"....playing blu-ray/dvd disc, folder or iso files on your computer ...not very ideal if one is just watching a movie lying in the seat with a drink."

If you're going to watch a movie, the difference with Blu-ray video is higher quality due to the higher bit rate, which means less video compression -- more compression = lower quality. The only inconvenience vs. streaming is if you have to connect additional storage, e.g., a USB stick.

"Or you should notburn all that scientific information on a Blu-ray disk, but be able to convert directly into an MP4 file!"

Blu-ray video is simply a format for organizing the files so a set-top Blu-ray player can play it. You can stick the video on any sort of storage you want -- some people still burn discs as a convenient way to physically store data or video. MP4 OTOH is a type of container that holds video & audio, which can each be in one of several formats. MKV, or the .m2ts format used for Blu-ray, can also store multiple audio & subtitle tracks along with the video.

"TVs with surround technology were also a long time ago."

Calling it "Surround Sound" was popular in the '90s, but the technology has advanced Considerably since then. Nowadays you have actual 5 - 7 discreet channels, rather than the kinda fake approach they used to use. Some folks go for the whole home theater setup, probably more go with a soundbar offering spatial sound, and some just don't bother, listening to the more basic audio that's sort of encapsulated in the HD track, which can be stripped out, & the HD audio discarded BTW to save file size.

Ken, yes Apeaksoft needs to clarify what advantages it has over VLC, if any.

Ken, yes, this is what I use since "ever", BUT I can't make it run HEVC files. No matter what I try.
mario

When did VLC start playing protected and region encoded blu rays? How are they doing it for free? That's amazing. I guess VLC will replace ALL dvd software if it can do everything like that for free. Thanks for letting us no it can do all that.

Don,
Most free ones can play DVD just like a regular DVD/Blu-ray player attached to TV. I've tried gom, leawo free Blu-ray player and kmplayer and all work fine. With vlc, if it fails, there are two small files, placed in directory of vlc, will take care of the DVD restrictions. VLC can even capture and if needed, trim select parts and save it.
I have tried The offer of today a while back and works fine and reliably too.

Mario, Download High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), also known as H.265 on your PC!

"Try VLC Media Player. It plays Bluray, DVD and all audio and video files. It's free!"

It works, including the versions for Android, Google TV etc., but it can be a bit clunky navigating attached storage to select the video file you want to play, while the Windows version has an annoying habit of sizing the window to the video automatically, unlike most every other player. And VLC, like most players will not handle DRM, though there are some sort of kludgy ways to *try* & get around that. And like most players, including Apeaksoft Blu-ray Player, you won't get the menus &/or special features. For that you need something like PowerDVD or a standalone Blu-ray player. That said, the Apeaksoft Blu-ray Player, like its competitors out of China, *should* handle the DRM. That can mean you have to be online, and that newer versions are required for new discs, as DRM does evolve. Alternatively DVDFab sells apps that can copy a DVD or Blu-ray disc to your hard disk, and the free tsMuxeR can create a new Blu-ray folder using that copy, stripping out unneeded audio & subs, menus, HD audio etc., while also combining multiple video files [there can be many] into one.