Complete Guide: How to Rip DVD to Media Servers like Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby

"How do I back up my DVDs for Plex?"
"Can someone explain to me how to upload my first DVD to a Jellyfin server?"
"Is there a guide on converting DVDs for Emby server while keeping the file size down?"

For home theater and media buffs, the best way to organize and stream your movie and TV show collections is by setting up a media server like Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby. But most media servers do not support streaming directly from physical DVDs, and even when they do support ISO images or VIDEO_TS folders, the playback of these uncompressed formats often causes severe server lag.

Converting your DVDs into server-friendly file formats is the best way to ensure a smooth, instant playback experience on any device. So in this guide, we will walk you through everything you need to know about ripping DVDs to a media server, including format and software selection, step-by-step ripping instructions, adding to your media library, and naming conventions. Just keep reading!

Media servers typically support multiple digital formats, but to ensure smooth and error-free video streaming, it's recommended to choose a format that runs on both the media server and the playback device.

And depending on your priority - maximum hardware compatibility, original picture quality, or multiple audio/subtitle retention, you can choose from the following formats:

• MP4 (H.264 + AAC): The most universally compatible option. Choose MP4 for "Direct Play" in Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby, so the server does no transcoding, and your videos start instantly on your phones, TVs, and streaming sticks.
• MKV (H.264 / HEVC): The format recommended by Emby and Jellyfin for power users. MKV is a flexible container that can store multiple audio streams and subtitles.
• MPG (MPEG-2): Opt for MPG if you want to preserves the original DVD video stream without re-encoding. But the file sizes will be large and playback requires clients that can decode MPEG-2.

• Container: MP4
• Video Encoding: H.264 (level 4.0 or lower)
• Resolution: Original DVD resolution (480p/576p) or upscaled 1080p
• Audio Encoding: AAC
• Compression Ratio: A 4.7 GB MPEG-2 DVD can be compressed to around 1 GB using H.264 while maintaining visually lossless quality.

• Container: MP4 or MKV
• Video Encoding: HEVC (H.265)
• Audio Encoding: AAC
• Compression Ratio: HEVC can compress file sizes to about half the size of H.264 at similar visual quality. But make sure your client device supports HEVC decoding to avoid transcoding.

To rip DVDs to your media server, you'll need a dedicated DVD ripper. There are popular open-source tools like MakeMKV and HandBrake, but MakeMKV only produces uncompressed 1:1 files (15GB–30GB per disc) and HandBrake cannot decrypt commercial discs.

For a simple, hassle-free experience, WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro is your best choice. This Windows-based program supports both homemade and copy-protected DVDs. It can help you convert and compress DVD files while preserving quality and optimize your files for easy streaming on your media server.

📌 Key Features:

• Enhanced Decryption: Bypass various DVD copy protections such as Region Codes, Disney X-Project DRM, and Cinavia.
• Lossless & Flexible Output: Convert DVD, ISO image, and VIDEO_TS folder to MP4, MKV, MPG, and 500+ profiles.
• Multitrack Support: Rip DVD with multiple subtitle and audio tracks.
• High-Speed Conversion: Up to 50X faster conversion with GPU hardware acceleration (Intel QSV and Nvidia NVENC). Convert a standard 2-hour DVD in about 5 minutes.

Now, free downloadfree download the software and learn how to rip DVDs for your media server with the following steps.

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Before starting, insert your DVD into the DVD-ROM drive.

Now you can transfer the ripped files to your media server.

Open Plex Dashboard > Settings > Libraries > Add Library > Movies or TV Shows > Add folders > BROWSE FOR MEDIA FOLDER to select your folder containing the ripped DVD files > Add Library.

Open Jellyfin Dashboard > Server > Libraries > Add Media Library > Movies or Shows > click the ➕ icon and select your DVD files folder > Ok.

Proper file naming and folder structures are crucial for media servers to recognize your media files. Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby all follow the same basic naming conventions as below:

You should rename your movie file in this format "MovieName (year).extension", and then put it in a folder using the name "MovieName (year)”. The full folder structure should look like this:

\Movies\Avatar (2009)\Avatar (2009).mkv

If there are movie extras or other specials, they should be placed in the extras folder under the corresponding movie folder, like this:

/Movies
  /Home Alone (1990)
   Home Alone (1990).mkv
   /extras
    deleted-scenes.mkv
   /behind the scenes
    video1.mkv
   /interviews
    video1.mkv

The TV name convention is similar to that of Movies, and you can follow this format to rename your TV episodes:

\TV
  \Glee (2009)
   \Season 1
    Glee S01E01.mp4
    Glee S01E02.mp4

Your TV shows can also be renamed in this way to preserve the DVD structure:

\TV
  \Glee (2009)
   \Season 1
    \Glee S01E01-E04
     \VIDEO_TS
    \Glee S01E05-E08
     VIDEO_TS.IFO

While Plex strictly requires DVDs to be converted into digital files first, both Emby and Jellyfin offer some limited playback support for raw DVD folder structures and ISOs if you name them properly:

For DVD folder:

\Movies\Alien (1979)\VIDEO_TS.IFO

Or

\Movies\Alien (1979)\VIDEO_TS\VIDEO_TS.IFO

For ISO:

\Movies\Alien (1979)\Alien (1979).dvd.iso

With the above guide, you can now seamlessly enjoy DVDs on any device using Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, or other media servers. Thank you for reading and have a great day!

DISCLAIMER: WonderFox doesn't advocate any copyright infringement, all information provided in this article is presented to make digital copies of your own DVDs for personal backup and fair-use only. Figure out if it is legal to rip a DVD in your country beforehand.

In most cases, yes, ripping DVDs for your own personal use is generally fine. Many regions allow personal backups or format-shifting as long as you own the disc and don't share the ripped files. Just remember, laws vary by country, so keep your copies for private viewing only.

If you want to play DVD movies without error, use MP4 with H.264 and AAC codec for maximum compatibility.

WonderFox DVD Ripper Pro is a powerful tool that allows you to easily transcode all types of DVD-related files including disc, ISO, and Folder, to a format compatible with various media servers such as Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby.

With hardware acceleration enabled, a standard 2-hour DVD can be converted to MKV or MP4 in approximately 5 minutes, although this may vary based on your computer's hardware.

💡 Hardware acceleration (Intel QSV and Nvidia NVENC) is available for H264 and H265/HEVC encoding.

💡 The latest version of graphics card driver is required to utilize GPU acceleration.

💡 Learn more here: QSV Encoder| NVENC Encoder

No, Emby, along with all other streaming servers, does not support DVD menus because it's technically difficult and not in demand.