dvdtoflash

Q: I am looking to buy a dvd player for my parents and they purchase d a wide screen tv so when you play dvds or watch tv it tends to stretch out the picture. Is there a dvd player that takes this into account or does it matter?

A: There is a common misperception that the screen should be full. Not so. While it is nice when it happens only material at the same aspect aratio (width to height ratio) as the screen you are watching will fill the screen ... everything else will have black bars on the top and bottom or the sides (unless the image is stretched or zoomed ... but that distorts or throws away some of the picture).

The director of a film chooses the aspect ratio, and it can vary from 1.33:1 to over 2.7:1 in extreme wideangle films. The most common are 1.78:1 (so called "16:9" -- the aspect ratio of "widescreen" TVs), 1.85:1 and 2.35:1, but others exist too.

See the image at the link to see how these aspect ratios relate on a constant width screen.

TVs often have a control that allows images to be zoomed or stretched to fit the screen ... as stated above this is distortion and most people, after playing with the different settings for a while, return to a straight undistorted image setting.

A widescreen TV will "fit" more programming (particularly if they subscribe to HD programming, which is in widescreen (16:9) format) than their old style TV (Which was 4:3 or 1.33:1 format) BUT they will still see black bars on some movies, particularly on DVD (Note: TV broadcast stations sometimes crop widescreen movies to "fit" the 16:9 screen ... and you can't control this, but the same movie on DVD might have bars).

So ... no, you don't need to buy a different DVD player for widescreen since the basic aspect ratio is determined by the movie, not the player. Maybe the above explanation will help you explain it to your parents.

If buying a DVD player for a 720p or 1080p HDTV, consider a $100-$125 (less expensive ones won't provide any benefit) "upscaling DVD player" (with a HDMI connector) or if you want to go full out, consider the Venture HD DVD player from Walmart ($200) ... which is really a Toshiba HD-A3 player (a good upscaler and it plays HD DVDs).

Q: I created a DVD a few months ago and burned the dvd. I forgot to save a copy on my laptop and now want toRIP the dvd back to my laptop.

I already searched answers; but I do not want to have to download another program just to RIP the dvd.

A: I recommend you a free software which can help you convert Rip DVD and Convert Video and Backup DVD. It called "Next DVD Ripper".

www.pavtube.com

Next DVD Ripper is a free DVD ripper and video converter with easy-to-use graphicalinterface, fast converting speed, and excellent video quality. It can rip DVD movies and convert almost all video formats including DVIX, Xv iD, MOVE, RM, RM VB, MPEG, VB, DVD, MV, and AVI to MPEG-4 movie format for iPod, PSP, PS3, iPhone, XBox360, Zune, Apple TV, Archos, iRiver PMP, Epson Player, Creative Zen, Rubi Blue, Sony Walkman, Commodore PMX, Palm TX, Game Boy, SmartDisk, Windows Mobile Smart phone, Nokia, BlackBerry, Ketti, LG, Sony-Ericssonon, Samsung mobile phone, etc.

Q: I want to <a href="http://www.video-to-flash.com/video_to_flash/"> copy dvd movie's onto usb flash drive's </a> to watch on

my eee pc for oversea's travel. I have divx and quicktime player installed but none of them seem to want to rip the dvd to the usb.

A: This is possible but it depends how you want to copy it. Do you want it in avi format or dvd format.

If you do leave it in dvd format it will be 4.7gb per movie

but

If you shrink it down then you will be able to get it to around 700mb.

To make it an avi:

# For converse conversion like our subject indicated: Editing Rip a DVD to an AVI or MPG File Using DVDx

# Download DVDx archive file to your computer (DVDx_2_10_setup.zip), open it and double-click on "DVDx Setup". Complete the installation of DVDx.

*

o Ensure you have XviD (and/or DivX) drivers by installing AutoGK or downloading codecs separately.

+ Download the latest XviD free from xvid.org.

+ Download the latest DivX free from divx.com.

# Now run the DVDx software. The program window will appear.

You should insert the DVD you wish to rip into the DVD drive. Alternatively, if your DVD is saved as files on your computer, you can rip from there.

On the DVDx window, there are three menus available, File, Settings, and Tools.

DVDx Screenshot

DVDx Screenshot

A file window opens, and you can browse to your DVD.

Alternatively, to open DVD files which have been previously saved to your hard drive, click "Open IFO" to select your hard disk files as source.

In the folder selection box, select the file VTS_01_0.IFO in the DVD target directory on the hard drive.

Your movie is now loaded as source.

The Input Settings dialog automatically opens.

# Notice that the Input Settings dialog will show, in the Program Chain Index section at top left, the length of the movie to be processed. Check a suitable audio track is shown in the Audio section.

* Other settings can be left at default.

* Note: If during conversion you get an error "DVD drive could not be locked", you should install ASPI drivers (from Adaptec), and then select the "Use ASPI" option. Otherwise this will not be necessary.

* Now click OK.

# Navigate to the Output Settings dialog box (shown below) through the Settings menu. Here you can choose output options such as movie format (AVI or MPG), and set the screen size (resolution) and audio quality.

# Change several settings in the Output Settings dialog box:

* Choose an output format (AVI is suitable for playback in Media Player).

* Now choose an audio compression method. Lame MP3 is capable of excellent sound at small filesize (AVI only). If Lame is not available, choose the MPEG video compression, or download Lame MP3 drivers.

* Choose the XviD video codec in the dropdown menu. Click 'Enable Video', but leave 'Enable 2nd' unchecked. You can choose an alternative video codec (such as DivX or Mpeg4) if you prefer.

* Across in section Export Settings, choose a screen size (resolution) for encoding.

o For widescreen monitors (size ratio 16:9) choose 720x576. Any multiple of 16 is acceptable.

o For normal monitors choose (size ratio 4:3) choose 720x544. Any multiple of 16 is acceptable.

* Next to the Max Frame number, click the button named Whole.

* Other settings can be left at default.

* Click the Apply button.

# Finally, under the File menu, click the menu item called Destination.This button is also found next to the red Record button at the bottom right.

* Browse to a suitable destination folder, and type a filename into the box. Click on Save, then OK.

* You are now ready to convert a DVD to an AVI.

# Click the red Record button at bottom right.

# Wait for encoding to complete and then enjoy your movie.