Top 4 3D Blu-ray Player Software (2023 Recommended List)

3D Blu-ray movie delivers an illusion of three-dimensional solidity that let you dive deeply into a virtual world. Nowadays, you can play 3D movies on PC/Mac using a 3D Blu-ray player at home without going to a cinema and enjoy flow 3D playback. What is a 3D Blu-ray player? Unlike a regular media player, 3D Blu-ray discs require specific decoding technology to be played on a computer.

That's why you need the best 3D Blu-ray player to watch 3D Blu-ray movies. Now, put on your red and blue glasses. Then, let's walk through the 4 recommendations below and get your best pick to enjoy smooth and immersive 3D playback.

Indeed, 3D Blu-ray movies fail to be as good as 2D Blu-rays, because 3D effect can influence some factors like brightness that will impair your viewing experience, and the perfect 3D enjoyment is always provided by the cinema. Therefore, 2D Blu-ray playback is wonderful enough for you to watch at home. To have a good 2D Blu-ray playback experience, you can try VideoByte Blu-ray Player immediately, which support high-quality viewing experience and easy menu control.

Contents

4 Best 3D Blu-ray Player Software for Windows and Mac

Have no clue to sort out a preferred 3D Blu-ray player? We've covered the 4 best Blu-ray players on the market making it easy for you to get your Mr.Right.

Top 1. PowerDVD 19

PowerDVD 19 is the best Blu-ray player that enjoys worldwide popularity. It lets you play 3D blu-ray videos of up to UHD 8K quality and lossless audio quality thanks to its immersive 360˚ spatial audio technology. Also, it can automatically enhance the video quality to give you even better playback and upgrade SDR content to HDR quality with its TrueThreater mode.

Besides, this 3D Blu-ray player allows you to play online videos from YouTube and Vimeo directly and stream videos inside the program. Moreover, you can cast videos on your TV and have optimized playback for a big screen with its TV mode.
PowerDVD

Pros:

  1. Play 8K video quality from local or online sources.
  2. Play HD Blu-ray, H.265/HEVC, VR, 3D-360°, and videos in all formats.
  3. play back Blu-ray and DVD ISO files without mounting.
  4. Keep the lossless sound quality of Dolby/DTS/ALAC and DSD audio.
  5. Offer the TV mode to cast and optimize big-screen viewing on TVs.
  6. Enable one-click video enhancement to HDR (High Dynamic Range).
  7. Add one or even two subtitles at the same time in any language.

Cons:
  1. Stop the service to directly play 3D Blu-ray discs.
  2. Do not support DRM-protected discs and discs with region codes.
  3. Expensive to use at $99.99.

However, PowerDVD 19 discontinued its direct playback for 3D Blu-ray discs in the later version after April 2020. By comparison, VideoByte Blu-ray Player outperforms as the best alternative to PowerDVD 19 with a decent price starting at $29.95. Though it doesn't support playback of 3D discs, it supports HD cinematic playback of Blu-ray discs, DVDs, ISO files, and regular videos in any format. Better yet, it makes it possible to play 2D Blu-ray movies encrypted by region codes.

Features of VideoByte Blu-ray Player
  • Support immersive and high-resolution playback of up to 4K ultra HD quality.
  • Bypass any region codes and all types of Blu-ray protection mechanisms.
  • Ensure smooth and fluent playback with GPU acceleration.
  • Enjoy the best sound quality with DTS, Dolby, Ultra-HD technology, etc.
  • Provide full playback control with a simplified and easy-to-go navigation menu.
  • Keep all the titles, chapters, subtitles, and tracks along with videos.
  • Adjust the video viewing with custom effects for any watching scenes.
  • Never miss your favorite frame with a snapshot at any time.
Player Menu
To get the full idea of how to play 2D movies on PC/Mac using VideoByte Blu-ray player, let's take a look at this detailed video tutorial.

Things You Should Know about 3D Blu-ray Playback

Actually, 3D Blu-ray movies are not as that perfect as expected. There are some limitations as follows that make it much more inconvenient than 2D Blu-ray video playback. As a rule, 2D Blu-ray playback delivers better viewing at home than 3D Blu-ray playback. Therefore, it's worth collecting 2D Blu-rays and choosing VideoByte Blu-ray Player for playback.

1. 3D Blu-ray discs require extra hardware specifications such as anaglyph 3D glasses, Smart TV that supports playing 3D Blu-ray playback, optical 3D Blu-ray drives that support 3D discs, a bigger display, and so on.

2. 3D Blu-ray playback often gives a darker viewing with lower brightness, though it provides HD video quality. Therefore, you may need to adjust the brightness when it comes to playing 3D movies on PC/TVs.

3. 3D Blu-ray movies are often a premium format that costs you more money than regular 2D movies.

4. Some people may tend to be dizzy after watching a 3D movie.

Top 2. VLC Media Player

VLC media player is an open-source and free 3D Blu-ray player available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. This software is able to play films and videos on DVDs, VCDs, audio CDs, and Blu-ray discs. Also, it supports playing local videos in all formats. Moreover, VLC enables hardware decoding to ensure fast and smooth video playback.

What's more, it allows you to apply custom effects and filters to adjust your playback experience on your own. You can either add a custom subtitle or do a track synchronization if necessary. However, it doesn't support any DRM-protected content. Therefore, you may consider ripping DRM-protected 3D Blu-ray discs to your computer and then using VLC to play 3D movies on PC.

VLC Media Player
Pros:
  1. Free to use without any fee.
  2. Play DRM-free DVDs, VCDs, CDs, and Blu-ray discs.
  3. Play local videos on the computer with all formats.
  4. Manually set up effects and filters by yourself.
  5. Solve the audio out-of-sync problem by track synchronization.
  6. Enable hardware decoding to get in the groove.
  7. Provide extra features like recording and converting.
Cons:
  1. Free to use without any fee.
  2. Play DRM-free DVDs, VCDs, CDs, and Blu-ray discs.
  3. Play local videos on the computer with all formats.
  4. Manually set up effects and filters by yourself.
  5. Solve the audio out-of-sync problem by track synchronization.
  6. Enable hardware decoding to get in the groove.
  7. Provide extra features like recording and converting.

Top 3. DVDFab Player

DVDFab Player is a top-rated 3D Blu-ray DVD player to play 3D movies on PC and Mac. The company has been taking the pack for years and gained a great reputation from all walks of life. It's able to play back DVD & Blu-ray discs, ISO files, and videos/audio of a range of formats like MP4, MP3, WAV, M4A, FLAC, WMV, MOV, FLV, etc. Better yet, it comes with exlcusive AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA technology to give you high-quality playback as smoothly as silk.

This 3D Blu-ray player will sort out all your movies and TV shows into a well-organized poster wall that enables you to manage your collections. What's more, it makes it possible to save videos on the discs to an ISO file for later playback on the computer. However, it doesn't support DRM-protected content as well. You may only play unprotected discs with it.

Pros:

  1. Play high-res videos from discs, ISO files, and DVD folders.
  2. Enable multiple technologies to ensure smooth and high-quality viewing.
  3. Organize your media library automatically to a poster wall.
  4. Export videos from discs to local ISO files on desktops/laptops.
  5. Provide the TV mode to optimize the playback on a bigger screen.

Cons:

  1. Support playing local files in a few formats.
  2. Do not support DRM-protected DVDs, CDs, and Blu-ray discs.
  3. Cannot play content protected by region codes.
  4. Paid to use from $49.99 to $169.99.

Top 4. Leawo Blu-ray Player

Leawo Blu-ray Player offers a free edition of 3D Blu-ray player that enables you to play 3D Blu-ray on PC running Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP and macOS 10.9 or later. It comes with advanced audio decoding technologies like Dolby, DTS, AAC, TrueHD, and DTS-HD to deliver you a cinema-like experience in front of a computer. Also, it provides you with a comprehensive navigation system (remote virtual control included) to easily control the playback.

However, it allows playing 3D movies or TV shows of only up to full HD 1080p from the discs. Also, it supports local files in limited formats including MP4, AVI, FLV, MKV, M4V, MP3, AAC, and so on. If you want to enjoy better watching, you'll need to unlock more features with its Premium version.

Pros:

  1. Provide a free version with limited features.
  2. Ensure the best audio sound quality with exclusive technology.
  3. Offer a simple and concise control menu with a virtual remote control.

Cons:

  1. Support video playback of up to 1080p only.
  2. Support limited video and audio formats.
  3. Do not play DRM-protected discs or discs with region codes.
  4. Upgrade to the Premium version from $44.95 to $99.95.

How to Play 3D Blu-ray on PC

VLC 3D player can play all kinds of videos, let alone 3D Blu-ray movies. VLC is now only available for instant playback of SBS(Side By Side) 3D movies. Therefore, you should make sure that the 3D video you want to watch is in 3D SBS format. Also, VLC can only play unprotected videos. You should rip a 3D Blu-ray disc to digital video formats first if you want to play DRM-free 3D Blu-ray movies. Then, follow the tutorial below and get yourself a pair of red-and-blue 3D glasses.

To play protected Blu-ray discs using VLC, you'll need to download keys database and AACS dynamic library for VLC to make it possible.

Step 1. Launch VLC media player. Then, click on "Tools" > "Effects and Filters" from the top panel.

Step 2. In the pop-up window, switch to the "Video Effects" tab. You need to click on the pointing-right icon to find the "Advanced" tab. Then, check the "Anaglyph 3D" box.

VLC 3D Settings

Step 3. Now, add the 3D movie to this program. Or, insert your 3D Blu-ray disc to the 3D Blu-ray drive connected to the computer. Then, click "Media" > "Open Disc" > select "Blu-ray". Then, load your disc and click "Play". While playing a 3D side-by-side Blu-ray movie with VLC, you can put on your red-and-blue 3D glasses to enjoy your 3D movie.

Play 3D Blu-ray on VLC

Bonus: Find More 3D Blu-ray Movies on Best 3D Video Download Sites

You can easily purchase 3D Blu-ray discs from Amazon, eBay, or download 3D Blu-ray movie from some 3D movie sites. I don't need to introduce them. You can have a look at yourself.
YouTube has millions of 3D videos. You can filter them by choosing "3D" in the "FILTER" and enjoy free 3D videos with your 3D glasses.
This site allows free downloads of full HD 1080p 3D movies, and lets you enjoy viewing in virtual reality.
"The Pirate Bay is the galaxy's most resilient BitTorrent site". That's true, you can find almost any 3D Blu-ray on it. However, the website is easy to be blocked.

Do you get your optimal pick from the top 4 best 3D Blu-ray players? To sum up, the VLC media player is the best option for a free 3D Blu-ray player. Then, if you're a regular watcher on YouTube or Vimeo, PowerDVD 19 offers a seamless integration.

However, if you're giving a thought to the price–performance ratio, VideoByte Blu-ray Player ensures high-resolution playback with superior audio quality at the most decent price. Better yet, it's able to play Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CDs, and VCDs that are protected by region codes. As mentioned, 3D Blu-ray is actually not better than 2D Blu-rays, so when you finaaly choose to watch 2D Blu-ray, VideoByte Blu-ray Player would be a good choice.