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  1. Member
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    Toying with the idea of a home media server. Have hundreds of DVDs lying around and never play them but I am thinking if I can access them via my DLNA TV I'd be more likely to view them. They are mostly standard (not blu ray)

    I am pretty well versed in converting DVD to DVD via things like ripit4me, dvdfav, dvdshrink, dvddecrypter, etc. However, I have no clue what kind of format or conversion tool I should use to put a DVD onto a PC server.

    Any suggestions? I'm interested in keeping the 5.1 and hopefully a good image although I assume it will be Ocompressed. Not sure that it matters but I have NERO media server installed.

    Any insight is appreciated. Thx!
    Last edited by 123fish123; 18th Feb 2014 at 12:27.
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  2. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    It depends what your tv supports.

    You can convert/remux to a single mkv with makemkv or to a mpg with vob2mpg. No quality loss.
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    Thx. Tv seems to link to nero easily and I know it plays avi files. Not sure of others but I'll check. These programs will allow me to rip right from dvd?


    Any decent compressed formats? Want to at least try due to size but if they are poor quality I'll stick to these.
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    ok no dice on mkv. Conversion was easy. nero scanned it but doesn't show up on tv (1 year old lg smart set). hmmmmm I guess based on this and your comments tvs won't play any file type. I'll try the other. Only one I've had success with is avi
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  5. Check the model of the TV for the formats it supports?
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  6. Native formats across the whole range seem to be:
    DivX HD, JPEG, JPG, MPO, AC3, EAC3, HAAC, AAC, MPEG, MP3, PCM, DTS

    HD Avi with AC3 seems the best choice for compressed. Try MPEG 2 for quality (large files!).
    Last edited by transporterfan; 18th Feb 2014 at 19:52.
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    Sadly no luck with makemkv or vob2mpg. Didn't seem to like either format. So far the only thing I've been able to get to play is .avi but that didn't come from DVD and not even sure there's a 1 step conversion from DVD to avi.

    LOL on checking the manual. YOu think LG would be that kind to include that type of info!!!

    Any other thoughts on one-step tools to convert to something other than the two already mentioned? I'm basically using trial and error to find something that might work.

    I had no idea this kind of thing was even possible. Thanks to the boards i am learning and at least got the server up and running and the TV reading it...
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  8. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    Have you tried mp4 with h264? Use for example handbrake.
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  9. Perhaps tell model of LG TV. And MediaInfo View -> Text info for a file your TV can use.
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    Sorry all. It's an LG model 42lm6200 I have an email into them to ask. I'm trying staxrip right now. I pulled up TOOLS on the site for conversion and selected DVD to AVI and it gave me staxrip to try...Trying it now but it looks like the output file as a .mkv extension not an .avi extension so not sure why it's not outputting .avi but I'm trying. A for effort....F for results so far.

    Looks upon further review that I have to change the ouptput format to .avi but now I am getting a lot of other errors. ANyone happen to have a screenshot of staxrip settings to output to .avi format??? I changed audio to AC3 but I think I'm missing some other settings.

    1st error: muxer and encoder not compatible???
    Last edited by 123fish123; 19th Feb 2014 at 08:37.
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    Now I am getting this wicked pop up box error:
    Image Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version

Name:	error.bmp
Views:	222
Size:	505.3 KB
ID:	23676  

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  12. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    Have you set the target output file/path?

    But it was a loooong time ago I used staxrip.
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    I may have it...Yes I did do that but I'm starting from square 1. I think some things may have gotten left over from prior tries so i rebooted and cleaned out all the directories....I'll report back. Thanks to all for the continued assistance. This will get me one step closer to pulling the cable plug if it works!
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  14. To re-encode hundreds of DVD's because your TV's DNLA cannot read some mkv or mpg file (well maybe problem is audio in them, not sure) seems not ideal to me, just use some media player, $50 or so, hook it up to LAN, put it next to your TV.
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    Perhaps time consuming but regardless of format, I want all my DVDs on my PC so I can pull them up via wireless and smart apps. So SOME conversion needs to take place to get them from the hardcopy DVDs to the PC right?
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  16. Mod Neophyte Super Moderator redwudz's Avatar
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    I would agree with _Al_. You could pick up a used WDTV Live or similar player for about $50 - $85 off Ebay or Amazon. Then just plug in a large USB hard drive and hook the player to the TV with a HDMI cable and you're done. If you didn't want to convert the format, use VOB2MPG to create one large MPG of each DVD main movie.

    I converted more than a hundred DVDs to MKV with VidCoder. Very easy and fairly quick. I keep the A3C surround and just encode the video to H.264. I also have a cheap Samsung Blu-ray player that also accepts the same MKVs and it outputs to HDMI.

    EDIT: If you want the converted DVD files on your PC instead, then you just need a HDMI output from the PC. Plenty of video cards can do that.
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    WDTV Live will play a structured DVD VIDEO_TS folder just the way a standard DVD player will. (I know this is not clear in some of the product literature you read, but I have WDTV Live, and I play ripped, unmolested DVD titles in it all the time. It honors chapter positions, subtitles, etc., just like a regular DVD unit.) I don't see the need to degrade the video content by encoding it to a different format, or devote endless hours re-encoding. Large external hard drives are much cheaper these days, and will hold hundreds of DVD titles. The free ripping tool inside DVDFab can rip virtually any disc just fine.

    For TV series, you can separate each episode using DVD Shrink in the Reauthor mode (selecting No Compression, as you don't need to do any "shrinking.") Then, place each resulting VIDEO_TS folder inside a folder on a the hard drive identifying the episode.

    Really, storage is no longer the issue it once was, and I would not alter the quality of the content on the original DVD. MKV and .mp4 are great for streaming and downloading, but for making a media player library of your DVD collection, you should maintain the integrity of the video. It will also save you endless hours of encoding time.
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    Thanks folks! It's clear I have a lot to learn. You and the boards are great for that!

    I like the WDTV idea.

    So you're saying I can simply plug in an external drive to the WDTV and rip DVDs to this external drive using a dvd-ripper and it will find them and be able to play them (the VOB files just like they appear on the DVD....no need to convert to any other format)?
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  19. As for wdtv live player, it is not perfect, there is always something ,
    There is one downside, wdtv live will not decode TrueHD or DTS MA (not sure 100% now). Some other players might do, you have to check specs before.
    If you have receiver, it is ok, receiver will decode it, in WDTV Live menu you set that you want it to pass through.

    navigation for VIDEO_TS works like this:
    -you navigate to folder where your VIDEO_TS is , select VIDEO_TS and press play it will start to play main feature movie
    -if you navigate inside VIDEO_TS folder and press play, it will start to play DVD navigation, DVD menu etc., as if you played it with standalone DVD player

    so if you have DVD with episodes you might use DVD navigation to get to episodes
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    Well the good news is that I got the .avi to create.

    The bad news is that there is a very slight delay in the audio. I notice there's a field for that in StaxRip and it auto filled itself after the first part of the conversion. But for whatever reason, it didn't work and there's a .2 second delay (or thereabouts) between the audio and video.

    Hmmmm well getting closer and very fun trying.

    Here's the way the audio screen was prefilled.


    Click image for larger version

Name:	error.JPG
Views:	339
Size:	34.9 KB
ID:	23682
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    OK Seriously....this is frigin comical!

    So I accidentally pointed Nero to a folder with a dvd format in it (video folder with .vob files). I pulled it up on the TV and saw it. Just for s's and g's I played one of them...and the stinking thing plays! So my TV can actually play .vob files. That's huge! That means I can simply rip to PC and be done with it...no conversions.
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  22. Look in your User Guide page 87 ff
    Image Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version

Name:	LGCodecs.jpg
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ID:	23683  

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  23. Playing VOB's could be good news at the begging but later you will find out that it is not ideal, because playing first VOB: VTS_0X_1.VOB you might change language , zoom, whatever and jumping into other VOB: VTS_0X_2.VOB it will reset things , first audio will be set automatically to first track etc., You might stream it to tablet, and it will stop after first VOB ...
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  24. I'm a MEGA Super Moderator Baldrick's Avatar
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    But mpg didn't work?
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  25. I believe .mpg only support MPEG-1 according to the manual.
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    Yes I did get a response from LG (didn't have the manual) and it confirms what you posted so thanks for that. I also wanted to get an updated list as things have changed slightly from the above. I also do believe that's why the MPG did not work. Again being somewhat of a novice to all this the CODEC piece really loses me. Not sure what that is and how it comes into play so I have a lot to learn.

    I'm also wondering if there's an easy way to join .vob files since that's the simplest way to rip. I have something called "ez file joiner" which does many different video types but not .vob files.

    Learning a little bit each day which is great. Appreciate the active discussion folks!!!
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    +1 on the WDTV

    It will read DVD ISOs, so just rip your DVDs directly to ISO, connect the hardrive directly to the WDTV and you're good to go. Menus and directory structure are retained and navigated just like the original disc.

    If you really want to stream, try Plex instead of Nero. I suspect Nero is doing something to your MKVs that's making it incompatible with your TV since it supports MKV. Haven't tried it with VOBs (I'll give a try tonight), but I know it won't stream DVD ISOs, have to convert to MKV.

    Few thoughts to pass on.

    As mentioned, large capacity HDs are really cheap (for 2TB+ externals, shoot for <$35/TB). You should always have a backup so you don't have to re-rip your DVDs. I use externals with my WDTVs and keep full backups on internal drives on my PC. The plus is that I can stream to my other devices (with Plex) from my PC also.

    While DVDs should stream without any transcoding, there's alway the possibility a network glitch on your LAN may force your stream to be transcoded. It's probably my imagination, but streaming a DVD (converted to MKV) isn't as clean and clear as playing directly through my WDTV. And certainly not as convenient to scroll though since it has to buffer everything.

    The video and audio settings for streaming on your TV may be different from your regular HDMI inputs. This is the case with my Panasonic Viera. When I use the internal DLNA or Media Player, the THX and advanced custom video settings aren't available. So now, when I want to streaming video with the proper settings, I use my WDTV or Roku feeding through an HDMI input.
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    Thx!

    What tool do you use to rip your DVDs right to iso?
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  29. AnyDVD can rip it and save as ISO right away,

    but I'm not sure about ISO's , it is easy to back up this way, but for example, I have here mobile Android device, with players on it like VLC, MXplayer, build-in player and nothing will play ISO file.
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    Originally Posted by 123fish123 View Post
    Thx!

    What tool do you use to rip your DVDs right to iso?
    99% of my DVDs are Asian, so I just use DVDShrink. Once you've ripped to VOBs, open the file folder in DVDShrink and convert to ISO. Should just take few minutes.

    One of the nice things about DVDShrink is that you can have multiple instances running at the same time. I've run as many 8 instances at once feeding from the same hard drive. It slows down the individual processing, but in total it's still faster than having to reload the program 8 times.
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