Best format for Video Jukebox

[elinks]

Hi first time poster, long time Lurker

I would like to build a video juke box where I can rip my personal dvds onto a HTPC hard drive and play them back on my HDTV (1080p). Normally I just want to play them back to my TV, but would like to have the option of burning them to a DVD-R if need be. What format would be best for this scenario?

My plan is to rip with DVDFab Platinum and use PVR software to launch PowerDVD (or equivalent) for playback. Is an .iso of "movie only" the right approach? If I could use some compression (or .avi) I could save HD space, right? If I convert to .avi what is the process to convert back, to burn a DVDR? I am not really well versed in this area but am willing to learn, any ideas?

Is this even the right forum category for this questiion?

[dadrab]

...Pretty sweeping questions here...

I'll do my best to get you started.

Now, I don't play .ISO files on my machine, so I can't really answer that question in total, but, if you ever want to burn files onto a disc again (for back-up for instance) then .ISO files are fine for storage and will yield the best quality, I would guess. They will take up a chunk of space, but what you have is a direct rip of the movie DVD. The quality should be really nice.

If you want to conserve HDD space, you'll want to store in .AVI format (think XVID or DIVX). If you're thinking of converting back to DVD format, you'll need to search "AVI to MPEG2" (or something simlar) on this site. You'll come up with a myriad of guides for the encode procedure back to DVD format. Be forwarned: The quality of the movie you resurrect from a compressed state will not be as good as the original DVD probably. You can make it very veiwable, but it won't be the same.

I won't pretend to give you any advise I haven't used on myself, so I'll offer this slice of personal philosophy: Go read in this site. Find a topic you're unfamiliar with and read. Before long, you'll find yourself knowing the answers to questions yourself, or at least, be familiar enough with the subject matter to go search for a guide to get to your destination.

Sorry for the "wordy" reply, but like I said... Pretty sweeping questions...

[disruptor108]

I have the same question. I'm really looking at backing up my whole DVD collection as .iso's or keep a folder for each retaining the structure of the disc with all the VIDEO_TS and AUDIO_TS folders underneath. Essentially, I'm trying to see if anyone else has done this before, and if so what solution they have gone with?

[Video Head]

A properly configured HTPC will allow you to:

- playback almost any format of video file on your TV
- record cable or OTA broadcasts much the same as a PVR would
- record video from a VCR, camera or other source
- playback almost any format of music file
- view pictures on your TV
- catalogue your media files for easy reference and retrieval
- access the internet on your TV
- burn DVD's & CD's
- output Dolby Digital and DTS audio
- maintain current local TV listings
- listen to radio stations
- control the system from your normal TV viewing position (10' interface)
- do a whole lotta other stuff that you can custom configure
- listen to your videos and music because it is QUIET
- have a system that looks like it belongs sitting next to your TV

Can you rip all of your DVD's and store them on the HTPC? Yes...if you have the hard drive space. If you have 100 DVD's this could be upwards of 1TB of space. If you have 1,000 DVD's then 10TB of space. That would be alot to store on your frontend HTPC. There are a few different strategies in dealing with this:

- Build a media server that connects to your frontend HTPC. The media server is networked to the HTPC and usually sits in another room. Think big, loud beige box with lots and lots of disk. It feeds the data to the HTPC which in turn displays on the TV and outputs audio to your sound system. This solution gives you the most flexibility and allows you to store large amounts of uncompressed files for easy retrieval. It is expensive and is more complex.
- Compress your DVD's into a lossy format such as DivX or XVid for storage on the HTPC. You lose quality, but if the quality is acceptable to you then it is not a big issue. You can achieve a 75% reduction in file size and store a large number of media files on the HTPC. Much less expensive, but you do have to take the time to encode all of your DVD's to the lossy format.
- Use a hybrid solution...do you really need ALL of your DVD's stored on the system? You will most likely want to maintain your original DVD's. You can always play them in the DVD drive or copy them to the HTPC as needed, rotating what you actually watch vs what is just taking up space. Some you may want to encode to a lossy format to save space.

If you are planning to use PowerDVD as your player for DVD's then I would recommend keeping the VideoTS files. ISO will not provide any benefit unless you are archiving.

VH

[redwudz]

If I am converting from DVD for use on my HTPC, I use Xvid or Divx most times. It's fairly compact. I prefer about 1GB per file for decent quality. The 700MB Xvid movies common on the internet are a little too compressed for my tastes.

ISOs won't do you much good, and may be even larger than the ripped DVD. They are also more difficult to play back, especially when they are still in the DVD format inside of the ISO container.

There are higher compression formats like H.264, but they take a lot more CPU power to compress and play back. The advantage is they are much more compact than Xvid or similar, but with better quality in a similar size if done properly.

For playback, I use KMPlayer and VLC most often. With those programs I can play most any format out there. Add Quicktime Alternative and Real Alternative and that covers most any others. I don't convert most of my other formats, just store and play them back as they are. That saves a lot of time and quality loss from conversions.

And elinks, welcome to our forums.

[Video Head]

H.264 MPEG4 works very well. High compression with outstanding comparative quality. The only problem is that you require the most powerful processors available today to get reliable playback. The cooling required to run these processors in a restricted HTPC case means that your system will sound like a Boeing 737 on run-up or you will have to become an award winning case modder to fit in the water cooling. Hopefully, as processors evolve this will become less of an issue.

[TBoneit]

In your case I would get a upconverting 400 Disc DVD changer and avoid all the work in putting thrm onto a HTPC.

However:

If you convert to another fromat from DVD you will lose some quality, then if you convert back you will lose more quality. Plus you will lose Menus, Chapters and such.

If as you say "where I can rip my personal dvds" then you shouldn't need to convert back and suffer two drops in quality.

Remember with regards to a Hard Disc Drive it is only when not if it will go bad. I just did a data recovery from a bad hard drive for a customer. It was only 300 meg of My documents and took approx 10 hours. It would have taken longer if I hadn't aborted it once it did My Documents too.

[redwudz]

TBoneit, I agree.

I have two Sony 400 disc DVD changers and that work great for my DVDs. My video servers are for all other formats. For me, I avoid format conversion whenever possible. If I need to convert, I choose Xvid or Divx most often. I can easily use H.264, but I have enough space on my servers to accommodate a fair amount of data. Presently about 5TB. I can feed all of my video, either from the HTPC or the changers to my video projector.

[disruptor108]

Thanks for the replies, you all have been very helpful.