility I use to rip media, and it does it with aplomb (one of the UHD movies I ripped was nearly 90 gigabytes!)
Then I used Handbrake to turn that into an MP4 file and uploaded to my Plex server. The average conversion speed on my 8 core, 16 thread PC was about 8 frames per second. It took several hours (I left it running overnight) to transcode.
Here is where the story turns sad.
My Plex server runs as an app on the Synology diskstation I use for my local storage. It is a fairly capable box, but alas, streaming 2160p video is a wee bit beyond its performance envelope. The video works, but it stutters ever so slightly a couple times a minute. Clearly the processor is just not up to the task.
Two possible workarounds are: build a stand alone Plex server (I have a pretty damned fast Intel NUC that could be purposed for this), or just not use UHD media. Alas, since as I mentioned a few posts ago, my eyes aren’t good enough to see the difference between HD and UHD (and I don’t even have a 4K TV) I can stick to HDTV resolutions and be fine3.
UHD is a second generation of Bluray technology that ups the resolution from 1080p to 2160p (aka 4K) that brings a more complex copy protection algorithm
If you’re interested I bought the UHD versions of the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and the 4th installment of The Matrix - Resurrections
No, those two discs I bought aren’t useless, they also have a BD media in the package, so I am going to enjoy a childhood memory this weekend and watch Willy Wonka with glee.