GBPVR, PCH and DVD format

[Paul_B]

Now I have the PCH running successfully with my test PC running GBPVR I am planning to make things more permanent. However, currently I have all my CDs ripped to FLAC and held centrally (mainly for my Squeezebox 3 and Squeezebox Boom). What is the best fomrat for ripping DVD's?

To further clarify. I have large quantity of DVDs that I would like to rip and store centrally so that they are accessible in a library. What would be the best format to rip them to for serving by the GBPVR and streaming to the PCH?

I did have a look through the Wiki and for MVP it suggests DIVX, is this the case for PCH or should I be considering H264, xVID or any other format?

Many thanks

Paul

[colin]

Depending on how much of the DVD you want to keep, you could simply rip the movie and appropriate audio/subtitles and keep them as iso images.

If you want to save on disk space as well, then mkv containers work very well with the PCH. (see megui or automkv tools for doing the grunt work).

[Paul_B]

Thanks Colin, if I understand terminology correctly then the container such as mkv holds the video and audio information? The format of the audio and vidoe is distinct from the container?

[Paul_B]

Any other recommendations? What are other people using?

[mvallevand]

It probably a question of personal choice of what you want for compression quality or compatibility not on the PCH. The ability to play subtitles also can impact the decision as can the ability to have Home Theatre audio.

The PCH supports of all these

dvd iso
dvd video_ts
xvid avi via AGK
to a OBF (one big file) mpeg transcoding auto
mkv via AutoMKV

Most PC's and media extenders support the first four, the MVP likes the OBF, DVD iso are a bit of a pain in Windows because of the lack of built in support for mounting ISO files. Just as you rip to FLAC for audio (4 years ago disk size probably was an issue with doing this) I'd consider DVD iso or video_ts if you want a real DVD experience and avi if you want size and portability.

Martin

[ilovejedd]

With hard drive prices so low, I just rip my DVD's straight to ISO with no re-compression. It's the fastest to do (just rip and done) and it also acts as back-up in case something happens to the original DVD.

DVD VIDEO_TS folders are also lossless copies, I just find it easier to manage single ISO files.