Why only 4.7GB on DVD-Rs? Is it enough for a movie?

[ClickHere2Surf.com]

If DVDs are 17GB, why can the writers only burn 4.7GB? Is it true that isnt enough to copy a DVD movie without the special features unless you also sacrifice quality by lowering the bitrate?

I was just about ready to buy a DVD writer so I can copy DVDs and keep the original quality (I just got a projector and 72" screen so it will make a big difference) but a friend told me only old DVDs would fit on the 4.7GB of DVD-Rs without lowering the bitrate.

So is it true that even by removing the special features new movies wont fit on 4.7GB without sacrificing quality?

Thanks

[gazzak]

I'm sure others here will clarify this better than me but basically you are correct.
To fit a film from a 9gb or bigger dvd onto a recordable one of 4.7 gb will require some sort of compression to lower the size to 4.7gb or below. When you compress the size of the film you will lose some quality. However, the software that does this for you compares each frame with the next one, and decides what space can be saved by calculating changes between frames. Most films when compressed to 4.7 gb or less have bloody good quality. I have some DVD's here that have 3 films on them, (yes three). The quality on these films is very good, but there are points where you can see the loss of quality, (usually during action shots with lots of movement).

Also putting a film from an original DVD to a 4.7GB recordable DVD isn't for the beginner. There are many places where you can mess up the process.

Lastly, a large proportion of DVD's seem to be special features. Without these the average movie is 6GB or less. To get 6GB to 4.7GB you wont see a lot of loss if any.

[ClickHere2Surf.com]

When you say theres no noticable difference in quality, is that on a normal TV? Because I just got a high resolution projector making a 6 foot screen, and already original DVDs only use 40% of the projectors resolution so I dont want to loose any more quality.

Thanks

[gazzak]

When you say theres no noticable difference in quality, is that on a normal TV? Because I just got a high resolution projector making a 6 foot screen, and already original DVDs only use 40% of the projectors resolution so I dont want to loose any more quality.

Thanks

I only use a normal TV so can only quote on the quality of that. Someone here can answer your question I'm sure. There's a lot more traffic on weekdays. Check back tomorrow, someone's bound to have answered!

[Diver01]

Bump...

Just wondering what software you would recommend for doing all of this? Ive seen some for free, and others that cost in upwards of around $100.00.

Thanks!

[kato2274]

Bump...

Just wondering what software you would recommend for doing all of this? Ive seen some for free, and others that cost in upwards of around $100.00.

Thanks!
DVDshrink without a doubt.

here's what I said in another thread about it
as far as dvdshrink (http://www.dvdshrink.org/), It's everything I wanted in a dvd backup solution. you can preview titles in full screen (so as to see which are wide screen format and which are full screen) and you can preview any audio stream associated with the title. makes doing movie only backups (using reauthor mode) almost completely coaster proof. it's a little - stress very little more work than DVD Xcopy, but I no longer have to test with a +RW because I know exactly what I'm going to get before I burn. with Xcopy sometimes I'd end up with the directors commentary or something crazy like that.

I had XCopy from 321 studios and just sent it back because I hadn't used it since the new version of shrink came out.

[NooNoo]

Free means you work out all the bitrates and stuff yourself... fee based ones have nice pointy clicky wizards and are painless for the average user.

[Diver01]

Sweet!! Thanks for the advice!
One question though, what about decryption? im assuming from what ive researched that I will need to use something like DVDDecryption first? I downloaded it to just in case I need it...

[kato2274]

Sweet!! Thanks for the advice!
One question though, what about decryption? im assuming from what ive researched that I will need to use something like DVDDecryption first? I downloaded it to just in case I need it...
dvdshrink is all you need my friend. download it now. you won't regret it. I backed up 2 movies last night.