Top 5 Best Blu-ray Player Software for Windows 8

Playing Blu-ray movies on the go on a laptop or in the living room on an HTPC with a Blu-ray drive doesn't have to be difficult. But if you want true HD video quality, cinema-like soundtrack enjoyment and the experience of navigating disc extras and menus, you will need a Blu-ray media player that is up to the task. Here are four of the best Windows 8 compatible Blu-ray player software, just based on Blu-ray lovers' nominations.

The best Windows 8 Blu-ray player software programs so far:

Currently the most popular and best Blu-ray playback software are PowerDVD Ultra by Cyberlink, WinDVD Pro 11 by Corel, Total Media Theatre by ArcSoft and Blu-ray Player by Leawo. I have compared all these Blu-ray player software programs and some suggestions are given to help you choose the right Blu-ray media player for your viewing needs. Just keep reading.

Top 1: Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra

Undoubtedly the Cyberlink PowerDVD is the Rock n' Roll one, and nearly all Blu-ray lovers like it! It has long been the best Windows 8 Blu-ray, DVD, music and video player to beat. PowerDVD fully supports Blu-ray discs, upscales standard definition content, plays any other type of video and even supports audio playback and photo slideshows. Now PowerDVD comes in three flavoers, Deluxe for $54.95, Pro For $79.95 and Ultra for $99.95.

Pros: 

• Plays Blu-ray movies at full HD resolution.
• 30 days to test this software.
• Easy to use, rich and powerful features, supports audio playback, high video quality. 

Cons:

• It costs money. Not $19.99 USD or $29.99, but a hundred bucks. Neither I nor anyone I know would be willing and able to pay so much. 
• Poor customer and tech support. 

Top 2: Corel WinDVD Pro 11

WinDVD Pro 11 is efficient and full-featured Blu-ray player software that delivers excellent 2D Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, AVCHD, DVD, videos and audios in all latest formats playback. Its newest version is packed with some standout features just like display stretching, 2D to 3D conversion, HD upscaling, Dolby soundtrack tech and more! Plus, WinDVD Pro 11 uniquely includes a premium online movie search engine that supports you to find favorite movies at the lowest price from popular websites. The software has a free trial available, but a full license will cost you $49.99

Pros: 

• Provides impressive 3D upscaling and seamless Blu-ray playback. 
• Clear playback of both BD, DVD media and media files .

Cons: 

• No support for some of the lesser-known disc types such as VCD and SVCD. 
• Computer freezes when trying to watch a DVD with Corel WinDVD.

Top 3: TotalMedia Theatre 5

ArcSoft's TotalMedia Theatre is sophisticated, user-friendly Blu-ray player software boasting dynamic features, an intuitive interface and exceptional video playback. Ideal for all types of film enthusiasts, the software provides a convenient and cost-effective way to enjoy Blu-ray movies without the inherent limitations of a tangible electronic player. It supports 2D/3D Blu-ray playback and even supports upscaling other standard definition video, both locally on your system and DVDs you put into your system. You can also convert 2D movies to 3D with this software. Total Media also supports streaming video from YouTube and other Internet sources, the ability to change your system's region code to match the disc you want to play, and serves as an all-in-one media management tool and player for almost any video and audio type and format.

Pros: 

• Boasts a sleek, intuitive interface and exceptional Blu-ray playback. 
• High quality media playback, especially playback blu-ray Disc. 
• Easy control and support dolby 5.1 sound well. 
• Download youtube and watch directly on it easily. 
• The audio can be adjusted and sounds good. 

Cons: 

• The virtual remote control remains imposed over the interface unless minimized. 
• Program just freezes when I try to start no matter how I do. 
• Cannot customize user interface.
• No karaoke capabilities.

Top 4: Leawo Blu-ray Player

Leawo Blu-ray Player is widely-acclaimed to be the best Blu-ray playing software for Windows 8 OS PC in the world. It provides extremely superb experience for Blu-ray, DVD and HD movie playback with full Blu-ray and HD movie playback navigation. Except Blu-ray playback, it can function as a cost free video player offering lifelong free service for playing DVD discs, DVD IFO files, common videos, and up to 1080P videos seamlessly. Apart from that, the advanced DTS5.1 cinematic stereo output, full-screen playback, flexible subtitles and audio tracks selection, etc. all make it fantastic than ever. Couple these features with the extreme efficiency that this program operates on, and you have nearly everything you could hope for to turn. 

Pros:

• Seamless Blu-ray playback.
• Forever free DVD player to play back DVD. 
• Fully support Windows 8.
• DTS5.1 guarantees super high quality of stereo output. 
• User-friendly media playback control.
• Support playback video in various formats free.
• Support subtitles and audio tracks option. 
• Quite neat and simple to use interface.
• Easy to navigate and install. 

Cons:

• Blu-ray playback is not cost free. However, if you wanna get a free keycode for watching Blu-ray movies on this media player, you can take part in Leawo's ongoing Blu-ray Player Beta test to test, review and get a $49.95 valued registration code before May 10, 2013.
• No  3D playback function.

Okay, now you have seen the top 4 Windows 8 Blu-ray player software. Which one is your favorite? Is your favorite on the top four above? Did I miss a feature you love about one of the above Blu-ray media player software? Whatever you think, let me hear it in the comments.

Related Articles
5 Best Free DVD Player Software for Windows 8
Samsung Galaxy Mega 5.8 vs. Galaxy Mega 6.3

5 Best Free DVD Player Software for Windows 8

"What is the best free DVD player software for Windows" has become the hottest topic on online world of late! Yes indeed, everyone needs a powerful yet free DVD player software. We love movies, and viewing them in a theater with a huge screen and incredible surround sound makes the experience even better. However, with those powerful DVD player software programs, watching DVD movies in the privacy of our own home is also as exciting as going to a movie theater. Just with two speakers, the free DVD player software could transform a simple experience into an audio feast for our ears! 

Although the web is now bombarded us with DVD player software programs that offer a wide array of features and service, but today I only collect the top 5 free DVD media player software for Windows for your reference, if you are now in urgent need of such a tool. 

Top 1: Free DVD Player

Free DVD Player coming from Leawo is a totally free DVD player to offer lifelong free service for playing DVD discs and IFO files. This region free DVD player could play back all DVD discs from different regions and countries with quality loss. Preferred subtitles and audio tracks option is available, and superb audio quality is offered to give you cinema sound quality at home thanks to its full support of DTS5.1. Other features like full-screen playback, video/audio setting, clock display are also provided.

Pros: Forever free to play back DVD; Fully support Windows 8; DTS5.1 guarantees super high quality of stereo output; User-friendly media playback control; Support playback Blu-ray and video in various formats free.

Cons: No screen-capture functionality 

Top 2: UM Player

UMPlayer has a lot of competitive and promising features. For a free multimedia player, it has a lot of advanced options and yet it is so easy to operate and use. It can also play any media format for both video and audio files. Unique features are included like subtitles search, ability to play and record YouTube, skinable interface, audio/subtitles sync, customizable hotkeys and a lot more.

Pros: Easy to use and has a lot of great features like shoutcast and YouTube integration; Customizable options for file playback; Play all formats; Automatic subtitle download from opensubtitles.org

Cons: Minimal support and documentation 

Top 3: VLC Media Player

VLC Media Player is one of the world's favorite open-source video playback software. It has a lot of great features like granular speed controls, frame-by-frame advancement, living recording of streaming videos among other things. It also has customizable toolbars, and supports a wide range of video and audio formats.

Pros: No external codec installation required; Excellent playback quality and stability; Play internet radio and TV; Capture video on webcam; Admirable volume control

Cons: Default interface is not cool and savvy; skin options need improvement; No playback for Blu-ray 

Top 4: Real Player

RealPlayer is a full-featured and user friendly video and audio player that delivers great multimedia playback experience. In addition to performing a variety of music and video files without any incompatibility problem, this amazing program also has several extra options that make the user experience much more complete. It has a video-trimming tool that will give you flexibility in video options, as well as allows for sharing with social media sites like Facebook and YouTube.

Pros: A great and functional media player offers solid performance; User-friendly interface; Connect with Facebook and YouTube; Trim video and audio

Cons: Tendency to hang and slow to load video; Lack of video options 

Top 5: BS DVD Player

BS DVD player has now returned with a free version, a new interface and great features such as watching YouTube videos, capture frames and even generate thumbnails from certain sequences. It recognizes a wide range of formats, and allows for a wide array of options for video, DVD, audio, radio and TV playback. Actually all types of media files supported.

Pros: Support all video formats including YouTube videos; Easy to use interface; Lightweight and fast; Contain all necessary features for watching HD movies.

Cons: Need to install codec; Install its toolbar into your web browser

Okay, above are the top 5 best free DVD playback software I collected! There should be more amazing Windows DVD player software out there, if you guys have some other recommendations, please feel free to leave a message for me to enlarge my collections!