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  1. Would love your advice folks.
    I had been using DVDFAB & DVD Shrink to create DVDs for many years. Worked great on my analog TV.
    Looks poor on my new HD TV however. I'm guessing it is not being created in a hi enough resolution.
    Is there a setting I should be using that I'm not?
    Different software work better?

    Thanks very much.
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  2. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    If you are starting with DVDs, you are starting with STANDARD Definition video, not High Definition. You want High Definition? - you use BDs (aka Blu-rays). Note that it is possible to get SD material on BDs along with HD material, so YMMV. And welcome to the world of HD video!
    Get new tools/equipment and/or new source material. DVDFab make HDDecrypter and many other BD-level apps. Plus, there are a number of free and/or inexpensive apps available as listed here, though you are quite limited when dealing with decryption of BDs.

    What BDs do you have? Any? Do you have a BD reader? Without those, your only source would be downloads (which are likely either DRM'ed and not convertable/copyable, or warez and illegal). I'm omitting YT downloads, etc here, as those don't really need to be converted much.

    Scott
    Last edited by Cornucopia; 25th Jun 2014 at 12:01.
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    All kinds of things could be going on here. Too vague to know for sure. You might be using DVDFab to re-encode your video and only now do realize what a poor job it does at that. You could be stretching 4:3 video to 16:9 and seeing artifacts from that. You might be playing these files now on low quality video connections that make everything look like crap and you're only first noticing the problems on these files.
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  4. Thanks very much for taking the time to reply Groucho..er I mean Cornucopia.
    Tough to reply in depth to what you've said since your knowledge is deeper than mine. But the tip/reminder that DVDs are by nature
    SD was important. I think that it's probably not in the end important that the result is Hi Def as much as it just looks sharp on my
    new HD TV. Standard non- Blue Ray DVDs look pretty good but not the "ripped" ones(if that's the applicable term) from DVD FAB.
    Which is why I was wondering if I'm using an inappropriate setting, tool that wasn't needed on my previous analog TV.

    Thanks muchly
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  5. "All kinds of things could be going on here. Too vague to know for sure. You might be using DVDFab to re-encode your video and only now do realize what a poor job it does at that. You could be stretching 4:3 video to 16:9 and seeing artifacts from that. You might be playing these files now on low quality video connections that make everything look like crap and you're only first noticing the problems on these files."
    -------------------------------------------------------

    Thanks for the opinion Jman. Vague is what happens when a neophyte has to explain symptoms unfortunately.
    Could DVD Fab be inappropriate for HD tvs? I suppose but I hadn't heard anything about it. The "stretching 4:3 to 16:9 could be relevant JMAN.
    I suppose I need to find out if I'm not burning them in the exact right format as opposed to playing them in the wrong format. My efforts to toggle between 480, 720 and 1080 on my TV didn't produce any real differences on my burned DVDS and regular commercial DVDs looked nice enough.

    Thanks
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  6. The cleanest way to do it is to rip with DVDFab and then use the video_ts folder to make a new DVD without reencoding, essentially cloning the original DVD. My hunch is you are reencoding the files with DVD Shrink to get them to fit on a standard 4.7GB DVD -- lowering the bitrate and the quality.
    Larger media: hard disks, thumbdrives, Blu Ray disks, Dual-Layer DVDs will allow you to maintain quality.
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    You STILL need to explain instead of dancing around it WHAT exactly you are doing with DVDFab. Are you converting DVDs to another format? Or just ripping? WHAT exactly are you playing that you have problems with? WHAT device are you using? How is it hooked up?
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  8. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Here we go again with the confusion with the term: "rip". If your original DVDs look OK enough on your HDTV, then your "ripped" ones should also, because a rip is really only decrypt+copy-to-HDD. ANYTHING ELSE is in addition to your ripping. DVDFab, as well as other apps, are notorious for blurring the lines between ripping & ripping+converting/processing.

    More details, please...

    Scott
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  9. Sorry folks, but I may be so technologically ignorant that I am beyond your magnanimous attempts to help but...
    I am using DVD Fab to create a copy of a commercial disc on to a RW DVD so I can watch it at my own leisure. I can then erase.
    The resultant files are of the TS, VTS format. I then take those files and shrink them with DVD Shrink so can I can fit them on to the disc.
    The burned disc I play with a standard DVD player. It is hooked up to my TV with a HDMI cord.
    DVD's created look noisy and a little washed out on my new HD TV. Looked fine on old analog set.
    SMRPIX, indeed I create the files you refer to with DVD FAB and did also "shrink" them to fit on a disc. If a dual layer rewriteable disc exists I will check it out to see if that solves the quality issue.

    That's the best I can explain things folks. Thanks for the patience.
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  10. Originally Posted by steve franklin View Post
    I then take those files and shrink them with DVD Shrink so can I can fit them on to the disc
    There's your answer. You probably didn't use DVD Shrink with its best settings. In addition you probably didn't remove the 'junk', such as extraneous audio and/or subtitle tracks, warnings, logos, and maybe the extras. Doing a 'movie-only' shrink job will increase the quality dramatically.
    If a dual layer rewriteable disc exists I will check it out to see if that solves the quality issue.
    They exist (although they're significantly more expensive than DVD5s) and using them will solve your problem as then you'll have an exact copy of the retail DVD. I'd still remove the junk I didn't want or need, though.
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  11. Very interesting Manono
    At first blush, I assumed that you meant "movie only"(main movie) on DVD Fab. Is there a "movie only" setting on DVD shrink as well?
    What are the "Best settings" on DVD Shrink that one needs for an uptick in quality?
    I did see that they sell Dual Layer rewritables but my gut says that my DVD Burner might not support it. Something i need to investigate.

    Thanks
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  12. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    @steve franklin, yes there is. I often use DVDFab or AnyDVD or DVDDecrypter to rip one of my personal library discs to R or RW (usually as a loaner to someone I'm worried about ruining my copy). I rip to full ISO using that app, then shrink it using DVDShrink.

    I usually only choose MOVIE-ONLY (the option can be achieved with re-author button instead of Ful disc). Basically, you drag your main movie (largest VTS) to the left pane, then in compression settings, uncheck all the extra stuff (other languages and their subs). Once all that other stuff is gone, you can often get by with a DVD9->DVD5 reduction by using 72-95% compression quality. I personally would NEVER go below 70% (usually in the low 80s). If lower were necessary, I'd either split to 2 discs or use DVDRebuilder, etc to re-encode properly.

    At those settings, the backup is close enough to the original in quality for most people's use.

    Scott
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  13. Originally Posted by steve franklin View Post
    What are the "Best settings" on DVD Shrink that one needs for an uptick in quality?
    Here's lordsmurf's guide to using DVD Shrink to its best advantage:

    http://www.tvpast.org/forum/video-tech/21106-three-important-tips.html
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  14. Thanks so much for your guidance Manono. I will also read this link.
    Cheers!
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