ISO Playback

woodsjm wrote:SERIOUSLY?!? People - turn on your brains!
...
Also, to Mr. Admin - I don't want these folks to push your in that direction - you're exactly where you need to be with this, in terms of filetype support. Right on!

SERIOUSLY

- some of us would like VOB support. You are clearly not exactly if you need to be with this in terms of filetype support if you don't support the most common movie format out there!

I have a 12TB file server and really don't want to encode my files to another codec/container. I have yet to find transcode settings that let the resulting h.264/mpeg4 rip look as good as the original DVD (on my 130 inch screen fed by a 1080p projector). So - why Mr Woodsjm, it may be fine for you to transcode if all you're doing is watching on your iPhone / computer screen, some of us would like to maintain as much fidelity as we can, and not have to maintain two versions of every file (which sort of defeats the point of the fabulous realtime transcoding AV does.

Is there not a way to just choose the 'main' feature with the 'main' audio track on the DVD using ffmpeg? How does Handbrake do it? (it's open source so I suppose one could look).

ANyway - would LOVE this feature!

NikosF wrote:

woodsjm wrote:SERIOUSLY?!? People - turn on your brains!
...
Also, to Mr. Admin - I don't want these folks to push your in that direction - you're exactly where you need to be with this, in terms of filetype support. Right on!

SERIOUSLY - some of us would like VOB support. You are clearly not exactly if you need to be with this in terms of filetype support if you don't support the most common movie format out there!

I have a 12TB file server and really don't want to encode my files to another codec/container. I have yet to find transcode settings that let the resulting h.264/mpeg4 rip look as good as the original DVD (on my 130 inch screen fed by a 1080p projector). So - why Mr Woodsjm, it may be fine for you to transcode if all you're doing is watching on your iPhone / computer screen, some of us would like to maintain as much fidelity as we can, and not have to maintain two versions of every file (which sort of defeats the point of the fabulous realtime transcoding AV does.

Is there not a way to just choose the 'main' feature with the 'main' audio track on the DVD using ffmpeg? How does Handbrake do it? (it's open source so I suppose one could look).

ANyway - would LOVE this feature!

So let me get this straight...you'd rather clog your 12TB file server with VOB's and VIDEO_TS folders? I used to use all ISO's and VIDEO_TS directories. They all amounted to about 4GB each. Converted them all the .mkv now we're looking at 1.5 - 2GB each. MAJOR savings in space - means I can put more on my drive...so it's not JUST about playability. I disagree in the "most common movie format out there!" that's quickly NOT becoming the case - and if you want to watch "the most common movie format out there" use the player designed for it - a DVD PLAYER! This is not a DVD player - it's a VIDEO player.

Have you missed the point?

woodsjm wrote:

NikosF wrote:

woodsjm wrote:SERIOUSLY?!? People - turn on your brains!
...
Also, to Mr. Admin - I don't want these folks to push your in that direction - you're exactly where you need to be with this, in terms of filetype support. Right on!

SERIOUSLY -...

really don't want to encode my files to another codec/container. I have yet to find transcode settings that let the resulting h.264/mpeg4 rip look as good as the original DVD (on my 130 inch screen fed by a 1080p projector).

So let me get this straight...you'd rather clog your 12TB file server with VOB's and VIDEO_TS folders? I used to use all ISO's and VIDEO_TS directories. They all amounted to about 4GB each. Converted them all the .mkv now we're looking at 1.5 - 2GB each. MAJOR savings in space - means I can put more on my drive...so it's not JUST about playability. I disagree in the "most common movie format out there!" that's quickly NOT becoming the case - and if you want to watch "the most common movie format out there" use the player designed for it - a DVD PLAYER! This is not a DVD player - it's a VIDEO player.

Have you missed the point?

No - but I fear you might have! I can easily transcode to a 1.5GB h.264/matroska - but it means losing quality - which when I play back on my big screen is noticeable. I'd rather not keep TWO versions of every file and only want one. So - until there's a way to do it without losing quality, I'd like to play back my VOBs.

I do transcode my more mundane DVDs (TV shows, etc) - but I like to keep movies at their full resolution. In any event now that I've started buying Blurays, the 25-50 GB per title is what's really filling my harddrive (AND NO - I'D RATHER NOT REDUCE THEM IN SIZE!), so saving 2 GB per movie doesn't really seem the effort given the quality loss.

We have different use cases - I'm happy to accept that the quality trade-off versus size makes perfect sense for you. Please don't presume to speak for all users.

Hi,

I'd just like to point out small detail. If you transcode MPEG2 DVD video to MKV with H264 without reducing the resolution on proper quality settings you will not reduce the quality, at least not noticeably. However it will get rid of menus (and possibly extras), which some people could miss.

Admin wrote:Hi,

I'd just like to point out small detail. If you transcode MPEG2 DVD video to MKV with H264 without reducing the resolution on proper quality settings you will not reduce the quality, at least not noticeably. However it will get rid of menus (and possibly extras), which some people could miss.

Thanks. I know it sounds strange - but I've yet to find a h.264 conversion setting that looks exactly like the original MPEG2. When I'm on a 42" TV, it's barely noticeable, but watching on a 130" screen I do notice a certain 'something' that looks different. I've even had my wife do blind A/B comparisons between them.

I've tried Handbrake, I've tried ffmpeg, I've tried mencoder - none of them quite get there. They are 95%, but not 100%. Perhaps people could share what settings they use.

Actually the menus and extras I can live without - I find them an annoyance more than anything.

You've just made me wonder if it is possible to do a lossless MPEG2 transcode into a matroska container. Hmmm.

Either way I don't want to detract from the wonderful job you guys have done with Air Video. I'm using the Linux version and it works GREAT. The most painless and easiest to use of the options I've tried.

Admin wrote:Hi,

I'd just like to point out small detail. If you transcode MPEG2 DVD video to MKV with H264 without reducing the resolution on proper quality settings you will not reduce the quality, at least not noticeably. However it will get rid of menus (and possibly extras), which some people could miss.

Thank you. I have more than 30 HD (1080p/720p + Dolby Digital) movies in matrasoka. They look stunning on my 52" 120hz Aquos.

Thank you very much.

I would also like ISO playback. I'm using a Popcorn hour media tank for playback.

I think it's worth explaining why I'm using ISO as a storage mechanism. It's all a case of priorities. Most of DVD ripping is to save space in my living room and protecting the physical disk from my daughter

There are two main reasons why I use ISO though:
- Family acceptability - By using ISO my family get the same interface once they've selected the disk that are used to. If my daughter want to play some simple remote game or watch a short on a Pixar DVD she's used to it the menu system. My wife similarly doesn't have to think about doing something different if she wants to listen to a commentary or view a special feature.

- Ease of ripping - I'm using AnyDVD so ripping to ISO is very quick and simple to do. Let it scan the DVD then right click and press OK. Ripping a DVD is therefore as simple as ripping my CD collection was. I can initiate a DVD rip in 30 sec and wander off. I don't have to look at titles and audio, play around with presets, etc. It will just work and look like the DVD does.

Frankly I want to watch films I don't want to start playing around with the technology. So this means that I have to sit through FBI warnings and buy more diskspace than I otherwise would that's fine by me.

If I could get a simple solution that pulled allowed the same ease of ripping that I currently have then I may look at it more favourably but it still means I have to think about individual special features.

If I do want a portable version I still get to transcode them film from the ISO any way and as they're available from my NAS I can simply queue multiple ups to do them at the same time.

woodsjm wrote:

Admin wrote:Hi,

I'd just like to point out small detail. If you transcode MPEG2 DVD video to MKV with H264 without reducing the resolution on proper quality settings you will not reduce the quality, at least not noticeably. However it will get rid of menus (and possibly extras), which some people could miss.

Thank you. I have more than 30 HD (1080p/720p + Dolby Digital) movies in matrasoka. They look stunning on my 52" 120hz Aquos.

Thank you very much.

I would love to put my vote in for ISO/TS_Video support, but could also settle on MKV so that I could use this app. Would you be interested in sharing your handbrake settings that you use to get the best quality?

Please add support for ISO files. My entire collection is in that format, as it provides the ability to burn a disc from that file and retain menus, etc.
Thanks. Love the app.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 07/08/2010 07:01:21

I know it is not going to help much but I just registered and like to post just one message below.

"I'm just one of them and have a 500+ ISO DVD/BD collection; all back up in a RAID server.

Is there a way to make a special ISO paid edition for the ISO fan?"

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 07/08/2010 13:28:33

With my airvideo + vlc mod you can play your iso collection

The last comment is a bit daft really. The whole reason for me to get into the media centre stuff was because my kid kept scratching the DVDs. I couldn't Handbrake them to HDD because the kids wanted the menus. I use SageTV as my server and client solution. SageTV happily plays ripped DVDs. There is also a Web plugin for SageTV which allows remote (i.e. over the internet) scheduling of recording and playing of media, photos and music. It can transcode on the fly pretty much the same as AirVideo. The Web plugin uses Mplayer to do the mencoder to do the transcoding and streaming much the same as AirVideo does. Several people have now asked for support of playing ripped DVDs and I add myself to that list. Just to dismiss those people as 'Wrong' is not the way to improve software. I don't expect the menus to work but my SageTV interface just streams the main feature.

jockyw2001 wrote:With my airvideo + vlc mod you can play your iso collection

Oh can you give us some ideas how to do this? Appreciated your tips in advance.

hlkc wrote:

jockyw2001 wrote:With my airvideo + vlc mod you can play your iso collection

Oh can you give us some ideas how to do this? Appreciated your tips in advance.

Did you click the link above? It's all explained there.

jockyw2001 wrote:

hlkc wrote:

jockyw2001 wrote:With my airvideo + vlc mod you can play your iso collection

Oh can you give us some ideas how to do this? Appreciated your tips in advance.

Did you click the link above? It's all explained there.

Thanks jockyw2001,

If I don't need the stream TV am I just going to add below and I will be able to stream ISO DVD using air video? Thanks again!

http://www.i-have-a-dreambox.com/wbb2/thread.php?postid=1259942#post1259942