Playing games on your PSP is a great way to pass the time. Especially with its high-resolution picture quality. But this same great resolution is the reason why it plays your favorite movies so well, too. And at some point, you're going to get tired of just playing games and want to watch a movie. Lucky for you, you have in your hand a device that makes most dedicated handheld DVD players seem low-tech in comparison.

But how do you transfer digital movies onto your PSP? Fortunately, people have already thought of how to do this and come up with software that will help you do this pretty easy. Nevertheless, like anything involving technical stuff, there's a "recipe" of items and actions to do to make this a hassle-free task...

Here's what you'll need:
1. Computer
2. DVD player installed in the computer.
3. DVD "Ripper" software (which takes the movie from the DVD and puts it on the computer).
4. 512 MB Pro Duo memory stick for your PSP (this holds the MP4 type of movie on your PSP).
5. PSP Video Converter software (which will convert the movie and audio files to the MP4 format).
6. USB cable (to hook up the computer to the PSP).

So, there's two different types of software needed--the "ripper" software and the converter software. But there is software that has both the DVD Ripper and Converter combined.

So now that you have the right components for your movie transfer, here's how to go about it:

1. Put the movie you want into the DVD player and start the DVD ripper. Click on "extract" or "rip" and tell the computer where to save the file to (your desktop would be easiest.) 2. Select this file and hit the "encode or extract" button from the PSP video converter and save the file. Note that if you have PSP video converter/DVD ripper combination software these steps are combined into one easy interface.

It's important to note that the movie you want to transfer from your PC to your PSP needs to be an unencrypted file. If you don't have the video conversion software, you'll need to name the file properly and place it in just the right spot in the right folder on the memory stick. One single error could result in improper playback of your PSP video.

This hassle is completely avoidable because now there's video conversion software that will allow you to take your unencrypted video file and transform it into a PSP video in no time at all.

When looking for a proper PSP video conversion software, make sure that the tool you use is going to give you the best picture quality and audio for the final file size. Also that it keeps the proper aspect ratio for the video. If you want a thumbnail image for your PSP video, a good PSP video conversion tool could make it in mere moments and will make the transfer from your memory stick to your PSP simple.

Some companies charge a fairly high price for this video conversion software as the PSP increases in popularity. There are, however, companies that offer the conversion software absolutely free. There is debate in PSP forums about the best conversion software, but the best way to find the right conversion software is simply by trial and error. This may be in fact the only way to know if it works for you. So it's probably worth your time to download free conversion software and test it to see if it works properly. If you're not satisfied with the results, then look into buying the software.