DVD Ripping

Not sure what this means? If you think DVD ripping refers to literal ripping or snapping a DVD in half, you need some more education. DVD Ripping is synonymous with DVD copying- the process of copying a DVD to your hard drive. Once the data from the DVD is on your hard drive you're free to view it through your computer, copy it to a disc or simply store it there for backup.

CD Burning 101

Here are the basics of the CD or DVD burning process if your new to the scene or if you've been duplicating DVDs forever and would like to learn more. The process begins with a recorder that burns or encodes the information onto a disc. The disc may be of a few formats: CD-R, DVD+R or DVD-R. New formats include the Blu Ray Disc and HD DVD-R disc. The recording device heats a layer in the disc using a laser. Though the process is much more complicated and precise, the result of the laser burning phase creates marks that can be read and translated into a movie!

What is Blu Ray?

You've heard about High Definition (HD) television and discs, but have you heard about Blu Ray discs? Blu Ray discs are high-density discs formatted to store high definition data. Basically Blu Ray discs can hold much more data than a typical burnable DVD because Blu Ray discs are burned with a blue-violet laser. Blue rays are characterized by a short wavelength which allows these discs to hold more data. A typical Blu Ray disc can hold about 5 times the data of a regular DVD.

Why won't my DVD fit?

Are you trying to record a backup of your copy of Spiderman to a recordable DVD and it won't fit? Here's why. DVD recordable media can only hold 4.7 GB of data. Most DVDs contain more data than that, though. So what do you do? You can compress the data with your DVD copy software. Basically this means you shrink the data down into a size that your recordable media can handle. Or, you can record the DVD on to multiple discs. The most convenient option is compression. If your DVD copy software does not have compression capabilities you can easily find software that does. DVD copy software is also inexpensive, so you might consider updating your software so you can backup your favorite DVDs.