Error-free DVD backups?

moire · 2006-09-03 03:42:04

I'm interested in backing up/copying DVDs losslessly, not re-encoding them. I'm currently using k9copy which works well, but some of the DVDs I'm ripping have scratches and I've noticed occaisional errors in the audio stream of the ripped output. For CDs we have the option of using CDParanoia or EAC in Wine which do a great job of avoiding errors. Is there any such option for DVD ripping in linux? Maybe it's a limitation of the DVD standard (less error-correction), I'm not really sure. Any help/information would be appreciated.

Bralkein · 2006-09-04 01:17:49

Yes, DVDs tend to be less error-resistant than CDs, since the data density is higher. I have done quite a lot of DVD ripping experiments, and my favourite utility so far has been vobcopy. However, all the DVD extraction methods that I have used so far have used libdvdread to access the data on the DVDs, so I'm not sure if there's really that much difference in terms of error-recovery between them.

My main reason for preferring vobcopy is that you can copy the DVD files exactly as they exist on the DVD. On the DVD, a single feature will typically span several individual files, since there seems to be a file size limit of 1024MB. Because of this, many DVD rippers demux the files, concatenate the streams, then remux them into a single big file, since this is generally more useful. However, it is not as good as it sounds, since errors sometimes seems to be introduced in this process. I have lost audio and subpicture tracks from this, and had video corruption problems too. I don't know why, it is probably due to poor handling of read errors.

If k9copy simply mirrors the file as they exist on the DVD, then as long as it uses libdvdread, it's probably as good as you're going to get. Still, might be worth giving vobcopy a try though, since it's always worked best for me.

Is your DVD drive any good? Having a good DVD drive can make a HUGE difference wrt. error-handling. Also, it's often surprising how much good a quick wipe on your T-shirt will do!

moire · 2006-09-04 03:35:47

Thanks for the informative post Bralkein. k9copy outputs an ISO, and I haven't looked into the images to see how the disc structure is maintained. On one hand having the VOBs in the original directory structure is nice, but I also sort of like having an ISO for its internal MD5 and the fact that it's all one file.

I have a pretty good DVD drive, a relatively new NEC DVD writer that has top reviews on newegg. However it's sort of cheap, so maybe I'll experiment with a more expensive one next time I upgrade. Unfortunately Plextors seem to have declined in quality so it's hard to figure out what drives are really good these days :?

Mr.Elendig · 2006-09-04 20:25:21

BenQ has the best drives when it comes to handeling media. Both for read and write.

Arch Linux

#1 2006-09-03 03:42:04

Error-free DVD backups?

#2 2006-09-04 01:17:49

Re: Error-free DVD backups?

#3 2006-09-04 03:35:47

Re: Error-free DVD backups?

#4 2006-09-04 20:25:21

Re: Error-free DVD backups?

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