During the earlier days of development in video and audio compression, it was the MPEG, or the Motion Picture Experts Group which was in charge with coming up with standards to keep up with the video requirements as they came out. Standards such as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 were developed. However, there were some instances where these standards had to be tweaked to accommodate variations to the mediums they supported.

An example of this sort of variation is the VOB file format. If you look at some files contained in a DVD movie, chances are you would see a few with the extension .vob. The term VOB is actually short for ‘Video OBject’, and if you compare it to the MPEG-2 standard, you will see that their encoding schemes are quite similar. In fact, if you take a VOB video file and change its extension to .mpeg or simply .mpg, you would still be able to run it.

The VOB file format is mostly used in DVDs. Unlike VCDs which contain just the video, you will probably notice that DVD Video manufacturers add a decorative opening menu for viewers to go through prior to playing the actual movie. Also you will probably see another feature for those who are hard of hearing or the subtitle option. The menu, subtitles, and other additional features integrated into the DVD are all contained in the .VOB file.

These .vob files are usually grouped, depending on the features of the DVD. These groups are called ‘titles’ and oftentimes the feature presentation is located under one of these titles, further truncated per ‘chapter’. The structure of files with .vob extensions is standard. When you explore a DVD, you will always find one file with the VOB video format which is named ‘Video_TS.vob’. This file contains the first pieces of information that the viewer will see when playing the DVD. Menus and opening trailers are usually contained in this particular .vob file.

Furthermore, you will notice other .vob files containing title and section information. These names adhere to standards, so it would be easy for the system and the user to understand. For example, the file VTS_02_1.vob can be interpreted as a file part of the Video Title Set, allocated to Title 2, Section 1 in particular. Additionally, the last section in say, title 2, would be named VTS_02_n.vob.

In a DVD, a VOB file is usually accompanied with supplementary files. Files with the .ifo extension have information regarding the specific attributes and options of the content of a VOB file. This sort of information comprises of but is not limited to subtitles, aspect ratio, and languages. These IFO files have backups, which are also files with the aptly designated file extension .bup. These files are responsible for the intricate presentations which are shown every time a DVD is played.

With the growing capabilities of computers, many people have resorted to watching DVD videos in computers instead of a hardware player hooked up to a TV. This is made possible due to the compatibility of the VOB video files in the DVDs. During the earlier days, people took advantage of watching DVDs by going through the trick of changing a VOB video file’s extension mentioned earlier.

Nowadays, it is standard that the media player software is able to play DVD Video or VOB files in particular. If a consumer happens to be using one of the many Windows operating system versions, its built-in Media Player should have no problem in opening DVDs and their VOB files, just as long as the DVD-ROM is calibrated with the disc’s region. If a person is using a Mac, it is just as easy to watch DVD videos on Apple DVD Player software.

The versatility of the VOB file format makes it easy to convert into other video file formats. There are many video converters available on the internet, capable of truly converting a file with the .vob extension to a legitimate MPEG or MPG file, going beyond the simple changing of its extension.

These video converters are able to compress the huge-sized, high-quality VOB files into simpler and smaller videos compatible for viewing on mobile devices. This means a person can purchase a DVD Video and convert a good portion of VOB files to be copied and stored on a palmtop device which is capable of playing videos. The fact that VOB files can be played by virtually every conventional video player and converter opens many opportunities for anyone wants seamless video options.