what file type to use?

[Eric998765]

i have backed up a ton of my movies in the avi file type since they take up less than a gig of space, but when i play them the quality is only decent, especially the darker tones (dark grays, dark browns, and blacks), they turn out very pixilated, but when i convert them to dvd to burn them, the quality is fine from the disc.

so i recently ordered a dvi to hdmi cable so i can save the discs, sharpie ink, and dvd cover paper, and just play movies on my tv via my computer, but my question is, if they look that bad on a 19" monitor, i cant even imagine how bad theyll turn out on a 60" hdtv. so what file type should i convert them to to make them play as good as when they are on a disc? (without taking up the 4GB).

thanks for all the help.

[Baldrick]

Buy a new 1TB HDD and keep the DVDs in original quality.

[Bjs]

in the avi file type since they take up less than a gig of space

Have not mentioned method used or compression .

You might want to try avidemux .

Audio :

Set default audio if multiples are detected
Compression to mp3
Filters > change to stereo , 41,000mhz
bitrate > 56

Then do video

Compressor = x264
Filters = Crop black + resize
Use calc to calculate video bitrate for file size max output, hit apply

Compressor > pass type > change if required
(video setup is done after audio setup because it has an effect on video bitrate calculated)

Save as avi (add avi extension) , and wait till completed

In avidemux settings , you can disable multi threading support for x264 , to prevent 100% cpu usage on both cores in a dual core setup, dosent really improve speed of conversion process .

In comparing against xvid , x264 wins with less macro block appearance