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Why aren't we excited by Blu-ray?
Posted by Angus Kidman at 7:28 PM on September 4, 2008
The disappearance of HD DVD from the market was expected to give a boost to Blu-ray, but so far it seems we're are quite happy to stick with DVD and skip any hi-def alternative. Michael Bodey at The Australian reports that on the most recent sales figures, Blu-ray accounts for just 1.35% of the total Australian DVD movie market -- despite the healthy sales of the PS3 (which sports built-in Blu-ray support), falling prices on other Blu-ray players, and gangbuster sales for high-def TVs. Why do you think Blu-ray hasn't taken off? Is the extra resolution not worth it? Are the blanks too expensive? Are you sick of constantly buying movies in new formats? Is it easier just to head to the iTunes store and grab a flick? Share your thoughts in comments.
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Can I get torrents on DVD for a fee?
Posted by Angus Kidman at 12:00 PM on June 4, 2008
Dear Lifehacker,
Do you know of any online services where you can specify a list of torrents, and your credit card number, and you can have a disc set mailed to you with the results? Sometimes I can imagine this being faster than a download and certainly less hassle for some people. I searched Google with no luck, but I thought if such a thing exists, Lifehacker will know about it.
Signed, Pressed For Time, Hungry For Torrents
Live File System Turns Blank Discs Into Pseudo-Flash Drives
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 6:10 AM on May 20, 2008
The Online Tech Tips blog delves into a little-discussed feature of Windows Vista that can turn your spare blank discs into drag-and-drop bins for extra files. The Live File System mounts writable CDs and DVDs as pseudo-flash drives, letting you add files to them on a continual basis rather than having to initiate one big burn session. You can't recover space from added files, but if you've got blank discs to spare, Live File System can be a handy write-as-you-go backup method.
Rip DVDs for an iPhone in Linux
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 6:30 AM on May 16, 2008
The Tombuntu blog points out that the latest Hardy Heron release of Ubuntu Linux doesn't play nice with multi-platform video/DVD converter HandBrake—at least not the version with a nice graphical interface. For those syncing their iPhone or iPod touch with Linux, or just wanting to get the job done, the author runs through using the command-line-controlled HandBrake CLI. There's one very simple command to modify and paste that should work for most systems, with options to scale the quality and add markers. Still want a GUI for this job? Try WinFF, which is also available for Windows.
Digitise Your VHS Home Movies
Posted by Gina Trapani at 7:30 AM on May 12, 2008
When it's time to finally clear out that dusty trunk full of home movies on VHS tapes, you have a couple of options: pay someone to transfer all that precious video to DVD, or do it yourself. For several hours of tape, having it done can get expensive, so the Unclutterer blog runs down the steps for capturing and burning VHS videos to disk the DIY way. You'll need a video capture card or external capture device (a camcorder will work), and to import it to a video application like iMovie or Windows Movie Maker. From there you can edit the clips, add titles, music, and burn the whole shebang to DVD. The whole process isn't a quick one, depending on how much tape you have and how fast a system and large a hard drive you've got. Have you digitised old VHS tapes? Got any gear or tricks that made it faster or easier? Let us know in the comments.
Turn Your PC into a DVD Ripping Monster
Posted by Adam Pash at 3:00 AM on March 26, 2008
Commercial DVDs are far too expensive to let scratches turn your video into a glorified coaster, but most people still don't back up their DVD collection. Once upon a time, the four to eight gigabyte footprint of a DVD on your hard drive was prohibitively large. But since the price of a gigabyte has plummeted, ripping your entire DVD collection to your computer is not just possible, it's prudent—and it's easy. Let's take a look at the best ways to back up and play any DVD rip on your home computer, along with how to burn a DVD rip back to a playable DVD.
Rip DVDs for Easy Playing on Playstation 3
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 1:30 AM on February 28, 2008
The Tech-Recipes blog posts a relatively simple, two-software-program method for grabbing the video from your DVDs and converting them to a PS3-playable MP4 format. Depending on the size of your PS3 hard drive, this method might only work for a handful of DVDs, but you could tinker with the video quality settings to make your console a jukebox of films, no Blu-ray burning required. The tutorial uses the same DVD Decrypter program Adam highlighted in his guide to copying DVDs to your iPod, as well as a lesser-known tool dubbed PS3 Video 9. Have an easier, quicker solution for transporting your own movies to your console? Offer them up in the comments.Photo by DeclanTM.
Browse and Play Your Ripped DVDs with DVD Play
Posted by Adam Pash at 4:00 AM on February 27, 2008
Windows only: Browse and play the DVDs you've ripped to your hard drive using DVD Rip with freeware application DVD Play. Just point DVD Play to the folder DVD Rip is saving your backed up DVDs to, and DVD Play displays them with thumbnails you can browse. Similar to how DVD Rip is a companion application to DVD Shrink, DVD Play works with the free video player VLC to easily play any of your ripped DVDs. Hit the jump for more details, the demo video, and to download DVD Play.
DVD Rip Automates One-Click DVD Ripping
Posted by Adam Pash at 4:00 AM on February 13, 2008
Windows only: Rip and back up any DVD to your hard drive with DVD Rip, a freeware Windows application that automates the entire DVD-to-hard-drive backup process. All you need to do is insert your DVD, run DVD Rip, and let it take care of the rest. Why? A while back I explained why I'd soured on optical media, the gist of which was the ease with with DVDs are damaged. Sick of scratched, skippy DVDs, I put together a simple AutoHotkey script that automated DVD rips in conjunction with a freeware application called DVD Shrink. I've since gone back and drastically improved the original DVD Rip application complete with options and improved automation.
Enable DVD Playback in Ubuntu in Two Commands
Posted by Kevin Purdy at 12:00 AM on January 30, 2008
Most guides and tutorials for Ubuntu newcomers can help you get commercial DVDs playing on your system, but only through a series of terminal commands that install new repositories or through the use of Automatix or other automated tools that can sometimes mess up your system's dependencies. How-to site Tech-Recipes.com has been on a bit of a Linux streak lately and ferrets out a two-command, no-repository solution for installing DVD playback. Enter these in your terminal:
sudo apt-get install totem-xine libxine1-ffmpeg libdvdread3
sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread3/install-css.sh
