Backup Quality

[poolman]

This may be a stupid question because it could possible have an endless amount of answers but what method of DVD Backup gives the best quality results. What I am looking for is the best quality backups with my SONY DW-Q28A DVD-RW and Memorex 8x DVD-R. I currently use DVD Shrink + DVD Decrypter and clock my speed down to 4x and use the quality scan feature when possible. Are there any simple things I should know or change to make my backups look better?

[waheed]

You could always use the quality enhancement settings in dvd shrink for better output quality.

Speed of burning doesn't really affect the quality in any way.

Stripping away extras and additional audio allows for less compression of the main movie.

[wwjd]

For a small amount of file size reduction I use DVD Shrink but for larger files I use DVD Rebuilder Pro ($15). It does a complete re-code and the results so far have been very good. I use CCE Basic as the mpeg encoder but the included HC mpeg encoder seems to do a very good job as well. However, because your re-encoding it take about 3hrs on a 2.53Ghz P4.

[dvdguy4]

I too use dvd shrink for the smaller files but use dvd2one for the large ones

[Rich86]

Using DVDShrink, you should always perform "deep analysis".
However, I think the single most important thing to do to permit the best quality possible is to minimize the amount of additional compression being forced. If you are backing up a double layer media to a single layer media, you have to decide which is more important - having everything on the backup, or having good quality of the most important items. I suggest using the "reauthor" mode in shrink - and picking and choosing what you want, in order to minimize the additional compression taking place. I strive for "no compression" (or the least amount possible) on the most important items I want on my backup.