How Does a DVD Decoder Work?
What Is a DVD Decoder? A DVD decoder is a form of computer software that interprets the media on a DVD, which has been encoded and compressed to make it all fit on a single disc, so that it may be viewed on a computer equipped with a DVD drive or a stand-alone DVD player. Stand-alone DVD players come with the decoding software built in; computers need decoding software to be installed. The Decoding Process Most commercially produced DVDs are encoded using a combination of MPEG-2 compressed video and various audio formats, many of them multi-channel. That’s because while a DVD can hold a lot of data, it’s not enough for an entire movie, plus all the bonus features and multiple audio tracks that typically come with the feature film—not to mention the copy protection most studios put on their DVDs to prevent users from making copies. The process of compressing all this data so that it can fit on a single disc involves a complex set of algorithms that basically take analog data and repre
