Best software for transcoding quality?

[adamh128]

Which software gives the best quality transcoding from DVD9 to DVD5, and allows stripping of unwanted bits?

I've seen a lot of posts about DVD Shrink but I heard that the quality isn't as good as many others.

Thanks for any help.

[toronto098]

The best way to test out anything is to try it yourself !! I am sure your parent would have told you not to play with fire. But the only way to learn that fire is .....

[Vanderlow]

Shrink has a good reputation so I'm not sure where you heard this. You could try Nero recode 2 although its made by the same person. You could try CloneDVD 2 Preview. the one transcoder I heard is the best for quality at high compression is Pinnacle Instant Copy, but it takes longer. You might not see a diff between it (if it does do better) and the others.

And if you really want to be a stickler for quality yo can go down the reencoder route (CCE).

C't magazine (highly regarded) did a comparison (in dec) and here's what they came up with:

Program ...... JND ... PSNR
Rejig_______1.28 58.6 dB
CloneDVD___1.42 51.9 dB
DVDShrink___1.37 58.7 dB
Recode2____1.32 59.4 dB
InstantCopy_1.19 59.4 dB

Lower JND number and higher PSNR number is better. They only did one pass method.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=90232

and from another thread in doom9 (where this orginially started/translated):

The C'T Magazine with the transcoder tests came out on 12/29/2003, so the tests were probably conducted a few weeks earlier. The version numbers of the tested programs were as follows:

CloneDVD 1.3.11.2
DVDShrink 3.0 Beta 5
InstantCopy 8.0.5
Recode2 2.0.0.0
Rejig 0.4i-mod3

The different results for DVDShrink and Recode2 are probably due to the slightly newer engine of Recode2. Recode2 and InstantCopy also were the two only programs where the slower 2pass mode actually did improve quality.

For the two methods used to determine transcoding quality I'll try to translate part of the description from the test report:

"Peak Signal to Noise Ratio" (PSNR) was measured by using the software "PSNR4AVI" by Vanguard Software. The formula that is used is "PSNR = 20 log10(255/RMSE)". RMSE is the square root of the medium square difference between two frames.

JND stands for "Just Noticeable Differences". The software used to determine this value was "JNDmetrix-IQ" by Sarnoff. Frame by frame this software determines the difference between the original and the transcoded frames using a so called "Human Visual System Model".

[adamh128]

I read an interesting article: http://dvd.box.sk/articles8.php
They rated InterVideo on top.

What's the 'reencoder route'?

[Faustus]

I read an interesting article: http://dvd.box.sk/articles8.php
They rated InterVideo on top.

What's the 'reencoder route'?

Awsome read, thanks for the link. I guess Intervideo has decided to NOT just be another voice in the storm.

[LRD]

Get InterVideo's DVD Copy. You can pick it up for $17 at Sam's Club. It is better than Shrink, Recode, Instant Copy, and it is faster. I have tried them all. There is also a new version of DVD Copy, but the old one is fine in its one pass mode.

[jcook5000]

Intervideo sounds good, maybe a little too good to be true. I'm going to download a trial and play around with it tonite. However, I was doing some research on Intervideo's web site and found this.

Dual Layer DVDs to Single DVD -- Compress a 9.4 GB dual layer DVD to 4.7GB with no loss of content or quality.

This seems impossible. If this is true, then they have the entire dual layer dvd burner market beat when they come out. That would be great, but I doubt it. However, those test screens in the DVDBox article were very impressive. Here I've been using Recode like a sucker.

[Infiniti2004]

Intervideo is awesome. This is the first dvd copying software I've purchased. I have the platinum version-- only problem is you need anydvd for copyrighted stuff. I also have clonedvd , dvd shrink, and all the other programs that I got for free . Intervideo is the best( burns faster than all the rest) , followed by clonedvd.

[Vanderlow]

The re-encode is (as I understand it) is where you don't compress it by transcoding but you somehow strip out the movie and you do some kind of bit rate analysis and then encode it back to mpeg2 using your favorite mpeg encoder. Look for CCE and a program mentioned alot with it dvd2dvd-r.

[proxyx99]

I would look no further then Pinnacle Instant Copy 7/8. Excellent quality, great functionality (pick & choose), reliable and proven. Definitely the best dual layer -> single disk software.

[KungFuCow]

Time to put away all those transcoders and go for the real quality. 1 step CCE full disk backups have arrived!

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72691

The program is free (Donationware) but you do need CCE Basic which is $57.00. Eventually it will support EclCCE and CCE Trial versions. It auto reauthors so you dont need any expensive authoring package like Scenarist. Granted its got some bugs but for a first release, it works quite well.

[awlchu]

Get InterVideo's DVD Copy. You can pick it up for $17 at Sam's Club. It is better than Shrink, Recode, Instant Copy, and it is faster. I have tried them all. There is also a new version of DVD Copy, but the old one is fine in its one pass mode.

I also picked up a copy of DVD Copy at Sam's Club. For $17US, it is a heck of a buy.

My first experiment was 'Saving Private Ryan'. A few simple clicks and a 8.7gb was transcoded into a nice 3.5 gb file. A nice feature of the program is the viusal/audio editing capability to cut at titles. A simple two window design (copy this but not this) at the title level works well.

I choose SPR because of the extreme motion and action in the first ten minutes of the movie. I figure if any pixelization or blocking would occur, it would be here. And to my surprise, it was very, very nice. So close to the original that I had a hard time telling from the orginal. There is a 'softening' of the images but still quite acceptable. On your typical TV (or is that telly?) the copy is fine.

All menus and buttons were saved and played like the original. Total time excluding the rip was ~20minutes.

It can read (and save!) to your HD. No need to burn to a DVD afterwards unless you're ready to do so. OF course a decrypter program is required to bring the DVD onto the HD. I tried both ISO read and FILE read using DVDdecrypter without a hitch. Both methods worked extremely well.

The program does two passes - transcoding and parsing. Unsure what the parsing of VOBs does....does anyone know?

[nickelzy]

Regarding Intervideo, in another thread someone made the following statement...

I remember looking once at Intervideo DVD Copy but as I recall main difference with Pinnacle IC7/8 is that it does not reencode. If I'm not mistaken (this info cannot be easily found on Intervideo site) the difference lies here: if you have dual layer >4.7 Gig DVD it will copy only to 2 disks whereas Pinnacle will reencode and fit on 1. In any case Pinnacle is smart enough to know when to reencode and when not to (<4.7 Gig). Since no other software can reencode at this high quality level IC7/8 is my choice

For people that really know the answer to this (rather than guessing) - is there any truth to this? I find it hard to believe that you would be forced to use 2 discs rather than one. And I have to admit, I have no idea what dual layer means (so that adds to my confusion).

From all the reviews that I read, Intervideo seems to be slightly ahead of Instant Copy and when you consider the speed factor - unless the above is true, I'm probably going to kiss my DVD Shrink goodbye and pick up a copy of Intervideo.

[awlchu]

If you're referring to one or two disks, it is not true for DVD copy express sold by Intervideo.

Matter of fact, you have to tell it to copy to two disks since by default it will attempt to put the DVD-9 onto one disk.

Oh, my note above is wrong. The output was 4.5gb, not 3.5gb.

I see Intervideo's DVD copy as a tool to backup episode type of disks. I still prefer to author my own single movie disks and add my own chapters. Usually I don't care about all the 'extras' on most DVDs. For that one movie that is too large, I will use Nic's excellent tool, rejig.

Regarding Intervideo, in another thread someone made the following statement...

I remember looking once at Intervideo DVD Copy but as I recall main difference with Pinnacle IC7/8 is that it does not reencode. If I'm not mistaken (this info cannot be easily found on Intervideo site) the difference lies here: if you have dual layer >4.7 Gig DVD it will copy only to 2 disks whereas Pinnacle will reencode and fit on 1. In any case Pinnacle is smart enough to know when to reencode and when not to (<4.7 Gig). Since no other software can reencode at this high quality level IC7/8 is my choice

For people that really know the answer to this (rather than guessing) - is there any truth to this? I find it hard to believe that you would be forced to use 2 discs rather than one. And I have to admit, I have no idea what dual layer means (so that adds to my confusion).

From all the reviews that I read, Intervideo seems to be slightly ahead of Instant Copy and when you consider the speed factor - unless the above is true, I'm probably going to kiss my DVD Shrink goodbye and pick up a copy of Intervideo.

[KungFuCow]

The original version of Intervideo's software did not transcode, it just split. A transcoder was added shortly after release.