Download the HandBrake Application or Source Code. HandBrake The open source video transcoder. News Features Downloads Forum Community Docs GitHub Downloads Current Version: 1.3.3. MacOS For 10.11 and later Download (Intel 64bit) Apple Silicon Mac Beta Release Information on Github. Windows For 7, 8.1 and 10 Download (64 bit) Download (64 bit. Unless Handbrake finds the correct title, the output video will result in broken up file. Handbrake can't deal with CSS for a decade, but the libdvdcss gives it the DVD decrypting and unscrambling capability. Like the user complaints at the beginning of this article, why Handbrake still gives scrambled video on Mac even with libdvdcss installed.
Reasons & Fixes to Handbrake DVD Rip Scrambled on Mac
1. DVD protections
Handbrake Macbook Pro
CSS (Content Scrambling System) is the major cause for most problems of distorted and garbled Handbrake DVD rip. DVD with CSS protection has multiple fake titles with the same length. Unless Handbrake finds the correct title, the output video will result in broken up file. Handbrake can't deal with CSS for a decade, but the libdvdcss gives it the DVD decrypting and unscrambling capability. Like the user complaints at the beginning of this article, why Handbrake still gives scrambled video on Mac even with libdvdcss installed. Here are two reasons:
* When a user updates the macOS or Handbrake version, the installed libdvdcss may become unsupported. To get around this, you need to check the Handbrake libdvdcss (see the full fixes to Handbrake libdvdcss errors).
* Even installed, libdvdcss won't rip DVD with tough discs. Discs like Disney movies, workout discs, UDF, non-UDF or ISO 9660 and others are still a challenge that leads the pixelated and scrambled DVD rip with Handbrake. In this case, try other DVD rippers like MakeMKV. FYI, MacX DVD Ripper Pro supports a wide range of DVD encryptions that frustrate Handbrake.
2. Wrong HW encoding
The latest Handbrake Version 1.2.0 had added AMD VCE, Nvidia NVENC (Windows), and Apple VideoToolbox (macOS) hardware-accelerated video encoding for a faster speed. But they are the culprit to part of Handbrake scrambled video problems. There are users reporting that the H.264 videos encoded with VideoToolbox GPU acceleration are completely scrambled, full of colored blocks, skipping, lagging and 100% unwatchable. The badly pixelated problems happen more often with Intel QSV on Windows. Currently, we're not sure if it's a bug or anything, but there are fixes.(Check Handbrake GPU acceleration guide)
* Disable GPU encoding by clicking Video > select H.264 instead of H.264 (VideoToolbox).
* H.264 is famous for good quality and relatively small size mainly for its Psycho-Visual optimization. Even when there is no scrambled result with GPU encoding, it will suffer quality loss compared to CPU encoding. If you want both speed and quality, MacX DVD Ripper Pro is worth a shot. It supports Intel QSV, AMD and Nivida for H.264/H.265 and has a High Quality Engine to ensure the output quality.
3. Bad DVD sectors
Another possible reason to Handbrake DVD rip scrambled on macOS is that the disc is damaged. Rather than the bad sector DVD protection, the disc may be damaged or scratched sometimes. In this case, Handbrake may get stuck, fail to rip or give scrambled videos. Hold down the option key while click the Open button and then you can tell Handbrake the individual title you want to rip instead of the entire source. But if the bad sector is in the title you want, you can't select the specific length. Handbrake can't do that. Now you will need a third-party ripper that comes along the ability to copy damaged DVD.
4. Interlaced VC1 format
DVD and Blu-ray owners usually use Handbrake and MakeMKV together. As Handbrake won't support Blu-ray discs, they often rip Blu-ray into MKV and transcode AC-1 to H.264 using Handbrake. Then problems occur. The VC-1 interlaced videos ripped from MakeMKV end up with annoying pixels and blocks through Handbrake. Why? The VC-1 decoding bug may plague libavcodec.
Handbrake For Macbook
* Try xmedia recode that uses ffmpeg DXVA decoder to transcode VC-1.
* The latest nightly builds or update to the latest version should transcode VC-1 to x264 without Handbrake scrambled video artifacts.