# I need to get a screenshot from a DVD **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 4, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155 "2004-04-04T05:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/1 "2004-04-04T05:33:00Z")
I’m trying to get a screenshot of one frame on a DVD (the ailen language legal notice from the Futurama Season 3 DVD, to be exact). I’ve tried using the print screen button with Windows Media and pasting the image into both paint and Photoshop, but the image in both programs changes as the DVD plays. I want it to be a still image. How do I go about doing this? I’m using Windows XP. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/2 "2004-04-04T05:46:13Z")
Turn your hardware acceleration to ‘none’, then printscreen will be able to capture the image. This is normally under Display Properties-\>Advanced-\>Troubleshoot. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/3 "2004-04-04T05:58:15Z")
Is this in Media Player, Photoshop, or paint? I don’t see a “Display Properties” message in any of them. I’m using Media Player 8 and Photoshop 7. ---
**Author:** ![Baraqiyal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@Baraqiyal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baraqiyal)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/4 "2004-04-04T06:02:59Z")
Start-\>Control Panel-\>Display-\>Settings-\>Advanced-\>Troubleshoot. Don’t forget to turn hardware acceleration back on when you’re done. ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/5 "2004-04-04T10:24:47Z")
I turned hardware acceleration to “None” and now my DVD won’t play back, with media player i get sound but no image and with InterActual player i get an error message telling me to get help configuring my PC for DVD playback ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/6 "2004-04-04T10:43:46Z")
Which player software are you using? In PowerDVD’s control panel, you can click on a little camera icon for a screen-cap. I assume WinDVD (or other DVD players with built-in decoders) should have this feature as well. I’m not sure this can be done if you’re using Windows Media Player, though. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/7 "2004-04-04T10:46:22Z")
Addendum: I’m not sure what you mean by “the image in both programs changes as the DVD plays.” I assume you’ve paused the playback first, yes? ---
**Author:** ![Chimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@Chimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimpy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/8 "2004-04-04T11:22:27Z")
What happens is the pasted image changes as the DVD plays through and then if the dvd player is closed a black square is all that can be seen. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/9 "2004-04-04T12:18:21Z")
The DVD player is bypassing the Windows driver and is writing directly to the screen memory so “PrintScreen” will not capture. From the point of view of Windows all it sees is an area of a fixed color, often Magenta and that is what you capture. When you paste the Magenta to another application, the dvd overlays that area again with whatever it’s playing. If you close the DVD -player you see the magenta again. You do not need to capture the magenta. Any magenta area will be overlayed with the video once the player is running again. Most players that I know have a screen capture function incorporated. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/10 "2004-04-04T12:32:51Z")
I had the same problem. I’m using Windows ME and used to do it with PowerDVD which has a camera icon which allows you to take screen shots. For some reason, though, when I installed the InterActual player, it had some code that knocked out PowerDVD’s screenshot capability. I had to uninstall InterActual and reinstall PowerDVD to get it back. ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/11 "2004-04-04T14:53:55Z")
It’s impossible legally. DVD players on the computer are designed to make this impossible. Illegally, however, there is a way, a fairly well known and popular way. I suppose I shouldn’t get into it. A few web searches should tell you what you want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/12 "2004-04-04T14:55:58Z")
I suppose I could link you to this current GQ discussion which has some relevant information: > **[decss](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=249026)** > > i read about this in a few Boondocks comics, but for the punchline the whole comic was “censored” so i didnt get any info… i know it has to do with DVD encryption my question, what exactly is it? why is it illegal? ---
**Author:** ![The\_world\_s\_most\_deadliest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@The\_world\_s\_most\_deadliest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_world_s_most_deadliest)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/13 "2004-04-04T16:07:42Z")
I ran into the same problem. The WinDVD player that came installed with my Viao was a lite version and didn’t have the screencap capability. I ended up getting a copy of MSIDVD - and while it takes screencaps, the quality is a little lower than I’d like. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/14 "2004-04-04T16:26:59Z")
> [@Avumede](#): > > It’s impossible legally. DVD players on the computer are designed to make this impossible. > > Illegally, however, there is a way, a fairly well known and popular way. I suppose I shouldn’t get into it. A few web searches should tell you what you want to know. That is pure nonsense. The reason, as I have explained, is technical and Power DVD and other players have capture function. So please do not spread such misinformation. It is plainly not true. ---
**Author:** ![emekthian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecae2f/32.png) [@emekthian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emekthian)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/15 "2004-04-04T18:32:11Z")
I don’t see any screen capture option in either PowerDVD or Media Player. I have PowerDVD 4 and Media Player 8. Are these versions too early to have the option? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/16 "2004-04-04T19:18:13Z")
I have Power DVD 4.0.1109 and it has it ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2004, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-to-get-a-screenshot-from-a-dvd/238155/17 "2004-04-04T19:36:59Z")
I have PowerDVD 5, but Ver. 4 should have the capture feature as well. In Ver. 5’s control panel (the thing that looks like some cross between a remote control and a car stereo), the camera (capture) icon is in the lower left corner, near the bottom of the volume slider.