ADVICE needed plz! As of Feb 08, best format to ripp DVDs? TIA.

[carapalida]

Hello everyone... I am kind of new... I mean... I read a lot here but don't post much. I was hoping to ask you some advice as I am still a BIG noob in regards to all of this video stuff. I know this questions has been asked many many times, I have found some old posts in regards to my question but I was hoping to still double check with you since this technology stuff is ever changing and I have been away for a while...

I am trying to back up some of my DVDS into a smaller format, the smaller the better but I also would like them to have a decent quality.

My main concern is the format, I want to be able to choose a format that can be played in many many years down the road via a PC... a format that is the most compatible? Which one as of Feb 2008 should I go with?

Years ago when I did some research people were saying that the best and most compact format was MPEG, then MPEG2... then Xvid, Divx... but what now?

I thank you all for your input... have a nice day/night

[carapalida]

Please anyone?????????????
I am a bit desperate here...

[freebird73717]

I think xvid is still valid however a lot of people like x264/h.264. Since your main concern is pc playback you might look into x264. If you want dvd player compatibility then xvid/divx is still probably the best route.

[Krispy Kritter]

Divx/Xvid is still the most conveinent. Especially if you aren't running the latest and greatest dual/quad core cpu's. Encoding and playback of h.264 files is hardware dependant.

Other than that, there isn't really a "best" format. It all boils down to how it will be used and what quality you are trying to achieve.