Convert TS to VOB — Free Online Tool
Convert MPEG-2 Transport Stream (.ts) files to DVD-compatible VOB format, re-encoding the video to MPEG-2 and audio to AC3 (Dolby Digital) — the native codecs required for DVD-Video playback. This is the essential step for burning broadcast or streaming captures to a playable DVD disc.
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FFmpeg Command
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Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
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DownloadHow It Works
TS files carry multiplexed MPEG-2 or H.264/H.265 video alongside AAC, MP3, or AC3 audio streams wrapped in a broadcast-oriented transport container. VOB, the container used inside DVD-Video discs, has strict codec requirements: video must be MPEG-2 and audio must be AC3 (Dolby Digital), AC3, or MPEG audio. This conversion re-encodes the video stream to MPEG-2 using the mpeg2video encoder and transcodes the audio to AC3 at 192k bitrate — even if the source TS already contains MPEG-2 video, a full re-encode is performed to ensure the output conforms to DVD-Video bitstream constraints. The result is a self-contained VOB file that can be fed into DVD authoring software or played by hardware DVD players.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool. In the browser-based version of this tool, FFmpeg runs locally via WebAssembly (ffmpeg.wasm) — no data is sent to a server. The same command can be run on your desktop if you have FFmpeg installed, which is recommended for files over 1GB. |
-i input.ts
|
Specifies the input MPEG-2 Transport Stream file. FFmpeg reads the TS container and demuxes its video, audio, and any other streams (subtitles, data PIDs) for processing. |
-c:v mpeg2video
|
Re-encodes the video stream using FFmpeg's built-in MPEG-2 video encoder, which is required by the DVD-Video specification that the VOB format serves. Any source video codec in the TS — including H.264, H.265, or VP9 — is fully decoded and re-encoded to MPEG-2. |
-c:a ac3
|
Transcodes the audio stream to AC3 (Dolby Digital), the standard audio format for DVD-Video. This is necessary whether the source TS carries AAC, MP3, or FLAC audio, as VOB and the DVD-Video standard require AC3 or MPEG audio for maximum hardware compatibility. |
-q:v 4
|
Sets the MPEG-2 video quality using the fixed quantizer scale, where 1 is highest quality (largest file) and 31 is lowest quality (smallest file). A value of 4 produces high-quality output appropriate for DVD authoring without unnecessarily inflating file size. |
-b:a 192k
|
Sets the AC3 audio bitrate to 192 kilobits per second, which is a standard DVD-Video audio bitrate that balances dialogue clarity and stereo music quality within the disc's bandwidth budget. Higher values like 256k or 384k are available for better fidelity on surround sound material. |
-f vob
|
Explicitly instructs FFmpeg to use the VOB muxer for the output container, ensuring the file is structured as a DVD Video Object regardless of the output filename's extension. Without this flag, FFmpeg might misidentify the intended format. |
output.vob
|
The filename for the resulting VOB file. This file contains multiplexed MPEG-2 video and AC3 audio in the DVD Video Object format, ready to be imported into DVD authoring software or played directly in a media player like VLC. |
Common Use Cases
- Burning a recorded over-the-air broadcast (captured as a .ts file by a DVR or HDHomeRun tuner) to a physical DVD for archiving or sharing with family members who only have a DVD player.
- Converting a Transport Stream recording of a live sports event or concert to VOB so it can be authored into a DVD menu structure using tools like DVDStyler or Nero.
- Archiving legacy broadcast recordings from a set-top box or satellite receiver — which output .ts files — into the DVD-Video format for long-term physical media storage.
- Preparing educational or training video content captured from digital broadcast for distribution on DVD in professional or institutional settings without access to commercial authoring suites.
- Repurposing HLS or IPTV stream recordings (saved as .ts segments) into a DVD-compatible format for offline playback on standalone DVD players in classrooms or conference rooms.
- Generating a VOB test file from a broadcast TS source to verify compatibility with a DVD authoring pipeline before committing to a full disc production run.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on the subtitle type in your source TS. DVB subtitle streams embedded in broadcast TS files are bitmap-based and are not automatically remapped to VOB subtitle (DVD subpicture) format by this command — they will be dropped unless you explicitly map and convert them. Text-based subtitles (teletext or SRT-style) also require additional processing. If subtitle preservation is critical, you will need a more complex FFmpeg command or a dedicated DVD authoring tool that handles subtitle re-muxing.
Although both TS and VOB can carry MPEG-2 video, DVD-Video imposes specific constraints on bitrate, frame size, GOP structure, and profile/level that broadcast MPEG-2 streams often do not meet. Simply copying the stream risks producing a VOB that is technically invalid for DVD playback. Re-encoding with mpeg2video ensures the output conforms to DVD-Video's MPEG-2 profile, even though it takes longer and introduces a generation of lossy quality loss.
This is a lossy-to-lossy transcode, which means some audio quality is lost in the conversion. AAC is generally more efficient than AC3 at equivalent bitrates, so AC3 at 192k (the default here) may sound slightly less clean than the source AAC, particularly at lower bitrates. For better audio fidelity, consider increasing the AC3 bitrate to 256k or 384k by modifying the -b:a flag. If your source TS has AC3 audio already, you can copy it directly with -c:a copy to avoid any re-encoding loss.
The -q:v 4 flag controls the MPEG-2 video quality using a fixed quantizer scale where 1 is the highest quality and 31 is the lowest. The default of 4 is a good balance for DVD-resolution content. Lower values (e.g., -q:v 2) produce larger, higher-quality files closer to DVD-Video's maximum bitrate, while higher values (e.g., -q:v 8) reduce file size at the cost of visible MPEG-2 blocking artifacts. Unlike CRF-based encoders, -q:v does not cap the bitrate, so very low values on high-motion content may exceed what a standard DVD disc can hold.
Yes. On Linux or macOS, you can loop over all TS files in a directory with: for f in *.ts; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v mpeg2video -c:a ac3 -q:v 4 -b:a 192k -f vob "${f%.ts}.vob"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.ts) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:v mpeg2video -c:a ac3 -q:v 4 -b:a 192k -f vob "%~nf.vob". Each file is processed sequentially, and the output VOB files are placed in the same directory with the same base filename.
No. A VOB file is one component of the DVD-Video structure, which also requires an IFO (information/navigation) file and a BUP (backup) file organized inside a VIDEO_TS folder. A bare VOB can be played by media players like VLC, but to create a burnable DVD you need to author it with software such as DVDStyler, DVD Flick, or Handbrake's chapter tools, which generate the full VIDEO_TS structure that disc-burning software like ImgBurn can then write to a DVD-R or DVD+R.
Technical Notes
The VOB format is governed by the DVD-Video specification, which mandates MPEG-2 video at specific resolutions (720x480 for NTSC, 720x576 for PAL) and AC3 or MPEG Layer II audio. This FFmpeg command does not enforce resolution constraints — if your source TS is 1080i or 720p, the output VOB will retain that resolution, which may cause compatibility issues on strict hardware players. For full DVD compliance, add -s 720x480 (NTSC) or -s 720x576 (PAL) and set an appropriate frame rate with -r 29.97 or -r 25. The -f vob flag explicitly sets the output container muxer to VOB rather than relying on file extension detection. Multiple audio tracks present in the source TS can be preserved with explicit stream mapping (-map 0:a:0 -map 0:a:1 etc.), but each must be encoded to AC3 individually. Chapter metadata from the TS source is not carried over to VOB, as neither format handles chapters in a way that transfers through this pipeline. File sizes for VOB output are typically larger than the source TS when the source used H.264 or H.265, because MPEG-2 is a less efficient codec — expect roughly 2–4x the file size compared to an H.264 source at similar visual quality.