Despite the domination of new streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, DVDs and Blu-rays persist as they provide some niche perks. So, if you’ve got boxes full of old DVDs and Blu-rays movies waiting to be put to some use, we’ve got all the tools you will need to digitize your dated collection through ripping. Ripping DVDs might be old news for you if you’re from the 2000s era, but if you’ve never held a DVD in your hand, Ripping might still a bit of a mystery for you.
There are many reasons you would want to use a DVD or Blu-ray ripper to store and preserve your collection. Hence, we are here with some of the best tools for ripping DVDs and Blu-rays to your iPad or iPhone. Before we jump straight ahead to the apps, we would need to check a few items off the list, and these are:
An external optical drive reader – You would need to get an optical drive reader. These were common with all laptops and desktops before, but as technology evolved, these started to disappear, and nowadays, you can’t even find a decent laptop with an optical drive built-in. You could get a cheap external optical drive reader here, and if you need one for your Blu-ray drives, you could find it here.
Best Paid Ripper for iPad: Uniconverter
Wondershare UniConverter is a one-stop app for all your video conversion needs. It supports various video file formats, including the H.265 and all DVDs and Blu-rays. It even allows you to convert DVDs for mobile devices, and you can also trim and edit videos during the conversion process.
Now how would you go on to rip a DVD? Well, follow the steps from this detailed how-to guide, and you can convert all your DVDs and Blu-rays and digitize them to save them for the future. However, here’s the gist of the guide:
Step 1: Import videos off the DVD
Step 2: Load the movies or clips from the DVD
Step 3: Select the Format and Resolution and start the conversion process
Step 4: Access the converted file and transfer it to your iPhone or iPad
Note: If you follow all the steps mentioned, you will be left with a converted video copy of your DVD or Blu-ray, which you could use on any new device.
Some features highlight
Rich Presets with a Powerful Video Editor – WonderShare UniConverter allows you to do more than convert videos. You can also trim, merge video clips, crop the size and add or edit subtitles. It also has various built-in effects or filters and presets for multiple resolutions and devices such as the “iPad preset” and the “iPhone preset”. The different effects and filters can range from:
- Filters that can range from Sierra, Willow, X-PRO II, etc.
- Inclusion of Pro-grade tools such as full content playback, clip grabbing, marking, and audio cropping.
- Built-in toolbox for color, saturation, contrast, and highlight controls.
Automatic Recognition and Compression – You can also compress HD videos without a drop in the quality and adjust stuff like bitrate. It even has a GIF creation tool that allows you to clip your favorite scenes and make them a GIF. With built-in automatic recognition, Uniconverter can also instantly recognize all files and select the most preferred settings.
Direct transfer to iPad/iPhone with a built-in toolbox – Uniconverter has a simple, clean user interface that supports drag-and-drop functionality for all video formats. The layout is minimal, making it easy for users to directly transfer all converted files to an iPhone or iPad. It can either be through a wired connection or a wireless wifi connection.
Some pros and cons of using Uniconverter
Pros
- Numerous Video Formats Supported
- High-Speed Conversion Option
- 4K and VR Video Format Support
- GPU Acceleration for faster encoding and decoding
- Batch editing and encoding
Cons
- It is expensive for a budget user
- Can have some device connection issues
Pricing
Uniconverter has a “free” trial version for Windows and Mac that leaves out many of the features and options you can use. Hence, opting for the premium version might be the best bet for you if you want to convert many DVDs and Blu-rays for your iPad or iPhone
The Premium Plan: The premium plan starts from $3 a month to $55 for a complete package.
In Short: If you’re looking for a decent video conversion tool that can also rip DVDs and Blu-rays, then Uniconverter is an excellent choice to look at. However, remember that it will cost you some money if you want to convert many files or DVDs, but if you want a free option that works just as well with some limitations, look at HandBrake.
Best Free Ripper for iPad: HandBrake
HandBrake is an impressive open-source DVD ripper that is entirely free and also supports Blu-ray ripping. Aside from ripping DVDs and Blu-rays, it also includes features such as converting videos to various formats, adding subtitles to movies, and trimming clips from a video. Just select a device or folder, get the DVD or Blu-ray you want to convert, and use Handbrake to start converting. Here is the detailed guide on how to rip a DVD through HandBrake, but if you want a gist of what the guide explains, well, here you go.
Step 1: Download, install and run HandBrake and insert the DVD.
Step 2: Select the content and choose the quality and format.
Step 3: Start the Encoding process and transfer the file to your iPad or iPhone.
Some features highlight
Built-in presets – Handbrake also has multiple built-in presets for various devices that allow you to convert videos to a specific format and resolution with ease. It also enables instant selection and ensures compatibility with the device. However, compared to the presets in Uniconverter above, it’s not rich-featured.
Impressive support for various formats and encoders – HandBrake supports numerous formats and encoders, including H.265, H.265 MPEG-4 and MPEG-2, H.264, VP8, and Theora. It also has support for audio encoders, including MP3, AC3, Flac, and AAC. This means that you can use any media file without any hassle and convert it to all formats with ease.
Batch Editing – Handbrake also lets you work on multiple file selections at once, which you can edit and convert using the batch scan and queue encoding methods. You can also edit and add subtitles and use features such as a constant bit rate video encoding process. This lets you customize your video with various options, resulting in the best quality of the original video.
Some pros and cons of using HandBrake
Pros
- Is entirely free
- Has prebuilt presets for multiple devices
- Can convert multiple videos at the same time
Cons
- It can take a lot longer to convert high-resolution videos or movies
- It doesn’t have a lot of editing features built-in
Pricing
HandBrake is an open-source project for Windows, Mac and Linux, and hence, it is entirely FREE to use.
In Short: If you’re looking for a free video converter that can also rip DVDs and Blu-rays without extra editing features, then HandBrake is the way to go. It is regularly updated and also supports all the latest devices with presets for an easy time of converting videos.
Other options to consider
MacX is another DVD ripper. It comes in two flavors with a free trial version and a Premium Edition. While MacX is free, it’s a trial version of the Premium edition. However, as the trial expires, it remains usable and leaves out some premium features. The free version can rip a DVD to various file formats, including MP4, WMV, AVI, MOV, H.264, etc., for multiple devices such as iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Android devices. With it, you can create a backup of the DVD with no quality loss and does it with fast backup speeds.
Pros
- Fast conversion rates
- Multiple device and format support
- It has a decent free version
Cons
- It can be expensive with the premium pack
- Can sometimes have connectivity issues with devices
Movavi Video Converter is well-known for supporting a wide range of formats and devices, high-quality file encoding, and fast processing. You can convert more than 180 formats, including DVD and Blu-ray, extract soundtracks from movies, and save them various audio formats such as MP3. It also comes with more than 200 presets for mobile devices, making the conversion process a breeze. Just select the video and click on Convert to start extracting the videos from your DVDs.
Pros
- Supports 180+ media file formats
- Has various presets builtin
- Rip DVD and Blu-ray video to any popular video format
Cons
- The UI can feel a little janky
- The conversion can feel a little slow with multiple Blu-ray files
DVDFab has received a lot of positive praise for the DVD ripping capabilities and rips a DVD to your iPad or iPhone in standard formats, and it can also rip audio from all videos. So if you’d like to save music from an old DVD, you can do that with ease. Batch conversion also allows you to rip multiple videos at a time. Just specify the start and stop points and start the conversion process. It’s that simple, and the different premium versions start at $55 for the DVD version and $65 for the Blu-ray version.
Pros
- Fast conversions from DVDs
- Works well with both Windows and Macs
Cons
- It can take more time to process Blu-rays
- It is an expensive investment
Tipard DVD to iPad Converter can convert DVDs and Blu-rays to various popular video formats such as MPEG-4, AVC, MOV, and more. It can also trim your DVD files into several segments and crop your movies. Moreover, you can also transfer and enjoy all the video files on any iPhone or iPad, and it works flawlessly with Windows and Macs. The conversion process is also simple and requires you to select the DVD and click on the convert button. The app can automatically select the best resolution and formats according to the files.
Pros
- Multiple file format and device support
- Simple and fast conversion
- Needs good performance to encode and decode files
Cons
- It can have some trouble with some Blu-rays files
MakeMKV is a superb cross-platform Blu-ray and DVD ripper, and it also boasts DVD and Blu-ray encryption and decryption functionality. Ripping a DVD or Blu-ray to your iPad or iPhone is simple, pop in a disc and selects the files in MakeMKV. MakeMKV runs through some initial processing, and you’ll see the various video titles and sections to view subtitle, resolution, and audio track information. Select the conversion format and resolution and convert the DVD to a digital format.
Pros
- Easy converting process
- DVD and Blu-ray support
- Lightweight installation
- Budget-friendly
Cons
- The UI is a little dated
Use a video streaming service instead of ripping DVDs to iPad
There has been a new trend on the internet, the rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. These services provide a fast and clean user experience and reduce the time and storage needed to save your files.
Streaming services are more than just a matter of which services offer the most incredible shows. It’s about the app experience and how quickly they release new content for users to get into. It has also destroyed DVDs, and Blu-ray content as these services are faring cheaper and better than physical discs. Viewers are signing up with Netflix and Amazon Prime in large amounts, and that too for a good reason. There’s never been so much choice, but it can be overwhelming and expensive to make the right decision.
The TV and video landscape has been changing fast, which means Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are significant players in media and entertainment. We would recommend these to everyone as getting your old DVDs and ripping them to save your content can be a tiring experience and generally not worth the time due to the recent technological advancements.
You could find Netflix here and Amazon Prime Video here. Don’t get us wrong, there are various other video streaming services such as Disney+, but we believe that these two are the real giants and would provide you with the best experience going forward.
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