Not so long ago there was a time when all the people bought or rented different films on tapes or CDs, they have been replaced by DVD and Blu-ray discs. Today, most of the video content has moved to a streaming format. You no longer have to buy or rent a disc and worry about the fact that it can be scratched and eventually some of the content on it will be spoiled. In today’s world, you can simply download a movie you like or watch it online on your TV. But what if you have an old favorite disc with an important movie on it? In that case, you can always use your computer to keep it for yourself. Usually, the information on such discs is in ISO format.
What is ISO
ISO format is basically an archive of information that needs to be displayed when you insert your disk into your computer. Most often this format is even displayed on your computer by a disk icon. This format first appeared during the era of CDs, then it moved on to DVDs and Blu-ray disks. If you want to view a film that you have in ISO format, you first need to convert it to a video format such as MKV.
Why сonvert ISO to MKV Videos
There are several main reasons why you should convert your file to MKV format. For example, the ISO files are huge and not supported everywhere, there are only a few video players which can play videos directly in ISO format.
MKV is the best format to back up all the contents of your DVD or Blu-ray disc. This format is royalty-free. At the moment it is the best format to store all the features of a DVD, such as chapters, subtitles, different audio tracks, movie descriptions, menus, and so on. In addition, such files are much smaller than ISO images. A 10GB ISO DVD file can be saved as a 1GB MKV file with no loss in quality.
How to convert ISO to MKV
If you decide to convert your ISO file into MKV format there are 3 best ways to do it. You will need to use third-party programs. Below you will find the 3 best ISO to MKV converters:
How to convert ISO to MKV via WinX DVD Ripper
WinX DVD Ripper is available to convert ISO to MKV with all/selected video, audio, subtitles tracks, as well as rip DVD discs and DVD VIDEO_TS folder to MKV, MPEG2, MP4, H.264, MOV, M4V, AVI, iPhone, iPad, and more. It can also convert ISO to MP4. In order to use this program, you need to :
- Download WinX DVD Rippe, install and run it
- Then click the “ISO” button and navigate to the folder where your ISO file is located. WinX DVD Ripper will automatically check the main title. To convert more titles, check them manually. Also, copy-protected files are supported as well.
- On the output profile window go to “DVD Backup” and select “Backup Full Title to MKV“
- Press “Browse” and choose a folder where you want to put the converted file
- Press “Run” to start converting. The process takes up to 5 minutes
How to convert ISO to MKV with Open Source HandBrake
Open Source HandBrake is an open-source video transcoder like the DVD ripper with only two output formats: MP4 and MKV. It can convert ISO to MKV on Linux, Windows, and Mac. First, you need to make sure that your ISO is not copyrighted. This free DVD ripper is not capable of processing heavily encrypted DVDs. After your ISO image source is checked to be acceptable by Handbrake, you need to follow these instructions:
- Download and install HandBrake. Run the program as soon as the installation is finished
- Load the ISO file into HandBrake. You can drag-and-drop it, or click “File” and select the location of your ISO file
- Select title and chapters
- Select the MKV preset
- Click “Browse” in the lower right corner to specify where you want to save your file
- At the end press “Start Encode” to start the process of converting ISO to MKV
How to convert ISO to MKV with MakeMKV
The last ISO to MKV converter is MakeMKV, it has a slightly outdated design but still works great. To convert your files with this program you need to :
- Download MakeMKV to your computer. Then install and open it
- Click on “File” -> “Open files” or press “Ctrl+O” and locate your ISO file
- Once the ISO file is loaded you will see the titles, video, audio, and subtitle tracks in a tree structure. Check the positions you want
- Select the folder where you want to save your ISO file
- Click “Make MKV” and wait until your file is converted
You can also convert your files to MK4 with any of these 3 converters.
