Free Way to Play Blu-Ray Disc Movie with VLC in Windows 8 64-bit/32-bit

On some Windows 8 reviews, like many other publications that got their information from Microsoft, originally reported that the Media Center and Pro Pack contain codecs for both DVD and Blu-ray movie playback. This is false. They only facilitate DVD playback, not Blu-ray. The quote most sites are referencing comes from Microsoft's blog. And, like most of the official Windows 8 pre-release literature, it contains ambiguous language regarding what's actually included in Windows 8:

"Windows Media Player will continue to be available in all editions, but without DVD playback support. For optical discs playback on new Windows 8 devices, we are going to rely on the many quality solutions on the market, which provide great experiences for both DVD and Blu-ray."

Further down, in the same blog post, are the actual contents of the Media Center and Pro Pack:

"...Media Center, including DVD playback (in Media Center, not in Media Player), broadcast TV recording and playback (DBV-T/S, ISDB-S/T, DMBH, and ATSC), and VOB file playback."

Again, the Media Center Pack does not include codecs for Blu-ray playback.

So you may look for a free way to play Blu-ray discs movie on Windows 8, so VLC media player will be the best way to play Blu-Ray in Windows 8 64-bit or Windows 8 32 bit for free.



To better support Blu-Ray playback in Windows 8, VideoLAN and the VLC development team present the fifth version of “Twoflower” which is VLC 2.0.4. The a major updated VLC 2.0.4 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 to download and place the AACS and BD+ DRM libraries and keys in order to play Blu Ray on Windows 8 with VLC for Free.

Step 1: Install the latest nightly of VLC 2.0: Go to: VideoLan,then download the latest version for your system.

Step 2: Download the Blu-ray playback addon pack from: here, and install the Key file from addon pack – “KEYDB.cfg”

Windows 8 – [place in folder named "aacs" located in appdata directory]
* 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 Install AACS dynamic library for VLC to use:

Windows 8 32bit: put that file in your VLC directory

Windows 8 64bit: put that file in your VLC directory

Windows 8 – [Place in VLC program 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″ directory in pack)

Now, you can easily play Blu-Ray disc with VLC on Windows 8 64-bit or Windows 8 32 bit for free. Note: VLC 2.0 still doesn’t have menu support yet.

Tip: If VLC still can't help you play Blu-ray disc movie on Windows 8, you need a third party software to help you. You can get a UFUSoft Blu-ray Player for Windows 8(Only $39) to play Blu-ray movies on windows 8 directly with Blu-ray effect. Or you can hire a UFUSoft Blu-ray Ripper for Windows 8(Only $49) to rip and transcode Blu-ray discs to WMV/AVI/MPG/MPEG/MOV/MKV/MP4 etc for playing on Windows 8 PC or multimedia players.