dvd

There are many programs, both free and paid, that can be used to manage files for CDs, DVDs, and data discs. Express Burn for Mac, while functional, may not justify the price required for the full version.

Express Burn for Mac is available as a free trial version with an upgrade for $69.95. The limitations on the trial version aren't apparent from either the program itself or the developer's Web site. The download was fairly quick, but the installation required careful attention to avoid downloading additional, nonadvertised programs set to be downloaded by default. These included a … Read more

It sounds ideal. Take all those DVDs and Blu-rays you own and, from the comfort of your own home, effortlessly gain digital copies for a low price. That's the promise of Vudu's new "In-Home Disc to Digital" service. Vudu delivers on that promise in some cases but disappoints in other ways.

Last year, Walmart-owned Vudu launched its Disc to Digital service that required people to go into Walmart stores for the conversion. Who wants to do that? This is where the "In-Home" version of Disc to Digital comes … Read more

If you watch commercial DVDs on your Mac, you may encounter a rare bug that causes the video to appear corrupted, with a blocklike pattern covering its output. This can occur regardless of whether you're using Apple's provided DVD Player application or a third-party player such as the popular cross-platform VLC media player.

When this bug occurs, even though you may hear audio and see movement, the garbled output makes the video for all intents and purposes unwatchable. Generally when such corruption occurs it indicates a problem with processing the data stream, which can indicate an issue with … Read more

Trying to capture decent photo stills when taking screenshots from DVDs is almost impossible. Fortunately, DVD Snap for Mac allows you to quickly and easily snap usable still photos from DVD video footage.

DVD Snap for Mac is a quick and efficient way to take usable screen captures from video but is limited to files located on DVD discs. The program's interface is uncluttered and easy to use. It even includes start and pause buttons for the video footage so you don't have to keep switching to the DVD player program. You can choose between taking individual captures … Read more

Years ago, long before the dawn of the DVD or Blu-ray formats, consumer video was strictly all-analog, from the very first broadcasts right up to the introduction of the LaserDisc. The 12-inch, double-sided LaserDisc looked like a giant CD, but the video was analog encoded on two single-sided aluminum discs layered in plastic. The discs that debuted in 1978 had analog audio soundtracks, but later discs featured stereo digital sound. Millions of players were sold in the U.S., but LaserDisc was, even during the height of its popularity, a niche format that appealed mostly to videophiles. It had much … Read more

Pop a properly manufactured CD into a CD player, and you'll hear music in a second or two. In more than 30 years of playing CDs I've never once encountered scanning, searching, or error messages; after I press "Play," the music starts. Stick a properly manufactured DVD or Blu-ray in a working player, and you always have to wait a while to start watching the movie -- or it might not play at all. You might have to do a firmware update to play the disc. With DVDs and Blu-rays, there's no such thing as … Read more

AoA Media's Easy DVD Converter can convert entire DVDs or just the parts you want, and save them in a wide range of formats, including high-quality files, widely compatible file types, and even Flash video for sharing online. It can also extract and save audio tracks from DVD movies. Easy DVD Converter is shareware that is free to try, though the trial version limits conversions to 10 minutes of video. The latest release, Version 3.0, features a new engine, and it's also compatible with Windows 8.

Easy DVD Converter's user interface is small and fairly plain, … Read more

To burn discs with your PC, you need two things. The first is a CD burner, or (better) a DVD burner, or (better still) a Blu-Ray burner. The second is disc-burning software. For the first, you're probably limited by the burner you already own, and your burner's capabilities will determine what kinds of disc you can burn, how much and what kind of data they can hold, and how long it takes to burn them. But for the second requirement, the burning tool, you have a lot more choices, and a lot of them are free. Active Data … Read more

Have you ever played a favorite DVD so many times that it started to skip, even with careful handling? DVDs are notoriously prone to skipping when scratched or marred. With today's high-capacity hard drives, why not store copies of your favorite movies and other important DVDs on your PC? It's easy with DVDVideoTool's 123 DVD Clone. With it, you can copy and back up your DVDs to your hard drive with a single click, and burn copies of them, too. It can copy entire discs or just save the main feature, and even split programs. While 123 … Read more