Best video format for video quality & handling metadata

[tuprox]

Most of my video's are in avi format and it seems that there aren't many options for storing metadata on these, especially in larger filesizes (for some reason). I have a number of DVD's I'd like to convert to video files and I need to decide what format to use. I am also thinking of converting my avi files to some other format, if that is possible, so that I can store metadata in them (such as genre, actors, dates, etc).

What file formats does everyone here prefer and is it possible to convert avi's to these formats to better handle metadata?

[Cauptain]

MKV only. Its incridible to metadata.

[Cornucopia]

Both formats fully support metadata, but the MKV format was built from the ground up to fully accommodate a wide range of metadata in a standardized way.
So, from that difference it would look as if MKV had the advantage (though I would say Quicktime MOV & MP4 are more established as an industry standard). All of that really depends, however, on what is going to be doing the reading/writing of the metadata. IOW, even if MKV covers all your metadata needs, but your are trying to use them with hardware that doesn't really support it, it's a bit of a waste. The reverse could be true just as well.

What about AVI DOESN'T fit your needs? Have you tried abcAVI Tag Editor? It has easily-editable fields for all those items you mentioned. You can also use standard Windows Explorer in Details view (adding the custom column/fields as needed), to immediately adjust multiple files (though not all those fields are exposed unless you add the Haali plugin, etc).

Scott