you really have the sence of humor

Last week, I found my grandparents had to sit as close as possible to watch DVD shows played on TV because of their “lazy eye” and the tiny subtitles at the bottom of the screen, especially when the background of the show was white and bright, or a similar color to the font face. Often, they like to watch old movies in which the subtitles are white or yellow on screen. Sometimes, the subtitles’ position of some DVDs is not suitable, thus partial image is covered by subtitles when playing movie. I have tried several DVD rip software which may convert movies to other formats along with DVD subtitles editing, but can’t change the subtitle position, color and size. Maybe I didn’t find the related settings. I was wondering whether there is some software which can let me customize and edit DVD subtitles.

Also I like watching DVD movies and dislike small and faint letters. When searching on several websites and logging on some software forums, trying to find some software or players which can solve this problem, I saw that many people face the same problem as me. Someone tried many sorts of software. For example, Subtitle Creator can enlarge the size of the subtitles and change the font size, but it only supports text file. So there is still a text conversion process which is pretty time consuming; Subtitle Workshop also has the function to edit DVD subtitles, but sometimes it doesn’t work; when some friends use Convert x to DVD to burn a DVD with subtitle, which is certain color chose as red after converting it, then no matter what color is being set, it still comes out as red…

I also downloaded some software to have a try. For example, I wanted to use the VLC media player to shift the subtitle to be in the black. It told to change the value in order to change the position but nothing happened...; when I watched some movies in 16 / 9 format on a 16 / 9 monitor, I must make a zoom to have the image to fit the screen. But when using the zoom, the subtitles appear outside of the screen. I already tried Win DVD and Power DVD but none of them has this feature. The more software I tried, the more disappointed I was. Finally I turned to a friend of mine. He recommended a DVD ripper which can not only extract DVD but also change the size and color of the subtitle, as well as repositioning the characters.
The following is its main panel.

 
After selecting a video file, these tabs    are highlighted.

 
Click the icon “Effects” in the middle    and open the Effects window:
 
 
Click “TITLE” button    and then adjust the subtitle style of the video.

 
If you want to change the color of the subtitle, select “Use User-defined Style “option, and click drop-down list, to choose color for your favorite. Changing the position for the subtitle is also easy and convenient. Just move the amaranth line up and down where the subtitle you want to adjust. Then click “Apply” and “OK”, open the file again in the main panel, you will see the effects changed.
The following is the snapshots.

Before:
 
 
After:
 
 
When using the program, I found another interesting feature that the watermark, including logo and picture, can be added to the video, with changing the position and the size of pictures and texts. All these functions are so cool and great. I can’t wait to recommend it to all of you. In addition, there are three versions for this program, including standard, platinum and ultimate. I use the ultimate version.

By and large, I don’t know if these words above are clear to express what I have done, including changing the font and size of the subtitle, adjusting the position and the color, even adding the watermark by the software, but I successfully make a DVD with the readable and great subtitles for my grandparents, and they returned a smile.

    

this version is worth to own one.

yes, that is true

We all know, just a few days ago, Toshiba announced they will give up developing, manufacturing and marketing HD-DVD products. After all, the “next-generation format war” ends up. And we also know, Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD are two new optical storage technologies that were the two sides fighting for the war, that who’s going to be the successor of DVD. Is it really true that DVD has its days tapered off?
DVD is great. It can store movies, music, and even backup data with a DVD burner like Nero. Of course, all the stored can be also conversely ripped out with DVD ripper software like ImTOO DVD Ripper Ultimate. But, with the introduction of high-definition TV (HDTV) to the world, DVD storage capacity showed to be insufficient to this application.

DVD supports a resolution up to 720x480 pixels, while HDTV works with resolutions as high as 1920x1080 pixels. Just to give you an idea, two hours of high-definition video with data compression requires 22 GB of storage space. Keep in mind that the maximum capacity of a DVD is of 17 GB, if a DVD-18 disc is used (a dual-sided dual-layer disc).

So, how to provide a higher data storage capacity for high-definition contents? Here are the two DVD successor candidates: Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD.

In fact, a Blu-ray Disc or a HD-DVD is just a DVD disc with a higher storage capacity to store high-definition contents. The main motivation to the creation of a DVD successor was the introduction of HDTV, which requires a higher disc storage capacity, features a regular DVD cannot provide. But how a Blu-ray Disc or a HD-DVD is able to store more data than a regular DVD disc?

Both Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs have the same physical size of DVD discs (and CDs), with a diameter of 12 cm (120 mm, around 4 ¾”).

The key to both Blu-ray and HD-DVD technologies is the use of a blue-purple laser to read and write data from the disc. This laser has a smaller wavelength with higher recording density compared to the red laser used by DVD players.

During the recording of a Blu-ray or HD-DVD disc a high-power blue-purple laser is used to burn pits on the disc surface. The areas that  weren’t burned are known as lands.

During the reading of a Blue-Ray or HD-DVD disc a blue-purple laser with lower intensity is thrown on the disc surface. When the light reaches a pit it is reflected back with a lower intensity compared when it hit a land. As the pit height corresponds to ¼ of the laser wavelength, the reflected light reaches the photosensor found on the Blu-ray or HD-DVD player half wavelength dephased (¼ on its way in + ¼ on its way back = ½). This is how the Blu-ray or HD-DVD player can recognize if an area is a pit or a land: the amount of light reflected by a land is higher than the amount reflected by a pit.

You could think that each spot where the light is reflected with a higher intensity (land) equals to a “1” bit while each spot where the light is reflected with a lower intensity (pit) equals to a “0” bit. However Blu-ray and HD-DVD players use the transition between pits and lands or lands and pits to represent a “1” bit and the absence of such transitions to represent a “0” bit.

Each bit read this way is called an optical bit. They still do not represent directly a data “0” or “1”. A process known as modulation is still required to convert optical bits into data bits. HD-DVD uses a modulation technique called ETM (Eight to Twelve Modulation), which converts each group of eight data bits (one byte) into 12 optical bits. Blue-Ray uses a modulation technique called 17PP that converts a variable number of optical bits in data bits based on rules defined by the modulation algorithm.

Just like what happens on CDs and DVDs, on Blu-ray and HD-DVD discs pits and lands are organized into a single spiral track that starts at the center of the disc and ends at the border of the disc. The smaller the distance between the spiral tracks, more data can be stored on the disc. On Blu-ray discs this distance is smaller than on HD-DVD discs (0.32 µm vs. 0.40 µm, respectively).

Also, on Blu-ray discs each pit measures 0.13 µm, while on HD-DVD discs they measure 0.20 µm.
But why do HD-DVD discs use bigger pits compared to Blu-ray if both use a laser with the same wavelength? The answer is the distance between the recording layer and the lacquer layer. On Blu-ray discs the recording layer is only 0.1 mm distant from the lacquer layer, which allows a higher recording density (HD-DVD discs use the same distance as DVDs, 0.6 mm). On the other hand Blu-ray discs must be handled more carefully, as any scratch on its surface can easily reach the recording layer, compromising the recorded data. That is why some Blu-ray discs come inside a caddy in order to avoid physical damage.

As we can see, technologically speaking Blu-ray and HD-DVD are very similar, the main difference between the two being the storage capacity.

A single-layer Blu-ray disc can hold up to 25 GB, while a single-layer HD-DVD disc can hold up to "only" 15 GB. A dual-layer Blu-ray disc can store up to 54 GB, while a dual-layer HD-DVD can store only up to 30 GB.
As we saw, on the storage size Blu-ray has a better advantage over HD-DVD, even though Blu-ray discs are more expensive. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc can hold up to 25 GB while the same disc using HD-DVD technology can store only 15 GB. A dual-layer Blu-ray Disc can store up to 54 GB, while the same disc using HD-DVD technology can store only up to 30 GB.

In terms of compatibility, both Blu-ray and HD-DVD players are capable of playing CDs and DVDs, but it won’t be possible to read a Blu-ray disc on a HD-DVD player and vice-versa (it is technically possible to create a player that can read both formats, but it will probably cost almost twice, as it will need two separated circuits inside the unit, one for each technology, and someone are trying to…).

For now, DVD discs continue to be a good choice for the average Joe. If you are not a technology freak, why not just keep going with your Nero and ImTOO?

   lolo 

Many youngsters over 25 yrs old now may still remember the cartoon show Transformers in the mid-1980s. So do I. Besides the later Star War, Transformers is one of the fantastic shows in my memory, and I have still stored an Optimus Prime toy of that.  As you know, transformers come back again now.

The movie is much shorter than the cartoon and it contains intensive special effects and actions in the last 30 to 40 minutes. And there are still some changes from the original one: Frenzy transforms to a boombox; Sound wave was no longer a boombox with multiple cassette tapes that could eject and transform, etc.
Generally speaking, it’s a wonderful movie and worth cherishing. So I prefer to put it on my iPod. Firstly, I copied it into my PC with some free DVD ripping software, but the free software was really foolish and it made my computer freezing several times. So I resorted to some advanced software, such as Nero. Unfortunately, I can’t understand the complex operation instructions for I’m not a professional in ripping. And I do not have much budget. There is some DVD ripping software fit for my basic requirement - easy to use, lower cost. What I got contains DVD Cloner, ImTOO DVD Ripper Ultimate 5, 1 Click DVD Copy, GoldLeo, Magic DVD Ripper and iSkysoft DVD Ripper. They, as their developers announced, are all free for trial, with time or functions limitation.
Most of the installing processes are quick and easy except iSkysoft DVD Ripper, which is only for Mac users and my computer is with Windows XP.
After installations, I found the interface of Magic DVD Ripper is so simple and dull, not as shinning as the others. Maybe the developer of Magic thinks it is worth the low price. And I’m really confused why GoldLeo places on the first page of Google when entered the keywords "DVD ripper". Besides its confusing interface, the formats I need are less, and the operation is complex. In a word, I can’t find advantages of this software except the cheap price.
DVD Cloner can rip DVD to AVI, but not DivX, and it can’t support converting to iPod, PSP or other mobile devices, which is not convenient for portable use. Although the price of DVD Cloner is $39.99, a little lower than 1 Click DVD Copy ($59) and ImTOO DVD Ripper Ultimate ($55), there is no sound reason to pay for it.
As to ImTOO DVD Ripper Ultimate 5, the preview panel is small and it is not available to edit it. When I used the trial version, it popped up a widow reminding me to register. However, the conversion quality and speed is satisfying among the same type of software. It supports concurrently setting divers output formats for source file, and it offers a button to take snapshots when previewing DVD. ImTOO also offers standard version ($35) and platinum version ($45), and the price for both versions is reasonable.
1 Click DVD Copy, with the highest price, even cannot rip DVD files to AVI, and say nothing of converting to portable devices. Its ripping speed is fairly well, but not obviously higher than ImTOO or DVD Cloner. Why the developers ask for such a high price? Just to persuade users that price means quality?

After many aspects of the comparison, I finally bought ImTOO DVD Ripper Ultimate 5, and ripped the whole DVD of the Transformer into several segments with very fast speed. In order to ensure that I got the proper selection, I viewed the original DVD and the ripped movie on my computer with a 21” LCD displayer. And there is no perceptible distinction. By the way, the captured snapshots are of original DVD quality, fairly suitable for cover use. Data loss always happens when ripping. Anyway, the function of ImTOO DVD Ripper Ultimate 5 is fairly satisfying.

Shareware and freeware ,  i like freeware

interesting, after seeing a lot of news here, i will have a try, but, how about this company's  support?

one question? is there any different between dvd spliter and cutter?