1. What is a VOB file?
2. How to play VOB files on Mac?
3. How to convert VOB to MOV, AVI, MPEG, MP4, etc. on Mac?

Part 1, What is a VOB file?

A VOB file (Video Object) is a container format in DVD-Video media. VOB is based on MPEG-2 program stream format, but with additional limitations and specifications in the private streams. It contains the actual Video, Audio, Subtitle, and Menu contents in stream form.

A VOB file is an MPEG-2 system stream. This means that it complies 100% with the MPEG-2 system level standard, ISO 13818-1. However, VOB files are a very strict subset of the standard. So while all VOB files are MPEG-2 system streams, not all MPEG-2 system streams comply with the definition for a VOB file.

Here is an overview to show the logical structure of VOB files, and help you see where all the pieces fit.

Other DVD files include IFO and BUP files.

Part 2, How to play VOB files on Mac?

A player of generic MPEG-2 files can play VOB files, although sometimes only after renaming the file extension to .mpg. MPlayer, VLC media player can play VOB files.

Actually, Apple DVD Player can play VOB files in DVD VIDEO_TS folder. Open DVD Player, go to File>open DVD Media and navigate to the VIDEO_TS folder with VOB files inside and click Choose.

Is there other information in a VOB file, besides the MPEG movie? YES!

A VOB file is not a video file per se. It is a container file that adds extra information to the MPEG2 files within the container. The reason for this is part of the DVD standard. If you look at the files within a DVD you will also find ifo and bup files. MPEG2 files are just video. So if you only renamed the VOB files, much video editing software can not support it or the VOB can not be played. So you need to convert VOB to other video popular video formats such as AVI, MOV, MP4, etc.

How to convert VOB files to MOV, AVI, MPEG, MP4, etc. on Mac?

1Install and Run DVD Media VOB Ripper for Mac

You can download it for free:

• Inter Version
• PowerPC Version

To install VOB Converter for Mac, simply mount the .dmg archive by double-clicking it, and copy the application to your applications folder (or wherever you want it ). It's very easy-to-use.

2Load VOB files to VOB Converter for Mac

Click the "Load DVD" button, and navigate to the VIDEO_TS folder with your VOB files inside and and click Choose.

3Convert VOB files to MP4, MOV, FLV, AVI, iMovie etc. on Mac OS X

Select an output format like AVI, MOV from the output format dropdown list or use the optimized presets for iPod, iPhone, Apple TV, iMovie and more.

You can also extract audio from VOB video to MP3 on Mac with this Mac DVD Media VOB Ripper.

Hit "convert" and this Mac DVD Media VOB Ripper will do the rest for you! When the conversion is done, you can watch your VOB movie on your Mac, and import the output file to your iPod, iPhone or other players for playback anytime and anywhere. Want to edit the VOB files in iMovie to creat your own masterpiece? Just import the converted VOB files to it.