DGMPGDec 3.0.0.1 / DGDecNV 2.55

DGMPGDec is a free tool pair that reads MPEG-2 video from DVDs, TV recordings and transport streams into AviSynth with every frame in place.

DGIndex scans the video and writes an index file, and DGDecode serves the frames to your AviSynth script from that index.

Version 3.0.0.1 is the current release, and the download page also carries DGDecNV 2.55, the NVIDIA-accelerated sibling for MPEG-2, AVC, HEVC and VC-1.

What DGMPGDec Actually Does

Older tools such as DVD2AVI could lose a few frames at the start or end of a stream, which pushed the audio out of sync. DGMPGDec returns every coded frame and lets you jump to any frame accurately.

• DGIndex - open VOB, MPG, M2V, TS, M2TS or PVA files, set a crop if you like, and save a .d2v project. It also pulls out the audio as AC3, DTS, AAC, MPA or LPCM.
• DGDecode - an AviSynth plugin. One line, MPEG2Source("movie.d2v"), loads the video into your script.

It works with AviSynth+ and AviSynth 2.6, and can also feed VapourSynth.

What Changed in 3.0.0.1

The 3.0 series is 64-bit only and drops the old VFAPI frameserver. It adds an indexing_path option and stops MPEG2Source from overwriting your settings when it indexes a file automatically.

Need a 32-bit build for an old setup? The download page keeps 2.0.9, 2.0.7 and earlier versions.

DGDecNV: The GPU Version

DGDecNV does the same indexing job but decodes on an NVIDIA graphics card. It handles MPEG-2, AVC (H.264), HEVC and VC-1, which makes it the choice for Blu-ray and HDTV sources.

It needs an NVIDIA card with a video decode engine; for HEVC, a GTX 1050 or newer is the practical minimum. Keep your NVIDIA driver current, as laptops and Remote Desktop are not officially supported.

DGDecNV has been freeware since 2021, after years as a paid tool.

Where It Fits in an Encode

A typical DVD job runs like this: rip the disc to VOB files, index them in DGIndex, filter in an AviSynth script, then encode with x264 or x265.

MeGUI runs DGIndex for you and builds the script, and StaxRip can use DGDecNV for hardware-decoded sources.

For audio, eac3to handles demuxing and converting the tracks, and MKVToolNix puts video, audio and subtitles together at the end.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

If you just want a DVD as an MP4 file, HandBrake does it in a few clicks with no scripts. To back up a disc to MKV without re-encoding, MakeMKV is simpler.

To just play MPEG-2 files, VLC Media Player needs nothing extra. Windows apps can use the MPEG-2 Video Extension.

Many modern scripts load sources with the LSMASHSource or FFMS2 plugins instead, which open almost any format without an index step. DGMPGDec still wins for frame accuracy on difficult MPEG-2 captures.

Quick questions

More frameservers and encoding tools are in our Video Codecs section.

Download DGMPGDec 3.0.0.1 or DGDecNV, or tell us what you index with it.