Convert VOB to HEVC — Free Online Tool
Convert DVD VOB files to HEVC (H.265) video, re-encoding the MPEG-2 video stream with libx265 for dramatically smaller file sizes while preserving visual quality. Ideal for archiving DVD rips at a fraction of the original storage footprint.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your VOB file here
or click to browse
Free — no uploads, no signups. Your files never leave your browser.
Settings
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:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
VOB files contain MPEG-2 video (typically at 4–9 Mbps) along with AC-3 audio, subtitle streams, and DVD navigation data. During this conversion, FFmpeg decodes the MPEG-2 video stream and re-encodes every frame using the libx265 encoder, applying H.265 compression. Because HEVC output is a raw bitstream file (not a container like MKV or MP4), no audio track or subtitle stream is carried over — the output contains only the H.265 video. The re-encoding process is computationally intensive and slower than a simple remux, but the payoff is significant: H.265 typically achieves the same perceived visual quality as MPEG-2 at 50–70% lower bitrate, making it excellent for long-term DVD archival.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg tool, the open-source multimedia processing engine that handles decoding the MPEG-2 VOB input and encoding the H.265 output. |
-i input.vob
|
Specifies the input VOB file. FFmpeg automatically detects the MPEG-2 Program Stream container, and identifies the MPEG-2 video and AC-3 audio streams within it. |
-c:v libx265
|
Selects the libx265 encoder for the video stream, which re-encodes the decoded MPEG-2 frames using the H.265/HEVC compression standard — the core of this conversion. |
-crf 28
|
Sets the Constant Rate Factor for libx265 to 28, controlling the quality-to-filesize balance. For standard-definition DVD MPEG-2 source, CRF 28 typically produces a visually clean result at a dramatically reduced bitrate compared to the original. |
-x265-params log-level=error
|
Passes an internal parameter to the x265 encoder to suppress its verbose per-frame statistics and informational logging, so only genuine errors are printed during the encoding of the VOB source material. |
output.hevc
|
Defines the output as a raw H.265 bitstream file with the .hevc extension. This format contains only the re-encoded video — no audio, subtitles, or container metadata from the original VOB are preserved. |
Common Use Cases
- Archiving a DVD collection by converting bulky VOB files (often 4–8 GB per disc) into compact HEVC files that occupy a fraction of the original storage
- Preparing DVD rip footage for playback on modern smart TVs and media players that support H.265 but struggle with aging MPEG-2 streams
- Extracting a specific VOB chapter (e.g., a concert or documentary segment) from a ripped DVD and compressing it into a standalone H.265 file for sharing
- Reducing the bitrate of DVD source material before further post-processing in a video editor that handles H.265 more efficiently than MPEG-2
- Creating a space-efficient video-only master from a DVD VOB for use as a base for re-muxing into MKV or MP4 containers with custom audio and subtitles added separately
Frequently Asked Questions
The .hevc output format is a raw H.265 bitstream, not a container format like MKV or MP4. Raw bitstreams cannot carry audio tracks, subtitle streams, or metadata — they store only compressed video frames. If you need to preserve the AC-3 audio from your VOB, you should output to a container such as MKV by changing the output filename to output.mkv and adding '-c:a copy' to the command to pass the AC-3 stream through without re-encoding.
At the default CRF 28 setting, you can typically expect the H.265 output to be 60–75% smaller than the original MPEG-2 VOB for equivalent perceived quality. A 4 GB DVD VOB might compress down to 800 MB–1.5 GB depending on the complexity of the source content. Fast-moving scenes with lots of detail will compress less aggressively than static or slow-paced content.
CRF (Constant Rate Factor) controls the quality-to-file-size tradeoff in libx265. A CRF of 28 is the default and produces a good balance suitable for most DVD source material. Lower values (e.g., CRF 18–23) produce higher quality at larger file sizes, while higher values (e.g., CRF 35) compress more aggressively with more visible quality loss. To change it in the FFmpeg command, replace '-crf 28' with your desired value, such as '-crf 20' for noticeably higher fidelity archival output.
No. DVD VOB subtitle streams (stored as bitmap-based DVD subtitles in the VOB/IFO structure) cannot be carried in a raw .hevc bitstream output. If subtitle preservation is important, change the output format to MKV and add '-c:s copy' or '-c:s dvdsub' to the command to pass subtitle streams into the container. Note that DVD bitmap subtitles are not text-based, so they cannot be converted to SRT without OCR processing.
Yes. On Linux or macOS you can run a shell loop such as: 'for f in *.vob; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v libx265 -crf 28 -x265-params log-level=error "${f%.vob}.hevc"; done'. On Windows Command Prompt, use: 'for %f in (*.vob) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:v libx265 -crf 28 -x265-params log-level=error "%~nf.hevc"'. Keep in mind that MPEG-2 to H.265 re-encoding is CPU-intensive, so batch processing multiple large VOB files will take considerable time.
The libx265 encoder is very verbose by default and prints a large volume of informational and statistical output to the console during encoding. Adding '-x265-params log-level=error' suppresses all of that internal x265 logging except genuine error messages, keeping the FFmpeg output readable and focused on encoding progress. It has no effect on the quality or characteristics of the output video — it is purely a cosmetic logging control.
Technical Notes
VOB files are MPEG-2 Program Streams containing interlaced or progressive MPEG-2 video typically encoded at 480i/576i resolution for standard DVD. When re-encoding to H.265 with libx265, FFmpeg will decode the MPEG-2 stream and re-encode at the same resolution and frame rate by default — no scaling or deinterlacing is applied unless explicitly requested. If your source VOB contains interlaced content (common with NTSC or PAL DVDs), you may want to add a deinterlace filter such as '-vf yadif' before the output to avoid encoding interlacing artifacts into the H.265 stream. The raw .hevc output format stores no metadata, timestamps, or container-level information, which makes it unsuitable as a final deliverable for most players but useful as an intermediate for muxing into MKV or MP4. Because MPEG-2 to H.265 involves full decode-and-re-encode (not a stream copy), some generation loss occurs, though at CRF 20–28 this is rarely perceptible on standard-definition DVD source material. Files over 1 GB should be processed locally using the displayed FFmpeg command, as browser-based processing via FFmpeg.wasm is constrained to 1 GB inputs.