BIOS: Technology Means Business

Roxio, a division of Sonic Solutions, has today announced the availability of Easy DVD Copy 2. Priced at just £19.99, the software promises compelling new features and a logical workflow and design which has become synonymous with Roxio’s line of easy-to-use products.

Easy DVD Copy 2 is designed to provide a complete solution for backing up unprotected home movie collections (illegal downloading crowd need not apply). It also claims to make the creation of compilation DVDs from multiple formats a simple task. In addition, this latest version includes an integrated label creation application, disc image loader and PC DVD playback with the inclusion of CinePlayer.

The full feature set of Easy DVD Copy 2 is included in Easy Media Creator 8, Roxio’s relatively comprehensive suite of CD and DVD authoring, burning, photo, video and music applications.

Easy DVD Copy 2 should deliver optimum video quality when duplicating non-encrypted DVDs and CDs without loss of audio/visual content and features. In addition to creating faithful copies of original music, data, photo and video CDs and DVDs, Easy DVD Copy 2 employs intelligent technologies and options for complete control when copying non-encrypted DVD movies from double-layer 9GB to both double layer recordable DVD and to single layer 4.7GB discs.

As consumers are increasingly watching DivX and WMV films on home TV, and many are collecting more and more videos on DVD and as video files, Easy DVD Copy 2’s new video compilation features allows you to compile sets of video on single discs and convert non-encrypted DVDs to compressed DivX and WMV formats to enjoy with family and friends on home TV or PC.

‘The combination of software available in Easy DVD Copy 2 offers a unique feature set that is not available in any of our competitor’s products’ says Stephen Mold, European director of Roxio. ‘With this product we provide an affordable solution to basic disc copying and label creation, and make more advanced compilation projects easier to understand and accomplish.’

To make media management simple, Easy DVD Copy 2 includes a search function for quickly locating valid DVD-Video and disc image files anywhere on the hard disk drive or a network. To take the mystery out of DVD file structures, all video and audio content is displayed to enable you to quickly distinguish the main movie from other video content such as trailers and other extras and individual language tracks contained on a multi-language DVD.

A visual indicator provides feedback on the level of compression required and resulting video quality, which is generated dynamically based on the current content selected. This promises to be invaluable to those who may choose to exclude extraneous audio and video content to increase the video quality of the main movie. Regardless of the content being copied, Easy DVD Copy 2 will automatically define the appropriate compression settings to optimise video quality using all available disc space.

With Easy DVD Copy 2 you can convert DVD-Video content to DivX or WMV movies and take advantage of these high-quality, highly-compressed formats to view the resulting content on laptops as well as portable devices. Likewise, you can convert from the popular DivX and WMV formats to DVD-Video which you can then watch on virtually any DVD player. You can even produce compilation DVDs of movies from different sources such as DVD-Video, DivX and WMV in a similar fashion to compiling a mixed music CD.

Another new component is Disc Image Loader which enables you to load disc image files, created in Easy DVD Copy 2 or other applications, in a virtual drive as if they were physical discs in a physical drive. Disc Image Loader is ideal for gamers who wish to preserve original discs and play multi-disc games without having to switch discs or travellers who wish to enjoy DVD-Video entertainment while conserving battery power.

If you’re in the market for this type of software utility, make sure you also check out InterVideo’s DVD Copy 4 (£45.78/$79.95).

[Best Video Utility Pricing UK]
[Best Video Utility Pricing US]