WEBRip Meaning: What Do Torrent Filenames Mean?

File Source

The file source tells us where the file came from, whether it’s a rip from a DVD or a download from an online distributor. And it can be a good indicator of the file’s quality on its own. Here’s a rundown of the most common types.

BluRay / BDRip / BRRip

Quality: Very Good to Excellent

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that BluRay, BDRips, and BRRips come from BluRay discs. However, there can be quite a bit of variability in how the BluRay is ripped and encoded. BRRips, for instance, are worse than BDRips.

On the top end, they’re the best quality you can find. But the poorer quality rips are often worse than WEB copies.

WEB / WEB-DL

Quality: Very Good

Web downloads, usually labeled WEB or WEB-DL, are copies downloaded and decrypted from online vendors, like iTunes, or losslessly ripped from streaming services, like Netflix or Amazon.

In general, these are the best quality video files you can find, along with BluRay. Though as we stated above, the best quality BluRays are still superior. Resolutions typically run from 720p to 2160p, depending on the upload.

HDRip / HDR

Quality: Very Good

These are typically transcoded versions of WEB / WEB-DL files, which makes them similar – but slightly less – in quality. However, many HDRips are still pretty good.

WEBRip

Quality: Good to Very Good

WEBRip releases are similar to WEB, in that they’re taken from streaming services, but they’re ripped in a way that causes some loss in quality.

While the quality is usually good to very good, they’re not quite as pretty as the best WEB or BluRay copies.

HDTV / DSRip / TVRip

Quality: Okay to Good

These are rips that come from normal, non-streaming TV, whether it’s cable or satellite, and can run from standard definition to full HD.

DVD-R / Full-Rip

Quality: Okay to Good

DVD-R or DVDR files are lossless versions of DVDs, which maintains the full quality of the original DVD. They often (but not always) contain the rest of the DVD content, like extras, as well.

DVDRip

Quality: Okay

DVDRips are, you guessed it, rips from DVDs, which tend to be lower quality than the lossless rips found in DVD-R. While these were once all the rage, they’ve been mostly phased out by BluRay rips, which offer better quality in a similar file size.

Screener / SCR / DVDSCR / BR-Screener

Quality: Okay

A “screener” copy is an advanced copy of a movie – whether on BR, DVD, or, back in the day, VHS – which is given out to movie reviewers, award committees, and the like before a movie is released or while it’s still in theaters.

In general, these tend to be of mediocre quality, and often have messages or watermarks on the video, before or even during the movie. However, they’re typically better than CAM copies (covered below) and are usually available before a movie hits streaming sites or DVD/BluRay.

CAM / TS

Quality: Poor

CAM or Camera releases are those recorded by, well, a camera. And on the lower end, these can be quite bad. If you’ve ever had to sit through a “movie” that included shaky camera work, shadowy heads walking in front every few minutes, and a baby crying in the background, you know what we mean.

On the other hand, some Camera releases can be passable. But on average, Cam copies are some of the worst you can get. They’re usually not worth bothering with once the movie has hit streaming sites or DVD/BluRay.

TS, or Telesync, is a Cam copy with external audio. These often sound better – and sometimes look a little better also. Unfortunately, many uploads listed as TS are simply mislabeled normal CAM copies.