Just a conversion, no compression required

[video_noob]

I'm capturing dv avi but it's not a supported avi format for WDTV. I just want to convert it to a format it does support:
Xvid, AVC, MPEG 1/2/4, VC-1, VOB, MKV, TS/TP/M2T, MP4/MOV.

I'm not looking for any compression, file size doesn't matter to me, but I would like to keep or even improve the quality of the video. I believe it's interlaced.

I've captured with WinDV as type II avi in a single file. I'm interested in what you think is the longest viable format so I don't have to do this again for a few years.

I've searched the titles of several dozen guides but the 7 I've actually read I either need purchased software or it's not exactly a fit or it doesn't work for some reason.

I'm looking for simple pointers.

Thanks.

[guns1inger]

Xvid doesn't like interlaced footage and does ugly things even when it is asked to be lossless. I would go for high bitrate (10 - 15 Mbps) Mpeg-2 as the most universal, although you may be able to use AVC at 7 - 8 Mbps

[video_noob]

I take direction well but don't know my way around this stuff for nuthin.

I think I know what mpeg-2 is, basically DVD format correct? What is the recommended method to make the conversion? Is there a way to not worry about compression? Can I deinterlace and improve the quality along the way?

Thanks for the reply.

[guns1inger]

Unless you use a lossless format (also not supported by WDTV) you will have to compress to some degree. The larger the files you create, the lower the compression and the less impact on the quality. At those bitrates, with a good converter, you should get visually lossless output at reasonable file sizes. Deinterlacing rarely, if ever, improves the quality. More likely it will reduce the quality substantially.

Try Xvid4PSP for AVC conversion - aim for MKV or MP4 as the output container. You could try AVStoDVD and select program Stream as the output type. This will get you an mpeg file, however as the target for AVStoDVD is, well, DVD, you will be limited to 9800 kbps as the maximum bitrate. If you want higher you will have to use a different encoder, or learn some basic avisynth so you can use HCEnc.