Video Formats

[biferi]

A few years ago I would take my DVDs and use DVD Decrypter to Rip them to my Hard Drive.

The Files would be in a .VOB Format Un Compressed Format.

I would put them on my SD Card or my Flash Drive and watch them any place.

Now DVD Decrypter will not work so I use MakeMKV.

All over YouTube and the Internet they say MakeMKV can support all the Audio Tracks that are out there.

I just want to know is MKV Format Un Compressed like the VOB Format?

Or did I not understand what Decrypter was doing?

[jagabo]

VOB isn't uncompressed, it's MPEG 2 compressed video. DVD Decrypter and MakeMKV do not further compress the video. It is left in it's native MPEG 2 state. So there are no further losses.

[davexnet]

I don't know if you understand or not, but MakeMKV unencrypts (if necessary) and copies the streams as-is

[pcspeak]

This is my first choice. It may not be able to decrypt your DVDs.
https://www.videohelp.com/software?toolsearch=DVD+Shrink&submit=Search&portable=&s=&or...y=Name&hits=50
Firstly, go to Edit/Preferences/Preferences
Change the target DVD size to Custom. Mine is set to 13392 (triple the basic DVD size)
Then go to the 'Output Files' tab. Uncheck the 'Split VOB files into 1GB size...'. (Gives you 1 large vob)


My procedure: open a dvd. backup. select a destination folder. OK.

[Hoser Rob]

MKV is not a video or audio format, it's just a container. It's the most versatile container so it will store mpeg2 format DVD video etc. MakeMKV just rips, it doesn't re encode the video. That's the part that many find confusing, they think that ripping a disk means both decrypting it and re compressing it, it really just means decrypting.

MakeMKV is a very good program and is often recommended for those who don't want to bother with the learning curve needed to use video encoders properly. I wouldn't choose DVD Shrink over it.

[pcspeak]

MakeMKV is a very good program

Do you get the full menu system with that?
I don't watch a number of M*A*S*H episodes and like to select which episodes to watch.
I have 9 seasons, with 24 episodes in each DVD case. Complete menu systems are important for me.

[Hoser Rob]

MakeMKV is a very good program

Do you get the full menu system with that?
I don't watch a number of M*A*S*H episodes and like to select which episodes to watch.
I have 9 seasons, with 24 episodes in each DVD case. Complete menu systems are important for me.

The OP never mentioned menus or wrote anything that indicated that menus were important to them.

[DB83]

MakeMKV is a very good program

Do you get the full menu system with that?
I don't watch a number of M*A*S*H episodes and like to select which episodes to watch.
I have 9 seasons, with 24 episodes in each DVD case. Complete menu systems are important for me.

Maybe I got this wrong but I thought that makemkv just deals with the main movie vob(s)


A menu has its own vob and ifo and is of no use to makemkv

[lingyi]

MakeMKV now supports ripping DVDs, but not Blu-Rays to ISO, retaining the menu.

MKV and VOB are videos containers. MKV supports multiple different types of video/audio formats.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_video_container_formats

Most retail U.S. and some European* DVD, Blu-Ray and UHDs are encrypted and require decryption to be properly ripped. DVD Decrypter** and DVDShrink have not been updated for years and don't have the capability to properly decrypt newer copy encryption schemes.***

*In my 25+ years of ripping Asian DVDs and Blu-Rays, I've never seen any non-U.S. or European retail release with copy protection. Part of the reason is use of copy protection requires a paid license. Which I believe is per title.
**Some [claim] DVD Decrypter can brute force decrypt newer DVD copy protection schemes, but IMO, it's use is pointless today since MakeMKV can now rip DVDs to ISO. Related to by next point below, sometimes you have to wait for MakeMKV to handle new/less-common copy protection schemes.
***Many reports are that new DVD copy encryption variations have slowed or stopped since they're far less popular today. If you have a disc that you can't properly rip with MakeMKV, it's possible it has a new(er) copy protection variation that it hasn't been updated for. This is more common with Blu-Ray and UHD releases where new copy protection variations are still done. Or it could be the disc is physically damaged or improperly created. Reports of 1 or more discs from a disc set not working are sometimes reported and it's because that particular disc was improperly created.


VOB is a video container specifically for DVD-VIDEO* and can only contain DVD-VIDEO compliant video and audio formats. There are very limited video and audio formats allowed for DVD-VIDEO and MakeMKV supports that them all.
https://www.videohelp.com/dvd.


As stated, DVD-VIDEO is not uncompressed. It's either compressed MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. MakeMKV will RIP (per the original definition, a 1:1 bit for bit copy) of the video and audio, then REMUX (place the ripped video/audio) into an MKV container without any loss.

Many today incorrectly say they're going to RIP to another video/audio format, e.g. MP4 (which in this context is a video container), H.264 or H.265 (which are video formats) for video and FLAC, OGG, MP3 for audio, but that's RIPPING AND RE-ENCODING. Which objectively loses quality in the conversion.

[biferi]

Ok first I do know DVDs are MPEG2. Format.

I do know MKV is just the Container it will put the MPEG2. Format File into when it Rips it.

I do know that MakeMKV just Decrypts DVDs and will not Re Encode the File.

What I never understood is when I did use DVD Decrypt it would put the MPEG2. File in a VOB Container and now when I use MakeMKV it puts the MPEG2. File in a MKV Container.

I always thought VOB was the Container for DVD Files?

So am I right DVD Decrypter put the MPEG2. Files in a VOB Container just like how MakeMKV puts the MPEG2. Files in a MKV Container?

[lingyi]

From the third link I gave above, VOB is a specialized container for DVD-VIDEO. You're using DVDDecrypter in the file/folder/structure mode. There's no REMUXING done. Each VOB can be 1GB max and are not meant to be played alone, but referenced and linked through the IFO file.

MakeMKV joins and REMUXEs the VOBs into a single contiguous file.

DVD File/Folder Structure

Explanation:

. BUP = Backup files of the IFO files.

. IFO = The IFO files includes information such as chapters, subtitle tracks and audio tracks.

. VOB = The VOB files contains the actual video,audio,subtitles and menus.

Folder Files Explanation
AUDIO_TS (undefined)
VIDEO_TS VIDEO_TS.BUP
VIDEO_TS.IFO
The first video play item, IFO, usally a copyright notice or a menu
VIDEO_TS.VOB The first video play item, VOB
VTS_01_0.BUP
VTS_01_0.IFO Title Set 01, IFO, usually the main movie
VTS_01_0.VOB Title Set 01, VOB 0, the menu for this title
VTS_01_1.VOB Title Set 01, VOB 1, the video for this title
VTS_01_2.VOB Title Set 01, VOB 2, if larger than 1 GB it will be splitted into several vobs
VTS_01_3.VOB Title Set 01, VOB 3
VTS_01_4.VOB Title Set 01, VOB 4, up to 10(0-9) VOB files if necassary
VTS_02_0.BUP
VTS_02_0.IFO Title Set 02, IFO, usually movie extras
VTS_02_0.VOB Title Set 02, VOB 0, the menu for this title
VTS_02_1.VOB Title Set 02, VOB 1, the video for this title
VTS_xx_x.BUP
VTS_xx_x.IFO And so on
VTS_xx_x.VOB
VTS_xx_x.VOB
VTS_99_9.VOB Up to 99(1-99) titles with max 10(0-9) VOB files each

Edit: My disc drive isn't working right now, but IIRC, you can even view and copy the DVD-VIDEO file/folders directly from an encrypted disc. However, unless you remove the copy protection you won't be able to play the VOBs.

Edit 2: In the days before MakeMKV, I used to used software like WombleMPEG and VOB2MPG to combine VOBs into a single playable file.

Edit 3: Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the CSS copy protection is contained within the VOB container, which is specialized for DVD-VIDEO.

Because the copy protection and other specialized data is contained in the VOB header, when you REMUX a VOB(s) to another container, MPG, TS, MKV, the file will be slightly smaller. This confuses some as they think some video/audio quality has been lost, but the video/audio quality is the same.

[lingyi]

MakeMKV is a very good program and is often recommended for those who don't want to bother with the learning curve needed to use video encoders properly. I wouldn't choose DVD Shrink over it.

DVDShrink still has its uses. There are other programs like PGCEdit, for some things but DVDShrink is easier and quicker for casual users.

Here's an excellent full write-up of what DVDShrink can do: https://www.dvdshrink.org/guides.php

My highlights.

You can:

• Convert an animated menu to stills only, saving space and load time.
• Choose what you want, e.g. movie only, select extras, etc., while retaining the menu and access. I still do this with DVDs where I just want to remove the trailers.
• Quickly transcode from MPEG-1/2 to MPEG-1/2.* Thus the name DVDShrink. This was a big deal when the choices were basically .AVI, .MOV and .WMV for home consumers.
  *At the time, for a home consumer like me, the choices were DVDShrink or the full Tsunami MPEG Encoder, if you could afford the multi-thousand? dollar pricetag and time required. Later, a cheaper version of TMPEGEnc was introduced, but I never bother to shrink any of my videos, then and now.
• Seamless split a DVD-VIDEO into two parts* so you could save/burn a DVD-9 on two DVD-5. I never burned DVD-9, only DVD-5. Back then I would backup my DVD-VIDEOS on two DVD-5. You could later rejoin the split parts into a single DVD-9.
  *It would add a prompt at the end of DISC 1 asking you to insert DISC 2 ala Laserdiscs. IIRC, it also adds DISC 2 to the beginning of the second disc. When you combine the parts in DVDShrink, it automatically removes the additional info. Years ago, because of an utter brainfart moment, I lost hundreds of the ISOs on my hard drives and had to re-rip them all from my DVD-5 saved disc copies.
• Combine different discs/ISOs, choosing what you want into a new disc/ISO.

[Alwyn]

DVDShrink still has its uses.

Yep, my go-to ripper of DVDs. Still works on the latest DVDs that I've tried.