How to play an original DVD (.VOB file) in VLC after copying it to my PC?

Question

I have copied an entire DVD to my PC but when I try to play it in VLC it does not play perfectly and sticks every time. When it is played directly i.e. from the disc, it is played perfectly but in Windows Media Player. Does VLC not support original DVDs and .VOB files? Is there any way to play .VOB video files in VLC?

Answer 1

You don't really want to play an individual .VOB file through VLC as that's only a portion of the DVD content and will include things like the raw streams for the menus and such. A DVD player has to parse the .IFO files which tell it where in the .VOB files each stream starts, and also provides the programming for the menus.

Basically, you want to play the entire folder - so in VLC, go to Media, then Open Folder, and it should play.

Note that due to encryption you cannot simply copy all the files from a DVD using Windows Explorer and have them play successfully. They need to be decrypted.

Answer 2

Yes, it should, so long as it's not an encrypted VOB in which case it can't be played away from the original disc.

As an alternative you could try Media Player Classic Home Cinema. You might want to install the ffdshow codec as well since this hasn't as many builtin decoders as vlc. But it should play vobs on its own.

Portable version, won't change any settings on your computer: http://portableapps.com/apps/music_video/mpc-hc-portable