Dolphin emulator users eventually run into the same wall: the game library is split between RVZ, CHD, ISO, and a handful of other disc formats, and not every tool or device plays nicely with all of them. If you have a CHD file and need a plain ISO - for a burner, an older loader, or another emulator - the conversion is straightforward once you know the steps.
Why CHD exists at all
CHD (Compressed Hunk of Data) is a compressed archive format originally from the MAME project. It stores disc images with lossless compression, typically cutting a GameCube or Wii dump down to half its original size while keeping every byte recoverable. RVZ is Dolphin's own take on the same idea with better random-access performance. Both are great for storage - but plain ISO remains the lowest common denominator.
Converting with Dolphin itself
Dolphin has built-in conversion: right-click a game in the list, pick Properties, then the option to convert between formats. Choose ISO as the target, wait for the progress bar, done. This is the safest path because it verifies hashes along the way.
Converting in the browser, no install
If you are on a machine where you cannot install Dolphin, or you just need a one-off conversion, RVZ to ISO handles CHD, RVZ, and BIN disc images directly in the browser. Files up to 200MB are free, uploads are resumable, and processing happens privately without the file leaving your control beyond the conversion session.
Things to watch
- Verify after converting. A corrupted conversion is rare but not impossible; Dolphin can hash-check the result against Redump databases.
- Scrubbed images lose data. If your source was scrubbed (garbage data removed), converting back to ISO will not restore what was removed - this matters for Redump verification.
- Double-layer games. Some Wii titles are dual-layer; make sure the tool you use handles the full disc size.
With chd to iso searches climbing steadily this year, more people are clearly hitting this exact need. Whether you use Dolphin's built-in converter or a browser tool like RVZ to ISO, the whole process takes minutes once you know which format your loader actually wants.
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