What is the highest quality I can encode video at?

[too2buff]

I want to rip all of my dvd's (main movie only) into PC video files so I can just click and access them when i'm on the road rather than carry a bunch of dvd's with me

I enjoy upconverted DVD quality and I want to know if I can encode DVD's directly from the movie and upconvert it using software to a 720i or 720p level?

If so where should I start reading to accomplish this

Thanks

[MysticE]

What are you going to be accessing/viewing them with? A laptop?

You realize that you will be creating some rather large files on your Hard drive.

[too2buff]

yea that would be fine , the file size isn't a problem i ahve an external i have to carry with me for work any way so yes it would be for a notebook but in the future i'm looking to stream it around my house

[lumis]

You could rip the dvd's to an mpeg file maintaining 1:1 quality. Although the files would probably range from 3-7GB depending on the movie..

[Shocker Milwaukee]

For highest quality, don't encode (or re-encode) anything, just rip the DVDs in file mode (main movie only) & play with software DVD player.

[too2buff]

thank you for the advice but what would I have to do to output the movie at 720p ? In the end my goal is to throw this onto a media server and watch it around my house on a HDTV without using the discs

[Shocker Milwaukee]

DVD is 480p, you want 720p. If you re-encode to 720p, the extra lines of resolution are only interpolated. It's like asking how to make a DVD look as good as an HD-DVD. I don't believe you'll find an acceptable software solution. Perhaps you could look for hardware (maybe a some type of video card) with an upconverting feature similar to the ones offered in some DVD players.

[edDV]

In other words, there is no 720p in a 480p DVD. It has already been compressed.

[too2buff]

so I guess this wouldn't be as easy as just changing the resolution of the output file?

[edDV]

so I guess this wouldn't be as easy as just changing the resolution of the output file?

Explain your reasoning.

Usually the video display card, dvd player or progressive TV handles resolution scaling.
Also people usually want smaller file sizes that fit DVD media.

[Shocker Milwaukee]

so I guess this wouldn't be as easy as just changing the resolution of the output file?

No, because you won't realize any video quality gains. You can't turn 2 into 5.

[olyteddy]

Your player software or your TV will do the up-conversion on the fly. You don't need to store anything that isn't on the original DVD.