How to Play VIDEO_TS Folders?

I have all my DVDs backed up as VIDEO_TS folders because I want to keep the full DVD experience - menus, special features etc.

These play fine on my Mac with the standard Apple DVD player (or VLC or countless other programs) but I've yet to find a way to play them on my iPad (or iPhone).

Anyone know of an app that will do so?

Thx.

iMac, MacBook, MacMini, iPhone, AppleTV, iPod x 5, Mac OS X (10.6.1)

Posted on Oct 17, 2010 5:13 PM

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9 replies

Oct 17, 2010 5:51 PM in response to smallard

You will need to convert those Video_TS folders to a form the iPad/iPhone/iPod can deal with. The best tool for this is an application called Handbrake. It's free. You cannot play the Video_TS folders directly on your iPad, period.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/12987/handbrake

This application requires VLC which you already have. Make sure you have the latest versions of each. You will convert the Video_TS folders on your desktop computer, import them into iTunes and then sync them to your iPad using iTunes.

Handbrake has a preset for converting to iTunes/iPad format and it works quite well.

Message was edited by: lkrupp

Oct 18, 2010 1:29 PM in response to smallard

nobody knows of any way to play VIDEO_TS folders on iPad?

Can't be done.

Opportunity for some enterprising app developer I think!

It would require someone paying to license the MPEG-2 codec and other patents associated with DVD playback (the licenses, I believe, require payment for every copy of the DVD player app sold), and even then Apple would probably have to refuse the app since 99% of the purpose would be to play cracked DVDs, which given that cracking the encryption on DVDs is illegal in the US and a number of other countries is almost certainly something the content owners would put pressure on Apple to avoid encouraging.

Regards.

Oct 18, 2010 4:40 PM in response to varjak paw

Dave - thanks for the note.

I still wonder though how the VLC media player on MacOS - which is a freeware application - will happily play VIDEO_TS folders but their IOS version does not.

Maybe as you say, Apple is blocking such apps - but it would be desperately hypocritical of them to do so, given that their own DVD player on MacOS happily plays VIDEO_TS folders!!!!

Oct 19, 2010 6:51 AM in response to smallard

I still wonder though how the VLC media player on MacOS - which is a freeware application - will happily play VIDEO_TS folders but their IOS version does not.

Because VLC licenses the MPEG-2 decoder, just as Apple does for DVD Player.

Maybe as you say, Apple is blocking such apps - but it would be desperately hypocritical of them to do so, given that their own DVD player on MacOS happily plays VIDEO_TS folders!!!!

There are many apps on a Mac that can generate VIDEO_TS data, including DVD Studio Pro, so there are good reasons for Apple to provide that capability. But the iPad is different; it can't and almost certainly never will be able to generate DVD files. I again would guess that 99% of the people who'd want that capability would do so for the purpose of cracking their commercial DVDs, and again, that's probably something the content owners would get into fits about (and probably threaten to pull, or never license, their content from the iTunes Store).

I can't speak for Apple so I can't say with certainty that such an app would never be allowed. But I consider it highly unlikely.

'nuff said. Regards.

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How to Play VIDEO_TS Folders?

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