Tool advice, please

[CuddlySquid]

I'm somewhat bewildered and at a loss by SlySoft's offerings. Can I describe what I want to do and then will someone give me some recommendations?

I have 2 big objectives.

Objective #1.
I want a tool that will measure average Mb/s (mega-bits per second, video rate) and allow me to capture a screen. I paste the screen shot into an image editor to determine actual p/l (pixels per line) and l/f (lines per frame). I then use Mb/s & p/l & l/f to calculate b/p/s (bits per pixel per second). I can already do this for DVDs, but I want to also be able to do it for Blu-rays.

Objective #2.
I'm sick and tired of losing DVDs to rot and having to replace them at my expense (not always possible for out-of-print DVDs). Even when you can find the manufacturer's name, and you can find the manufacturer's email or phone number, they just ignore you, or their customer support is supplied by a contract company that doesn't care, or they won't replace the disc because they don't believe (or won't acknowledge) that disc rot is real. Or, they just hang up on you. So after long thought I've decided I need to start ripping DVDs and Blu-rays and saving them as .ISO images on a tera-byte drive so that I can later mount them in a virtual Blu-ray drive. To do this I need a ripper and a virtual Blu-ray drive.

What do you suggest/recommend for Objective #1?

What do you suggest/recommend for Objective #2?

System: Win7-64 with Blu-ray combo (BD-R + DVD-RW + CD-RW).

Thanks folks!

PS: Does anyone have an example BDInfo output? I have no idea what they look like.

 

[Adbear]

Well you can use Mediainfo pro to get the bitrate of the file, as well as frame rate and frame size.

You can use AnyDVD to make an ISO of the disc by right clicking on the fox icon on the taskbar and choosing 'Rip to Image', you can then use Virtual Clone Drive (VCD) to mount that image and use whatever playback software you want to use to play it back

 

[wowszer]

You can use VCD from site, free. Makes an .iso file appear to be in DVD or Blueray format, at least to your pc. Of course then you have to use a pc to stream it to your tv. For a stand alone device, Roku and WD make media streamers, and WD I know can read >iso files, DVD and bluray. Just connect your HD to your router, upload from PC your ripped files, play through streamer on your tv. Haven't found too many file formats it can't read. If the full file size of .iso is too large, you can use BDrebuilder, Free, to remove some of the disc's size.

 

[CuddlySquid]

Hey, Adbear. Thanks for the help.

You can use AnyDVD to make an ISO of the disc...

Oh. I didn't know that AnyDVD was a ripper. The feature list doesn't give a clue. I assume I need AnyDVD HD.

...use Virtual Clone Drive (VCD) to mount that image...

Ah, good, I already use VCD.

Well you can use Mediainfo pro to get the bitrate of the file, as well as frame rate and frame size.

I need to capture a frame of video so I can load it into an image editor and check its HxV pixel count. MPC-HD captures DVDs, but it doesn't play Blu-rays. On the other hand, CyberLink PowerDVD plays Blu-rays but it doesn't capture. Got any ideas?

 

[James]

On the other hand, CyberLink PowerDVD plays Blu-rays but it doesn't capture. Got any ideas?

Last time I checked, ArcSoft TMT captures (if AnyDVD HD is running).

 

[CuddlySquid]

Hi James,

Last time I checked, ArcSoft TMT captures (if AnyDVD HD is running).

What do you mean by "if AnyDVD HD is running"? From a technical standpoint - drivers & codecs and whatnot, what is AnyDVD HD? Do you have a technical description? Not what it does, what it is. Thanks.

 

[James]

Hi James,
What do you mean by "if AnyDVD HD is running"? From a technical standpoint - drivers & codecs and whatnot, what is AnyDVD HD? Do you have a technical description? Not what it does, what it is. Thanks.

It is an extension to the operating system.

 

[Ch3vr0n]

its means that if anydvd is not running (active on your system, icon in the bottom right of your screen, the tray bar) you cannot take screenshots. This is due to compliance requirements by the BDA. There is a "flag" on discs (or was it the players) that prevents screenshot taking. Anydvd removes that restriction so you can take screenshots. That's all there is to it

 

[CuddlySquid]

It is an extension to the operating system.

A Windows' service?

 

[CuddlySquid]

its means that if anydvd is not running (active on your system, icon in the bottom right of your screen, the tray bar) you cannot take screenshots. This is due to compliance requirements by the BDA. There is a "flag" on discs (or was it the players) that prevents screenshot taking. Anydvd removes that restriction so you can take screenshots. That's all there is to it

Aha. Sounds like a service that chains into the video stream between the raw reader driver and the codec. Is that it? Sort of a raw reader wrapper? Or is it a replacement raw reader?

 

[Ch3vr0n]

no clue how it works. It just does and removes the screenshot prevention restriction.

 

[CuddlySquid]

Thanks guy,

no clue how it works. It just does and removes the screenshot prevention restriction.

I assume you don't really mean "screenshot". A screenshot of a running movie just produces the player application's window frame. The movie player itself has to take the capture. Or am I totally wrong when it comes to AnyDVD?

 

[Hawk]

Anydvd is a driver which remove protection on disc and as a result some players will allow capture of screenshot. As for screenshot or capture itself TMT any many players won't allow even if anydvd is running. Most commercial will not allow capture of Blu-ray disc.

I have TMT myself and if I take screenshot or capture, I only get black frame instead of desired one and this is with anydvd running. As for BDInfo tool it will tell you chapter info, peak-bitrate and angles and other stuff. However it won't help with what you are trying to achieve.

 

[CuddlySquid]

I have TMT myself and if I take screenshot or capture, I only get black frame...

That's what I was worried about. So I'm back to square one.

You are knowledgeable. Let me describe what I'm trying to do. Perhaps you'll be very generous and make suggestions. Perhaps you'll be interested in knowing more and maybe even helping.

I have some knowledge of & experience with DVDs, but I don't have tools.

Many journeys begin with questions:

1 - How do you compare one DVD with another? - Same film, slightly differing aspects? Can you assign a number to each that shows one has a better picture than the other without actually showing captures? I say "Yes".

2 - How do you compare the picture quality of a Blu-ray with the picture quality of a DVD? - Some Blu-rays are much better, some are only marginally better and not worth the expense. How can someone know without seeing captures?

3 - When does "Enhanced for 16:9 TVs" mean "Anamorphic Widescreen" and when does it mean hard matted to 16:9 (SAR = 16:9, PAR = 1:1) just as old "Widescreen" letterbox was hard matted to 4:3 (SAR = 4:3, PAR = 9:8 )?

Regarding #3, consider the Blu-ray of "The Man Who Would Be King [1975]", UPC: 883929150328, Panavision theatrical release: 2.35 aspect, but Blu-ray marked "1080p High Definition 16x9 2.4:1". Is it PAR = 423:320, or is it PAR = 1:1? If 423:320, it's anamorphic and will fill out a 21:9 TV. But if 1:1, it's hard matted and will be 16:9 letterboxed on a 21:9 TV (just like 4:3 letterbox). I don't think DVD Beaver and other sites are even considering this possibility.

Regarding #2, I'm working on a virtual display that's 90-degrees of visual field and has 1-minute per pixel of resolution. It is the limit of human visual resolution. Onto that virtual display I can "project" any DVD or Blu-ray and relate the difference between them regarding resolution and bits/pixel/second mpeg expansion quality. My virtual display also takes into account that 1-minute per pixel of resolution (i.e., 5400 pixels for a 90-degree field of view) is a limit that's approached asymptotically (i.e., gradually), not all-at-once, so that half that resolution has much greater than half the apparent picture quality.

Regarding #1, if you want to compare two copies of the same movie, and one is 2.35 aspect while the other is 2.40 aspect, and they have differing Mb/s data rates, how can you compute the pixel change rate of each so they can be directly compared? It is for this determination that I need to do captures.

What do you think, Hawk? Fun or too anal?

 

[CuddlySquid]

Regarding #3, consider the Blu-ray of "The Man Who Would Be King [1975]", UPC: 883929150328, Panavision theatrical release: 2.35 aspect, marked "1080p High Definition 16x9 2.4:1". Is it PAR = 27:20, or is it PAR = 1:1? If 27:20, it's anamorphic and will fill out a 21:9 TV. But if 1:1, it's hard matted and will be 16:9 letterboxed on a 21:9 TV (just like 4:3 letterbox). I don't think DVD Beaver and other sites are even considering this possibility.

Actually, I just found a screen shot of "The Man Who Would Be King [1975]", UPC: 883929150328, and it is indeed 2.40 aspect. So to revise what I wrote:

If PAR = 27:20, then "The Man Who Would Be King [1975]", UPC: 883929150328 is anamorphic and will fill out a 21:9 TV.

But if the Blu-ray was made with PAR = 1:1 (that is, hard matted to 2.40 aspect), then "The Man Who Would Be King [1975]", UPC: 883929150328 is not anamorphic and will be 16:9 letterboxed on a 21:9 TV.

Which is the case? I don't know, but I'd like to get the tools needed to find out. Can <YOU> help me find those tools?

 

[Adbear]

Blu-ray discs at 1920x1080 are always 1:1 square pixels

 

[CuddlySquid]

Blu-ray discs at 1920x1080 are always 1:1 square pixels

Then PAR = 1:1 always. Is that what you claim?

 

[Adbear]

Yep, at 1920X1080 always 1:1 square pixels

 

[CuddlySquid]

Yep, at 1920X1080 always 1:1 square pixels

Oh, dear. That means that Blu-ray discs are NOT anamorphic. That means that if I get a 21:9 TV, I have to buy all my movies AGAIN. That's absolutely dreadful. Damn the studios.

 

[CuddlySquid]

***** Edit on June 4 2015: Don't be misled what I've written below. I was working on the (apparently mistaken) belief that Blu-ray discs are anamorphic (i.e., soft matted) and that 21:9 players would therefore be able to reformat them. Apparently, they are not. Apparently all Blu-ray discs are 16:9 letterboxed (i.e. all movies are PAR = 1:1 and any masking present is hard matting) and therefore will not automatically fit 21:9 TVs. *****

Yep, at 1920X1080 always 1:1 square pixels

Adbear,

For Blu-ray, SAR (storage aspect ratio) = 16:9, and for a 1920x1080 HDTV, DAR (display aspect ratio) = 16:9, so for a 1.78 aspect video, PAR (pixel aspect ratio) = 1:1, but for other aspect videos, PAR would be different (that is, if the video is anamorphic).

For example:
· 1.85 aspect anamorphic Blu-rays would have PAR = 333:320.
· 2.00 aspect anamorphic Blu-rays would have PAR = 9:8.
· 2.20 aspect anamorphic Blu-rays would have PAR = 99:80.
· 2.35 aspect anamorphic Blu-rays would have PAR = 423:320.
· 2.40 aspect anamorphic Blu-rays would have PAR = 27:20.
· 2.75 aspect anamorphic Blu-rays would have PAR = 99:64.

Are you sure that's NOT the case?