question :

Hi dudes

I was just wondering....... How is it that the dvd films we buy hold more information than the blank media that is available (around 7GB)?

Is it because they are all DL discs?

If so if i backed up my films to DL discs i wouldnt have to compress them thus the quality would be great, but would normal dvd players be able to read them?

thats it for now THANX :>

 

DVD+/-Rs and RWs that are single layer are rated at 4.7GB capacity (it's actually a little less than that), dual layer disks are available and give a storage capacity of 8.5 GB not 7, but are over priced (in my opinion).

The answer to your questions is yes, on all accounts.

If the DVD is holding more than 4.7 GB of data, it has to be a DL disk.

Most of the new releases seem to be on DL media.

If using a DL disk no compression will be required, and the backup should be equal to the original.

DL media should be playable on set top players (definitely if they are newer ones), if the player is being too picky you can always try booktyping the disk as a DVD-ROM. You can read about it here...

http://www.k-probe.com/bitsetting-booktype-faq.php

 

Just my two cents, I've always used Single Layer disc and have never been able to tell the differnce in quality on a 56" projection tv.

I agreed that DL is way to expensive, at least for what i'm doing.

 

Deline,

I suspect good software then, because I can see the difference on my 60 inch screen when I use an inferior app to record a movie to DVD5.

Sanecrazy
Booktyping was mentioned, but not all drives will do it. I have one that will and one that won't. Almost all my backups are recorded in +R and I've only seen one player in the past few years that wouldn't play them. It was one of the free promotional items a friend had, it only read DVD ROM. If you have a drive that will booktype, it wouldn't hurt to do it. Remember though that it only works with +R media. Beware hacked firmware and remember a botched flash with firmware can kill a drive. That said, make sure the firmware is up to date on the drives and players.

 

@brobear

Just got a Audiovox FPE1078 7.8 inch portable TV/DVD/SmarCard reader for Xmas and it only plays DVD-R. So they are still making them.

 

How's it going Arniebear?
Did I mention there's some players that still only read DVD ROM? You're lucky you got the DVD -R capability. However, I was speaking in general about the full size home players for entertainment centers. Playstations play DVDs as well, but I don't suggest them being used for that when standalone players are so cheap.

 

@brobear

It's going okay, how about you. I wish you would tell that statement to my daughter she uses here PlayStation as a DVD player I told her to just go out and get a cheap CyberHome, they play everything, but she just won't do it.

 

Just ask her which she would rather purchase next. A cheap standalone player or a Playstation. It's just a matter of economics. Either pay a little now or more later. Besides, a person could watch a movie on one tv while another is playing games on another. In our family, hogging the playstation to play movies wouldn't work; too many little faces wanting to play "Frogger". LOL

 

So would you say it was worth backing up onto double layer discs or sticking to the ones i use now ( dvd-r )?

 

You have to ask yourself a couple of questions, especially if doing a lot of backups. What is the quality difference you see? Is the quality difference worth the difference in cost? As the cost of DL comes down, cost will be less an issue. They're still not cost effective enough for my use. Some people only use DL for "special" projects. I guess if money is no object, then use the media appropriate to the task at hand. I use RB/CCE for encoding DVD movies. The quality is excellent and I haven't needed DL yet.

 

money is always an issue!!!

 

Unless it is a movie you truly care about then stick with DVD5. Most movies can be compressed to the single layer with very little quality difference. I have done dual layer but it was only for such movies as my boxed set of Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. Otherwise most programs I have work fine. If it is a large compression then I will use DVD Rebuilder which encodes the movie and has excellent results although it does take time, something that a lot of people do not want to take.

 

I have a DVD9 burner on my computer and I haven't used it once since I build the computer 6 months ago lol. In my opinion, Shrink compresses well enough (although I use all of the compression quality options) that I don't mind putting big movies on DVD5. Besides, those DVD9 discs are expensive coasters if something goes bad.

 

You might want to give Rebuilder a try. There's a free version along with a free encoder and it uses AVISynth which is free. Pro has more bells and whistles. I like the extra functions, so I opted for the donor version (retail). The free HC Encoder rivals the retail apps. It doesn't take much more time than Shrink with the Quality Settings in use.

 

I use CloneDVD with AnyDVD and sometimes DVDShrink are these programmes up there when it comes to quality backups? If so have you any tips for quality tweaks so I get the best out of them?

Hold on just thought im a noooob so ill quick ask is DVD5 the standard DVD because I have my compression set to custom on shrink and CloneDVD. It’s set at 4360 as per the advice I was given here.

Cheers

 

You'll get a lot of different advice around here if you ask any questions. I've backed up a lot of DVDs, using the apps you mentioned along the way. I've yet had to custom size my DVD output below the default set in the programs.

Shrink 3.2 is the best app you mentioned with the Quality Settings and Deep Analysis in use, at least for larger movies. I use RB/CCE for large movies. You need to check out the Glossary, the link is at the top of the page. DVD5 is the 4.7 discs and DVD9 are the higher capacity dual layer ones, DL.

AnyDVD is a keeper. So far it's the best decryption tool on the market. At least I haven't seen anyone present a better one and it's kept up to date better.

 

Cheers for the help

 

you can take compression up to 4485 it will fit ok with no probs or no playback issues even on crappy tdk discs of 6 years old ,however i'm sitting here wondering why your not converting them to mkv format,the cost per gb is why i stopped burning them & stored them on hdd instead

your using clone dvd to edit out the extra crap yes ? to help improve quality.
menushrink can reduce the size even further by removing the animation this can save anything from 0mb to 700mb,there is a downside to this ; tho this is on a computer vlc or klite can have issues navigating some dvd's when menushrink has been used ; cyberlink has no issue ever,so can't say what a stand alone would be like

edit:this thread is old 2006,why did you bump it

 

It been happen a lot lately: Threats just resurrecting out of the death lol

 

They just wont die....