HomeIncluded digital copies are still the exception rather than the norm in the Blu-ray world. You'd like to look for a Blu-ray ripper software to rip those discs, right? The whole point of ripping Blu-ray is to watch it on a device that isn't connected to a Blu-ray player. Smartphones, tablets and even some gaming systems are not compatible with this popular technology. But how do you do it? Which programs are the best at ripping Blu-ray discs? Which ones eat copy protection for breakfast? The guide is divided into four parts in order to help you find the best Blu-ray ripper:
Part 1: About Blu-ray and Blu-ray Copy Protection
Part 2: Top Blu-ray Ripper Software: What to look for?
Part 3: Side by Side Comparison of Top 5 Blu-ray Ripper
Part 4: Our Verdict and Recommendations
Part 1: About Blu-ray and Blu-ray Copy Protection
Blu-ray is one of the two major High Definition disc formats (the other being HD-DVD) that were introduced to consumers in 2006. The intention was to replace the current DVD standard in the U.S. and World market. However, in February 19, 2008 HD-DVD was discontinued and now Blu-ray is the only high definition disc-based format still in use, with DVD still also in use.
Ultra HD Blu-ray
In late 2015, the Ultra HD Blu-ray disc format was introduced. This format uses the same size discs as the Blu-ray format, but they are constructed so that they can fit more information that supports native 4K Resolution playback, as well as other video enhancement capabilities, such as wide color gamut and HDR.
You cannot play an Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc on a standard Blu-ray Disc player, but Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc players can play standard Blu-ray, DVD, and CD discs, and most can stream content from the internet - all at the manufacturer's discretion.
The Blu-ray Disc standard mandates that all pre-recorded discs be protected by a copy-protection scheme. The copy protection used on pre-recorded discs aim to prevent unauthorized access to Blu-ray disc and the playback of Blu-ray media using unauthorized devices. The following part will introduce several distinct levels of Blu-ray copy protection:
AACS Encryption
The first level of copy protection applied to pre-recorded discs is the Advanced Access Content System (AACS) developed by the AACS Licensing Administrator, a consortium of companies including Disney, Intel, Microsoft, Panasonic, Warner Bros., IBM, Toshiba and Sony. It is based on Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), a robust 128-bit key encryption system developed by the US government.
AACS includes a system by which the keys assigned to a particular player can be "revoked" for future Blu-ray disc releases if it is determined that those keys have been compromised. When a newer Blu-ray disc is inserted into an older drive, the drive is required to check the version of the "Media Key Block" (MKB) on the disc and, if it is newer than the one the drive has internally, to copy over to permanent non-volatile memory the newer MKB. Thus playing newer discs propagates the revoked key lists out to all drives.
BD+ Protection
BD+ is a second level of copy protection that is optional for pre-recorded Blu-ray discs. After the stream files are encrypted using AACS encryption, they are further mangled randomly with instructions on how to repair the mangled files stored on the disc as special BD+ instructions. These instructions run in something called a "BD+ virtual machine", special software that Blu-ray players are required to include. The virtual machine on the player runs the BD+ code on the disc and retrieves something called the "Fix-up Table" (FUT) to repair all the BD+ mangled regions on the disc.
BD+ was broken in 2008 by reverse-engineering the BD+ virtual machine. Each new BD+ Blu-ray disc release brings new twists in the virtual machine programs, each of which are again reverse-engineered by the hacker community. Just as with AACS, BD+ has become a cat-and-mouse game.
Cinavia Protection
Cinavia, developed by a company called Verance, is a newer level of copy protection that is optional on Blu-ray discs. The system involves "steganography" or watermarking, in which a special encrypted data signal is hidden within a single audio channel in an audio track. Verance claims the Cinavia signal is inaudible, and that the signal can survive audio compression and recompression.
When a player with Cinavia support detects a Cinavia signal on a Blu-ray disc, it can verify whether playback should be allowed. The player can display one of four possible messages known as "Cinavia message codes". The most commonly viewed messages are (1) "Playback Stopped" and (3) "Audio Muted". Message (1) is supposed to stop distribution of "camcorder" recordings of first-run movies from theaters if the theaters include a Cinavia signal in the movie soundtrack. Message (3) is supposed to stop unencrypted ripped copies of movies. There is apparently no exception for consumer backup copies.
Cinavia detection became a requirement for Blu-ray players beginning in 2012. To date, the only major studio that appears to be using Cinavia is Sony Pictures, and that is not even for all releases. Most of the major studios seem to be hesitant about including Cinavia protection, perhaps because the system involves expensive royalty fees, or perhaps for fear of angering customers.
Customers have a reason to be angry, because unlike all the other protection schemes on Blu-ray and DVD discs, Cinavia protection is destructive and permanent. Audio tracks that include Cinavia have been deliberately damaged, and the damaged audio is present both for legimitate customers and for the supposed content pirates. When the audio track is protected with Cinavia, legitimate customers do not get the pristine audio content they paid for on their Blu-ray discs.
The Cinavia encoding system was broken in 2013, but it has proven very difficult to remove the protection and restore the protected audio track back to its original state. One ripper tool company claims to be able to do this, but their success rate is apparently spotty. Other ripper tool companies have figured out schemes to disable or fool Cinavia detection in players. Some stand-alone players (e.g. Panasonic, Oppo) have firmware patches available to remove Cinavia detection.
Part 2: Top Blu-ray Ripper Software: What to look for?
The most common reason to use a Blu-ray ripper software is to make a physical copy of your initial Blu-ray investment. In case of scratches, fingerprints, breakage, kids playing with them, etc… you can rest assure that you have a working backup. Or even better, use the backed up Blu-ray as the main disc to watch and lock away the original.
What to Look for in a Good Blu-ray Ripper?
There are 7 main criteria that we look for when we do our reviews and they include: 1) Decrypt Ability, 2) Conversion Choices, 3) Overall Output Quality, 4) Speed of the Copy, 5) Ease-of-Use, 6) Customization Tools and 7) the Companies Overall Support.
1) Decrypt Ability
The most important feature of any Blu-ray ripping application is its ability to make new copies of existing discs. This is often a technical process – the best Blu-ray ripper make this process as simple as possible. Before any Blu-ray ripper can begin the copy process, it must first overcome the anti-piracy protections found on nearly every commercial Blu-ray disc. If a program cannot decrypt commercial discs, its usefulness is limited to homemade and unprotected Blu-ray discs.
2) Conversion Choices
The current crop of Blu-ray rippers make it extremely easy to convert Blu-ray for specific file types and devices. They do this by including the aforementioned library of output profiles. All you need to do is load your disc into the application; select the file format, device or service from the library; and stasrt the rip. This category evaluates the breadth and versatility of the conversion choices offered by each application.
3) Overall Output Quality
When you are making a copy of a Blu-ray disc you want to be sure that you retain the same 4K or 1080p HD quality found on the original. Our top 5 picks all allow you the ability to choose the output setting when you rip the Blu-ray video ensuring that you are in control of the video quality. You can also choose to rip the Audio stream thus retaining true HD sound too.
4) Speed of the Copy
Because Blu-ray files are so massive, making copies of them is a time-consuming process. Since you are dealing with HD video many PC’s have to use all of their system resources just to play the video. So the best software will be optimized to use Quad Core systems and more advanced video accelerators. Of course our top picks enable this feature.
5) Ease-of-Use
Ripping Blu-ray discs is a technical and often confusing process. The best Blu-ray ripper software distills the process down to its simplest form. All the Blu-ray ripping software in our review are based around the same concept.
6) Customization Tools
Sometimes you don't want or need everything on a Blu-ray disc. The best Blu-ray ripper doesn't limit you to making rote copies of your discs. It allows you to adjust technical aspects of videos, such as codecs, aspect ratios, bit rates, frame rates and more, before you rip them. Most of the software we reviewed include a basic video editor you can use to trim away unwanted footage, crop video, add watermarks and edit subtitles.
7) the Companies Overall Support
No matter how easy an application is to use, occasionally you may need support. Manufacturers that provide excellent customer service make the best Blu-ray rippers. They offer other avenues to get help if you have a problem that can't be resolved by consulting the FAQs. Options include emailing the company through a ticket system on their website; some offer live chat where you can talk to a representative almost immediately. Some companies even allow you to submit questions via their social media accounts, such as Twitter and Facebook. The best companies respond within 24 to 48 hours.
Part 3: Side by Side Comparison of Top 5 Blu-ray Ripper
At the end our analysis, the following Blu-ray ripping programs earned the top five spots on our side-by-side comparison chart:
Pavtube ByteCopy – It can re-encode any commercial Blu-ray to lossless MKV and multi-track MP4/MOV to keep multiple subtitle/audio track. It has some built-in video editing function that allows you to extract/add subtitle, add watermark, extract audio, trim, crop, split, merge Blu-ray, adjust Blu-ray movie aspect ratio, etc.
Pavtube BDMagic – With Pavtube BDMagic, now you can convert 2D Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray and standard DVD to SD, High-Definition formats or even create 3D videos with excellent video/audio quality in fast conversion speed. This BD/DVD to video workaround could output various video and audio formats, like H.265/HEVC, MKV, MP4, MOV, DivX, AVI, MP3, FLAC, etc
Leawo Blu-ray Ripper – Leawo Blu-ray Ripper is an easy-to-use solution that has customizable features and built-in Blu-ray decryption. By converting, Blu-ray movies could be played on various popular media players, like Apple media devices, Android smartphones and tablets, Windows media players, various smartphones, etc.
Xilisoft Blu-Ray Ripper – Xilisoft Blu-ray Ripper is able to convert both standard Blu-ray movies and 3D Blu-ray movies to SD and HD video formats such as MKV, AVI, WMV, TS, etc. And it can preserve 3D effects when your source is 3D Blu-ray movie.
Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper – Aiseesoft’s application combines great editing features with the capability to decrypt, rip and copy any Blu-ray Disc you own. Whether you are a busy mom backing up Disney movies or a business person using clips of Blu-ray movies in a sales presentation, this software is highly recommended.
Side by Side Comparison of Top 5 Blu-ray Ripper
Disabling DRM
|
Blu-ray ripper |
Region |
AACS |
UOP |
DRM |
HDCP |
BD+ |
BD-ROM |
| Pavtube ByteCopy |
Yes |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Pavtube BDMagic |
Yes |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Leawo Blu-ray Ripper |
Yes |
Yes |
? |
? |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Xilisoft Blu-ray Ripper |
Yes |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Yes |
| Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper |
Yes |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
? |
Yes |
Yes |
Supported Input And Output Files
|
Blu-ray Ripper |
Pavtube ByteCopy |
Pavtube BDMagic |
Leawo Blu-ray Ripper |
Xilisoft Blu-ray Ripper |
Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper |
|
Supported Input Files |
|||||
|
Blu-ray |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
DVD |
YES |
YES |
YES |
NO |
YES |
|
Supported Output Files |
|||||
|
Multi-track MOV/MP4 |
YES |
NO |
NO |
NO |
NO |
|
SD/HD MP4, AVI, MKV, WMV, MOV |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Lossless MKV |
YES |
NO |
NO |
NO |
NO |
|
3D MP4, MKV, AVI, WMV |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
4K MKV, MP4 |
YES |
YES |
NO |
NO |
YES |
|
Pre-loaded Devices Preset |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
MP3, FLAC, AC3, AAC, WMA |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
More Features
|
Blu-ray Ripper |
Pavtube ByteCopy |
Pavtube BDMagic |
Leawo Blu-ray Ripper |
Xilisoft Blu-ray Ripper |
Aiseesoft Blu-ray Ripper |
|
Extract Subtitle |
YES |
NO |
NO |
NO |
NO |
|
Adjust Resolution |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Adjust Frame Rate |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Adjust Codec |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
| Trim Blu-ray |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Crop Blu-ray |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
GPU Acceleration |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Adjust Video Effects |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
YES |
|
Add Subtitle |
YES |
YES |
NO |
NO |
NO |
Part 4: Our Verdict and Recommendations
There are obviously many more Blu-ray ripping tools out there, but these are the 5 which I personally like or have had recommended to me by friends. At the end of the day, Blu-ray rippers are applications that set your movies free from their discs and allow you to have digital copies of the content that you’ve paid for. The best programs not only convert your Blu-ray movies, but also optimize them for playback on devices like smartphones, tablets and gaming systems. They also let you to customize your conversions with tools that trim, crop and adjust your videos. Just download the best Blu-ray ripper and enjoy your Blu-ray movies at will!
Free Trial ByteCopy
