Talk:RatDVD

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[edit] Press release?

This article reads like a press release. Maybe some history and pros and cons would be good. Dizzle 00:12, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Much of it is from here: http://www.ratdvd.dk/ I think it should be re-written. Scrooge 7 July 2005 20:19 (UTC)

[edit] Quality?

From discussions I'm noting on various forums, the ratDVD format also re-encodes the original video file with a noticable loss in quality. This wikipedia page needs to be updated with that information.

  • Obviously the quality will decrease. They're turning a 4GB movie into a 1GB movie. The point is that the program is so damned easy to use, and gives you a fully-working DVD with all the cool extra features and title screens people come to expect these days. Considering that the file size is still around 1.0-1.5GB, the quality will be about twice as good as a regular 700MB DVDrip. Obviously, the best quality is to download the 4GB DVD image, but that takes 4 times as much time to download, which is bad if you're still in the Dark Ages of connectivity. — BRIAN0918 • 2005-10-13 04:26
  • It is very unfair though to compare a 1.5GB ratDVD to a 700MB DivX in image quality, the same way you cannot compare the 4GB DVD to the 1.5GB ratDVD. The important thing is that if the ratDVD and DivX are the same size (for video, I am not including extras in my point), then the DivX/Xvid will have BETTER quality, as the ratDVD compression has poorer efficiency. Dkechag 18:58, 15 December 2005 (UTC)
  • Two things I couldn't help commenting about:

"Considering that the file size is still around 1.0-1.5GB, the quality will be about twice as good as a aregular 700MB DVDRip". Well, duh. 700MB x 2: 1.5GB "... so damned easy to use... with all the cool extra features..." I'm sorry, but maybe I'm asking too much from the Wikipedia to strive for unbiased reporting and for avoiding, whenever possible, press releases in the articles. What is here, except for a nominal excuse at "criticisms", is a press release, copied almost verbatim from another article. Let there be a critical, objective article for the format (which is not, as the description says, a "highly compressed filetype"). Tecnically "ratDVD" is both a program and a set of rules of what is contained in a .ratDVD file, which in turn is a zip-based container for a transcoded version of a normal DVD into a proprietary format which compresses the file further while maintaining the illusion of the original structure of the DVD. The ratDVD proprietary program can turn DVDs into .ratDVD and back again. Playback is done through hooks into Windows XP's media libraries.

So why not add the text yourself? I am not familiar with this software and would appreciate a diversity of opinions. I agree that the earlier comments sounded like PR-hacks but the best way to address this is to edit/ add content. Thanks, Hu Gadarn 04:51, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

i seen 2.15GIG ratDVD rips of the Invader Zim DVD sets....and for as i looked..i can only find those with good seeds...now here lies the question...at only 2.15gig or what ever...is the video quailty higher then the 1.5 you all seem to be talking about?

[edit] Questions

Which are the alternatives to this program?

  • DVD Shrink

Does ratDVD decreases the quality of the original DVD?

Is there any program which does no decreases the quality of the original DVD?

  • No. (?)

[edit] A .ratDVD is a .zip file

> unzip -l example.ratDVD

   Length     Date   Time    Name
  --------    ----   ----    ----
        94  09-23-05 13:59   Version.xml
      4497  09-24-05 01:12   AV_TS\StreamData.xml
     10240  09-24-05 01:12   AV_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO
    106496  09-24-05 01:12   AV_TS\VTS_01_0.IFO
     14336  09-24-05 01:12   AV_TS\VTS_02_0.IFO
     14336  09-24-05 01:12   AV_TS\VTS_03_0.IFO
     14336  09-24-05 01:12   AV_TS\VTS_04_0.IFO
       243  09-23-05 14:07   AV_TS\VTS_01_0.VSI
     16723  09-24-05 00:59   AV_TS\VTS_01_1.VSI
       159  09-24-05 01:04   AV_TS\VTS_02_1.VSI
        63  09-24-05 01:05   AV_TS\VTS_03_1.VSI
       191  09-24-05 01:12   AV_TS\VTS_04_1.VSI
  11692032  09-23-05 14:07   AV_TS\VTS_01_0.XVO
1073739776  09-23-05 14:17   AV_TS\VTS_01_1.XVO
 321810432  09-23-05 23:06   AV_TS\VTS_01_2.XVO
   9205760  09-24-05 01:04   AV_TS\VTS_02_1.XVO
   1929216  09-24-05 01:05   AV_TS\VTS_03_1.XVO
  13617152  09-24-05 01:12   AV_TS\VTS_04_1.XVO

Pretty much like an VIDEO_TS folder from an ordinary DVD with additional and transformed content.


Yes, in fact, I think someone should add on the front page that a compressed file extraction program such as 7-zip or winRAR can extract a .ratDVD file.--ejail 05:47, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

You can extract it, but you cannot play it without the appropriate codec. The zip seems to be used only as a way to bundle the files into one. ~~ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.155.99.21 (talk) 23:13, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Why re-stating DVD's characteristics?

The first feature of the format states: "A .ratDVD file keeps all the features found on the original DVD"

Is it really necessary, then, to list all possible options a DVD can have? If *all* features from the original DVD are kept then listing what they might be (branching, subtitles, chapters, commentaries, etc.) is irrelevant and reeks of useless PR ("Buy this camera! You can take pictures with it! You can also print them!"). If there is *any* feature from an original DVD that isn't kept (for example, DVD-ROM content) then that's what should be listed.

I don't edit it directly because I'd be taking half of the current article (which is a bunch of lists, for the most part) out. But I believe it should be done. I'll make it myself later if there is no opposition. When I go to see an article on the Black Widow saying "It's a spider, and as such has eight legs, two body segments, no chewing mouth parts and no wings". It's a spider, and in the article about spiders it clearly says what this means. Same thing. eduo 15:26, 13 November 2006 (UTC)