DVD Shrink was unique because, in many regions, the software itself did not technically "crack" the CSS encryption. Instead, it relied on the installation of a separate, open-source driver often included in the installation package (or installed separately by savvy users) that would handle the decryption in the background.

While other tools simply chopped off the end of the movie or split it across two discs, DVD Shrink 3.2.0.15 intelligently compressed the video data. It took the massive video files (VOB files) on the disc and re-encoded them to a lower bitrate, allowing the file size to shrink significantly—often by 40% to 50%—while retaining a surprising amount of visual fidelity.