Hacking Movie DVDs?

[teq]

uh, the dvd drive in the wii _is_ different! same holds for a ps2 dvd drive. Generally console dvd drives are crap! Especially with recordable media!
Also, a generic pc based dvd drive cannot read gamecube games and wii games for example. So there are differences.

See, this is where your confusion is coming from. The Wii is NOT a PS2; Nintendo is NOT Sony.

The PS2 was developed near the brink of DVD technology and it has been almost nine years since then. Even so, when the PS2 had DREs, it was a MECHANICAL ISSUE, not an issue with the laser.

DVDROM drives are like gasoline: They all come from the same place and are relabeled in order to set price points and sway consumer interest.
All DVDROM drives are derrived from the same parts, and most of the time, they come from one of two factories that do the assembling. So, if a fact holds true for one, it has to hold true for all of them.

I have a DVDRW drive that has lasted me seven years, and it still writes DVDs like the day I bought it.

Your argument is flawed, drop it.


theclawPS2 discs are licensed, and do use the DVD name/logo unlike Wii ones. But PS2 is still different enough that games can't normally be burnt to run on unmodded systems.

Oh don't start this shit again.

They are DVDs, no matter whether or not they're licensed.

 

[manias]

teq whatever, great that you think you know it all

if his wii drive breaks, not my fault.

 

[skawo96]

My stupid idea

As jayparadox revealed some time ago, we can use Brawl files to play VC games directly form DVD
Now, Brawl uses movies too...could these movies be replaced with other movie and play it the same way as VC games?
I know it's n00bish, but this idea hitted me...

I know about media players, this is just an stupid question. This could be rather not practical...and it would need a drivechip

 

[teq]

teq whatever, great that you think you know it all

if his wii drive breaks, not my fault.

Provide some citation and maybe your information will be credible.

I, however, have parts lists that illustrate otherwise.

QUOTEMy stupid idea
As jayparadox revealed some time ago, we can use Brawl files to play VC games directly form DVD
Now, Brawl uses movies too...could these movies be replaced with other movie and play it the same way as VC games?
I know it's n00bish, but this idea hitted me...

I know about media players, this is just an stupid question. This could be rather not practical...and it would need a drivechip

Not to mention, everytime you wanted to watch a new video, you'd have to make a new disc.


MFE or Mplayer is the way to go. Why bother with physical mediums when you can have a setup like XBMC?

 

[Lumstar]

No offense. This time I was technically correct. In the above post I did not claim whether or not they were DVDs.

 

[skawo96]

My stupid idea
As jayparadox revealed some time ago, we can use Brawl files to play VC games directly form DVD
Now, Brawl uses movies too...could these movies be replaced with other movie and play it the same way as VC games?
I know it's n00bish, but this idea hitted me...

I know about media players, this is just an stupid question. This could be rather not practical...and it would need a drivechip

Not to mention, everytime you wanted to watch a new video, you'd have to make a new disc.


MFE or Mplayer is the way to go. Why bother with physical mediums when you can have a setup like XBMC?

Yes, I know. It was just a thought.

 

[drfsupercenter]

Google the name "aXXo". Download one of his releases and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Ew, aXXo is perhaps one of the worst rips there are! That group is so hell-bent on making everything 700MB that quite a few of their releases are very pixelated and look like crap even on my 15" LCD computer monitor.
That being said, I've seen some good rips as well (not from aXXo) and even release my own encodes of the Pokémon seasons... but I still prefer DVD because for the most part (unless you use excessive filtering, and even then there's a risk you'll ruin the encode) DVDs look better than avis.

Not to mention I really don't feel like wasting 6-8 hours of my day encoding an avi of a DVD just because I want to watch it on my Wii... using a DVD player program is so much more convenient.

Once I install the WiiKey I'll try it out and see what happens.

Now of course, we also have a DVD player attached to that TV... it's more that I want to sow off and stuff... if it has that ability, why not be able to use it?

 

[Lumstar]

Even if it did play DVD movies, why bother? It'd probably look and sound worse on Wii than a standard player. No digital audio for one.

 

[manias]

Even if it did play DVD movies, why bother? It'd probably look and sound worse on Wii than a standard player. No digital audio for one.

indeed! I also (surprise surprise) agree with teq on this: if you want a proper media centre, get an old xbox with xbmc for full non-HD compatibility and digital audio, or a 360/ps3 for HD-divx and xvid (tho not mkv n such) or a new laptop with HDMI output.
I really don't see the appeal of the wii as a mediacentre either.
xbmc upscales VERY nicely to 720p for example, which the wii will never be able to do

 

[teq]

Ew, aXXo is perhaps one of the worst rips there are! That group is so hell-bent on making everything 700MB that quite a few of their releases are very pixelated and look like crap even on my 15" LCD computer monitor.
That being said, I've seen some good rips as well (not from aXXo) and even release my own encodes of the Pokémon seasons... but I still prefer DVD because for the most part (unless you use excessive filtering, and even then there's a risk you'll ruin the encode) DVDs look better than avis.

You're probably downloading rips from people riding the coat-tails of the aXXo name.

His actual releases are the best DVDrips around. Use vcdquality.com or isohunt.com to check for actual releases. Granted, I myself have done better rips, but that's because I'm very meticulous.

They've done point blank tests comparing MPEG2 to XViD and they're very indiscernable, other than the fact that the XViD weighs in at 700MB.


QUOTEindeed! I also (surprise surprise) agree with teq on this: if you want a proper media centre, get an old xbox with xbmc for full non-HD compatibility and digital audio, or a 360/ps3 for HD-divx and xvid (tho not mkv n such) or a new laptop with HDMI output.
I really don't see the appeal of the wii as a mediacentre either.
xbmc upscales VERY nicely to 720p for example, which the wii will never be able to do

The only piece of advice I have to dissuade anyone from purchasing an XBOX for this purpose is that building an HTPC with an Nvidia card that does PureVideo HD is so much better. HTPCs are much more customizable.

 

[Lumstar]

That is so true. More expensive than Wii, obviously. Yet also far more options and features.

 

[Lifesnoozer]

DVD is an outdated technology.

XViD AVIs can already be used with MFE, so DVD rips are the way to go.

You didn't consider that you actually need a DVD to do this from the start?
Plus the quality-loss and such.

 

[teq]

DVD is an outdated technology.

XViD AVIs can already be used with MFE, so DVD rips are the way to go.

You didn't consider that you actually need a DVD to do this from the start?
Plus the quality-loss and such.

Well, first off, you don't need a DVD.

There are on-demand services that provide you the content without the physical medium. Also, if you're familiar with BitTorrent or Newsgroups, you don't even need to pay for it.


As far as quality is concerned, I've made and seen rips that are identical to the MPEG2 original. Like I said, MPEG2 is a lossy format. Going from one lossy format to another doesn't introduce more artifacts, if you know what you're doing.

You want DTS or AC3? Subtitles?

XViD contained in MKV is the way to go. The file sizes are significantly smaller than MPEG2 at no cost in quality.

 

[manias]

The only piece of advice I have to dissuade anyone from purchasing an XBOX for this purpose is that building an HTPC with an Nvidia card that does PureVideo HD is so much better. HTPCs are much more customizable.

Sure. But for budget-bound ppl xbmc can be very very cheap

(also if you don't use HD rips but only SD and want a nice upscaling media centre, xmbc should be enough)
But if you do watch HD rips, then buying a 360 or ps3 JUST for that would, ofcourse, be silly, esp since mkv is unsupported. But if you also play the games...

 

[xs4all]

Hi,

I have a WiiKey (I didn't install it yet since I'm honestly scared about ruining it...) and I just thought... if the Wii has a DVD-ROM drive, and the modchip makes it function like a PC's DVD-ROM drive... is there a channel made that can play my movie DVDs?

Someone was telling me you can burn certain types of files to a DVD and then play it using mplayer or something... but surely the capability is there to make something like PowerDVD Channel so you can play movies? Or is there one? Sorry if the answer's already been posted... I'm new to the whole modding thing. (And just figured out how to use HBC)

Am I missing something here? Seriously, I don't get it? There's a device called a DVD player, it plays movie DVD's and it can be found in most lounge rooms and even in some bedrooms, there's even some DVD players that also play DivX files that costs next to nothing, that's what they are designed to do.

 

[SoCalSRH]

The only piece of advice I have to dissuade anyone from purchasing an XBOX for this purpose is that building an HTPC with an Nvidia card that does PureVideo HD is so much better. HTPCs are much more customizable.

Sure. But for budget-bound ppl xbmc can be very very cheap

(also if you don't use HD rips but only SD and want a nice upscaling media centre, xmbc should be enough)
But if you do watch HD rips, then buying a 360 or ps3 JUST for that would, ofcourse, be silly, esp since mkv is unsupported. But if you also play the games...

...

 

[Monarch]

XviD is lossy. It will never look 100% identical to the source. 95% maybe but that 5% makes a difference
to *me*

Do a bit of research before posting.

MPEG2 is also lossy.

Transcoding one lossy format to another provides zero noticable degradation.

It highly depends on the used bitrate but in general I agree. Sometimes the build-in filters of XVid manage to overestimate the blocky pictures of Mpeg2-DVDs and make them look even better.

I disagree with the common theorists opinion "Lossy Picture transcoded with lossy codec=worse picture" as well. Sounds reasonable thou, but when theory becomes practice, it clearly shows, that this is WRONG.

 

[teq]

It highly depends on the used bitrate but in general I agree. Sometimes the build-in filters of XVid manage to overestimate the blocky pictures of Mpeg2-DVDs and make them look even better.

I disagree with the common theorists opinion "Lossy Picture transcoded with lossy codec=worse picture" as well. Sounds reasonable thou, but when theory becomes practice, it clearly shows, that this is WRONG.

Well I'm glad someone is on the same page.


I've done visual tests and have extensive experience with encoding. What I've found is that MPEG2 provides the worst hit, but if you stay within the MPEG codecs, you don't lose anything else. At 750Kb/s, I've seen XViD match a 2Mb/s MPEG2 source.

 

[Monarch]

I've done visual tests and have extensive experience with encoding. What I've found is that MPEG2 provides the worst hit, but if you stay within the MPEG codecs, you don't lose anything else. At 750Kb/s, I've seen XViD match a 2Mb/s MPEG2 source.

No wonder. Bear in mind that Mpeg2-Video is almost 15 Years old now. And it wasn't even state-of-the-art when it came out. Its about time to kiss that crappy old codec goodbye.....

 

[drfsupercenter]

I realize using a Wii as a DVD player has no real use... I have a DVD player on that TV as well.

I guess it's more curiosity than anything... like how cool it would be if the Wii COULD play DVDs.

And hm, about homebrew not being able to use the DVD drive... how does the save extractor or the disc dumper work?