When we have an afternoon of fun with family or friends in our home, it is necessary to make adequate provisions so that everything flows and there are no setbacks.
Usually, the food for the evening is planned, the snacks, the popcorn, and almost always we have the movie that we will see. But, on some rare occasions, it happens to us that our player is outdated or simply not able to play the content.
To solve this problem we have prepared an article where we teach you how to play DVD movies according to your operating system. In addition, we give you a small list with the best players that you can use to avoid setbacks in the family afternoon.
Index:
What does my computer need to play DVDs of series and movies?
We mainly need to have a good computer and that it has a modest graphics card, for the reproduction of high quality videos. But, the most important thing will be the things we will mention below:
A DVD player
In order to play movies and series on your computer it is necessary that it has a DVD player. A kind of electronic device that allows decoding the video and audio stream contained in this format.
After decoding the formats of these flows, it projects them to the output devices that can be the screen, cornets or headphones.
An audiovisual player
The audiovisual player is another of the strengths when it comes to playing movies and series. Since, without one of these computer programs or software installed on the computer, it will not be able to decode the files contained on a DVD.
Basically, its function is to channel the audio and video so that they can be seen and heard synchronously.
Codecs
The codecs that come from the words encode and decode, are the components that the software must have in order to read the different formats.
This last point is like a plus, because the audiovisual reproduction programs usually already bring almost all of them, and are available for the different formats integrated into their systems. Only in some cases if you need to download them, but that’s with some exotic formats, so to speak.
Steps to play a DVD from my computer with Windows or MacOS system
Next, we will see how to play a DVD on our personal computers in a simple and fast way, to enjoy good family moments:
In Windows
In Windows it is very easy to play all kinds of files of this type of formats. Just consider the latest system updates:
If it is an older version than Windows 10, just insert the DVD into the playback drive and open the native player of this system “Media Player”. This done the same thing take care of everything.
But if it is Windows 10, it is possible that some conflicts are generated with that native player, therefore we will use «VLC Media Player»:
- To start the first thing we will do is open the player.
- Successively we introduce the CD-DVD in the playback unit.
- In the VLC interface (for example), click on the button in the upper left corner “Media” and then choose the option “Open disk”.
It also works by pressing the key combination “Ctrl + D”. With this step, the DVD content should appear on the screen.
The playback menu may be activated, in which it appears to choose scenes, language and other options.
On MacOS
Playing this format on a Mac computer is not very different from how we do it on Windows, there are conversion methods in case you don’t have the right player, but we consider that it only complicates more the process.
If you have a slightly older Mac, it may still have the built-in DVD reader device. But if you have with a new one there is no problem, since in these the reader is obtained externally and connects via USB :
- In this case we will use the same player from the previous example, because it is the best known, simple and complete of all.
- We simply open the program and we insert the DVD into the drive.
- In the top bar of the program we choose the option “File” or “Files” Then click on “ Open Disc” or “Open Disc”, depending on the language of your system.
Once triggered this action we will have access to all the multimedia content of it to enjoy with our family.
List of the best video players to watch DVD’s on Windows or MacOS
In this section you can see which are the best players to watch movies and series in this format on our Windows or Mac computers.
We provide this list so you can meet your goal:
VLC Media Player
It is a well-known multimedia player and is considered the best of all, since is a multiplatform and free code. This has all the functions and complements to watch practically any video format. These include Codecs to play DVDs.
The playback service of this program is of high quality, therefore it is highly recommended.
Download VLC Media Player Windows
Download VLC Media Player MacOS
Aiseesoft Blu-Ray Player
This is a specialized professional media player for Mac, although it is also available for Windows.
Given its nature, it is widely used for high quality DVD playback such as Blu-Ray . This software is your best ally to enjoy a warm afternoon of home cinema with your family, friends or partner.
Download Aiseesoft Blu-Ray Player Windows
Download Aiseesoft Blu-Ray Player MacOS
Cyberlink Power DVD
This is another of the strongest videos, movies and series players on the market, capable of adapting to a large number of multimedia formats. Although especially the one mentioned in this article.
It is very versatile and works perfectly on different operating systems. In addition to it supports high definitions to improve the viewer’s experience.
Download Cyberlink Power DVD Windows
Media Player Classic
This player is among the best in the world in terms of multimedia, and this is due to the particularity of its formats and the easy coupling it has with various platforms and video formats.
Works perfectly with DVD formats, making it a good option when watching movies at home and with your computer.
Download Media Player Classic Windows
5K Player
This is one of the newest multimedia software on the market and the one that projects the most. It is compatible with Apple’s cloud services and in turn with Windows.
It is capable of playing in the highest definitions as it has been in 8K, it reproduces a large number of formats and of course the DVDs are included in its list.