To say that the PS3 has been one of the greatest consoles of its generation would be an understatement. Its graphics and audio capabilities were a vast improvement over those of its predecessor’s, it supports 2.5 inch SATA hard drives and, most importantly, can play Blu-ray games and movies.
Thus, it is no wonder that even 15 years after its release, it has still not outlived its use either as a retro gaming console, or a Blu-ray player.
Yet, despite Sony’s claims that the PS3 does support Blu-ray movie playback, people still encounter problems when they try to watch their favorite Blu-rays on their PS3s.
In this article, we will find out why this is happening and how to fix it.
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Why does my PS3 not play Blu-ray?
First things first, we need to understand why this is happening.
The reasons why Blu-ray discs would not play on a PS3 can be divided into two categories, software-related and hardware-related.
Hardware-related reasons
Your Blu-ray disc is damaged
No matter how careful you are with your discs, they might still accumulate a couple of scratches with use. This could eventually make them unplayable.
Solutions:
- Clean the disc with a soft cloth and cleaning agent.
- Use a disc cleaner.
- Make copies of your Blu-rays to new discs or rip their contents to another storage medium.
Your PS3’s optical drive is worn out
If you’ve had your PS3 for a while, or you were unlucky enough to get a defective product, your PS3 might be unable to play Blu-ray because of a broken optical drive.
Solutions:
- Contact Sony’s tech support to have the faulty part replaced.
- Reach out to a certified technician if Sony support is not available.
Software-related reasons
The PS3’s software might be out of date
If you’ve gone without updating your PS3 for a while it might become unable to play Blu-ray discs.
Solutions:
Online
- Connect your PS3 to the internet.
- Update your PS3’s software by going to “Settings” – “System Software Update”.
Offline
- Alternatively, download the latest firmware on a flash drive and put it on a USB drive.
- Insert the drive into your PS3.
- Go to “Settings” – “System Software Update” and choose the “Update via Storage Media” option.
The Blu-ray disc is region protected
While the PS3 does not have any region restrictions, many Blu-ray discs do. In that case, if your PS3’s region code and that of your Blu-ray do not match the latter won’t play.
Solutions:
- Rip the contents of your Blu-rays using a Blu-ray Ripper and transfer them to a USB drive in a PS3-compatible format.
- Make a copy of your Blu-ray disc using a Blu-ray ripper. This will also remove the region protection.
The encryption key is out of date
Every so often, Sony publishes new encryption keys for its consoles, so that they can decrypt and play the latest Blu-ray discs. A PS3 with an out-of-date encryption key cannot play Blu-ray movies.
Solutions:
Online
- On the PS3’s main screen go to “Settings” – “System Software Update”.
Offline
- Download the encryption keys from Sony’s website.
- Create a folder named “Update” on a USB drive.
- Transfer the encryption keys to the aforementioned folder.
- Plug the drive into your PS3.
- Go to “Settings > System Update” and select “Update via Storage Media”
A workaround on how to fix a non-working PS3 Blu-ray
Believe it or not, you can solve all of the aforementioned issues without resorting to any of the fixes listed above.
If this interests you, read on to find out more.
What we should prepare
As mentioned before, we will need a computer with a Blu-ray drive, a USB storage device, and a Blu-ray converter.
The first two are quite easy to acquire if you don’t already have them and, while there are a plethora of options, even the simplest equipment will do, given that Blu-ray converters are not as resource hungry as other programs. The third one, though, the Blu-ray converter is what does most of the work, so we should make sure to get the best we can.
Any converter will probably be able to convert your Blu-rays to something your PS3 can play, but how many can actually do that quickly, without any data loss?
Luckily, we have done all the boring research to present you with the best and cheapest option in the market; Tipard Blu-ray Converter.
Tipard Blu-ray Converter
Tipard is the Swiss-army knife of Blu-ray converters. It is high-quality, compact, and has a ton of useful tools that give you the freedom to produce tailor-made video files from any Blu-ray movie.
Tipard can rip video from Blu-ray, DVD, BD/DVD ISO, and video files and convert it to over 500 video formats with no loss of quality whatsoever.
Enjoy full 4k UHD and 1080p HD support
You always get a high-quality video with Tipard as it supports 3D, full 4k UHD, and 1080p HD.
Work 30x faster
Thanks to its specialized accelerating technologies and CPU-based encoding/ decoding, Tipard can produce high-quality results 30 times faster than any other converter in the market.
Use a plethora of tools
Tipard is as versatile as it is powerful. Not only can you convert any video file you want, but you can also customize it fully with its pro-tier video editor, 3D maker, GIF maker, video enhancer, video compressor, and metadata editor.
Benefit from a user-friendly interface
While it is a full-fledged professional Blu-ray converter, Tipard has done away with all the fluff and designed an elegant interface that allows easy access to all of its tools.
Now, it is time to move on to the next step.
How to rip Blu-ray movies for the PS3
Step 1: Download Tipard Blu-ray converter.
Install and run it.
Step 2: Import the Blu-ray movie to Tipard Blu-ray Converter.
- Insert your Blu-ray disc into your computer.
- Select the Ripper tab and click on “Load Blu-ray”-“Load Blu-ray Disc“.
- Alternatively, click on the big blue plus symbol to load the inserted Blu-ray directly.
Tipard should load up the movie in a few seconds.
Step 3: Get ready for Blu-ray ripping.
- Preview and select which parts of the movie you want in your file by clicking on the “Full Title List” button.
- Remove or add audio and subtitle tracks from the two relevant drop-down menus.
- Edit or trim the video by clicking on the edit (star) and cut (scissors) buttons.
- Click on the drop-down menu for the output format.
- Go to “Device” > “Games” and select the “PS3” option.
- Selecting the “Same as Source” option for any format will get you a one-to-one copy of the source material.
- Through the “Rip All to” button, you can set the output format for multiple files.
Step 4: Complete the conversion.
- Set the storage location at the relevant directory.
- Click on the “Rip All” button on the bottom right and Tipard will do the rest.
Once finished, Tipard will open the folder with your converted file which you can transfer to a USB drive and watch on your PS3.
If you want to access it again, you can click on the little folder button at the bottom of the interface.
How to play the Blu-ray movies on PS3 via a USB Drive
Step 1: Format your USB drive to “FAT32”
The PS3 only supports USB drives in the “FAT32” format.
- Plug your USB drive into your computer.
- Go to “My Computer” and right click on the drive.
- Select “Format..”
- There, select the “FAT32” format and press “Start”.
Step 2: Transfer your files to the USB drive.
- Select and transfer your ripped movies into the drive.
- Make sure that they are in a compatible format.
Step 3: Watch the movies on your PS3.
- Plug your USB drive into the PS3.
- In the PS3 main menu go to “Video”.
- Find your drive and select it.
You can now enjoy your Blu-ray movies on your PS3.
Conclusion
There are various reasons why a PS3 would not play a Blu-ray disc and while there is a solution for each one separately, they are not guaranteed to work. The only way one can enjoy any Blu-ray movie they want on a PS3, regardless of whatever issues it may have, is to convert their Blu-ray disc to a PS3-compatible video file and stream it from a USB drive using a Blu-ray converter like Tipard Blu-ray converter.
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