How the program figures out how to strip the security software on the DVD, or knows how to play just the primary movie chapters in sequence and stop, without any timer, is unknown to me (how it is legal is something I’d like to know as well).
What was even better was how easy the software was to use. It comes on a standard, barebones disc that you can upload to your computer in about three minutes. After that, pop in a disc, click the “Convert” button and voila! Of course, there are some hang-ups. First, is time. It took me about six hours to rip the film onto my hard drive, well more than twice as long as the film itself.
This may have been because I was using the H264 compression algorithm. Using this method, compressed files take longer to create, but generate smaller files. Also known as MPEG-4 AVC (Advanced Video Coding), H264 offers significantly greater compression than standard MPEG-4. This means the 320x240 or 320x180 videos compressed with H264 will be much smaller files than the same video compressed with MPEG-4.
There are other options you can choose to make the process a little faster as well, such as choosing a lower compression quality. Options range from “low” to “Ultra High-TV,” which you should only use if you plan to play the videos back on your TV (it just about doubles the file size). I would only use high or medium if you plan to play them back on your computer screen. If you only plan to play the video on your iPhone, “low” should do. Then you can choose the resolution size. Be careful with this one, as the default isn’t accurate for iPhone use. My “Contact” video was a bit “skinny,” as they say. Jodie Foster is thin, but she’s not that thin. The best resolution for iPhone playback is 320x240. It provides a nice, comfortable 4:3 aspect ratio.
