How to Convert DVD to MKV - Lossless or Compressed

If you want to watch your DVD movies on your tablet, mobile phone, and smart TV, or free up some physical space, the best solution is to rip your DVD to MKV, one of the most popular digital video formats.

Compared with other container formats, MKV encapsulates more files, including multiple videos, audio tracks, multi-lingual subtitles, and metadata. This means you can have almost all the contents on your disc without transcoding. On the other hand, it also means larger file sizes and possible codec incompatibilities during playback.

There are two ways to convert DVD to MKV: a lossless passthrough or a compressed conversion. Each has its pros and cons. This guide introduces the best programs for ripping DVDs to MKV, either to preserve content losslessly or to re-encode for a smaller file size.

Comparison of DVD to MKV Converters

Check the comparison table of the 5 best DVD to MKV converters on the market, and pick the one that works best for you.

1. Rip DVD to MKV with VideoProc Converter AI

• OS: Windows, macOS
• Output video quality: lossless or compressed (user-defined)
• Input Type: DVD disc, ISO image, VOB file, VIDEO_TS folder, etc.
• Ideal for: a comprehensive all-in-one DVD backup and convertion solution

VideoProc Converter AI features a versatile DVD module that can both remux your DVD to MKV losslessly and compress the content to a smaller MKV file. You are free to choose according to your needs.

For a lossless rip, the backup mode lets you select any desired titles, audio, or subtitle files and remux them into an MKV file. The entire process is fast since there's no transcoding. Besides MKV, you can also set the output format to ISO image or VIDEO_TS file. The digital video file is an exact copy of the data on the DVD, with no detail loss, perfect for archiving.

For a compressed conversion, VideoProc Converter AI can convert your DVD to a significantly smaller MKV file. You can choose more efficient encoding codecs, such as H.264, HEVC, or AV1, or other containers besides MKV, like MP4, MOV, AVI, etc. This offers a good balance between quality and file size for general viewing.

In addition to physical discs, VideoProc Converter AI handles DVD content in ISO image, VOB file, and VIDEO_TS folder as inputs. Adding features like quick editing, metadata modification, deinterlacing, and AI Super Resolution makes VideoProc Converter AI a flexible, one-stop solution for DVD to MKV conversion. Its unique Level-3 Hardware Acceleration provides 47 times the real-time speed.

How to Rip or Convert DVD to MKV with VideoProc Converter AI

Step 1. Load DVD to VideoProc Converter AI.

Insert your DVD into your computer's disc drive. Launch VideoProc Converter AI and go to the DVD module from the main interface. VideoProc Converter AI will auto-detect the disc and the file type, so just keep the default settings.

Step 2. Set MKV as the outout format.

Click Target Format. Input "MKV" in the search bar and select an MKV profile:

• For a lossless rip, choose Backup > MKV Copy.
• For a compressed conversion, choose Video > MKV H.264.
• You can also select a preset in the Device tab if you need specific compatibility.

Click Done to close the tab.

Step 3. (optional) Adjust additional settings and edit MKV.

• Codec & Format: Select H.264 for better compatibility or HEVC for a smaller file size. Set CRF to 22. Leave all other settings as "keep original."
• Audio/Subtitles: Select which tracks you want to keep.
• Edit (scissors icon): Make simple edits if necessary, such as adjusting volume and syncing audio and video.

Click Done to save the changes.

Step 4. Start to convert DVD to MKV.

To get the best video quality and a faster conversion speed, tick the boxes before "Hardware Acceleration". Then choose a folder on your computer to save the MKV video. Now hit the RUN button to start converting the disc, and you'll get the converted video in just several minutes.

Tips: To prevent the conversion from accidental stopping and quality degrading, you can tick "Safe Mode" and "Deinterlacing" before you start the conversion.

2. Rip DVD to MKV with MakeMKV

• OS: Windows, macOS, Linux
• Output video quality: lossless only
• Input Type: DVD disc, ISO image
• Ideal for: creating a perfect, uncompressed digital copy of your DVD

As the name suggests, MakeMKV is designed to make exact MKV copies from DVDs. It can only perform lossless rips, remuxing the titles you want into MKV containers. Since no data is discarded, the file size is significantly larger than that of a compressed file, often exceeding multiple gigabytes per movie.

MakeMKV is safe and free to use with a valid beta key. In addition to DVD, MakeMKV also handles Blu-ray discs. It's ideal for users with large storage capacity who want the absolute best-quality copy.

Follow the steps below to rip your DVD to MKV files with MakeMKV.

Step 1. Put the disc you want to convert into your computer's optical disk drive.

Step 2. Launch MakeMKV and select the drive in its source tab. Click on the big disc button in the center of the main UI, and it will scan the disc immediately.

Step 3. MakeMKV will present all titles of the DVD after reading the disc. Expand and select the content you want to rip.

Step 4. Choose an output folder. Finally, click the Make MKV button and wait for the output.

Tips:

MakeMKV can rip copy-protected DVDs. Read our detailed guide on How to Use MakeMKV here.

MakeMKV keeps all videos, audios, subtitles, and chapter info in the converted file, which results in an extremely large file size. A two-hour movie DVD turns out to take up 5+ GB local storage (and converted Blu-ray video are even much larger, 30-40 GB), and let alone how much time it will take to complete the conversion.

3. Rip DVD to MKV with HandBrake

• OS: Windows, macOS, Linux
• Output video quality: compressed only
• Input Type: DVD disc, ISO image, VOB file, VIDEO_TS folder, etc.
• Ideal for: reducing the MKV file size of video by re-encoding

HandBrake is a safe and open source transcoder. It gains a large number of loyal fans, especially among tech enthusiasts for its excellent performances and flexible customizable settings. As for DVD converting, it accepts personal or unprotected DVDs, BDs, and ISO images files, and lets you convert DVDs to MP4, MKV, and WebM files. Before the conversion, you can apply filters, import SRT files, and change video dimensions.

HandBrake is a transcoder; it doesn't pass through any streams and will re-encode them all. This inevitably results in time consumption and loss of quality. To achieve the desired output, you'll need some coding knowledge and careful manual setup.

Here's how to convert DVD to MKV with HandBrake.

Step 1. Open HandBrake and click the Open Source tab to add your DVD file to it. Or you can just drag and drop the file to the UI.

Step 2. You can tell from the duration that which title holds the entire movie, then choose it in the Title tab. Next, select MKV in the Format drop-down menu.

Step 3. Click Dimensions to adjust the resolution that matches the source video. Then choose a hardware-accelerated encoder (NVIDIA NVENC encoder) in the Video tab. If your system does not support it, this option will be grayed out. Alternatively, go to Presets which provides MKV videos of different codecs, resolutions, and frame rates.

Step 4. Click the Browse button on the lower side to select a new destination path and file name to save the MKV video.

Step 5. Hit the Start Encode button. HandBrake now begins to convert your DVD to an MKV file.

Tips:

HandBrake rips one title of the DVD at a time. If the title you select is not the one that contains all chapters, you'll get only a clip of the movie. To solve this problem, you can play the DVD and figure out the right title in advance or turn to DVD to MKV converters that can rip the full title for you. Here's a detailed guide on HandBrake DVD rip.

4. Rip DVD to MKV with VLC

• OS: Windows, macOS, Linux
• Output video quality: lossless or compressed (user-defined)
• Input Type: DVD disc, ISO image, VOB file, VIDEO_TS folder, etc.
• Ideal for: both playing and converting media files, including unprotected DVDs

VLC is a cross-platform media player. It has a built-in conversion feature helping users convert DVDs to MKV and other common video formats. Besides DVDs, it is able to rip Blu-ray discs, CDs, and VDCs/SVDs, of course, without copy protection. And the only drawback in VLC is that you cannot change the resolution, bitrate, frame rate, and other parameters.

For DVD to MKV conversion, VLC can both re-encode streams and remux them without re-encoding. However, the price of this flexibility is that you need to have some knowledge of video encoding to choose the appropriate codec and audio/subtitle files. The conversion process can be more manual and clunky. It's suitable for easy conversions, but complex video conversions aren't VLC's core strength and may cause various errors.

Step 1. Import a DVD to your computer. Launch VLC media player and navigate to Media > Open Disc to load the file to it.

Step 2. Select a title, a chapter, an audio track, and a subtitle track from the disc file.

Step 3. Press Alt+O keys to activate the window of conversion settings. Because VLC does not preset MKV in the format profile, you have to create a new one manually. Click the Create icon, and name the file as MKV. Set the encapsulation to MKV, the video codec to H264, the audio codec to AAC, and enable subtitles. Click Create to save the changes.

Step 4. Go back to the Convert tab, and choose MKV in the Profile option.

Step 5. Select a destination file folder to save the video and hit the Start button.

5. Rip DVD to MKV with Cisdem Video Converter

• OS: Windows, macOS
• Output video quality: lossless or compressed (user-defined)
• Input Type: DVD disc, ISO image, VOB file, VIDEO_TS folder, etc.
• Ideal for: users who want a paid alternative to convert DVD to MKV

Cisdem Video Converter is a program that can convert videos to numerous formats. Many users install it for its built-in DVD ripper which can read and convert both homemade and copy-protected commercial discs. It enables users to convert DVDs to MP3, MKV, MP4, AVI, and many other formats.

However, based on our tests, Cisdem Video Converter has the worst performance among these software with copy-protected DVDs. As shown in the example figure, Cisdem Video Converter did not recognize the correct title.

Step 1. Insert a DVD to your computer.

Step 2. Drag and drop the disc icon from the desktop to this software.

Step 3. Click the "format icon > MKV > Same as source" to set MKV as the output format.

Step 4. Adjust other settings, such as audio, subtitles, codec, resolution, etc.

Step 5. Use the pen icon to do simple edits, for example, cutting, cropping, rotating, and more.

Step 6. Click Start to convert the DVD to MKV with Cisdem.

Final Words

The best free DVD converter goes to the open source software undoubtedly. However, they are not competent to either convert copy-protected DVDs or convert files in a fast manner. Taking the most concerning factors into account, the running system, ease of use, supported DVDs, the conversion speed, and the price, VideoProc Converter AI is actually the best option for you to convert DVDs to MKV and any other formats without any fuss. And don't forget it can do far more than this. Download and unlock more features in VideoProc Converter AI now!

Disclaimer: We do not advocate ripping or converting authorized or copy-protected DVD videos. Please check your local laws before you convert DVDs for personal use.