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| Posted by | Dennis |
| Posted on | 04/07/03 19:04 |
Our objective with this DVD back-up article was to give you some insights in which software packages are available today and what you can expect from each software package.
It's hard to identify a clear winner in this article. Each software package had its advantages and disadvantages and it's hard to judge the quality the software delivers, just by looking at some enlarged still images. Nevertheless, we can take a look at some separate aspects that could be important to you. We'll leave it up to you to decide which aspect you find most important:
Speed:
When it came to compressing our movies, the DVD2one and
CloneDVD software were the fastest, closely followed by DVD Shrink and DVDXCopy
XPRESS. Pinnacle's InstantCopy was by far the slowest software we've tested
(around two hours compared to 20 minutes for the other software packages).
Video Quality:
When looking at the movie only results we got with our
first test DVD, Gladiator, the DVDXCopy XPRESS and InstantCopy software produced
the best video quality. When looking at the movie only results we achieved with
the second DVD, The Goonies, we cannot identify a clear winner. All software
packages created a very good result here.
The images that were produced in the complete DVD tests, were clearly less detailed than we saw in the movie only tests. The InstantCopy software, overall, produced the best results. CloneDVD came in second, closely followed by DVD2one. The DVD Shrink software was not far behind but did produced the lowest quality. The DVDXCopy XPRESS didn't compete in the complete DVD tests as it can only copy the main movie from a DVD.
Possibilities:
The InstantCopy software has the most possibilities. The
software can not only be used to compress and burn your DVDs with, it can also
handle (audio/data) CDs and, besides that, is has some options to copy protected
CDs with, using Laser/PSX/Safe/Safe2/Secu/Secu2 Profiles. Last but not least it
can also convert your DVD movies to (S)VCDs. InstantCopy cannot copy
(CSS-)encrypted DVDs. We must also note that all these possibilities come at a
price. The Instantcopy software was by far the most difficult software to use.
We had to use extra software (InstantCopy (Hidden-) Settings Editor) to make the
software do what we wanted it to do.
The CloneDVD software has a little more options than the
DVD2one and DVD Shrink software packages. All three allow you to select which
items you want to keep from the original DVD and of course also allow you to
copy the complete DVD. CloneDVD however has a built-in write engine, something
that's missing in DVD2one and DVD Shrink. CloneDVD can also create ISO/UDF
images.
DVDXCopy XPRESS has the least amount of options but, on the other hand, it's the only software that has a built-in DVD ripper/decrypter. The software also has a burn engine but one 'problem' here is that the software will add disclaimer messages to your back-ups. An advantage of the DVDXCopy XPRESS software is that it's by far the easiest software to use.
Price:
The clear winner when it comes to price of the software is
of course DVD Shrink since it's completely free. The other software packages we
tested all cost about 40 to 50 USD. The CloneDVD, DVD2one and DVDXCopy XPRESS
software are also available in trial versions.
Overall:
As said at the beginning of this page, it's hard to identify a clear winner. However, we can give you some advice. For example, when you're looking for the easiest to use software and you have no experience whatsoever with backing-up DVDs, we would recommend DVDXCopy XPRESS. This software is by far the easiest to use software (insert original DVD, select main movie, audio stream, subtitle and hit start). DVDXCopy XPRESS can however only be used to copy the main movie from a DVD.
If you're looking for software that produces the best video quality we'd say go for InstantCopy. We do however feel that InstantCopy has some disadvantages that need to be improved. For one, it's by far the slowest software when it comes to compressing your DVDs. Besides that, it's also the hardest software to use and you'll need to use extra software to tweak the InstantCopy software.
The CloneDVD, DVD2one and DVD Shrink software are very close to each other. CloneDVD has by far the nicest looking interface and of these three, it's the only software that has a built-in write engine. During our tests the video quality of CloneDVD was slightly better than DVD2one. DVD Shrink produced the lowest quality although it wasn't far behind. DVD Shrink is however a clear winner when it comes to price of the software packages as it's the only software that's completely free.
More information on each software used in this article can be found via the following links:
These options are build in to to save space...F.I. can you de-select the French language from an English movie etc.
Don't really like your 'quality' test.... reminds me of HI-Fi mags who test music quality with instruments.....
For my money, the best test is the evidence of your eyes, watching the movie in real-time on a TV.
When I do this, with a movie made with DVD Shrink, Level 1 compression, I (and my friends) can't see any difference to the original.
Given the price (FREE), features like decryption and variable compression levels plus the quality I've seen on my TV.....there's no contest....DVD Shrink is the clear winner.
As regards DVD95Copy..... How could they even test it? There is still not a current demo available so on that count alone it did not even deserve the courtesy of testing IMO.
So thx! Nice test!
Another article about the actual process of ripping and burning would be great (I tried looking already here but couldn't find one). Or if someone could just tell me here that would be great
Thanks!!
@Kamikazee: You can use a program like AnyDVD to decrypt the dvd on the fly, then there is no difference. However that means you need to buy another program...
There are now other programmes ie) Intervideo windvd platinum that compresses and burns.
Still I found it very informative - TY for the effort involved - no small task I know.
thanks
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