Ripping is the process of copying the audio and/or video data from one media form, such as Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) or Compact Disc (CD), to a hard disk. While the original media is typically digital, the extraction of analog media such as VHS video or vinyl records to a digital format can also be referred to as "ripping" by extension. The copied data, called "rips", are usually encoded in a compressed format such as MP3, WMA or Ogg Vorbis for audio or MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or DivX for video in order to conserve storage space.

For consumers of digital content, there are a number of practical uses for ripping. One is to allow the owners of CDs or DVDs to listen or watch their purchased content in a more flexible way. For example, ripping can allow users to listen to music from a number of different albums without having to change discs and to make customised playlists of the music. Ripping can also be used to allow music to be played on portable digital audio players. Creating a backup of purchased and copyrighted media is legal in some countries, including the United States.

Since the music or video is transferred to a data file, the files can be shared with other computer users over the Internet.

External links

• MP3 ripping speed estimation
• LAME MP3 encoder
• All MP3 encoders
• DVD Backup info