DVD copying is not as easy as duplicating CDs, where you can drag and drop files to the CD drive containing the blank disk and just wait for the computer to do the copying. Of course, copying CDs is frowned upon in the copyright laws in many countries but for some purposes, it is perfectly legal to duplicate copyrighted works. The same applies to DVD copying: you may make copies for some specific purposes. Aside from possible copyright law violation, you also need to consider other issues in DVD duplication: encryption, encoding options, software to use and recording media.

Let’s first take a brief look on the legality of DVD copying. If you only want to make back-up copies of your entire movie collection, that is fine. But if you make copies which you intend to sell or even give away, you will be violating copyright laws. This is because in order to duplicate a DVD, you would have to circumvent protection technology incorporated in the disk and circumventing such protection is against the law.

DVD movie disks are protected with the Content Scrambling System (CSS) developed and adopted by the Hollywood studios. The protection encrypts the data on a DVD and requires a special key for decryption. Software developers of DVD player manufacturers receive the decryption key from the studios so their software can read the information. But the protection has proven to be vulnerable and easy to overcome. Defeating this protection scheme, an act called ripping, means removing the CSS protection and getting the movies to play, say on a PC hard drive. There are numerous software available that can remove the protection and let you rip DVDs, but you must keep in mind that it may be against the law in your country to do so.

The second thing you must consider is the size of the DVD files. Movies usually exceed the maximum capacity of available DVD recordable media: DVD 9 movies can contain up to 9 gigabytes of data but recordable disks are DVD 5, which means that it can only contain up to 5 gigabytes data (or much less actually). Thus, you will have to decide what to do with the file: remove non-essential data, compress the file or split it into several DVDs. There are software available that let you select which parts of the movie to copy, shrink the file to a much smaller size with hardly noticeable difference, or split it into several disks. The last option is not commonly done because it means changing disks and hence, interruptions in movie viewing. You may choose one or combine any of these options to be able to duplicate a DVD.

The third thing is selecting the software application for the DVD ripping. As earlier stated, there are numerous programs available that offers varied features and options to copy DVD files. Some applications just allow you to select what parts of the movies to copy and others offer different compression technologies to shrink the movie file while others just let you split them up. If you will purchase an application, choose one that provides a combination of the techniques to give you more flexibility and power to get what you wanted.

After ripping the movie file, you may want to burn this into another DVD disk. Most of the ripping applications usually include DVD-burning capabilities so you won’t need another program for this. However, you need to select what type of media will you burn the movie into: plain recordable DVDs or rewriteable DVDs. This is important because some DVD players won’t be able to read DVD-RW disks, so you must check the compatibility of your player to the media you will use.

The internet has many resources that provide guides and advice on the best applications for DVD ripping and burning. You must look at these and choose for yourself which one to purchase keeping in mind the important factors listed above.

The FireWire data transfer format has lost a bit of its luster in the past few years. The development of USB 2, with its slightly faster maximum transfer speeds, left the FireWire protocol in its shadow as many device makers adopted the new USB format for their products. But the 1394 Trade Association announced last week that a new, so-called “FireWire S32,” specification will allow data transfers at much higher speeds.

The new system, which will continue to take advantage of existing FireWire cables and connections, is expected to be ready in February ‘08. The S32 version of FireWire promises faster performance, and the ability to run longer connecting cables — up to 100 meters or more.

The 1392 Association are also claiming that the new FireWire protocol will reach an astonishing 3.2 GB per second of data transfer, or approximately 4 times the speed of current FireWire or USB 2 formats.

Although video cameras and a few other devices commonly use FireWire interfaces to connect to a computer, many other computer peripherals have switched over to the USB 2 system, including the majority of external hard drives. But if the new and improved FireWire delivers anything close to its claimed 3.2 GB per second transfer speeds, it is likely we will see many computer peripheral manufacturers switching back to the FireWire format.

External computer hard drives, in particular, can respond slowly with standard USB 2 or FireWire connections; but the new faster FireWire protocol — which some analysts are already calling FireWire 2 — should prevent “lag time” in accessing information on external hard drives. In fact, with speeds up to 3.2 Gb per second, FireWire 2 could render external hard drives as fast or faster than standard internal computer hard drives. This is especially good news for laptop users, who often need large external drives for data storage.

The new format will also speed up transfer of video and audio data from digital cameras, digital camcorders, or other media devices. Interestingly enough, one group that has never stopped using FireWire connectors is digital image enthusiasts. High quality digital photographs and videos take up an enormous amount of hard drive space, so digital image and video buffs are in effect the “power users” of external USB or FireWire hard drive devices.

Now it seems that the digital image and video loyalist are finally being rewarded for sticking with the FireWire format, as the dramatic increase in data transfer speeds will benefit those users the most.

While many computer users may not notice a huge difference with the switch to the new faster FireWire 2 format, those who regularly use peripheral devices of nearly any kind are sure to appreciate the difference.

Related Web Directory Categories:

• Data Formats
• Computer Standards
• Internet Protocols