DVR to VOB Converter

Turning Windows Media Center Recordings Into DVD-Ready VOB

.dvr-ms is the container Windows XP Media Center Edition, Vista and Windows 7 Media Center wrote for recorded TV. Inside it the video is already MPEG-2 with MP2 or AC-3 audio — the same codec family DVD-Video uses — which makes VOB a natural destination and this one of the least destructive conversions in the DVD-authoring workflow. It is still a re-encode, and there are three settings that decide whether the result drops into DVDStyler or ImgBurn cleanly or gets rejected. This page covers those first, then the failures people actually hit.

How to Convert DVR to VOB

1. Upload Your DVR File: Drag .dvr-ms recordings onto the page or click "+ Add Files" — typically these come out of C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV\ on a retired Media Center box. Several episodes can be queued and each is converted with the same settings.
2. Keep MPEG-2 and Pick DVD Audio: Open Advanced Options. Video Codec offers MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 and defaults to MPEG-2, which is what you want. Audio Codec defaults to MP2, with AC3, DTS and MP3 also listed — AC3 or MP2 for a disc, never MP3 (see the errors section). Under File Compression, Constant Bitrate or Variable Bitrate in the 4-8 Mbps range gives you direct control of disc capacity.
3. Set the Resolution to a DVD Frame Size: This is the step people skip. Video resolution starts on Keep original, and "original" for recorded TV is often 1920 × 1080 or 1280 × 720 — neither of which is a legal DVD-Video frame. Pick the 480p preset for NTSC or 576p for PAL, or enter Width × Height as 720 × 480 or 720 × 576.
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert and download the .vob. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark.

The Three Settings That Decide Whether a Disc Accepts It

DVD-Video is a tight specification, and the defaults on this page are deliberately general-purpose rather than disc-specific. Match these three and authoring software will ingest the file without complaining.

Bitrate, Runtime and Disc Capacity

DVD-Video caps video at 9.8 Mbit/s and a single-layer DVD-5 holds 4.7 GB, so runtime and picture quality trade against each other directly. Set the number under Constant Bitrate or Variable Bitrate once you know which row you are aiming at.

Those figures assume a 224 kbit/s audio track alongside the video and disc capacities quoted the way manufacturers do, as 4.7 and 8.5 billion bytes.

Common Errors and What Causes Them

• "The authoring software rejects the file" — nine times out of ten the frame size is wrong because Video resolution was left on Keep original. HD recorded TV stays HD through the conversion and DVD-Video has no HD frame size.
• "The disc has no sound on a set-top player" — MP3 was selected as the audio codec. MP3 is in the dropdown because the list is shared across video targets, but it is not one of the four audio formats the DVD-Video specification permits. Use MP2 or AC3.
• "The picture stutters or the audio drifts on a TV" — the frame rate does not match the disc standard. Nothing in this conversion changes frame rate, so a 25 fps recording authored to an NTSC disc (or vice versa) will not run right. Convert the frame rate in a desktop tool before authoring, or author to the standard that matches the recording.
• "The file will not decode at all" — the recording is protected. Media Center honoured the broadcast flag, and recordings marked Copy Once or Copy Never carry DRM that no converter can read. If the file plays only on the original Media Center install, that is what you are looking at.
• "The file came out bigger than I asked for" — MPEG-2 has a floor. Ask for a bitrate that is too low for the frame size and the encoder raises it rather than producing an unplayable stream; at 720 × 480 that floor is about 2 Mbit/s. Reduce the frame size to reduce the file, not the bitrate alone.
• "Constant Quality made no difference" — on MPEG-2 the quality slider is not used. The value is accepted and then discarded in favour of a bitrate, so if you want to control size on this page, use Constant Bitrate, Variable Bitrate, Specific file size, or the resolution.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a .vob file on its own enough to burn a DVD?

No. A DVD player reads a VIDEO_TS folder containing VTS_01_1.VOB and its companion .IFO and .BUP files, not a loose .vob. What this conversion gives you is the spec-compliant video stream; building the disc structure — menus, chapter marks, the IFO tables — is the authoring step. DVDStyler is free and does it well, ImgBurn handles the burn itself, and both accept the .vob from here as an input.

Does the conversion re-encode, or does it just repackage the MPEG-2?

It re-encodes. Even though DVR-MS already contains MPEG-2 and VOB wants MPEG-2, the video is decoded and encoded again rather than copied through. In practice the loss is small for a codec-family-preserving pass, but it is real, so convert from the original recording each time rather than converting an already-converted file.

My recording is 1080i HD — can it stay HD?

Not in a VOB. DVD-Video has no HD frame size; the largest legal frame is 720 × 480 or 720 × 576. If keeping the resolution matters more than putting the recording on a disc, DVR to MP4 preserves HD and plays on anything modern. If the disc is the point, set 480p or 576p and accept the downconvert — a 1080i broadcast at 720 × 480 still looks respectable on a TV.

Should I choose AC3 or MP2 for the audio?

AC3 if the recording has surround sound and the player is a home-theatre system, MP2 for maximum compatibility with older and cheaper players. Both are legal DVD audio formats. DVR-MS files from digital broadcast usually carry AC-3 already, so choosing AC3 keeps the audio in its native family; choosing MP2 downmixes to stereo but is the format every DVD player on earth decodes. DTS is also legal but is rarely worth the trouble for recorded television.

Does the conversion deinterlace my recorded TV?

No, and for DVD that is the right outcome. Broadcast television is usually interlaced and DVD-Video is designed to carry interlaced content, so the fields pass through and a set-top player handles them on output. You will see combing if you watch the file on a computer, which is normal for interlaced material and not a sign of a bad conversion. Only deinterlace if the final destination is a progressive display and you are not making a disc.

What audio sample rate does the output use?

Whatever the recording has — there is no sample rate control on a video-to-video conversion here. That is almost always fine for this source, because digital broadcast audio is 48 kHz and 48 kHz is what DVD-Video expects. It is worth knowing only if your .dvr-ms came from an unusual capture chain at 44.1 kHz, in which case an authoring tool may resample it or complain.

My recordings are .wtv, not .dvr-ms — can I use this page?

No — this page accepts .dvr files, and .wtv is the different container Microsoft moved to with Windows 7 Media Center. The two look similar in Explorer and hold the same kind of content, but they are not interchangeable and the upload will reject the wrong one. Use the WTV converter for those files instead. If you have a mixed library from a machine that was upgraded mid-life, check the extensions before batching.

Why is MPEG-1 in the codec list if MPEG-2 is what I should use?

Because the DVD-Video specification does permit MPEG-1, but only at up to 1.856 Mbit/s and at the smaller frame sizes — the Video CD lineage. It is there for completeness and for people targeting a VCD-style disc or an old hardware decoder. For recorded television going onto a normal DVD there is no reason to choose it; MPEG-2 gives better quality at every bitrate you would actually use.

Can I split a long recording into two discs?

Yes, using Trim. Set a start time and a duration in seconds or HH:MM:SS.sss, convert, then run the file again with the next range. That is also the cleanest way to cut the pre-roll Media Center recorded before a scheduled programme started and the tail after it ended. For other destinations from the same recordings, see the DVR converter hub.