14 DAY TRIAL // It seems that these days there is little in between the gigantic screens of HD-Ready or Full-HD and the small displays of an iPod or other video-rendering device. When at home, huge diagonals are our preference for our entertainment needs but, when we hit the road, smaller displays rule our video-watching needs.
But, in order to adapt the videos to the different displays, special quality requirements have to be met for the best quality possible to be obtained. Thus, if for the big screens there is little you can do should the video not support high resolutions, in the case of the humbler ones, the quality of the video lies in your hands.
iPods are the most popular devices when it comes to video and audio rendering on the go. As such, video-conversion software specially designed for shrinking the movie ratio to fit the iPod's display is pretty appealing. Ideal DVD to iPod Converter fits the description exactly, and even its name suggests it. Its main purpose is to ready your standard DVDs to the screen of iPod Classic and Touch devices.
Judging by its looks, the list of settings and the ease of use, it is safe to say that it was designed for Mr. Average to get by with absolutely no hassle. The interface should look extremely familiar to iPod fans, especially because it was designed just like the real contraption. In the upper part, you have the screen where all videos added for conversion are displayed, while in the lower part there are the controls for starting the process or for accessing the Settings panel.
Things are made easy for you, as the software automatically detects if the optical drive contains a DVD or not, and, if so, the contents are immediately loaded. The converter proves not to be stiff, so as not to allow you to choose another source to load the video from. Also, despite the fact that its name suggests that only DVDs are supported, it will also do a great job with AVI, FLV and WMV files as well.
Ideal DVD to iPod Converter loads the entire DVD, permitting you to choose which parts should be converted. Thus, if you have extras you wish to view, there is no problem, as the software gives you the conversion choice for them too. More than this, the app reads all the subtitles of the movie and lets you select the one to embed in the video file.
An additional functionality of the main screen window is given by the fact that it provides an estimation of the output file size. Also, it is here where you can change the default location for storing it or select a profile to suit your type of device: Apple TV, iPod or iPod Touch. For each of these, there is more than one option to be made as regards the quality of the resulting video. Thus, you can opt for a H.264 video codec or an MPEG-4. Both of them yield impressive results, but there is a difference, though: H.264 offers a slow conversion time and a high compression ratio (result is smaller in size) and MPEG-4 offers exactly the opposite: a fast conversion with a low compression ratio (resulting video will be larger in size).
If none of the preset profiles reflects your needs, there is always the possibility to create your own. There are no complicated settings to make, just adjusting the resolution for full and wide-screen movie and set the desired values for video and audio bitrate and, of course, one of the two codecs present.
The general configuration of the software lets you enable the audio notification when the conversion is finished and turn off the computer. Although it is of little importance, here you can set the preview quality level: low, normal, or high.
Before proceeding to the actual conversion process, Ideal DVD to iPod Converter lets you view the video, so you know exactly what it is about. There are navigation controls to skip to any part of it, as well as a volume-control slide bar.
During the conversion operation, the app provides the necessary information on the time left to complete, as well as a progress bar. It will also supply the amount of time elapsed since the start of the procedure. The output results proved to be of great quality and no errors were encountered during the play of the file. On the downside, subtitles may be a subject of debate, as there is no control over them and some may want a larger font or to even apply another color. For the $29.97 on the price tag, it would be nice to have some special options available. Opposed to the price there is the video quality, which is, indeed, outstanding, and the fast processing.
The Good
It will not cumber you with complex settings or technical terms. Everything is straightforward and simple enough, for the average Joe feels comfortable.
The Bad
The support for more than three video formats would add more value to the application.
The Truth
It proved not to be just a pretty face, but also a responsible converter available at a huge price. You have ten tries to test the software and make an informed decision when buying it.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
