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As is well-known by everyone, HD DVD is dead, with Blu-ray reigning supreme. So, what do you plan to do with your huge HD DVD collection that you've accrued since launch? Wired's How-To wiki takes a look at how you can take all of your HD DVD movies and convert them to Blu-ray. If you guessed that such a thing is time-consuming and costly, you'd be right.
Like ripping/backing up DVD movies, the steps are overall rather simple. Rip the movie, convert, burn to new media... it's not rocket science. However, where a high-definition format is concerned, high prices are sure to follow. Blu-ray burners still retail for around $400, while blank media hovers at around $12. The recommended ripper software costs over $100. That's quite an investment, and one that makes little sense for most people... or for anyone.
With the time and effort it takes to rip, convert and burn each HD DVD movie, it would require a huge movie buff to want to take the time to process them all. And if you only have a few titles, then it would make no sense to invest in all the required hardware. Given that each blank disc costs $12 alone, and the time to complete one disc could be an entire evening, it would make more sense to just purchase the movies again on Blu-ray and save yourself the hassle. For the movies that have been HD DVD-exclusive, they are sure to be released on Blu-ray in the coming months.
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This means getting the rip ready to burn to Blu-Ray disc: transcoding refers to changing the file format and size, while authoring refers to preparing and arranging the files so that players may properly understand them. If you just want to keep the file on the computer as a backup, you can stop here. Even if no one is making physical HD DVD players, there'll always be software to play the files themselves.
Source: Wired How-To Wiki
Like ripping/backing up DVD movies, the steps are overall rather simple. Rip the movie, convert, burn to new media... it's not rocket science. However, where a high-definition format is concerned, high prices are sure to follow. Blu-ray burners still retail for around $400, while blank media hovers at around $12. The recommended ripper software costs over $100. That's quite an investment, and one that makes little sense for most people... or for anyone.
With the time and effort it takes to rip, convert and burn each HD DVD movie, it would require a huge movie buff to want to take the time to process them all. And if you only have a few titles, then it would make no sense to invest in all the required hardware. Given that each blank disc costs $12 alone, and the time to complete one disc could be an entire evening, it would make more sense to just purchase the movies again on Blu-ray and save yourself the hassle. For the movies that have been HD DVD-exclusive, they are sure to be released on Blu-ray in the coming months.
<table align="center"><tbody><tr><td>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
This means getting the rip ready to burn to Blu-Ray disc: transcoding refers to changing the file format and size, while authoring refers to preparing and arranging the files so that players may properly understand them. If you just want to keep the file on the computer as a backup, you can stop here. Even if no one is making physical HD DVD players, there'll always be software to play the files themselves.
Source: Wired How-To Wiki
