Output quality and settings of DVDShrink

[src2206]

Hello

I have a DVD of 5.64GB size. Its a movie (legal) on DVD9. Unfortunately my player can not play DVD9s so I was wondering whether to shrink it to fit a DVD5. This will also take care of the region setting problem (this DVD is gifted to me from US).

Now the dilemma:

1. I never used DVDShrink before and I have no idea about its output quality. I really would not like to loose the picture quality of the main movie. As the original DVD is just about 1 GB extra and it contains language tracks I do not need (except English) and theatrical trailer which I believe can be compromised. Hence, I was wondering whether it will be judicious to use the DVShrink or should I use DVDFab to split the DVD9 to 2 DVD 5s!

BTW, which is better, DVDShrink or DVDRebuilder to this type of shrinking jobs?

[classfour]

To get the maximum quality, (after ripping) use shrink in reauthor mode; drag only the movie into the left side.

I suspect you may not even have to shrink it to fit to under 4.7GB. If you do, the quality should still be near dvd.

[lordsmurf]

By "DVD9", I assume you refer to DVD+R DL media?

Personally, DVD Shrink with deep analysis and Max Smooth would shrink fine, assuming this is a studio-made disc (high quality film transfer source). Also, if commercial, a DVD Shrink re-author (movie only mode) could work. That would eliminate bonus features (which i never really watch anyway) and other disc junk.

If this is a homemade disc of some kind (family movie, tv timeshift, whatever), then shrinking will look horrible, consider re-authoring the disc in authoring software as two new discs (forget the splitting mess). .

For that matter, either type disc could potentially be re-encoded with DVD Rebuilder (the free encoder that comes with it does a pretty good job these days).

Many options to consider.

[SingSing]

Unfortunately my player can not play DVD9s so I was wondering whether to shrink it to fit a DVD5. This will also take care of the region setting problem (this DVD is gifted to me from US).

Never heard of such a type of DVD player before.

DVD9 has idenical density and properties as DVD5, except DVD9 has two layers, and DVD5 has only one. The player changes the laser angle to read either of the layer.

Almost all studio DVD discs are two-layers. If you player only can read one layer, you pretty much can't watch most DVDs. You should find out wether your DVD player is broken or not.

[jman98]

Unfortunately my player can not play DVD9s so I was wondering whether to shrink it to fit a DVD5. This will also take care of the region setting problem (this DVD is gifted to me from US).

Never heard of such problem before.

It happens. One of my friends has a DVD player and it just will NOT play DVD+R DL discs. I use only Verbatim DVD+R DL media and I was shocked to find out that his player will like this. I don't remember the brand of his player.
By the way, the disc I tried was a Made in Singapore Verbatim DL disc, so don't blame the "Made in India" media for this problem.

To the original poster, DVDShrink is very fast, but DVDRebuilder should theoretically give better quality because of a difference in the way it works. If you can use DVDRebuilder with something like HC Encoder (free) or CCE (not free), you should get excellent results.

[oldandinthe way]

Yes there are players which don't read bruned DL.

Before I tried to shrink with DVDShrink I would see just how much space is you really are over.

If there are extra soundtracks, uncheck them in full disk mode.

Look at what the requirements to shrink are after that.

If that is inadequate to make it fit (it probably will be unless there the audio is DTS) then enter reauthor mode - do only the main movie and check to be certain the unneeded audio tracks are still unchecked. If this is adequate to maintain 100% (no compression), you will not risk any quality loss.

If you do have to compress, the quality of the result will be a function of the quality of the original and the quality of the TV used to view the movie. Smaller TVs will show less quality loss, CRT based TVs - less quality loss. 32" CRT based TV - you won't see any loss.

[CobraPilot]

If DVDShrink will work on your DVD (it is NOT being updated and sometimes chokes on newer protection schemes), I seriously doubt you will note any difference in quality from the original, and that would be without eliminating anything on the original.

Will shrinking the DVD reduce quality? Yes.

Will you care? Try it and see. "Quality" is always in the eye of the beholder.

If I had your disc, I'd shrink it to a SL DVD in a heartbeat. I'd probably use DVDFabdecrypter (free version) to make it region-free, handle new protection schemes, etc.; then use DVDShrink.

Good luck! Let us know what you do and how it turns out.

[src2206]

Thanks for all the replies.

First my DVD player: its a old stand alone from PHILIPS. It does not play DVD9s.

Now the DVD in question is a Peter Sellers classic Pink Panther (Trail of Pink Panther).

I also do not like the extras much (with exceptions though, like those I get in Satyajit Ray or Kurosawa movie DVDs), and in this case I can see that there is only a theatrical trailer and thats all. But I intend to keep the Menus.

Ok , I opened the DVD in DVDShrink. I previewed the result by doing the following:

1. removed all the audio streams but English.
2. replaced all the intro video (of the producing studio) and notices with Still Pictures.
3. removed all the subpictures but English.
4. Removed all the Menu pages but English with a DVDShrink still image.
5. Compressed the theatrical trailer to the maximum.

In this case the main movie is showing a compression of 97.4%.

If I completely remove the Extras with a Still Image of DVDShrink, then the main movie is showing a compression of about 98.8%.

Honestly I am not sure whether it is a big difference. Please let me know:

1. Which compression setting will be better (keeping in mind the completeness of the re authored DVD vs the quality in mind).

2. Will there be noticeable difference if the 'Shrinked' DVD is watched in a 32'' LCD TV? I understand that there will not be any noticeable difference for CRTs though.

3. In DVDShrink, what type of setting under Backup DVD> Quality Setting is better for movies? I can find that "Sharp(default)" remains selected by default. But I am rather confused on this aspect. I tried to consult the included Help file, but I could not understand which works best for movies!

4. In case of compressing, which tool will provide me the best out put- DVDShrink, DVDRebuilder, DVD2One, DVDREasy or any other? Though it seems that DVDShrink is most rated software in this forum's tools section for this job (9.2 if I remember correctly).

Thanks again to all.

[jman98]

Thanks for all the replies.

1. Which compression setting will be better (keeping in mind the completeness of the re authored DVD vs the quality in mind).

2. Will there be noticeable difference if the Shrinked DVD is watched in a 32'' LCD TV? I understand that there will not be any noticeable difference for CRTs though.

3. In DVDShrink, what type of setting under Backup DVD> Quality Setting is better for movies? I can find that "Sharp(deafault)" remains selected by default. But I am rather confused on this aspect. I tried to consult the included Help file, but I could not understand which works best for movies!

Thanks again to all.

1. The compression ratio of 97.4% means that the film will need to be shrunk only 2.6%. The ratio of 98.8% means that it will be compressed only 1.2%. Both are excellent. You'll never be able to tell the difference. By the way, removing subtitles barely saves any space. I don't bother with that.

2. Not really. I doubt that you'll be able to tell any difference between what DVD Shrink gives you and the original DVD.

3. I use Sharp. Also use "Deep Analysis" which adds a little to the processing time but should result in better results.

[src2206]

Thanks jman98

Well I have edited my last post a bit, please take a look at it- everyone.

[Seeker47]

If that is inadequate to make it fit (it probably will be unless there the audio is DTS) then enter reauthor mode - do only the main movie and check to be certain the unneeded audio tracks are still unchecked. If this is adequate to maintain 100% (no compression), you will not risk any quality loss.

Is there some way -- while sill inside Shrink, without having to resort to the use of other software -- to figure out which audio track is which ? I run into situations like this: a 5.1 English track that I assume to be the primary sound track, plus a 2ch. English track that I assume to be filmmaker's commentary track. But I'm not sure, and I've been wrong at times in the past. (The latter can be at least half the size of the former in megabytes.) In some cases where I've guessed wrong, I wound up with commentary audio only, so that's not good. There is video preview available inside Shrink, but I'm unaware of any preview for the audio tracks themselves.

If you do have to compress, the quality of the result will be a function of the quality of the original and the quality of the TV used to view the movie. Smaller TVs will show less quality loss, CRT based TVs - less quality loss. 32" CRT based TV - you won't see any loss.

I don't think I've ever gone wrong, holding it to 80% or better. Still looks better than a lot of movies you see on cable, with their limited channel bandwidth and mpeg artifacts. If you want to avoid re-encoding, it is always an option to split the movie with Start Frame | End Frame in ReAuthor Mode . . . although of course you'd have to toss the menus. If memory serves, there is a guide here about adding the Menus back, but that involves some other programs, and looked like more work than was justified to me.

[classfour]

You can test the reauthored DVD folder with dvd player software. PowerDVD, MediaPlayer (free), etc.. Most will open the videots.ifo file in the dvd folder to play the dvd. Most will allow you to choose the audio and subtitle stream.

[src2206]

Thanks seeker
Nah, I would not bother myself to add back menus using some other programs as that will serve no purpose. Moreover, it will simply mean that going back to square one.

Regarding your question, my humble suggestion would be to start a new thread as that will generate more specific responses considering the fact that the nature of your your question is rather different than the title of this thread. Hope I did not offend you with this suggestion.

[lordsmurf]

Play it in the preview window, right click and choose audio stream.

[src2206]

lordsmurf, I presume your post is directed to seeker .

So may I have inputs regarding my queries please?

[guns1inger]

1. Which compression setting will be better (keeping in mind the completeness of the re authored DVD vs the quality in mind).

2. Will there be noticeable difference if the 'Shrinked' DVD is watched in a 32'' LCD TV? I understand that there will not be any noticeable difference for CRTs though.

3. In DVDShrink, what type of setting under Backup DVD> Quality Setting is better for movies? I can find that "Sharp(default)" remains selected by default. But I am rather confused on this aspect. I tried to consult the included Help file, but I could not understand which works best for movies! question.gif

4. In case of compressing, which tool will provide me the best out put- DVDShrink, DVDRebuilder, DVD2One, DVDREasy or any other? Though it seems that DVDShrink is most rated software in this forum's tools section for this job (9.2 if I remember correctly).

1. The difference is minimal, however the higher the number in Shrink, the better.

2. A 32 inch set is not a large screen, so you won't notice the difference.

3. You might try Smooth once you get down around 70%, but personally I wouldn't use Shrink for a reduction that large.

4. DVD Shrink for faster or smaller reductions. DVD Rebuilder with HCEnc when quality counts or the reduction is more than 5 - 10%. Personally, I don't believe the commercial products offer enough to justify the money considering what DVD Shrink or DVD Rebuilder can do for free. If you feel the need to throw away money, you can either send it to me, or buy DVD Rebuilder Pro.

[src2206]

Hello my friend

Its good to see you here, and thank you for your input.

DVD Shrink for faster or smaller reductions. DVD Rebuilder with HCEnc when quality counts or the reduction is more than 5 - 10%. Personally, I don't believe the commercial products offer enough to justify the money considering what DVD Shrink or DVD Rebuilder can do for free. If you feel the need to throw away money, you can either send it to me, or buy DVD Rebuilder Pro.

To the point and perfectly answering my query, as always. So I shall stick with Shrink this time.
I always prefer to stick with the free tools, and I only wish that somebody throws money to me so that I can buy a decent Video Card. But that not even happens in the best of my dreams.
Why don't you drop at my place? I shall throw you a party for sure!

You might try Smooth once you get down around 70%, but personally I wouldn't use Shrink for a reduction that large.

So are you advising me to stick to the default option "Sharp(Default)"? In this case the main movie is not going to be compressed for more than 3%, as I detailed in my previous post.

The difference is minimal, however the higher the number in Shrink, the better.

So I shall try to stick with the 98% mark.

A 32 inch set is not a large screen, so you won't notice the difference.

Understood, but a curiosity, at about what sized Television set (LCD) will I be able to see the difference in this case?

[[_chef_]]

Hello

I have a DVD of 5.64GB size. Its a movie (legal) on DVD9. Unfortunately my player can not play DVD9s so I was wondering whether to shrink it to fit a DVD5. This will also take care of the region setting problem (this DVD is gifted to me from US).

There is a BIG difference between burned DVD9 and pressed DVD9!
Please don't mix them up, it would only lead to confusion.

[[_chef_]]

A 32 inch set is not a large screen, so you won't notice the difference.

Understood, but a curiosity, at about what sized Television set (LCD) will I be able to see the difference in this case?

Depends on the native res of the LCD, its capabilities (upscale etc), how good your eyes are and how far you site away from it...

[src2206]

Just need clarification/ confirmation regarding the DVDShrink setting...

I can't understand still when which setting is required to be used. And for movies, whether I should use Sharp(Default) or Smooth....or any other

[guns1inger]

Stick with Sharp unless the compression is around 70% or lower (by which time you should have moved over to DVD Rebuilder anyway). That's my view anyway.

Honestly though, the only real answer is the one your eyes give you. Testing different settings costs you nothing but time, teaches you more than you can ever learn by reading posts, and lets you get a feel for what it is you are doing. Every disc is different. One movie may show no artifacts when you use DVD Shrink to 80%, and another might show them at 95%. There is no single answer to your question. However, if you learn by doing and testing, you will start to get a feel for what disc needs what sort for treatment.

You will also get an answer in a few minutes, rather than waiting hours for someone to post here.

It's time to be brave and put your bollocks on the line. Trust me, they won't get hurt.

[src2206]

Thanks mate