How to copy dvd movie to computer

When choosing a DVD writer, make sure it's physically compatible with the media you want to read and write. The good news is that virtually all players and burners sold today are designed to read mass-produced (or replicated) DVD-ROM and DVD-Video discs, as well as data and video content recorded on ±R and ±RW media. And despite some manufacturers' claims, equivalent dash and plus formats are virtually interchangeable from a user's perspective; neither offers a clear advantage in speed, functionality, media cost, or compatibility with third-party players. Further simplifying your buying decision is the fact that most rewriters sold today can now burn all four types of discs.

There are still isolated cases in which a disc that is recorded in one device won't play in another. Certain brands, speeds, and even lots of media can be incompatible with specific drives, an issue that arises most often with older hardware and higher-speed media. It's hard to predict when problems will occur, but when one does, your best bet is to experiment with different media speeds and brands until you find the combination that works most reliably with your drive.

The one format not based on the original DVD-ROM specification is DVD-RAM, which is rooted in the phase-change dual technology used in removable-media backup devices from the 1990s. While R and RW media closely mimic the structure of replicated DVD media, DVD-RAM employs radically different random-access data-storage and retrieval mechanisms that have more in common with hard drives than DVD-Video discs. Because it requires a different wavelength laser than other DVD formats, RAM media cannot be recognized by any player or rewriter that isn't explicitly designed to support it. It does include features more suitable for archiving critical data, such as hardware-defect management (which automatically compensates for flaws in a disc's surface) and the ability to record a disc up to 100,000 times—100 times as much as DVD±RW. DVD-RAM discs can be purchased with or without protective cartridges (although not all RAM drives can accept cartridge media) and are the only type of rewritable DVD media available with recordable surfaces on both sides.

Despite all this, DVD-RAM drives are far less popular in this country than DVD-Video models, and only a small number of consumer-electronics devices (mostly manufactured by Panasonic) support the format. The problem is that most people think of DVD as a video-storage medium and are content to use far cheaper R and RW media for occasional casual data backup. DVD-RAM discs' 4.37GB/side capacity is too small to make them a good choice for more demanding full-system backups, and although the format does offer superior data-integrity features, those features reduce the already relatively slow data-transfer rate. Nonetheless, DVD-RAM remains a fashionable choice in niche markets like the library, video-security, and medical-records industries, and it has even been used as a real-time storage medium in camcorders.

DVD-RAM is most often implemented today in five-format "Super Multi" rewriters that can also burn ±R and ±RW media. Since including DVD-RAM support often adds only $10 to $20 to the cost of a drive, there's little downside to buying a Super Multi model if you have any interest in the format.

DVD FORMATS

Format

Best Used For

Max Recording Speed*

DVD-ROM

Used to distribute and store data files

N/A

DVD-RAM

Data-friendly media best used for critical backups and archiving applications

3X

DVD-Video

Video content such as Hollywood movies, including interactive features and menus

N/A

DVD-Audio

High-quality stereo and multi-channel audio recordings, including interactive features and menus

N/A

DVD-R

Write-once media that can be used to record DVD-Video and DVD-Audio discs, computer files, and real-time content

8X

DVD+R

DVD-RW

Rewritable media that can be used to record DVD-Video and DVD-Audio discs, computer files, and real-time content

4X

DVD+RW

DVD-VR

Real-time video recording

Real time

DVD+VR

DVD-AR

Real-time audio recording

Real time

DVD-SR

Real-time streaming data recording

Real time

*media shipping in quantity as of May 2004

Hard Facts About Software

Simply because a drive can read bits from a disc doesn't mean it knows how to translate that information into computer data, movies, or music. A DVD drive's hardware and firmware determine the types of media it supports, but whether it understands how content is organized and stored is a function of the logical disc formats supported by its drivers and application programs. Without the correct software in place, your system won't be able to tell whether a disc contains music, JPEG images, or a movie.

All PC DVD rewriters can read and write computer files stored in standard DVD-ROM format, regardless of whether that data resides on read-only, ±R, or ±RW media. Most units ship with disc-mastering or data-backup applications that can copy files from your hard disk to writeable DVD media, and some also include packet-writing software that lets you drag files in Windows Explorer to and from a rewritable DVD. DVD-Video support is usually provided by a bundled movie-player utility like CyberLink's PowerDVD or Intervideo's WinDVD. Most drives also include video-editing or disc-authoring applications that let you design your own DVD-Video discs and burn them to ±R or ±RW media.

Few rewriters ship with software that lets you read, create, or burn DVD-Audio content. That format has been promised for years, but its limited availability and the ubiquity of CD-based music has hampered its rise, although it offers higher sound quality and fidelity. Additionally, there are far more SACDs (Super Audio CDs) on the market than DVD-Audio discs.

The final set of formats to consider are DVD-VR (and its DVD+VR cousin), DVD-AR, and DVD-SR, which are designed for devices that record video, audio, and streaming data in real time. Unlike DVD-Video and DVD-Audio content, which usually requires lengthy rendering times and multiple passes to store on disc, -VR, +VR, -AR, and -SR media can be recorded on the fly like a videotape. DVD-AR and DVD-SR are not yet widely used, but there are now plenty of consumer-electronics devices that capture video directly to ±R or ±RW media in -VR or +VR format. Consequently, increasing numbers of DVD drives now ship with video-editing and disc-authoring applications that can record live video feeds directly to +VR or -VR media, and can even edit rewritable VR discs without first copying their contents to a hard drive. Not all such programs support both VR standards, however, so if you own a VR-compliant camcorder, PVR, or disc recorder (check the spec sheets to find out for sure), make sure that the software bundled with your rewriter supports the matching format.

Performance and Capacity

The speed at which a rewriter burns a disc is the product of diverse factors, such as the drive hardware, the efficiency of its drivers and codecs, the type of media being recorded, the application software and its output settings, and of course, the computer itself. The only way to get a feel for the relative performance of the many drives currently on the market is to study the conclusions of independent product surveys that benchmark test multiple offerings on identical testbeds. (See our recent 8X Dual-Format DVD Recorders roundup.)

A related issue is the maximum speed of each type of media that the drive supports. The Forum and the Alliance continue to enhance their respective formats, and although the Forum usually lags behind by a month or so, the two are now more or less at parity, both supporting 8X R and 4X RW recording speeds. Speed increases beyond 8X will be less important, in part because faster drives employ "zoned" rotational-speed control, which means that they attain higher velocities only when recording on the outermost parts of the disc. Nonetheless, 12X DVD+R media is expected to ship in quantity by this fall, and 16X plus and dash rewriters should hit the shelves near the holiday season. The DVD-RAM format, which is now limited to 3X recording, will jump to 5X later this year, but is expected to still be relatively slow, in part because of the overhead generated by its data-integrity features.