To “digitize” means to turn something into a digital format that was previously not digital. What to call changing one digital format into another?

Question

In the context of 2000s and pre-2000s media, we often used the words "digitize" and "digitization" to refer to the act of converting media in an electronic analog format, such as a VHS tape, to one in an electronic digital format, usually a DVD or in cloud-based storage. I'm very particular about how I worded that because that is MW's definition and the well-established original definition of the word in technology.

These days, with analog formats being obsolete, virtually all formats are electronically digital in some form, but we still use "digitize" to (awkwardly) refer to transferring digital physical media, like DVDs, to cloud-based media. There are many examples of this word misuse online, from online forums to tech websites. My question is the following: does a better, concise verb already exist to describe the act of transferring physical media (analog or digital) to media readily accessible on a computer drive or in a server-based cloud?

Example of where this potential word would be best suited:

First, we’ll go over some ways to digitize any DVDs or CDs you want to save. Why digitize? Not all physical media is available on streaming services (or available on the ones you currently pay for). With a digital copy, you can access that content on all your devices without any clunky optical drives.

How to digitize and declutter your CDs and DVDs

Once again, the physical media in question is already in digital format, hence the need for an updated word.

Answer 1

transcode

Transcoding is the direct digital-to-digital conversion of one encoding to another, such as for video data files, audio files (e.g., MP3, WAV), or character encoding (e.g., UTF-8, ISO/IEC 8859).
Wikipedia

Answer 2

Files can be converted from one type to another, or data can be exported/imported from one format to a file in another format. Those are the most commonly used terms for changing the file type.

When the format stays the same, you simply copy the files to a device or upload them to a network.

Answer 3

The most general term for this kind of process, whether involving digital formats or not, would be “format shifting”.

There are pages of search-engine hits for that phrase and a Wikipedia article under that exact title, so it’s a quite established term.

Answer 4

Although more modern words may exist if you are looking for something people may understand I believe "ripping" the media would be a correct thing to say. Or another word that would sound a little less informal would be simply "transfer."

Answer 5

Other answers already gave you various terminologies for different scenarios, but here is a more precise guide on how to use them in various source and target formats / locations / media:

Conversion terms

• to digitize is when the source is analog (vinyl record, cassette tape, VHS tape, photo paper, 35mm film roll, movie reel, etc.), and it doesn't matter what the target format is, as long as it is a digital format (i.e. the content is represented in 1's and 0's). The target can be Audio CD, DAT tape, DVD disc, Blu-ray disc, MP3 audio file, MP4 video file, picture file (JPG, PNG, etc.), etc.

• to convert is a more general term. When the source is analog the target can be analog / digital, or when the source is digital, the target can be digital / analog. The term can be substituted for "transcode", "compress", and "export", but it should not be used when the source and target are in a different location.

• to export a digital source is to "convert" BUT usually only a subset of the source is extracted. If the entire content is converted from a file the term "transcode" is more common (see below). "export" is most commonly used when the content is embedded within an application, or when the source file format is proprietary. The converse is to "import". Several scenarios where "export" is used:

  1. you "export" a report out of a database, or you export an Excel spreadsheet into the CSV format that doesn't preserve all information in the original Excel. "import" will add information into a larger data store.

  2. you "export" the data in one application / system to another application / system. For example, you "export" your QuickBooks data to NetSuite, you "export" your smartphone data into computer files that you can then "import" into another smartphone, etc.

  3. you "export" a picture / data from the original application that has a lot more complete information, such as exporting from Photoshop / paint.net that have multi-layer picture data, or from Visio that has the complete diagram definition, or from Microsoft Word that has the complete document information. The application is the one doing the format conversion, usually from a proprietary format to a standard format (such as JPG, PNG, PDF, etc.) that doesn't require the application to be installed.

• to transcode is to change the format of a digital source in its entirety (unlike an export which can be a subset). Transcoding can be lossless (no change in resolution) or not, but usually implies lossless (at least perceptibly) even when the underlying transformation is lossy (i.e. not reversible). If you know it's going to lose resolution, you use the term "compress" instead (see below). The term is usually applied only to files, but not to physical media like a CD / DVD disc where you would use "rip" instead (see below).

  "transcode" is also commonly used for character encoding conversion and for data file format conversion as well, not just for picture / audio / video files.

• to rip a digital source is to extract the 1's and 0's of a physical media, usually an Audio CD, Video-CD, LaserDisc, DVD, or Blu-ray disc, into a set of digital target files that have identical content (so lossless is implied), such as WAV files for Audio CD or VOB, IFO, BUP files from the internal file system of a DVD disc. In this way, playing the target will result in an identical experience as playing the source.

  But for WAV files, you usually do "compression" into MP3 files (or other audio formats) as the next step. And for VOB files, you usually do "transcoding" plus optional "compression" on the audio, video, and subtitle streams separately, after which you would "multiplex" (package) the resulting processed streams into a standard container file format such as MP4 (MPEG-4).

• to compress is to make the target smaller in size usually by reducing the resolution or by using a more efficient compression algorithm, which although inherently lossy, can be perceptibly lossless, thus introducing a measure of subjectivity depending on how the target is used. For example,

  • it is very common to "compress" a picture from the high resolution raw format produced by a digital camera into a much lower resolution intended for a website.
  • Similarly, it is very common to "compress" the original studio recording audio file into a more space-efficient consumer format, such as the stereo 44.1 kHz WAV format used in Audio CDs, or to an even more efficient (but lossy) MPEG-1 Audio Layer III (MP3) format.

  You can see "compress" as a more specific "transcode" operation but irreversible. Another unrelated meaning of "compress" is to combine multiple files into a container file format (such as ZIP) which results in a smaller size, but which is always lossless and reversible. "decompress" is the opposite operation.

• to encrypt a digital file is to modify the file in such a way that additional information is needed to read it. It's always lossless. "decrypt" is the operation to apply the additional information (such as encryption key or password) to the encrypted file so it can be read normally.

Non-Conversion terms

• to copy a digital source does NOT involve changing the format at all, so the target format and the content are usually identical. You copy one Audio CD to another Audio CD, or you copy one MP3 file to another MP3 file, possibly with a different file name. The location can be in the same computer ("local copy"), can be between one computer to another ("network copy"), or can be between a computer and a cloud (see "upload" / "download" below).

• to upload is to "copy" between a non-cloud location to a cloud location, thus the format doesn't change either. The converse is to "download".

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

"Digitization" is also used to describe the process of populating databases with files or data. While this usage is technically inaccurate, it originates for the previously-proper use of the term to describe the part of the process which involved converting the analog sources (printed pictures, printed brochures, etc.) into the digital representation before uploading to the target database(s).
Dinesh Kumar Kaushik; Current Trends in Library and Information Science (2021)

Answer 7

Convert would be the general term for changing one digital format into another, regardless of the specific procedure used to achieve it.

Answer 8

You can also simply use the word "encode".

Google definition:

encode /ɪnˈkəʊd,ɛnˈkəʊd/ verb
[Computing] convert (information or an instruction) into a particular form.
"the amount of time required to encode a wav file to mp3 format"

Answer 9

Cloudify - wiktionary:

(computing) To convert and/or migrate data and application programs in order to make use of cloud computing.

There's also a noun, cloudification.

Answer 10

Usually when you are going from one digital format to another you are

Compressing or decompressing

Or, you are

Encrypting or decrypting

If you are not doing any of these you are wasting time but I doubt that words that mean that is what you are after...

Answer 11

At first, I didn’t understand the question until I saw the link you provided.

You’re probably annoyed by the title, right? Honestly, I didn’t think much of it at first, but after reading your analysis, I agree—it’s irritating. Let’s come up with a better title together:

How to digi-to-digi and declutter your CDs and DVDs How to d2d (inspired by k8s) and declutter your CDs and DVDs How to d3 (digi-to-digi and declutter) your CDs and DVDs How to d6 (digi-to-digi and declutter your CDs and DVDs) (a lot of Ds, I know!) The point is, there isn’t currently a term that perfectly fits our needs, so we have to create one ourselves, regardless of what others might think. Since you’re the first person to raise this question, you have the responsibility to come up with this new term, and I’ll just chime in for fun.

We also need to acknowledge that the misuse of words isn’t a new problem, and society tends to lag in addressing it. Plus, I’ve rarely heard of a situation where a term must be replaced—there are usually plenty of alternatives, like ignoring it, not caring about it, or simply using a different term.

I hope you become famous, so people will start adopting whatever word you decide on!

Here’s the initial answer I gave—I didn’t really understand the question at the time, and maybe I’m still making things up now because this is my first time participating in an English-speaking community. Haha!