As an archive file of an optical disc, an ISO image file contains all written contents from an optical disc and owns large file size - almost the same file size as original DVD disc. Therefore, an ISO image file usually owns a large file size. Besides, ISO is not a widely supported video format and currently only a few players can play it. To get eaiser access to play and compress the ISO movie sieze to save much more space, converting ISO to digital file formats like MKV, MP4, MOV is a good idea. In this article, we will focus on how to rip DVD ISO to MKV.
Way 1. How to Convert ISO to MKV with EaseFab DVD Ripper
EaseFab DVD Ripper is a great option if you need to convert ISO to MKV with fast encoding speed and excellent output quality in small size. Besides MKV, this tool can also help you convert ISO to H.264, H.265, MP4, AVI, WMV, MOV, FLV and it offers many optimized presets for different devices. And it also digitize and rip all homemade and store-bought DVD discs. Moreover, you can flexibily select the subtitle/audio tracks, add subtitles, crop, trim, and edit the MKV video.
Simple steps to convert ISO to MKV with optimal quality-size balance
To begin with, you need to download and install EaseFab DVD Ripper Windows or Mac version on your computer. The guide below takes the Windows version for an example. Mac version has the same process.
Step 1. Load ISO files
Launch EaseFab DVD Ripper on your computer. Click IFO/ISO button to load the DVD ISO image file you want to convert. Batch conversion is supported so you can add multiple ISO image files to convert at a time.
Step 2 - Convert ISO to MKV in the Best Quality
Then click "Profile" and select HEVC MKV or MKV (H.264 codec) as the output format.
Tech details:
1. To get the best possible output quality and smallest file size, convert ISO to HEVC MKV. It has 50% smaller size at the same quality.
2. The default setting works well. Of course, if you want to customize video and audio encoding settings, just click the Settings button to customize these settings.
Step 3 - Select desired subtitle/audio tracks or edit the movie (optional)
You can select one of audio or subtitle tracks you prefer from the corresponding drop-down Audio or Subtitle lists. If the subtitles in the language you want is missing, you can click "Add Subtitle" to add subtitles to your DVD movies. Click the "Edit" button, trimming, cropping, rotating, and some other editing features are available.
Step 4 - Start the Conversion
If you do not have other advanced and personalized settings, just hit "Convert" to beging ISO to MKV conversion. With this method, you can easily get an MKV videos from ISO image files with a good quality-size tradeoff.
Way 2. How to Convert ISO to MKV with LosslessCopy
To convert ISO to MKV with full quality, you're recommended to adopt EaseFab LosslessCopy for help. The program can easily extract the MKV videos from ISO image files with from DVD with all subtitles, menus, video, audio, chapters, etc. without re-encoding. Convert a ISO/DVD and even Blu-ray files to MKV in 5 minutes!
Apart from converting ISO to MKV losslessly, you can also rip ISO/DVD to MP4, MOV files with all audio tracks remaining. What's more, you can use the program to convert ISO to HEVC with re-encoded, but merely no quality loss and half file size compared to H.264 codec for enjoying on Android, iOS, smart TVs. The fact that LosslessCopy can be used with both protected and unprotected DVD discs is likely to appeal and in practice the app seems to cope well with all discs.
Step 1: Load DVD movies
[Guide] Convert ISO to MKV with full quality
Step 1: After you open EaseFab LosslessCopy, click Load Disc button to click "Load IFO/ISO" to browse and add the ISO image file you want to convert.
Step 2: Click the Format bar to follow "Multi-track Video" > "Lossless/encoded Multi-track MKV (*.mkv)", which enables you to get the output video with multiple audio tracks and subtitles while keeping lossless video quality.
Step 3 (Optional): Click "Settings" to switch to the "Multi-task Settings" interface where you can change video/audio/subtitle settings. For ISO to MKV lossless conversion with all chapter, audio and subtitles, you can keep the default settings without any change.
You can also click the "Audio" tab to check the audio channels you want and uncheck the unwanted. Click the "Subtitle" tab to check the subtitle language you want to keep and uncheck the unwanted ones. As you see in the following screenshot, you can tick off "Encode" option if you want to compress the audio tracks.
Step 4: Go back to the main UI and click "Convert" to start conversion from DVD to lossless MKV with multiple audio tracks and subtitles preserved.
Way 3. How to Convert ISO to MKV Free with Handbrake
Handbrake is a free to use open-source video transcoder that allows converting videos to MP4, MKV formats with support to an array of codecs. The program works on multi-platform, including Windows, Mac, and Linux. Additional features include batch scanning and queuing of encodes, VFR and CFR support, live static and video preview, title/chapter, and selection of range, and others. Besides video files, you can also use Handbrake to free convert DVD discs and ISO files to MKV or MP4 with the following steps:
Before starting HandBrake ISO to MKV, please make sure you have installed the latest version of HandBrake. If not, please download it here: HandBrake.fr
Step 1. Run HandBrake and a Source Selection interface will pop up.
Step 2. Click File on the left (Open a single video file) to import your ISO image file or drag and drop the ISO file directly to the interface. HandBrake will scan the DVD ISO titles and load the contents.
PS: However, one thing to note is that HandBrake CANNOT circumvent copy protection of any kind, it only works with DRM-free discs and ISO files. If you encounter the "Handbrake No valid source or titles found." prompt when importing an ISO file, this means that the ISO file contains copy protection encryption. In this case, you'll need to download libdvdcss - a part of VideoLAN project capable of reading and decrypting ISO image files locked by region codes 1-6 and CSS. Even with libdvdcss being installed, HandBrake only decrypts and rips some certain ISO image files with CSS. To rip any copy protected ISOs freely, you need a more powerful alternative.
Step 2: Once scanned, the ISO files will be added to the interface with its information. Next, choose the title and the preset format or the device as desired. Under the Summary tab, choose an MKV preset as the output format. If needed, audio and video codecs can be customized.
Step 3: At the Save As tab, choose the output directly. Click the green marked Start Encode button to begin the process of ISO to MKV handbrake conversion.
The limitation of Using Handbrake
Handbrake works as a basic ISO to MKV conversion tool with its share of limitations and drawbacks.
• A lot of users get errors like No Valid Source found where there is a problem locating and scanning the ISO file.
• No support for batch conversion of files.
• The editing features are limited as compared to other professional tools.
• The graphical interface of the program is not an easy one to use.
• With a lot of settings and options, the program can become a challenging one for the beginners.
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