ISO file advice

[ehcah]

Hello everyone,

As I've stated in a few other posts, I am very new to ripping DVD's and Blu-rays. For months, I have been trying to figure out what format I want to rip to. I have often thought ISO is the safest format for my to protect my efforts. Am I thinking correctly? I don't want to lose any quality from the original copy. I also want to be certain that I am protecting the investment of my time.

I've read that players like xbmc can play DVD ISO's. Are Blu-ray ISO's the same? I've also read that it can take several minutes to play ISO files? Is this always the case? I want to be able to select any movie from my library and play it immediately.

If there is a strong argument for ripping to a different format? Can someone provide one? I really don't know any better option than ISO and don't truly understand AVI vs MKV etc... I am not worried about file size as my NAS has all kinds of capacity and room for growth. I want original quality, the ability to skip chapters and a nice to have would be ability to select audio track.

Any retrogradations are very, VERY much appreciated.

Thank you in advance,

e

[Noahtuck]

If there is a strong argument for ripping to a different format?

You don't "rip" to another format, ripping simply consists of copying the original disc to your hard drive & usually removing any copy protections if it is a retail disc, so there is NO quality loss.

.ISO is a container NOT a format, IE: no quality loss.

You will only lose quality if you "convert" the original video files to another "format", Xvid, mp4, etc.

As far as

I've also read that it can take several minutes to play ISO files

I don't know where you read that but i have never had that problem in any situation.

I don't know about it reading bluray though.