MKV to AVI without quality loss - for watching on DVD player

mr-scarface · Member Joined: 11 Feb 2004 Location: Canada

I have a movie in mkv format which I want to watch on my DVD player. I used ConvertXtoDVD to convert this mkv file to DVD format. The resulting VIDEO_TS folder is 4.06GB while the original mkv file is 4.10GB. After comparing the quality between both, it becomes pretty obvious that ConvertXtoDVD re-encodes, and this has resulted in a pretty noticeable quality loss. The original mkv file looks a lot nicer than the DVD quality that it produced.

Now I've done some research and read that you can convert mkv to avi without re-encoding. This means that you won't lose any quality. However, can this resulting avi file be simply burnt onto a DVD and played on a dvd player? Or do you have to do something else like change it to XviD or something? It is currently x264.

Also, would the avi file exceed the original 4.10GB size? If so, you can simply have the movie on 2 dvd's can't you?

Thanks in advance.

guns1inger · Posted: Jul 01, 2008 03:13

No, you can't convert it to an avi without quality loss and play it on your DVD player.

If you have a bluray player or Xbox360 or PS3 you can re-package it for playback on these devices, usually without re-encoding.

If you have a DVD player that can play Xvid avi files then you will have to re-encode the video to fit the requirements. Generally this means

1. No wider than 720 pixels (I suspect your source is 720p, which is wider than 1200 pixels)

2. Less than 2000 kbps bitrate. Some will allow higher.

3. Qpel and GMC restrictions

4. No single file larger than 2GB

You could try converting it to DVD with FAVC, which uses a better encoder than ConvertXtoDVD, but you will still get a quality hit, as you will by converting to Xvid.
_________________
The views expressed in this post are mine alone, unless plagiarised from others
Read my new reviews page here

mr-scarface · Member Joined: 11 Feb 2004 Location: Canada

Ok first thing, I do have an xbox 360. What advantage does this give me and what can I do?

Next thing - VLC player shows that the original MKV file is 1280 * 720. I then checked the video statistics for the resulting dvd and it shows 720 * 480, MPEG-2, 4.96Mbit/s.

Will this FAVC program be able to do better than ConvertXtoDVD did? I'm not too happy about the quality of the DVD.

guns1inger · Posted: Jul 01, 2008 03:47

It will probably do a better job, but you are comparing a HD original with an SD conversion - the SD will never be as good. There is simply no way around it.

If you have your 360 networked with your PC you can repackage the mkv as an mp4 and stream it to the Xbox to have it playback as an HD video. I don't know if you can burn the same file to a DVD and play it back form the internal drive - I suspect not.
_________________
The views expressed in this post are mine alone, unless plagiarised from others
Read my new reviews page here

mr-scarface · Member Joined: 11 Feb 2004 Location: Canada

I don't have my xbox networked with my pc since they are on different floors. I heard there's a wireless solution but I doubt you'd be able to stream that much data wirelessly right?

Regarding the conversion, does the 720 x 480 that was produced seem a bit low? Or is that the standard for DVD format?

Let me ask you this, will I get a better final result if I convert mkv directly to dvd, OR if I convert mkv to avi (since this doesn't require re-encoding), and then re-encode to xvid avi. Which will produce a better picture quality?

guns1inger · Posted: Jul 01, 2008 04:30

720 x 480 is standard for an NTSC DVD.

You may get better quality from converting to XVD, although there is nothing to be gained by repackaging the mkv into an AVI, then converting it. Although it is possible to do this, it is not recommended for H264/AAC anyway. Convert straight to Xvid from the MKV. You will still have to resize to 720 x nnn for playback on a standard Xvid enabled DVD player.

I suspect that you will find the quality difference between a good DVD encoding and an Xvid encoding for standalone players to be pretty close in quality. If you push the bitrate on the Xvid to as high as your player will play, and are happy to split the file into as many parts as are needed, you might get something that is in the order of perhaps 10% better than the DVD source.

If you really want a quality DVD version of this HD file, you would be better off actually buying the DVD version, instead of downloading something you can't play, and badly converting it yourself.
_________________
The views expressed in this post are mine alone, unless plagiarised from others
Read my new reviews page here

t0nee1 · Posted: Jul 01, 2008 08:00

Just set up a wireless network to the Xbox,and convert your video to mp4/h264,and stream with Tversity....
http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/stream_video_xbox_360_tversity.cfm

If you want DVD playback at high resolution,and your TV supports it, then extract contents>create .avs script>re-encode with HCEnc and keep 1280X720,set bitrate > import resulting .m2v file and original or modified audio in favorite authoring tool>new high res DVD......great quality..But keep in mind It's not standard NTSC DVD 720x480 , I play in HD Toshiba or PS3........

_________________
"I typed the word Google into Google. Guess what came up? Everything."
" I’ve never seen a homeless guy with a bottle of Gatorade."
" People on a diet should have a salad dressing called "250 Islands."
George Carlin