WesleyTech.com: HD DVD, Blu-ray, DVD info and more

Copy HD DVD freeware

If you have been following the HD DVD and Blu-ray copy protection scene, then you probably already know about BackupHDDVD and AnyDVD HD. Both tools will allow you to back up HD DVD’s to your computer hard drive. BackupHDDVD is open source and freeware, while AnyDVD HD is commercial, closed source software that requires a purchased license for unlimited legal usage. But you can download a free trial here.

Copy HD DVD free vs pay

So why would anyone use commercial software over the free software? It is all about features and usability. BackupHDDVD is fairly complicated to use due to the command line interface and manual encryption key input required from the end user. AnyDVD HD is extremely easy to use and can allow you to easily backup your HD DVD movies with little to no effort, but it does cost money.

HD DVD Decrypter?



There is a new HD DVD rip competitor in town and the name is DVD Fab HD Decrypter. DVD Fab HD Decrypter comes from Fengtao Software Inc, a company that develops DVD backup solutions and other related software. DVD Fab Decrypter (non HD version) has been around for awhile and is well known as one of the best freeware utilities that you can obtain for decrypting and ripping newer DVD’s that have complicated protections such as ARccOS, RipGuard and others. DVD Fab Decrypter mimics the name of one of the most popular freeware DVD ripping utilities of all time, “DVD Decrypter”. This was a smart marketing move on Fengtao Softwares’ part.

On March 16th, Fengtao Software released DVD Fab HD Decrypter 3.0.9.0 Beta, providing a freeware utility that anyone can use to easily backup HD DVD’s. Download this free copy HD DVD utility here. Fengtao also claims that Blu-ray support will be coming soon. Very interesting!

Copy HD DVD UPDATE: DVD Fab HD Decrypter now supports both HD DVD and Blu-ray copying.

Update: CDBurnerXP now supports burning to HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc recordable formats.

Thanks to Shawn over at http://shawn-knight.net for providing the photo that I have used in my new header image. I was tired of the same old blue image and I believe this new fiery picture fits well with the theme of “DVD burning” and optical storage.

A few people have asked me why I am not updating the website daily any more. This is due to a few reasons. 1) It is very time consuming to write an article every day 2) I felt that the quality of the daily articles was not as good as they could be and 3) I am also working on other projects such as http://DVDRentalForums.com. Due to these reasons as well as some others, I will not be updating WesleyTech.com daily any more. HOWEVER, I will be trying to focus on posting articles that are very interesting and of higher quality content, so please continue to visit the site on a regular basis.

As always, thanks for reading and if you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please let me know!

Movie Gallery online DVD rentals announced
MovieGallery, the USA’s second largest DVD rental store chain, announced yesterday that they have plans to start offering an online DVD rental service. This new service will be in direct competition with Netflix and Blockbuster online. Reuter’s online has more about the announcement, which was made yesterday on a MovieGallery financial results conference call that was open to the public.

Chief Financial Officer Thomas Johnson said the company learned from a survey that about 10 percent of Hollywood Video customers and about 2 percent of Movie Gallery customers were renting new releases from its stores, but finding older films through the online DVD rental services.

Movie Gallery plans to make a low-cost version of online rentals available to existing customers and “will not spend outrageous amounts of money” to promote the service or to acquire subscribers, Chairman and Chief Executive Joe Malugen told analysts on a conference call.

Movie Gallery vs Netflix vs Blockbuster
Movie Gallery’s decision to launch an online DVD rental service is partly due to information they collected from customer surveys. The move to online DVD rentals and VOD (Video On Demand) is definitely a step towards the future, but can MovieGallery succeed where Walmart and others have failed? MovieGallery has also recently acquired MovieBeam, a Video On Demand company that was spun off from Disney. I for one will be trying out the MovieGallery online DVD rental service as soon as it launches. If you’re interested in DVD rental services, join us at DVDRentalForums.com to discuss this and other related topics.

16x Double Layer DVD’s (DVD+R DL)
Last week, Ricoh announced the World’s Fastest DVD+R Double Layer media with a maximum writing speed of 16x. This will double the maximum writing speed that is available for burning Double layer media, which is currently at 8x maximium. Most Hollywood movie DVD’s found at the store contain two layers worth of data, which means that a Double Layer (DVD+R DL) or Dual Layer (DVD-R DL) recordable DVD is needed in order to make an exact copy. The annoucement of 16x DVD+R DL media does not surprise me though, as I had been informed earlier this year that Verbatim was also working on 16x Double Layer media.

The fastest Double Layer media?
Having a 16x Double Layer recordable DVD does not mean that a burn will take half the time that it currently does though, it only means that the writing speed will HIT 16x maximum writing speed at some point during the burning process. This is what most people that are not familiar with the technology do not understand. These people are confused when a 16x burn on single layer media does not take half the amount of time that an 8x burn does. In some cases a 16x burn will only hit the 16x speed for a few seconds or even less time, as this peak occurs at the very end of the burning process. Nevertheless, any enhancement in double layer burning speed is welcomed as long as adequate burning quality can be maintained. New DVD burners will be required in order to take advantage of these new high speed double layer discs though. So if you are interested in upgrading to DVD+R Double Layer at 16x speed, you can expect to invest in a new dvd writer once the hardware and discs are available on the retail market.

16x Dual Layer?
So what about 16x Dual Layer media? Dual Layer media (DVD-R DL) is controlled and authorized by the DVD Forum, while Double Layer media (DVD+R DL) is handled by the DVD+RW Alliance. So far there have been no reports of the DVD-R camp planning to introduce 16x DVD-R DL into the market, but I would not be surprised if they announce something later this year. We have seen DVD-R follow the DVD+R format many times in the past in media speed enhancements. Either way, users in the USA should stick with DVD+R DL, as it can be set with a Book Type of DVD-ROM to ensure maximum compatibility in standalone DVD players. DVD-R DL (Dual Layer) discs have been plagued with compatibility problems, especially when used with older DVD player models. I for one am anxiously awaiting the arrival of 16x DVD+R Double Layer drives and media this year. Until then, I will be watching for updates. More coverage of 16x DVD Double Layer media can be found at CDRLabs.

DVD Rental Forum community
Hello everyone, I’ve been pretty busy the last week over at http://DVDRentalForums.com, my new forums dedicated to DVD Rental service discussions. Due to this, there have not been many updates over here at WesleyTech. I hope to start posting more again here at WesleyTech starting tomorrow and I’ve got some really good articles in the works.

If you have any suggestions for future articles or any questions that might spur a tutorial or a guide I would love to hear them! Otherwise, stay tuned for some good stuff coming up soon and thank you for reading!

SlySoft acquires Game Jackal
The Antigua based copy protection specialist SlySoft has now acquired Game Jackal from Australian software company Jacal Consulting. All further development of Game Jackal has been taken over by SlySoft.

Giancarlo Bettini, CEO at SlySoft: “Due to new Australian copyright law, Jacal Consulting had to take down the Game Jackal website in January and SlySoft took this opportunity to complement our software portfolio. Game Jackal is a perfect addition to our range of product offerings.”

“The first release of SlySoft Game Jackal will come at the end of March”, SlySoft’s Marketing Director, Tom Xiang, said. “We will be adding a few new features and some more languages. However, for our first release, our main focus will be the changeover to the SlySoft license system, with free lifetime updates. Old Game Jackal users can be easily upgraded to a SlySoft license, for no more than 10 USD.”

Anthony Smith, Technical Director at Jacal Consulting: “We are happy that Game Jackal has found a perfect new home. SlySoft is well known for their customer satisfaction and we can be sure that our customers will be in good hands.”

Comments from WesleyTech
I think it’s great to see Game Jackal arriving at a new home with Slysoft. Game Jackal is very well known as one of the best applications available for PC gamers, which allows gamers to play their software without requiring the physical game disc to be inserted in the drive. Game Jackal works similar to a virtual drive. I’m sure Slysoft will continue to add more improvements to Game Jackal while providing the excellent user support that they are known for.

If you are interested in downloading a free demo of Game Jackal or another Slysoft product, please visit their website.

Introducing DVD Rental Forums
DVDRentalForums.com has just been launched. Due to requests from my readers I have created a forum website that is aimed at providing a centralized location and discussion area for current DVD Rental service members, prospective members and everyone else that is interested DVD Rental service discussions.

Blockbuster Total Access DVD Rental Forum
The Blockbuster Total Access forum is a place where all Blockbuster Total Access members or others interested in the service can discuss and talk about the Blockbuster DVD rental program. My goal is to make this the largest Blockbuster Total Access discussion location on the net! Join today, it only takes a few moments to register and you can then begin talking about your Blockbuster Total Access problems, features or anything else related to Netflix services!

Netflix DVD Rental Forum
The Netflix forum is a place where all Netflix members or others interested in the service can discuss and talk about the Netflix DVD rental program. My goal is to make this the largest Netflix discussion location on the net! Join today, it only takes a few moments to register and you can then begin talking about your Blockbuster Total Access problems, features or anything else related to Netflix services!

Sign up today and you could win FREE stuff!
A community only works if there are dedicated, enthusiastic members who are willing to contribute to the discussions and build the community. Due to this, I will be rewarding the contributers and active DVD Rental Forum members by offering free giveaway prizes. The giveaway will include recordable DVD media, DVD movies and other related products. All you need to do to enter is register on the forum and start discussing DVD rental services! Members who help the community most and contribute to the discussion will be awarded prizes. Thanks and I hope to talk to you soon on DVDRentalForums.com!

Discuss Blockbuster Total Access problems at DVDRentalForum.com. Take a quick moment to register and start discussing Blockbuster Total Access with other members today!