Newbie questions

[NoxAstrum]

I've worked my way here after tumbling down the rabbit hole of attempting to play 4K Blu-Rays on my PC. I've read the FAQs and such, but I still have some questions, so I'm hoping someone can confirm a few things for me:

1. I can't play 4K discs at all natively without having an SGX capable CPU?
2. The only way to circumvent this is to use MakeMKV to rip my discs and play the files from the local file system?
3. In order to do this, I not only need a specific drive, but have to flash the firmware on that drive to an older version, or one that has been custom written by users?
4. I happen to already use a BU40N, so I just need to flash it?
5. Is "Drive Platform MT1959" a standard used to build drives?
6. What is SVC NS50+ LG or NB50+?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

[Woodstock]

1. SGX capability is artificially imposed by the software that they want you to run. Non-SGX software can play the video, although slow hardware can be an issue.
2. If you get the video off the disk, you can play it with whatever software you have. MakeMKV is one way to do that. It isn't the only way, but it's the way we talk about here.
3. If the disk is 4K, you need a 4K-capable drive. Some need to be flashed to allow "bad boy" software to work, others require no flashing.
4. BU40N is one of the popular drives that is 4K-capable. It requires a firmware change to enable it, but it can do 4K disks.
5. Drives other than Pioneer use the MT1959 processor.
6. These are identifiers used by LG/Asus that indicate presence of an MT1959 processor.

[NoxAstrum]

Excellent, thanks for the explanations.

So, even if I have non-SGX software, the drive has to be flashed to work with it?

[Woodstock]

Yes. The LG/Asus drives, including the BU40N, default to "I know NOTHING" until flashed. Some people sell them pre-flashed, but it seems that it's easy enough to get the right firmware to work on them.