January 26, 2006
Top 5 Internal & External DVD Drives
PC World review on internal and external DVD drives and made a top 5 list:
Top 5 Internal DVD Drives
Top 5 External Drives
Posted by dvd software at 03:27 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2004
DVD Recorder Tips
Added a DVD recorder article, some tips on choosing and using a DVD recorder.
Posted by dvd software at 08:48 PM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2004
DVD Burning FAQ
Burning could be very confusing due to different DVD formats and data to be burned. Check out these frequently asked questions (FAQ).
Posted by dvd software at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2004
DVDDecrypter Guide
DVDDecrypter is a free and very popular DVD ripping utility, DVDDecrypter Guide is an easy-to-follow step by step tutorial.
Posted by dvd software at 03:47 PM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2004
Converting Analog Tapes to DVD
Here are a detailed guide about converting video tapes to DVDs, for more information about video tape backup, please refer other two articles: Video to DVD and Digitized Memories.
Posted by dvd software at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)
September 21, 2004
Dual Layer DVD Recording
A helpful reader pointed out my error about dual-layer DVD disks (DVD9), here is an article which helps me understand dual-layer DVD recording.
Posted by dvd software at 10:55 PM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2004
Backup DVD-9 to DVD±R
There are many DVDs released on dual-layer disks (DVD-9s), which can't be directly copied to recordable DVD since dual-layer recordable discs aren't out yet.
The new guide - Backup DVD-9 to DVD±R with Free Software - will show you how to backup an entire DVD-9 to a single DVD±R disk with DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink, both of them are excellent and free software.
Posted by dvd software at 12:16 AM | Comments (2)
September 15, 2004
DVD Backup with Free Software
This tutorial will show you how to backup any DVD using nothing but fully functional free software, and achieve the same results as using commercial software. You will be able to backup the entire DVD or just the main movie only.
Posted by dvd software at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2004
DVD Authoring Guide
Added a complete DVD authoring guide - how to create high quality Anime DVD's from MKV, OGM, and AVI files, and a lot more. It explained every DVD authoring aspects in details:
Posted by dvd software at 10:14 PM | Comments (1)
September 10, 2004
Digitized Memories
Videotape's quality will be fading away when you watch or just store them, converting into digital media, such as CD or DVD, is a very feasible solution now, the new article "digitized memories" explained the procedure in more details.
Related article: Video to DVD
Posted by dvd software at 11:14 PM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2004
Cheap DVD Drives
There are some very cheap DVD burners online, they are called OEM (original equipment manufacturer) drives, which are originally produced for another manufacturer other than end users. You can get it with unusually good price, but you also take some risks:
1. No bundled software.
2. No tech support and firmware updates.
Excerpted from the article: The Perils of Non-Retail Drives.
...Beware of unusually low prices, or oddly worded ads. Some sellers might not call a drive an OEM, or they might say it's an OEM drive with a warranty--but that doesn't mean you're getting the manufacturer's warranty...
Posted by dvd software at 09:20 PM | Comments (0)
September 05, 2004
Recordable DVD
We often see very similar DVD format terms, such as DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, do you know what's the difference between them? Check out the DVD FAQ entry if you are confused : What about recordable DVD: DVD-R, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+R?
Posted by dvd software at 08:43 PM | Comments (0)
September 02, 2004
DVD Authoring Truths
Here are some tips for DVD creation:
- Analog videos (analog 8 mm and VHS) must be converted to digital format before they can be burned to DVD. Video-capture devices (internal or external) can connect your camcorder or VCR to your PC. Some capture devices even perform the conversion in hardware. Others ship with conversion software.
- Digital video camcorders that can also read analog tapes (typically 8 mm) perform the conversion on the fly and send a digital stream directly to your PC.
- USB 1.1, which has throughput of about 11 MBps, is not fast enough for high-quality video capture. High-quality video (30 frames per second with 24-bit color at a resolution of 640 by 480) requires throughput of at least 210 MBps to maintain quality and not drop frames. USB 2.0 works at speeds up to 480 MBps and FireWire (IEEE 1394) can run at 400 MBps.
- You'll need lots of free hard drive space to work with digital video. Even if you use one-step DVD-creation tools, the software will cache the video on your system's hard drive before burning the DVD. Two hours of high-quality digital video usually takes up nearly 4GB of hard drive space.
- Digital video tapes hold one hour of high-quality video. 8 mm analog tapes are typically two hours long and VHS-C analog tapes are usually one hour long.
- Most consumer DVD authoring and burning products can fit just one hour of high-quality MPEG-2 video onto a DVD.
- Most DVD authoring tools allow you to record to DVD at lower bit rates (which means image quality is likely to be somewhat reduced), so you can fit up to two hours of video on a DVD.
- Many set-top DVD players cannot play DVDs that have been written at lower bit rates.
- Don't be confused by one-step or automatic DVD-creation software promises. They can do their work with little user intervention, but the time it takes to encode video and burn a DVD can be quite lengthy. Encoding, compiling, and burning a one hour DVD can easily take two hours.
- Many set-top DVD players will play DVD-R discs only, not DVD-RW or DVD+RW discs. Check the manufacturer's Web site for details since this information is not always listed in the manual, especially with older models of players.
Posted by dvd software at 10:43 PM | Comments (1)
September 01, 2004
High-Definition DVDs Prepare for Battle
Here is another insightful article about the next-gen DVD format High-Definition DVD : High-Definition DVDs Prepare for Battle
Related Article : High-Definition DVD
Related DVD FAQ entry : Will high-definition DVD or 720p DVD make current players and discs obsolete?
Posted by dvd software at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
Video to DVD
The new article - Video to DVD explains how to transfer VHS tape to DVD without PC, what should you care about, how to copy protected videos, some tips to get best video quality, compares several different options including "mail it in" service, also recommends some DVD recorder products.
It worths the effort if you want to backup your priceless memory, such as your wedding ceremony video, but you may not want to archive your "the Graduate" movie, because you can't improve the video quality, it's better to buy DVD release for favorite movies, IMO.
Related FAQ Entries
How do I copy my home video/film/photos to DVD?
Can DVD record from TV/VCR/etc?
How can I record from DVD to videotape?Posted by dvd software at 12:38 AM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2004
How to Store DVDs?
Most people think of DVDs as little more than high-capacity CDs, but though the two are very similar, DVDs have vulnerabilities that require particular care in their handling, storage, and cleaning. But with a bit of knowledge and effort, nearly all damage to DVDs can be prevented.
Does DVD rot really exist? How should you keep you DVDs? Check out the great article : DVD Rot, or Not?.Related DVD FAQ entry: Can DVDs have "laser rot"? and How long do DVDs last?
Posted by dvd software at 05:46 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2004
High-Definition DVD
DVD format war is always harder than we imagined, after read DVD -R9 v. +R9, I believe you have better understanding about DVD format. I hope the new article High-Definition DVD is also helpful.
Related DVD FAQ entry : Will high-definition DVD or 720p DVD make current players and discs obsolete?
Posted by dvd software at 12:31 PM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2004
What's DVD
Added an e-book - What's DVD, it introduces DVD specification details, industry background, relations with movie and music industry, and many other very interesting issues, a must read if you are interested in DVD information.
Posted by dvd software at 10:57 PM
August 25, 2004
DVD -R9 v. +R9
Just when we thought the dust settled on the last format war between CD-R's we see a new one brewing with DVD recordable discs. DVD -R9/+R9 will apparently be the next technological slugfest where there are no rewards for second place. With all of these new recording format options made available to the public, how can any consumer intelligently know which one to buy into?"
An interesting comment by doc_modulo
The DVD+ format is better because it supports absolute accurate positioning of the sector to be written. DVD- isn't accurate to a single sector.
That means a DVD+RW can be written to without gaps, just like you can write to a floppy or HD with accuracy in the written sector/without gaps.
And this in turn means that only DVD+RW supports Mount Rainier (in the future). Mount Rainier is hardware assisted packet writing:
- The most important thing is that you can use your DVD+MRW (Mount Rainier Rewritable) as a floppy disk/Hard drive. You drag and drop, delete, write something else etc. Just like a storage device is supposed to be used, none of this "burning" crap. MR has extra fault tolerance too.
- Standard OS drivers for all MR drives, they all behave the same.
- Formatting in the background by the firmware, the RW can be written to after about 1 minute, you don't have to wait for the whole DVD to finish formatting to start using it.Only problem is, there are no fully compliant Mount Rainier DVD+MRW drives yet :(
The manufacturers are now scampering to get to 16x speed first. After the makers all achieve 16x then we'll get get other differentiating features in the drives, like MR.The only advantage you get with +RW at the moment is that OTHER packet writing methods (like Nero InCD) also benefit from the exact laser positioning. You don't get Some of the other MRW stuff like background formatting.
I'm waiting with buying a DVD drive until there's an +MRW. You can also recognize compliant drives with the Philips "Easy Write" logo.
P.S. the DVD-R and -RW camp are the ones that do whatever the movie industry wants. The computer manufacturers split from that group because they wanted better features like absolute write-positioning and came up with +RW.
Posted by dvd software at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2004
How to Speed up DVD Backups and Shrinking
Added a new DVD backup article, it explains how to speed up the DVD backup by tuning the computer setting, which is useful no matter what DVD backup/shrinking software you use. read the complete guide:
How to Speed up DVD Backups and ShrinkingPosted by dvd software at 02:07 AM | Comments (0)