Ubuntu / Linux news and application reviews.

Handbrake 0.9.5 screenshot

Handbrake is a multithreaded video transcoder that supports any DVD-like source and most multimedia file it can get libavformat to read and libavcodec to decode.

Even though it's not its first aim, Handbrake is used by many as a DVD ripper and it was voted as "best Linux DVD ripper" by the WebUpd8 readers.


Handbrake 0.9.5 was released today, bringing some very interesting new features and improvements:
  • BluRay disc structure support. (No decryption support)
  • Updated Libraries (x264, ffmpeg)
  • SSA Subtitle support (including burn-in)
  • MP3 audio now supported in MP4 files
  • VOBSUB subtitle now supported in MP4 files
  • Updated Presets for newer devices and better quality
  • AC3 encoding support.
  • Improved DVD Main Feature detection (when using dvdnav)
  • Universal audio downmix support (all audio types can be downmixed)
  • Point*to*Point encoding (second or frame start and end times)
  • Batch Scan (Scan Multiple files at once)
  • Many Bug fixes and UI improvements.

A complete changelog is available @ Handbrake forum.

Install Handbrake 0.9.5 in Ubuntu

Add the Handbrake PPA and install Handbrake 0.9.5 in Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic, 10.04 Lucid and 10.10 Maverick using the following commands:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:stebbins/handbrake-releases
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install handbrake-gtk


For other Linux distributions, Windows and Mac OSX downloads, visit the Handbrake downloads page.