Have you ever played a commercial Blu-ray or 4K UHD Blu-ray movie and opened a navigation menu without stopping the movie? Unlike a traditional disc menu that usually appears before the main video starts, a pop-up menu can be displayed while the movie is playing. It gives viewers quick access to chapters, episodes or other navigation options without having to return to the main menu first. For people creating their own UHD Blu-ray collections, this can make a homemade disc feel much closer to a professionally authored commercial release.

The problem is that pop-up menu authoring has traditionally been associated with complicated professional Blu-ray authoring systems. Many consumer UHD Blu-ray creators provide only a basic main menu, while some UHD creation tools provide no menu authoring at all. With Yuhan 4K UHD Creator, you can create 4K UHD Blu-ray projects with customizable disc menus as well as Blu-ray pop-up menus on Windows and Mac. Pop-up menu support was added in version 5.0.0, together with enhanced menu video playback options.

Part 1. What Is a Blu-ray Pop-Up Menu?

A pop-up menu is an interactive navigation layer that can be displayed over the video while playback continues.

Suppose you are watching a two-hour movie. With a normal main menu, accessing another chapter may require leaving playback and returning to the disc menu. A pop-up menu provides a more direct way to access navigation controls from the movie itself.

This is especially useful for movie collections, concert discs, TV series and other projects where viewers may frequently move between chapters or episodes.

A well-designed UHD Blu-ray can therefore use two different types of navigation.

The two menu types do not have to replace each other. In a more complete UHD Blu-ray project, the main menu can provide the full disc structure while the pop-up menu provides faster navigation during playback.

Part 2. Why Add a Pop-Up Menu to a 4K UHD Blu-ray?

If your only goal is to store a movie on an UHD disc, a pop-up menu is not essential.

However, authoring is about more than putting an HEVC video into a BDMV structure. A proper disc can also organize chapters, multiple videos, subtitles, audio tracks and bonus material so that they are convenient to access from a standalone player.

This becomes particularly important when creating larger collections.

Imagine that you are authoring a concert containing 20 songs. The main menu may contain Play, Scenes and Setup. Once the concert starts, viewers can use the pop-up menu to move quickly to another song without completely leaving playback.

The same idea works well with a TV series. Several episodes can be placed on one UHD Blu-ray, with the main menu providing the overall disc navigation and the pop-up menu helping viewers navigate the content while watching.

For personal movie collections, fan projects, wedding videos, concerts, film festival projects and professional video delivery, this extra navigation can significantly improve the viewing experience.

Part 3. What Do You Need Before Creating the UHD Blu-ray?

Before authoring the disc, prepare your source video and decide what the finished UHD Blu-ray should contain.

Yuhan 4K UHD Creator accepts common video formats such as MKV, MP4, MOV, M2TS, TS and MTS. It can create UHD Blu-ray folders and ISO images or burn the project to a compatible disc. It also supports multiple audio tracks and subtitles, chapter authoring, HDR10, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision workflows, depending on the source.

You should also decide whether the project needs only the main movie or a more complete structure containing chapters, multiple titles, audio/subtitle selection and bonus material.

Planning this structure before designing the menu makes authoring considerably easier.

Part 4. How to Create a 4K UHD Blu-ray with a Pop-Up Menu

Before we start, we need to download and install Yuhan 4K UHD Creator. If your computer is Windows, you can click the button on the left below to download it. If your computer is Mac, please click the button on the right below to download it.

If you’re using a Mac with an Apple Silicon chip (M1, M2, M3, M4, etc.) rather than an Intel processor, please download the native Apple Silicon version here:

https://yuhanmedia.com/wp-content/download/bdc_setup_apple.dmg

Step 1: Import Your Source Video

Launch Yuhan 4K UHD Creator on your Windows PC or Mac and add the video files that you want to author. For example, you may be starting with an MKV containing a 4K HEVC movie, several audio tracks, subtitles and chapters. Alternatively, your project might consist of several MP4 or M2TS files representing different episodes. After importing the source, check the detected video information before proceeding. Pay particular attention to the video resolution, frame rate and HDR type. If you want the finished UHD Blu-ray to retain the original motion characteristics, select an output frame rate that matches your source whenever possible. Yuhan currently supports 23.976, 24, 25, 29.97, 50 and 59.94 fps for UHD Blu-ray creation. For Dolby Vision or HDR projects, also verify that the HDR information has been detected correctly before authoring.

Step 2: Select Audio Tracks and Subtitles

A professional-style disc often contains more than one audio or subtitle option.

For example, an MKV movie may contain a TrueHD Dolby Atmos track, another language track and several subtitle streams. You can choose which tracks should be included in the final UHD Blu-ray instead of unnecessarily keeping every stream from the source.

External subtitles can also be added when required.

This is worth configuring before designing the menus because the number of audio and subtitle tracks determines whether you need Audio or Subtitle menu pages in your final disc structure.

If your project contains only one audio track and no subtitles, the Setup section may not need to be as prominent. A disc containing several language tracks, on the other hand, benefits from dedicated audio and subtitle navigation.

Step 3: Check or Create Chapters

Chapters are particularly important for a useful pop-up menu.

If the source video already contains chapter information, Yuhan 4K UHD Creator can import it. You can also create chapters manually or add them at intervals when your source has no existing chapter structure.

Consider the way viewers will actually use the disc.

For a movie, chapters can correspond to major scenes. For a concert, each song can have its own chapter. For a wedding video, chapters might represent the ceremony, speeches, dinner and reception.

Good chapter placement makes the pop-up menu genuinely useful instead of simply decorative.

Step 4: Select a menu template and customize it

Open the menu designer and choose a suitable template as the starting point for the disc. The main menu should normally remain simple. A movie project, for example, may only need options such as Play, Scenes, Setup and Bonus Features.

Yuhan's UHD menu designer also provides four different ways to organize the Scene page: File (Icon), File (Text), Chapter (Icon) and Chapter (Text). This allows the menu structure to work for both multi-file projects and a single movie containing many chapters.

You can customize the visual design rather than being limited to the default template. Background images or video can be used, menu text can be edited, thumbnails can be replaced, and individual menu pages can have their own background music.

The software also supports Top Menu, Scene Menu, Setup Menu, Audio Menu and Subtitle Menu customization.

For a cleaner result, avoid filling every menu page with too many buttons or decorative elements. A professional menu is usually easy to understand immediately.

Version 5.0.0 of Yuhan Blu-ray DVD Creator officially adds support for Blu-ray pop-up menus. Simply check the "Enable Pop-up Menu" option under the Advanced tab, and the software will automatically generate a pop-up menu based on your disc's menu structure, enabling this navigation feature for your Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray projects.

Step 5: Choose ISO, Folder or Direct Disc Burning

When the authoring settings are complete, choose the desired output.

For a new project, creating an ISO image first is often the most convenient workflow.

An ISO gives you a complete disc image that can be stored, tested and later burned to physical media. If you notice a navigation problem, you can return to the project and correct it without wasting a blank UHD disc.

You can also output a BDMV folder if that better suits your workflow, or burn the finished project directly to compatible media.

Yuhan supports folder, ISO and direct disc output for its authoring workflow.

Step 6: Start authoring

Click the "Start" button in the settings window to begin creating the UHD Blu-ray. The process is complete once the disc ejects.

Part 5. FAQs

Main Menu or Pop-Up Menu: Which One Should You Use?

In most cases, the answer is both.

The main menu is the home of the disc. It provides the complete navigation structure and is the logical place for features such as Scenes, Setup and Bonus Features.

The pop-up menu serves a different purpose. It provides quick access while the movie or episode is already playing.

Using only a pop-up menu can make it harder for viewers to understand the overall structure of a complex disc. Using only a traditional main menu works, but viewers may need to interrupt playback whenever they want to access another chapter.

Combining both creates a much more polished navigation experience.

Can You Create a Pop-Up Menu for a Dolby Vision UHD Blu-ray?

Yes. Pop-up menu authoring and HDR processing are separate parts of the UHD Blu-ray creation workflow.

If your source contains Dolby Vision, the important requirement is to configure the video and HDR settings correctly so that the Dolby Vision workflow is preserved during UHD authoring.

Yuhan 4K UHD Creator supports Dolby Vision workflows from supported MP4, MKV and M2TS sources, while also supporting HDR10 and HDR10+ authoring. The software identifies supported HDR information when source media is loaded.

For a detailed Dolby Vision workflow, it is better to follow a dedicated guide rather than treating pop-up menu configuration as an HDR setting.

Can You Create a Pop-Up Menu from an MKV Movie?

Yes.

An MKV can contain the movie video together with audio tracks, subtitles and chapters, making it a common source format for personal UHD authoring projects.

After importing the MKV, select the required audio and subtitle tracks, verify or edit its chapters, create the main menu and then configure the pop-up navigation.

If your MKV also contains Dolby Vision or HDR10+, check the HDR settings before starting the final UHD creation process.

Is a Pop-Up Menu Necessary for Every UHD Blu-ray?

No.

If you are creating a simple disc containing a short home video, adding advanced navigation may be unnecessary. A basic Play button may be enough.

Pop-up menus become more valuable as a disc becomes more complex.

A two-hour movie with many chapters, a concert with individual songs, a television season with several episodes or a collection containing bonus material benefits much more from quick navigation during playback.

The goal should not be to add every possible authoring feature. It should be to make the disc easier and more enjoyable to use.

Part 6. Conclusion

Creating a 4K UHD Blu-ray is not simply a matter of converting a video to HEVC and writing files to a disc. A complete authoring workflow also involves video compatibility, HDR, audio, subtitles, chapters and navigation.

A traditional Top Menu gives viewers access to the overall disc structure, while a pop-up menu makes it possible to navigate content more conveniently during playback. When these features are combined with chapter authoring, multiple audio tracks, subtitles, custom backgrounds and optional video menus, a personal UHD Blu-ray can provide an experience much closer to a professionally authored disc.

Yuhan 4K UHD Creator brings these functions together in one UHD authoring workflow for Windows and Mac, with support for customizable menus, pop-up menus, chapters, multiple audio/subtitle tracks, HDR10, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, ISO output, BDMV folders and physical disc creation. If you are building a movie collection, concert disc, episodic series or professional 4K video project, a pop-up menu is a small addition that can make a surprisingly large difference to the finished disc.

If you want to learn more about Yuhan 4K UHD Creator, please click: https://yuhanmedia.com/uhd-creator

If you want to download and try it for free, please click the button below to download it.

If you’re using a Mac with an Apple Silicon chip (M1, M2, M3, M4, etc.) rather than an Intel processor, please download the native Apple Silicon version here:

https://yuhanmedia.com/wp-content/download/bdc_setup_apple.dmg