Newb help: Dual layer DVDs and burners, help? (files too big for standards)

[mr_goodbomb]

I have a bunch of movies that are too large for 4.7GB standard blank DVDs. I tried using DVD shrink on a few, and there's so much of a hit in quality it drives me insane. I used the optimum settings and removed as many extras as I could. Still took a big hit.

So, I'm looking into a dual layer DVD burner (external) and a big ol stack of discs. I'm not too familiar with them.

- What's the file size limit on these?

- Can a dual-layer burner burn a standard 4.7GB DVD (since these are cheaper and I've already got a bunch, and some movies can be burned to it)?

- Will a dual-layer DVD play in a standard DVD player or DVD-ROM drive just as well as a standard DVD?

- Anything else I should know?


Thanks.

[tinker]

Dual layer is about double size of single one.
4.37 GB single, 7.95 GB dual.
All your discs will fit to DL disc without compression.
What you should try first is to get better compression software than Shrink.
There is a DVDRebuilder which has good compression engine to use.
It can also get rid of things you do not need.
DL disc is little problematic to playing on stand alone player.
If you go that route, get some Verbatim +R/DL and book type to DVD-Rom.
Yes, your dual layer burner will burn single layer disc.
Get ImgBurn to burn your double or single layer disc. For DVD/DL it is necessity.

[aedipuss]

first i'd check your current drive to see if it can burn dual layer disks. get imgburn(free) install, click tools/drive/capabilities. most drives in the last 4 or 5 years or so can burn dl. if it can't then replace it internally. it's too old to be much use anyway. get something like a pioneer 115.

as for disks.

only use verbatim dvd+r dl. no dl media is cheap but with anything else you will just waste your money making coasters.

answer to the last question depends on how old the player is.

[mr_goodbomb]

I tried to see if I have a burner than can write DLs, but with ImgBurn, Drive is grey, meaning I can't select it.

[aedipuss]

any idea of make/model? or how old? if it's over 5 years old it's probably time to replace.

[jman98]

- What's the file size limit on these?

tinker is right, but his answer depends on the "how much is a GB?" question. Other sources will list it as 4.7 GB and something like 8.5 GB.

- Can a dual-layer burner burn a standard 4.7GB DVD (since these are cheaper and I've already got a bunch, and some movies can be burned to it)?

Yes.

- Will a dual-layer DVD play in a standard DVD player or DVD-ROM drive just as well as a standard DVD?

Not necessarily. Older standalone players may refuse to play them. They should play OK in PCs though, but again, I've seen older drives that don't understand DL discs.

- Anything else I should know?


Thanks.

For best results, burn with ImgBurn (free) and use only Verbatim DVD+R DL discs, preferable the Made in Singapore ones. If you use brands other than Verbatim, you may have a lot of problems.

[mr_goodbomb]

any idea of make/model? or how old? if it's over 5 years old it's probably time to replace.

Philips DVD8421.

[budz]

any idea of make/model? or how old? if it's over 5 years old it's probably time to replace.

Philips DVD8421.

You have a rebadged BENQ drive which is able to burn DVD+R DUAL LAYER MEDIA. It could be a BENQ 800A or 830A drive.

https://www.videohelp.com/dvdwriters/philips-dvd8421/1089

[mr_goodbomb]

That's good news. Why doesn't it show up in Drives with ImgBurn? Do I have to set it to detect the drive or something?

[tinker]

Once you insert the disc in, the drive with DVD info will turn on in main window.
It should be listed as one of the drives under a file import window, the drive will be gray untill disc is in.

[mr_goodbomb]

Which ones?

http://www05.quillcorp.com/Catalog/Browse/Sku.asp?PageType=1&sku=SPR203493&EFFORT_CODE...UMBER=VER95166

or

http://www05.quillcorp.com/Catalog/Browse/Sku.asp?PageType=1&sku=SPR203500&EFFORT_CODE...UMBER=VER95311

And are they always that pricey? That's like 3 bucks each, and from Staples, it's 16 bucks for 3. I could just buy the movies for that.

[lordsmurf]

DL discs are not made to copy movies, they are made for content authors. If such media is "too costly", and all you're doing is pirating DVDs, by all means, go buy the originals. Used ones probably run $5 online or in local stores. There's no need to copy.

[mr_goodbomb]

Then I'm really missing how most people copy their DVDs. More than half the stuff I've ripped from my collection is over the 4.7GB limit. And I've tried DVD Shrink and another compression program, they both have a lot of dropped frames and rough transitions, just poor-quality video. Even removing all the extras and many features, they've all been too big for a standard disk at 100% uncompressed.

[gshelley61]

If you just rip the movie only, remove all subtitles and extra audio tracks and such... many times you won't have to compress the size of the file that much to fit on a single layer DVD-R. For longer movies or those that have large files due to high bitrate encoding, you can always split them on to two single layer DVD-R discs. That's cheaper and more reliable than burning to DL media anyway.

[tomlee59]

Then I'm really missing how most people copy their DVDs. More than half the stuff I've ripped from my collection is over the 4.7GB limit. And I've tried DVD Shrink and another compression program, they both have a lot of dropped frames and rough transitions, just poor-quality video. Even removing all the extras and many features, they've all been too big for a standard disk at 100% uncompressed.

Your problem might actually be with the burning process; I've never seen shrink algorithms cause dropping of frames, let alone "a lot of" dropped frames. The shrink algorithms used by every tool I'm aware of do not drop frames. If discarding unwanted extras, such as additional language tracks and "Making of" documentaries, etc., doesn't get you down to an acceptable size, they next shrink the video with a mathematical operation called requantisation (requantization in the US). In simple terms, they simply discard some fraction of the existing numerical coefficients that describe the compressed video (this is much faster, and generally less lossy, than re-encoding from scratch). The ones they discard are responsible for the higher-frequency (more detailed) portions of the image, so shrinking this way causes mainly a softening of detail. In extreme cases, you'll get macroblock artifacts during high-motion/busy parts of the image, but frame dropping is not something I've encountered. You may simply be misinterpreting crappy burns for crappy shrinking, so it might be worth running a quick experiment, and play the shrunk result from the hard drive first. If it still looks crappy to you, then either invest in a DL burner with decent (Verbatim) media, or simply abandon this whole idea.

[budz]

My suggestion is to buy a new dvd burner since your rebadged BENQ 800 series is quite old as far as media capability. Dvd burners can be purchased for as little as $30.00.

If you have a older dvd player it may not be able to even playback DVD+R DUAL LAYER MEDIA.

Dunno what process you're doing when using DVD SHRINK but as already mentioned you can just select backup "MOVIE ONLY" to get better video resolution.