03/21/2007 DVD Video

It happens quite often that you need to backup your double-layer DVD (so called DVD-9) onto one single layer DVD (known as DVD-5). As a matter of fact, you will need to recompress it so that it could fit the lesser capacity disc. The quality of the video could deteriorate in this case, so you will need to decide what you need more - the best available quality or all the materials on the disc.

How to Copy/Backup DVD-9 to DVD-5?

There is one more way out: you can take a double-layer DVD to record the video onto it, and the program will suggest such an option:





You will see the disc full size in the upper part of the window and will have two options:

• Use a standard DVD - use this option to reconvert the input DVD and shrink it so that it will fit the output DVD-5. It is recommended to use this option if your DVD-drive does not support writing onto double-layer DVDs or if you do not have a double-layer DVD available. See below to find out how you can improve the output video quality if you record onto a standard DVD.
• Use a double-layer DVD - use this option if you have a possibility to record the input DVD onto a double-layer output DVD. The disc will be simply copied without any recompression and thus any quality loss.

Some tips when copying DVD-9 onto a single DVD-5:

If you do not need all the menus and extras from the input disc, you can use the ONLY MOVIE mode to record the main movie only and delete all the other materials to keep the quality better.

If you want to retain the disc structure (it can be helpful if the disc contains the deleted scenes from the original movie or the director's cut that can only be selected from the DVD menu), you will need to select the second mode - WITHOUT EXTRAS.

And finally, if all of the disc contents are important to you, you should select the ENTIRE DVD mode to preserve the original DVD structure and contents.

Copy Modes of AVS DVD Copy

• ENTIRE DVD with menus and extras

Use this button to copy the source DVD with all its structure - main movie, menus and extras - onto the other DVD. If the size of the source DVD is bigger than that of the target DVD, the video will be recompressed retaining the structure of the original DVD.


• WITHOUT EXTRAS extras will be removed

Use this button to copy the source DVD and its structure onto the other DVD. Although the structure will be retained, the extras will be removed and will become unavailable from the DVD menu. At the same time this can enhance the main movie quality in case the recompression is needed as sometimes extras occupy quite a considerable part of the video DVD.


• ONLY MOVIE copy only the movie

Use this button to copy only the main DVD movie onto the target DVD. The DVD will be remastered and all the menus and extras will be removed in order to prevent the movie from being too much compressed. It is very helpful if you prefer to have the main movie in a better quality and would like to get rid of the extras or if the extras contain commercials and trailers mainly.

The main types of DVDs that differ as to their capacity are:

DVD disc types	First side		Second side		Total capacity
	First layer capacity	Second layer capacity	First layer capacity	Second layer capacity
DVD-5	4.7 Gb	-	-	-	4.7 Gb
DVD-9	4.3 Gb	4.3 Gb	-	-	8.6 Gb
DVD-10	4.7 Gb	-	4.7 Gb	-	9.4 Gb
DVD-14	4.3 Gb	4.3 Gb	4.7 Gb	-	13.3 Gb
DVD-18	4.3 Gb	4.3 Gb	4.3 Gb	4.3 Gb	17.2 Gb


DVD-5 - single sided, single layer (disc capacity about 4.7 Gb, the working surface of such a disc is situated on one side of it and consists of one layer only);

DVD-9 - single sided, double layer (disc capacity about 8.6 Gb, the working surface of such a disc is situated on one side of it and consists of two layers about 4.3 Gb each);

DVD-10 - double sided, single layer on both sides (disc capacity about 9.4 Gb, the working surfaces of such a disc are situated on both its sides and either consists of one layer about 4.7 Gb);

DVD-14 - double sided, double layer on one side and single layer on the other side (disc capacity about 13.3 Gb, the working surfaces of such a disc are situated on both its sides and consist of two layers about 4.3 Gb each on one side and one layer about 4.7 Gb on the other side);

DVD-18 - double sided, double layer on both sides (disc capacity about 17.2 Gb, the working surfaces of such a disc are situated on both its sides and either consists of two layers about 4.3 Gb each).

Note: the DVD capacity is measured in the so called decimal gigabytes (one gigabyte is equal to 1000 megabytes). The real size of the DVDs is smaller when measured in the so called computer gigabytes or gibibytes (one gigabyte is equal to 1024 megabytes).