Tip & How-To about Computers & Internet
Ripping your music CDs to MP3 changes
everything. Instead of juggling CD cases and spending time hunting through the
bookcase for the CD with the one track you really feel like hearing, you can
choose from your entire music library and enjoy it instantly on your desktop
computer or portable media player. You get your content when, where and how you
want it. And since making a copy for personal use is generally legally
acceptable, so there's plenty of software available.
Things are not as simple when it comes to
ripping DVDs, however. For one thing, the DVD video format is more complicated.
Each track on a CD is a WAV file that you can copy or convert, but the content
of a DVD is divided into multiple VOB files for the video, with separate audio
tracks and a menu system. The menus let you navigate through the video scenes
and access alternative soundtracks, captions, camera angles, audio commentaries
and extra content.
The files required in DVD ripping are much
larger, especially on dual-layer DVDs, and the conversion is a more complicated
process. Video processing is also very CPU-intensive; it could take you a full
24 hours to copy a DVD on a 500 MHz PC, while even a 2 GHz processor will take
three or four hours to do the job. And while the version you watch on your PC
or media player will be a much smaller file than what's on the DVD, you'll
still need up to 10 GB of free space for the files during the ripping process.
For commercial DVDs, there are other
considerations including the copy protection on the discs, and the legality of
copying the content (even for personal use). Some of the most famous DVD
ripping software is also no longer available legally, although bogus
similarly-named versions abound. And finally, not all of the DVD copying
software you can buy will work with commercial DVDs
DVD Ripper converts video to the right codec and resolution for a wide range
of portable media players.
Copying DVDs isn't about piracy - you might
just want to make a backup. Because while DVDs are physically robust and long
lasting, they're no match for a small child with a jar of peanut butter.
Playing the same DVD over and over again doesn't damage it, but the disc can
pick up dust and minute scratches as you take it in and out of the case. Enough
of them can make DVD playback jump, or more often, stop altogether. (By the
way, don't store a DVD horizontally, leave it on a sunny window sill, or keep
it in a CD case; the central hub fits the disc too tightly and can damage it).
In some rare cases, the layers of the disc
can separate - this is called delamination - or spots of corrosion can appear.
Although these are grounds for getting the disc replaced, that's not always
possible or worth the time and hassle.
In addition to backup, the video iPod and
similar devices allow you to watch videos in smaller and more convenient forms
than portable DVD players. And while Media Center PCs always have DVD drives,
you still have to physically change DVDs to watch something different. Finally,
if you play a DVD on your laptop on a plane trip, you run down the battery
faster because you're accessing both the DVD and hard drives.
Note:if you want to rip dvd on mac , you need to user dvd ripper for mac.
But convert the video on a DVD to an AVI,
DivX, or other alternative file format and you can watch it in far more places.
You could store the files on a server or NAS device, and watch them on any PC
in the house without having to fetch the disc from another room (and without
being restricted to PCs that have DVD drives.) You can also take several DVDs
with you without lugging around extra weight and bulk.
Note, however, that
ripping a DVD to another format reduces video quality even with best dvd ripper.
You can't expect the same detail or resolution, and you'll usually lose DVD
special features and extra content. But on a smaller screen, or in situations
where you couldn't use even a portable DVD player, you may feel the compromise
is worthwhile.
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