dvd copy question

[h3nG]

hey, i just finished copying my first dvd movie and i have a question. should the picture quality be identical to the original? i always thought a dvd-to-dvd copy is essentially "perfect", atleast to the human senses.

but a few people seemed convinced that the original looked better. and the crazy part is, i did a few blind tests on them, and they wre able to pick out the original every time. i always thought this was not possible?

thanks!

 

[dc5]

if the original dvd was a dual layer disc and your copied dvd was a single layer disc, then you will be able to see the difference due to the compression.

 

[h3nG]

nope, it was single to single...i still can't understand how they managed to pick the original 5 out of 5. maybe pure luck? i knew cd-to-cd were practically perfect images, and expected the same for dvd-to-dvd.

 

[grohl]

Yo, what is the app you are using to copy?

 

[h3nG]

trial version of 1click dvd copy...which is the best?

 

[grohl]

This topic is really way to big to answer briefly.

As far as being free, easy, etc, this app is the best.

Check out this nice guide when you are ready to get serious.

BTW, doom9, CDFreaks, and Videohelp are the best sites IMHO.

Good luck.

 

[chocoruacal]

Originally posted by: h3nG
nope, it was single to single...i still can't understand how they managed to pick the original 5 out of 5. maybe pure luck? i knew cd-to-cd were practically perfect images, and expected the same for dvd-to-dvd.

You copied a 7 GB DVD onto a 4 GB DVD-R or DVD+R. The DVD copy program transcodes the original MPEG2 stream to a lower bitrate in order to do this. Thus, lower quality. If you were to copy a movie that ONLY had 4 GB to begin with, there would be no change in bitrate and you would not be able to tell it apart from the original.

 

[dunkster]

1-click DVD backup programs may be convenient, but you lose control of the amount of compression - and thus suffer image-quality losses in the backed-up image.

I agree with grohl; use DVDShrink. DVDShrink allows you to strip unnecessary menus, unnecessary foreign language content, unnecessary previews, FBI warnings, etc. You can also reduce lead-in and post-feature credits when you pre-author the DVD.

The goal is improve the quality of the main feature by reducing extraneous matter, thus reducing the amount of image-compression required to fit the main feature onto a DVD - with major gains in image quality in the backed-up DVD.

I use only DVDShrink (which is a free download program) to copy a pre-authored feature to an iso image on my HD, and then simply write the iso image to DVD with Nero 6 OEM Suite.

There are several DVDShrink tutorials which you can find by searching, and the learning curve is short.

Hope this helps!

 

[Ender17]

if you wanted a perfect copy, couldn't you just split the movie onto 2 discs?

 

[wmansfield]

DVDFab will split dual layer disks into two DVD+/-R

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: h3nG
nope, it was single to single...i still can't understand how they managed to pick the original 5 out of 5. maybe pure luck? i knew cd-to-cd were practically perfect images, and expected the same for dvd-to-dvd.

How do you know it was single-to-single?

Right-click your dvd drive in my computer, then click properties (with the original DVD in the drive) and see how many GBs it is. My guess is it's dual layer.

 

[h3nG]

i dont have the dvd with me, was copying it for a friend...so he took both with him. so perhaps it was dual. i just suspected it was a single because it was an old dvd.

thanks for all the info guys, guess next time i'll copy it correctly. but dang, so much stuff, i remember the olds days when nero or clonecd pretty much did everything.

 

[grohl]

Yeah, but just wait for dual-layer media to get cheap. Then it will be easy.

But then there will be HD movies, blue ray, and others...

 

[bigal40]

Originally posted by: h3nG
i dont have the dvd with me, was copying it for a friend...so he took both with him. so perhaps it was dual. i just suspected it was a single because it was an old dvd.

thanks for all the info guys, guess next time i'll copy it correctly. but dang, so much stuff, i remember the olds days when nero or clonecd pretty much did everything.

I doubt it was single layer unless it was pretty ancient. Today basically all dvd's are DVD-9 which is double layer.

 

[Ender17]

Originally posted by: wmansfield
DVDFab will split dual layer disks into two DVD+/-R

sounds interesting, thanks