Tipard Blu-ray Toolkit Review ENDED

very good
key review info
application features
  • Modern and intuitive UI
  • (3 more, see all...)

Since Blu-ray discs are the latest trend in video processing thanks to excellent quality, users must resort to specialized applications for working with this format. That's where Tipard Blu-ray Toolkit comes in.

Three main utilities are bundled in the toolkit: converter, player, and copier.

The trial edition of Tipard Blu-ray Toolkit runs for 99 days, plenty of time to properly test all its features.

It comes with several limitations, though. For example, files longer than 5 minutes will result in a 5-minute-long conversion.

At the end of this period, users may purchase the full version at a pretty steep price of $108 / €94.42.

Although the setup file is not exactly lightweight, it unpacks very quickly. The interface is rather good-looking and intuitive, thanks to well-structured features.

All modules are accessible from the main menu, in order to exclude the possibility of running three separate executable files.

Tipard Blu-ray Converter

Blu-ray Converter handles all popular audio and video formats from local, network and removable drives. Some of them are MKV, RM, WMV, AVI, 3GP, FLV, MOV, VOB, MP3, OGG and WAV. Meanwhile, BD and DVD movies can be loaded from disc, mounted image or folder (including IFO files).

As far as output file types are concerned, the program comes packed with preset profiles in terms of common audio and video files, HD video, lossless audio, 3D video, WMV and MPG for Microsoft PowerPoint, as well as interlaced video (e.g. DV NTSC or PAL AVI).

It is also capable of preparing clips for online streaming (e.g. H.264 optimized for Facebook, MP4 optimized for Vimeo or YouTube) and various other platforms such as Android, Apple TV, PS4, Xbox, Zune, and portable media. Luckily, there is a search function intended to locate a specific profile in this long list.

These predefined profiles are not set in stone. Users who possess audio and video editing experience may change existing settings when it comes to bit rate, encoder, resolution, frame rate, aspect ratio, channels and sample rate, together with 3D options, if enabled (anaglyph or split screen method, depth, left and right inversion).

These options can be restored to default, saved to a new profile, overwritten to an existing one, as well as applied to all other items in the task list.

Audio and video manipulation does not stop here, as Blu-ray Converter integrates additional functions. Clips can be cut by marking the start and end position while playing stream (single or multiples section at a time), while the image is adjustable in terms of brightness, contrast, saturation, hue and deinterlacing, featuring the original and output preview.
It is also possible to overlay the picture with transparent or solid watermarks, either text (customizable font and color) or images (JPG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TIF, TGA and other formats). These can be positioned anywhere on the screen. Furthermore, the volume level may be tweaked before conversion, along with the 3D settings previously described (with output preview).

Batch processing is supported, meaning that multiple video clips can be converted at the same time (as well as merged, if this option is enabled). What's worth mentioning is that each video may be turned into a different format. In other words, it is not mandatory to assign the same output profile to all items in the pending queue.

Videos can be previewed in the main panel, right next to the job list. The frame includes all the standard functions included in most media players, along with a snapshot grabber (to JPEG, PNG or BMP).

When it comes to program preferences, it is possible to alter the default output directory, snapshot folder and extension type, set the PC to immediately power off on task completion, select the number of CPU cores to allocate to the conversion task, enable NVIDIA GPU or AMD APP acceleration (if possible), as well as select the default DVD loading mode (navigator or parser) and frequency for update checkups (daily, weekly, monthly).

Tipard Blu-ray Player

With looks that closely resemble Windows Media Player, Blu-ray Player is not dedicated exclusively to playing Blu-ray content. Similar to the converter, this component is capable of loading a wide range of audio and video formats, most of which have been previously listed as examples. Blu-ray streaming is playable from disc.

Media player controls include play, stop, volume adjustment, full screen mode, and frame capturing. In case of Blu-ray movies, it is possible to jump to a particular title or chapter, as well as to select the audio track, channel and device (5.1, 2 front 2 rear, mono, stereo, or A/52 over S/PDIF), in addition to the video and subtitles tracks. Deinterlacing may be activated too (e.g. blend, mean, linear, phosphor).

Blu-ray Player shares program settings with a part of Converter, letting users choose a new snapshot folder and format, together with update checkup frequency.

Tipard Blu-ray Copy

The last component implemented into Blu-ray Toolkit uses four methods to copy Blu-ray discs, folders and ISO images. Full disc mode targets BD folders and ISO images anywhere on the disc, with a BD-25 or BD-50 size. The volume label and number of copies can be edited, while HD audio can be removed (converts DTS/ LPCM/ TRUHD audio to AC3).

Main movie mode has the same target, size and HD audio options, and also lets users select particular titles, audio and subtitle tracks. Moreover, the whole content of Blu-ray discs can be cloned to another disc or ISO image, while Blu-ray folders can be directory burned to disc.
As far as Blu-ray Copy preferences go, it is possible to modify the original temporary folder and sound files for event success or failure (WAV format), ask the tool to load Blu-ray discs automatically and to delete temp files on task completion, as well as to choose the update checkup frequency, default target size, and encoding speed/quality ratio. Log activity is recorded to file.

Testing Blu-ray Converter and Blu-ray Copy

The test machine was an Intel Core i5-3470, CPU 3.20GHz, 12GB RAM on Windows 8.1 Pro with HL-DT-ST BD-RE BE12LU30.

Blu-ray Converter provided excellent speed and compression (fair quality) during our evaluation, as it managed to turn a 4.37GB MKV into a 908MB AVI (common video output profile) in 13 minutes and 51 seconds. Default settings were applied.

Burning a 1.21GB Blu-ray video to disc ("Write data" mode) took Tipard 6 minutes and 41 seconds. CPU and RAM usage was minimal in both cases.


The Good

Tipard Blu-ray Toolkit is available in several languages and includes user documentation. OS compatibility extends to Windows 8 and 8.1, 32-bit and 64-bit.

Converter compiles a long list of output profiles along with rich audio/video editing options (including 3D mode) and image effects. Player has a familiar structure that makes video viewing a smooth experience, while Copy contains four BD writing methods.

All three modules ran error-free during our evaluation.

The Bad

Considering that it's supposed to be an all-around suite for Blu-ray movies, the program does not implement functions for turning video into BD-formatted files.

The Copy module does not support any other video types than Blu-ray. Video quality is not excellent after conversion.

The Truth

To sum it up, Tipard Blu-ray Toolkit is a pretty resourceful application suite for converting, playing and burning Blu-ray movies. Its only downside is that it cannot actually create this type of videos.

NOTE: We are giving away 20 licenses for Tipard Blu-ray Toolkit. All you have to do is drop us a few lines in the comment section below and pair it with a valid email address. Spice it up and you might just win. The deadline is next Tuesday, 28 January, at 16:00 UTC (8:00 PT).

The campaign is over.

user interface 5
features 4
ease of use 5
pricing / value 3


final rating 4
Editor's review
very good
 
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