Same picture, much smaller file
MPEG-2, the codec of DVDs and digital TV, was designed in the early 1990s. H.264, the codec in MP4 files, needs roughly half the bitrate for the same picture quality. In practice, a DVD recording of one hour takes 2 to 4 GB as MPEG-2 and often well under 1.5 GB as MP4. When you convert MPEG to MP4, you also gain compatibility: MP4 plays on phones, tablets, Macs, smart TVs, in every browser and on every video site.
Typical sources
- Home DVDs: VOB files copied from the VIDEO_TS folder of a disc made with a DVD camcorder or recorder.
- Digitised VHS tapes, often saved as .mpg by capture cards and old capture software.
- TV recordings in .ts format from set-top boxes and satellite receivers.
- Camcorder files: MPEG-2 from older models, .mts or .m2ts (AVCHD) from newer ones.
Settings worth checking
Resolution: keep the original. DVD video is 720×576 or 720×480, stored with non-square pixels and shown as 4:3 or 16:9. Frame rate: keep it too; PAL sources use 25 fps and NTSC 29.97 fps. Codec: H.264 plays everywhere. H.265 cuts the size by about another third, but some older devices cannot play it. Quality: the default preset keeps the look of the source; a lower one makes smaller files for sharing.
Speed and problems
MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 are decoded by the converter engine built into the page and then encoded as H.264. This runs on your computer, so a long DVD title can take a while. Files that already contain H.264 and AAC, such as some .ts recordings, are repackaged without re-encoding and finish fast.
- Encrypted DVDs: VOB files from commercial discs cannot be converted.
- Comb lines on motion: the source is interlaced, as most TV and DVD video is.
- Film split into several VOBs: convert all parts, then join them with Merge Video.
To shrink the MP4 further, use the MP4 Compressor. For the reverse direction, open MP4 to MPEG.