How do you tell a DVD is done by a 1-clicker?

[HyperYagami]

Like for example...DVDShrink...is there a way (e.g., hex-edit, IFO file, etc.) to tell if the disc is done by a 1-clicker?

[setarip_old]

Hi!

I don't believe that's possible.

If I remember correctly, the only remotely similar information on a burned DVD would be - and this is limited to DVD-R media only - which burning program was used. This information can be obtained by using DVDInfoPro...

[nwg]

Hi!

I don't believe that's possible.

If I remember correctly, the only remotely similar information on a burned DVD would be - and this is limited to DVD-R media only - which burning program was used. This information can be obtained by using DVDInfoPro...

That is correct. Anything that is burnt through Shrink via Nero or whatever will have DVDShrink listed otherwise, it will have burning programs Nero, CopytoDVD etc listed.

[kumi]

I remember reading a post here, that some MPEG2 encoders (& transcoders?) write text data into the video stream, but I was never able to verify this.

[HansiG]

yeah, this is making me mad too - how do i identify shrinked ifo/vobs beside a "suspect" size close to a single layer dvd+/-r and maybe working dvd-menu with some dead links? can some guru share the wisdom? thx!

[Hackerjac]

yeah, this is making me mad too - how do i identify shrinked ifo/vobs beside a "suspect" size close to a single layer dvd+/-r and maybe working dvd-menu with some dead links? can some guru share the wisdom? thx!


Dead links in the menu dosen't mean its made with dvdshrink since programs like menu edit and dvd remake also can make dead links

[setarip_old]

@HansiG

Hi!yeah, this is making me mad tooNo one posting in this thread has indicated that they're "mad". Exactly what are you "mad" about, regarding identifying how a burned DVD was created?

[laserfan]

...Exactly what are you "mad" about, regarding identifying how a burned DVD was created?Yeah, I wonder too what this thread is about. I thought it might be about how to recognize bootleg DVDs, or (worse of course) finding out about how to CREATE dvds that can't be spotted as bootlegs. Hopefully it is not the latter.

I got stuck with a box set of Chinese bootlegs from an ebay purchase this year. Pisses me off for a number of reasons, especially

1. Because they are "burned discs" and not pressed by a manufacturer it's hard to say how long they will last

2. As bootlegs they are not re-saleable by me (at least I would never try to stick someone else with them!)

[HansiG]

ad Hackerjac:
well, what you say, seems as advanced knowledge to me and you may be right. but i guess, if you run dvd-decrypter in ifo-mode for the movie and maybe further dvd-parts, you never keep the menu running after this kind of backup. or is there a way to dump ifo/vobs and make media_player_classic build up a navigation-menu? (i'm sorry, anything beyond gordian_knot or pgcedit-step-by-step-ArCoSS-removal is still what i have to learn.)

ad setarip_old, laserfan:
boys, if you lived outside US like i do, you would be happy to buy "regional-adapted" releases, that are indeed as cheap as you can buy them at home in US, but still below average prices for our regional hot-titles and this makes the distribution companies think, that they are entitled to pan&scan, force subtitles when playing english audio streams or "by coincidence" fit all movies to single layer discs. and i bet, they don't hesitate a second to squeeze production costs and give the movie a "slight remaster".

second reason would be, that nowadays people bring ifo/vobs along, that are great for my archiving procedures, but you never can tell - is this already shrinked or not? in the name of perfection, i have to go sure before setting up my encoding with sharktooth's high-rate-matrix resulting in 3-cd-candy-like-xvid's. and even if you just consume the movies, 60-70% shrink-ratio makes already a lot of harm to the original. no need to speak right away about artifacts, but you get color-space degradation and suffering contrast/sharpness.

so this uncertainty and necessity to go and throw more and more cash overboard in the dvd-rentals or stores selling shitty discs make me mad - not implying that others in this discussion are just curious...

and beside questioning my motivation - any ideas?

[setarip_old]

@HansiG

I'm really having a hard time understanding your response to my question:"regional-adapted" releasesYour further description of this sounds (to me) like you're talking about bootlegged DVDs. Am I understanding you correctly?nowadays people bring ifo/vobs along, that are great for my archiving procedures, but you never can tell - is this already shrinked or not?This doesn't sound like it has anything to do with purchased commercial DVDs. What does it mean?

[HansiG]

ad setarip_old:
sorry, i'm not native and obviously can not hide it :)

you, in US, can buy region_1 dvd's and i, in europe, have region_2 dvd's offered in stores. the discs (with identical title) are different in many ways: replaced audio streams, added subtitles, translated navigation, copyright warnings and so on... sometimes, to make sure that the european titles released as budget titles are not reimported to US, the distribution companies make "improvements" to the discs like forcing subtitles or when making "economic decisions" in a weak market, they do the movie fit on a single-layer disc.

i am not familiar with the meaning of the word "bootleg", but what i am talking about, are official releases in some european countries. this is what i meant by regional adaptation. (i hope regional issues with dvd's are not unknown to you?)

to melt away your "sneaky" suspicion in the legal status of my proceedings (if i interpret you correctly and read the "between-the-lines" of your posts through the forum) - let's stay close to the problem - i have a backup of legally lended dvd in ifo/vob-files on my pc for private purpose and would like to find out, if the source has been somehow touched.

thank you.

[setarip_old]

@HansiGto melt away your "sneaky" suspicion in the legal status of my proceedingsNothing "sneaky" - and that's exactly why I prefaced my most recent post withI'm really having a hard time understanding your response to my questionSince YOU'VE raised the topic, it's still curious that your initial post statedyeah, this is making me mad too - how do i identify shrinked ifo/vobs beside a "suspect" size close to a single layer dvd+/-r and maybe working dvd-menu with some dead links?and you now state that this question is somehow related to commercially released DVDs...

The overriding point, however, is that your clarified concerns don't seem to have anything to do with the initial post of this thread, so to avoid any misunderstanding, I'll not post any furhter to this thread...

[HansiG]

beg your pardon, but this whole thing seems a little Orwell-like to me. not only we are spoiling the topic, but i see no room for giving me a lesson for hurting the etiquette. are we on a "backup solutions"-forum or not? honestly, i have been talking about ifo and vob-files and analyzing them for shrink and other remastering-techniques and hell, yes, it's related to commercially released dvd's because i bought titles, that have been pan&scanned and had forced subtitles without warning on the booklet so how can you guarantee they are not shrinked!

and despite your last statement about my "clarified concerns", i am still trying to discuss the original problem, for which your contributions had zero value.

analysing my posts for any possible law violation of a country, you don't know, is as non-productive as disabling private messages (may there be other reasons) or stopping further communication.

sorry for being this straight, but i would never believe, this could happen to me inside doom9 :(

[setarip_old]

sorry for being this straight, but i would never believe, this could happen to me inside doom9I can only say that I'm sorry if you've grossly misinterpreted my postings, which started out simply trying to keep this thread on track with the initial post.

Again, my apologies...

it's related to commercially released dvd's because i bought titles, that have been pan&scanned and had forced subtitles without warning on the booklet so how can you guarantee they are not shrinked!Primary legitimate distributors of commercial DVDs don't use DVD Shrink...

[laserfan]

i am not familiar with the meaning of the word "bootleg", but what i am talking about, are official releases in some european countries...A "bootleg" in the U.S. is stolen goods--in the case of DVD, that would occur when someone acquires manufacturer's product (either legally or illegally) and then breaks the encryption (or, if not encrypted, ignores that it is copyrighted) and makes a disc and sells it for a (great) profit.

Here they are easy enough to spot--at least once you've gotten one home and can examine it with a PC's DVD drive--one need only look for copy-protection code that is missing. My Chinese bootlegs weren't copy-protected anymore, but they also were clearly "printable DVDs" so there were other ways you could detect they were "knock-offs" (oops, another term maybe you haven't heard).

Anyway I can empathize with your interest, but I doubt there is any EASY way to tell from one disc to another whether some of these (in most cases pretty darn sophisticated) DVD transcoding/re-encoding/re-authoring methods has been applied. Certainly IMO it would be impossible to tell by looking at the packaging in a rental or retail store.

In the end if you insist on acquiring the best DVD transfers of a movie, you probably will have to research what transfers are available using the internet, or use dealer(s) you can trust.

[HansiG]

ad laserfan:
thanx for that explanation with bootlegs and company. before, i've been thinking bootleg could be a disc, that will not play because of cheap and poor mastering, as happened to me once when ordering online in australia - one of two discs had not one single scratch, but no drive and no software was able to play or rip it beyond 73% - i guess some kind of problem with the printing matrix. the shipping costs would be higher for me to send that crap back :)
anyway i have dvd's, mostly magazine inlays or extreme sports genre, which are region-free and not copy-protected. these discs are fully legal, and they would fit into your bootleg-conception. how do you consider this case?

ad setarip_old:
i appreciate your approach and i'm sorry for the misunderstandings too, but could not let it end with your post.

ad all:
back to our problem - i have another trace: when dvd-decrypter is processing a disc, it shows time stamps with information. mostly it says:

I 00:15:12 Operation Started!
I 00:15:12 Source Device: [1:0:0] TEAC blahblah (M) (ATA)
I 00:15:12 Source Media Type: DVD-ROM
I 00:15:12 Source Media Region Code: 1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8
I 00:15:12 Source Media Copyright Protection System Type: None
I 00:15:12 Source Media Implementation Identifier: SONY DVD Video
I 00:15:12 Destination Folder: D:\blahblah\VIDEO_TS\
I 00:15:12 File Splitting: 1 GB
I 00:15:13 Detect Mastering Errors: No
I 00:15:13 Remove Macrovision Protection: Yes

so i scanned more of my original discs and have seen these identifiers: DVD Producer 1.0, Spruce Technologies and others. then i have one disc, that is 100% shrinked and what does dvd-decrypter say:

I 22:58:09 Source Media Implementation Identifier: DVD Shrink

this could be though primitive but working solution. the question is - does this tag stand for authoring/mastering or burning software? another problem: tools like ahead_nero (that leave id-tag) can burn but also remaster/reauthor...

[setarip_old]

I believe you'll find that this "tag" was only created as the result of a user using DVD Shrink set to AUTOMATICALLY BURN (via an SDK) in conjunction with a burning program (e.g. NERO, DVD Decrypter, CopyToDVD, or IMGBurn) - otherwise, you'd see the name of the burning software...