ADVICE NEEDED... as of today, what is BEST vid format to convert DVDs???

[carapalida]

hi, i am fairly new in regards of video formats... as well as converting them. i have spent some hours reading about the various formats and i was wondering if any of you could clarify a few things for me please? i am a bit confused... too much video formats out there at the moment... i don't know what is the best one to go with at the moment.

i want to be able to convert my DVDs to a different format that i can take it on the go with me in my psp as well as in my zune player... i also want to be able to play them on my computers. i was hoping to keep the files as SMALL AS POSSIBLE but with GOOD IMAGE QUALITY.

i know that different portable devices require differnent video formats... for instance... the sony psp ONLY takes a certain kind of video format and the microsoft zune player a different one... so... what is the BEST video format out there that i can put ALL MY VIDEOS IN so it will be easy to convert to other formats down the road when new devices come out? or if i decide to convert them back to DVDs format? is there a UNIVERSAL VIDEO FORMAT out there that is played by many devices?

sorry if i sound confused... beacuse i am very confused! i thank you for your time

[Vegito72]

If you're looking for a magical codec that everyone agrees to use in their devices, then you're sadly mistaken. People prefer different video formats for many different reasons. If your asking in what format you should rip your dvd's in for your computer then I would have to say in divx/xvid in an AVI. After that if you want it on your PSP or Zune convert accordingly. There are many free software out there that encode videos from various formats. SUPER is a great program for people just getting into video compresion as it is very easy to use. If all your asking is how to rip DVDs on to your PSP then just do a straigt conversion to mp4.

I'm not sure if I understood you entirely. I tried to cover it all briefly.

[lordsmurf]

What you ask does not exist and cannot happen. Confused, very much so.

[carapalida]

thank you both for replying. i kept reading stuff on the net after i posted the question above and realized that, yeah, codecs are all DIFFERENT and there IS NOT a UNIVERSAL video format out there that all manufacturer's agree to use.

so i guess what i need to do is choose the BEST VIDEO FORMAT out there that will give me MORE COMPATABILITIES with the portable devices that I have now (psp, zune, pc) and perhaps the ones I wil lhave in the future.

with all my readings i gathered that XVID and DIVX are WIDELY KNOWN and USED... it is a very POPULAR FORMAT, am i correct?

i just want to AVOID wasting my time converting ALL MY DVDs and other videos into a format that later down the road won't play...

what format then do you guys recommend? XVID and DIVX? can i keep the files SMALL with these formats and GOOD QUALITY?

i'll wait for your responses and i'll go on reading more about these things. thank you all for your help/time.

[redwudz]

I use Divx or Xvid most often. If encoded properly, they will play back on most Divx set top players, which is a bonus if you decide to purchase a Divx player. Xvid is freeware.

A Xvid setup guide: http://www.divx-digest.com/articles/xvid_setup_page1.html