DVD information
Disc structure
A DVD video disc contains a specific disc structure, viewing the disc via your PC will show you two folders. Within the VIDEO_TS folder you'll see many files of type BUP|IFO|VOB.
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To deter users from making disc-to-disc copies of commercial movies, most prerecorded DVD-Video and DVD-Audio format discs are protected at the factory using the Content Scrambling System (CSS) and Content Protection for Prerecorded Media (CPPM). CSS and CPPM selectively encrypt disc sectors that can only be decrypted during playback by licensed products.
Critical information (decryption keys) required to unlock content is located in protected regions of these discs (Control Data Zone of Lead-in Area and sector headers) accessible to the player or drive and under only carefully regulated circumstances. Without these keys the encrypted video or audio is unusable.
Performing bit-for-bit duplication or simply copying files from the disc to a writable DVD, hard drive, or other storage medium will not yield a useful reproduction. This is where dvd rippers come in, before you do anything, you need to use a ripper to decrypt the DVD to your hard drive. There are a couple of popular DVD rippers available, AnyDVD and also a couple of FREE options from DVDFab as well as some more powerful commercial options. These programs will remove all the DVD encryption, including the latest anti-copy methods, and leave you with the DVD files on your hard drive ready to be processed further.
In addition to employing technology to discourage copying, CSS-encrypted discs may also contain region management information to allow commercial movie publishers to control the distribution of their products throughout the world. Discs and players contain information that specifies the geographic areas where they are to be marketed. To prevent discs intended for sale in one part of the world being distributed and used elsewhere, All devices automatically check discs for region codes and only play titles for which they are authorised. DVD disc region coding is split up into six zones (shown below), luckily, most DVD rippers automatically strip the ripped disc of this region coding so it is not a problem.
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Quick Information
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dvd video
DVD video mainly uses MPEG-2 compression up to 9.8 Mbits/s (9800 Kbits/s) with the following MPEG-2 formats being allowed:
25 Frames/s (FPS) (50Hz - PAL)
720 x 576 pixels MPEG-2
704 x 576 pixels MPEG-2
29.97 Frames/s (FPS) (60Hz - NTSC)
720 x 480 pixels MPEG-2
704 x 480 pixels MPEG-2
23.976 (FILM) can be used, but must be encoded as 29.97 (NTSC) interlaced using 3:2 pulldown. -
dvd discs
Please remember that when converting commercial DVD discs they are almost always protected. You can’t just get the files off and do what you want with them, they need to be ‘ripped’ first.
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rippers
There are mainly two main solutions available at this present time for ripping DVD discs: DVDFab HD Decrypter, and AnyDVD. The latter having a 21-day trial available, DVDFab HD is free.