PS2VR – PlayStation 2 Video Replacer

Replaces FMV files in PS2 disc images with the shortest possible blank videos to reduce image size, and can also remove the padding that fills most PS2 discs. Works as a GUI (run with no arguments) or from the command line. Pure Python 3 standard library – no ffmpeg or other tools needed.

See CHANGELOG.md for what changed in each version.

Tested a game? Add your result to the compatibility list. It takes a minute, and failures help as much as successes.

Download (Windows)

Get PS2VR-<version>-windows-x64.zip from the Releases page and unzip it anywhere. No Python or installer needed.

• PS2VR.exe – the GUI. Double-click it, or drag a disc image onto it.
• PS2VR-cli.exe – the command line. Run it from a terminal with the same commands as below, e.g. PS2VR-cli.exe batch "D:\PS2" -r.

Settings, the scan cache and logs are stored next to the exes, so the folder is portable. The exes are not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may warn the first time you run one. Choose "More info" → "Run anyway", or run from source instead.

To build the exes yourself: python -m pip install pyinstaller, then python build_exe.py.

Usage (from source)

Requires Python 3.10+.

python ps2vr.py                         # GUI
python ps2vr.py "Game.iso"              # GUI, image pre-loaded (or drag an image onto ps2vr.py)
python ps2vr.py analyze "Game.iso"      # list videos and compatibility (--json available)
python ps2vr.py replace "Game.iso" --all              # replace every compatible video
python ps2vr.py replace "Game.iso" 2 /MOVIES/X.PSS    # replace by number or path
python ps2vr.py replace "Game.cue" --all --mode inplace -o out.iso
python ps2vr.py replace "Game.iso" --all --padding    # also remove blank padding
python ps2vr.py replace "Game.iso" --padding          # remove padding only, keep the videos
python ps2vr.py batch "D:\PS2" -r --all --padding     # the same for a whole folder
python ps2vr.py batch "D:\PS2" -r --all --padding-only # a whole folder, keep the videos
python ps2vr.py blank "Game.iso" 1 -o blank.pss       # just write a blank video
python ps2vr.py extract "Game.iso" /MOVIES/X.PSS      # pull a file out of the image

python ps2vr.py batch "D:\PS2"                        # scan a folder: size now / after / savings per image
python ps2vr.py batch "D:\PS2" -r --all -o "D:\PS2\slim"   # process every image (incl. subfolders)
python ps2vr.py batch "D:\PS2" 1 3                    # process images 1 and 3 from the scan list

Batch mode (GUI tab "Batch (folder)" or the batch command) scans a folder for ISO / CUE / MDS / MDF / BIN / IMG images. BIN and MDF files that belong to a CUE or MDS are grouped under it, and images already named [PS2VR...] are skipped. For each image it shows:

• the current size on disk
• the estimated output size, which is exact (the blank videos are generated during the scan)
• the savings, and how many videos can be replaced

Tick the images you want and run them in sequence. Outputs go next to each image (or into an output folder) as <name> [PS2VR-VP].iso, see below. Existing outputs are skipped unless "Overwrite" is set. An image that fails is reported and the batch continues. Cancel stops after deleting the partial output. A failed run also leaves no output, and keeps any earlier one. Note that converting a BIN/CUE to ISO saves space by itself (2352 → 2048 bytes per sector); that is included in the estimate.

Options for replace:

option	meaning
--mode rebuild (default)	Removes the freed space: files after a replaced video move down, all ISO9660 and UDF structures are patched. The image shrinks.
--mode inplace	Every file keeps its LBA; freed space is zero-filled. Same image size but compresses to almost nothing (7z/CHD/ZSO). Use this for games that read raw sector numbers.
--duration S	Length of the blank (default 1.0 s, minimum 1 frame).
--full-verify	CRC every file of the output against the source (default verification samples each file and checks replaced files fully).
--padding	Also remove blank padding (see below). Rebuild mode shrinks the image. With replace, in-place mode only zero-fills blank files; batch needs rebuild mode. Off by default.
--padding-only	Batch: remove blank padding and keep every video. Rebuild mode only. In the GUI: Padding only (keep videos).
--padding-suspect	Also remove files that only look like padding. Test the result: the game may read them.

Input: ISO, BIN/CUE (2352 Mode 1 / Mode 2 Form 1), MDF/MDS (2048/2352/2448), or any raw dump. Output is always a 2048-byte/sector ISO, which PCSX2 and OPL load directly.

Settings, scan cache and logs

All three live next to ps2vr.py, so the install is portable. If that folder isn't writable, they go to %APPDATA%\PS2VR instead.

file	contents
settings.json	Saved when the window closes or you click Save settings. It remembers the last single image and output, the batch folder, subfolder and output folder choices, overwrite, mode, blank length, verify, the last tab and the window size, plus all Settings-tab options.
scan_cache.csv	One row per scanned image: path, size, modified time, mode, blank length, format, volume label, video counts, replaceable video names, estimated size, errors and scan time. A row is reused only when the image's files are unchanged and the mode and blank length match. Rows for deleted images are dropped. Processing an image always re-analyses it first, so a stale cache can never affect an output. Rescan all ignores the cache and refreshes it.
logs/	Debug log, configured on the Settings tab (see below).

Click a column heading in either table to sort by it, and click again to reverse. Sizes sort by their real byte value, and rows with errors or nothing to save always stay at the bottom. The batch table's sort is remembered.

The batch tab re-opens the last folder on start. Unchanged images appear instantly from the cache and are marked "(cached)".

Logging options:

• Levels: Off, Error, Warning, Info (what was done) and Debug. Debug adds the detected sector layout, file-system and UDF details, each video's parameters, the blank-stream muxing parameters, relocated regions, patched sectors, cache hits and misses, and full tracebacks.
• Overwrite ps2vr.log on each start.
• New timestamped log on each start, keeping the last N.
• Append to ps2vr.log.

Changing logging mid-session continues the current file; the overwrite/new choice applies from the next start. On the command line, --log-level Debug overrides the level for one run. batch accepts --rescan and --no-cache.

Research notes

PS2 video formats on game discs

Format	Container / codec	Status in PS2VR
PSS (Sony, by far the most common)	MPEG-2 program stream. Video: MPEG-2 MP@ML in stream 0xE0, decoded by the IPU via libmpeg. Audio: private_stream_1 (0xBD) carrying an SShd header (format, rate, channels, interleave) + SSbd block of PCM16 or SPU2-ADPCM.	Supported
MPEG-2 PS without SShd / .MPG	Same, with MPEG audio	Experimental (video-only replacement)
MPEG-2 elementary stream .M2V	raw video	Supported
IPU (ipum header)	Raw IPU (intra MPEG-2-like) frames	Detected, not yet supported
Sofdec .SFD (CRI)	MPEG-1 PS + ADX audio	Detected, not yet supported
Bink .BIK / Smacker	Proprietary RAD codecs	Detected, cannot be synthesised

How the blank video is made. The generator writes a real MPEG-2 bitstream directly (see ps2vr/mpeg2.py): one intra picture where every macroblock is DC-only black (≈30 bits per macroblock), then P pictures where each slice codes only its first and last macroblock as "motion-compensated, not coded" with a zero vector and skips the rest (≈9 bytes per row). Sequence header, quant matrices and extensions are copied from the original so width, height, frame rate and aspect are identical. The program stream is re-muxed mirroring the original's pack size (e.g. 16 KiB), PES size, system header, start timestamps and audio SShd header, with silent audio of matching length. A GTA III movie of 46 MiB becomes 208 KiB (1 s).

Disc layout. PS2 DVDs are ISO9660 + UDF 1.02 bridge discs; CDs are ISO9660 only. The PS2 boots through ISO9660, but the UDF side is kept consistent too (File Entries, partition length, Logical Volume Integrity size table, end anchor; tag CRC/checksums recomputed).

Your source image is never overwritten. Every write refuses an output that is any file of the source image, including a CUE's BIN or an MDS's MDF, however the path is spelled: other case, short name, link or mapped drive. This holds even with --overwrite or Overwrite existing, which only replace earlier [PS2VR...] outputs.

Output names say what was removed: [PS2VR-V] videos, [PS2VR-P] blank padding, [PS2VR-VP] both, with S added for suspect padding ([PS2VR-VPS]). Different options therefore give separate files. In-place mode leaves blank padding in place, so it adds no P. Scans also skip the plain [PS2VR] of older versions.

Padding. Many PS2 discs are filled up on purpose, usually to push game data towards the faster outer edge of the DVD. analyze, the single-image list and the batch scan all report it. A survey of 247 images (773 GiB) found about 80 GiB of blank padding in 77 of them.

Form	Example	Status	Removed by
Sectors no file owns, all one byte	1.9 GiB before the ELF in GTA III	padding	--padding
Filler name, all one byte	DUMMY.DAT, PAD_0.DAT, NULL100.DAT, DVDUMMY.BIN	padding	--padding
Filler name, real-looking data	GARBAGE (BloodRayne 2), PADDING.NUL (GTA III)	suspect	--padding-suspect
Ordinary name, all one byte	DATA.DAT (Predator), 1GB.000 (Simpsons Hit & Run)	suspect	--padding-suspect
Sectors no file owns, holding data	Final Fantasy X, X-2 and XII keep the game here	kept	never

A scan only samples each candidate. Before writing, every byte of the chosen padding is read, and anything that is not blank is kept. A removed file stays on the disc as one blank sector, so its name still opens. DUMMY.PSS files that are real movies are treated as videos, not padding.

Removing padding can break a game. It moves every file after it, so a game that locates files by raw sector number stops working, and verification cannot detect this. In PCSX2 such a game logs Error reading past end of disc. Use in-place mode for those games; the padding is already zeros there, so the image compresses to almost nothing. Burned discs lose the outer-edge speed that padding exists for, which could matter for streaming on real hardware (not tested).

PS2VR warns about this, in analyze, the scan and the log, when removing padding would move files whose sector numbers are stored in a small root file or any .ELF: at least 3 files and a third of those that move. It only warns; rebuild mode still runs. Across the 102 padded images it flagged 10: ATV Offroad Fury 2, Katamari Damacy, Journey to Jaburo, Mister Mosquito (with suspects), Devil May Cry, We Love Katamari (2 copies), Paris-Dakar Rally, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando and Mercenaries. All but Mercenaries broke in the boot test below (Mister Mosquito has no clean comparison); Mercenaries stores such a table but kept running, and may or may not need it later. No warning does not prove a game is safe, so still test the output.

Boot test: padding only removed, 75 s in PCSX2, intro or menu reached, not played.

Result	Games
Boots and keeps running	GTA III, Devil May Cry 2, Ghost in the Shell SAC, Mercenaries, Lethal Skies II, Front Mission 4, Silent Hill 2, Armored Core 2, PS Underground Holiday 2001, Ico, Black, Burnout 2, Juiced, MS Gundam Federation vs Zeon, DBZ Budokai 2, War of the Monsters; with suspects too: GTA III, BloodRayne 2
Broken (raw sector numbers)	ATV Offroad Fury 2, Katamari Damacy, MS Gundam Journey to Jaburo, Devil May Cry, We Love Katamari, Paris-Dakar Rally, Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando; with suspects too: Mister Mosquito
Inconclusive (the original also sat on a static screen in the test)	Soulcalibur II, .hack//G.U. Vol. 1, Silent Scope 2, Time Crisis Crisis Zone

PCSX2 can take a small image for a CD (FindDiskType); DVD games shrunk to 364 MiB still came up as DVDs, and PS2VR warns about the few images where this could apply.

Compatibility list

ps2vr/compat.csv lists PS2 games by serial, with any results recorded for it. PS2VR reads the serial from the disc's SYSTEM.CNF, then shows the game and its results in analyze and the GUI, and warns when a job matches a recorded failure. It never blocks a job.

Each result is ok, broken or unclear, with the test date:

Column	Tested with
videos_rebuild	All replaceable videos blanked, rebuild mode
videos_inplace	All replaceable videos blanked, in-place mode
padding_rebuild	Blank padding removed, videos kept, rebuild mode

What a result does not say. Almost all rows are blank, which means untested, not safe. Results come from one library in PCSX2, for 75 seconds or less, reaching an intro or menu: no gameplay and no real hardware. A serial can cover several revisions of a game. The two in-place results still dated 2026-10-31 predate later fixes to blank videos.

Latest video test, rebuild mode, 155 games: 111 ok, 14 broken, 30 unclear. Nine of the broken games also stay on a black screen in in-place mode while their originals boot, so blank videos are the likely cause there: .hack Parts 1–4, ATV Offroad Fury, Paris-Dakar Rally, The Simpsons: Road Rage, Twisted Metal: Black and War of the Monsters.

Add your results

Most games are untested, so your report really helps, above all from real PS2 hardware or after playing for a while or to the end. A game that breaks is just as useful to know about as one that works.

1. Process a game with PS2VR and test the output.
2. If it misbehaves, check that the original image works there too.
3. Fill in the game report form. You need a GitHub account. Report a test result... on the single-image tab and the Report line in analyze open or show the form with the game already filled in.

PS2VR sends nothing by itself. A report is only what you type into the form, and it is public. Please do not attach or link to game images or BIOS files.

Reports are reviewed by hand and added to the note column, marked as reported, with what was tested and how far: played to completion on PS2 slim (reported, 2026-11-10).

Verification done so far (GTA III USA, SLUS-20062)

• analyze finds /MOVIES/DMANTSC.PSS (13.7 s) and /MOVIES/INTRNTSC.PSS (95 s), both 640x480 30 fps, PCM16 48 kHz stereo.
• Rebuild: 4.32 GiB → 4.27 GiB; built-in verification passes; 7-Zip (ISO) and the Windows CDFS driver both read the new tree and file contents match.
• UDF: all 407 descriptor tags in the original verify with PS2VR's CRC code, and all 407 in the output are valid and consistent with the ISO9660 tree.
• BIN/CUE (2352 Mode 2) input produces a byte-identical ISO to the ISO input.
• The generated video decodes in Windows' Media Foundation MPEG-2 decoder: 30 frames, all pixels Y=16 / CbCr=128.
• PCSX2 v2.5.350 (BIOS SCPH-39001 v1.60): the rebuilt ISO boots, both blank movies pass in under 6 s (originals: ~109 s), the title screen appears at ~9 s, and the game loads and plays its in-engine opening cutscene with no CDVD errors in the log. Not yet tested on real hardware.