PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
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join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs:  
| DVD to Home Theater PC -- newb questions
I am looking to rip my DVD collection to my home theater pc which is hooked up to my nice new big screen tv, partly so I can save some space and partly because it has a certain wow factor to it.
Basically I am trying to figure out the best format and container to convert to and the best tools (click and go?) for the job. I would like it to show up in Windows Vista Media center because I may end up getting media extenders for another tv in my house later on but if I can't, I can't.
- I tried using xilisoft dvd ripper ultimate which has a nice click and go interface. It seems to easilly convert to various formats (I was playing with MP4 which doesn't like VMC for some reason) but it seems any format I choose down converts the audio from AC3 or 5.1 to Stereo and MP3.  I can't seem to figure a way around that.
thanks
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| said by PhoenixDown  :I tried using xilisoft dvd ripper ultimate which has a nice click and go interface. It seems to easilly convert to various formats (I was playing with MP4 which doesn't like VMC for some reason) but it seems any format I choose down converts the audio from AC3 or 5.1 to Stereo and MP3. I can't seem to figure a way around that. Probably vista's DRM degrading protected content[got a XP box to rip with to see if issue exists outside of vista?]
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs: | I thnk it might be the program, I forgot to add that if I choose an 1080P format (which takes hours to run and outputs a 10gig file), it will let me save a 5.1 audio stream. |
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Da Man
join:2008-05-08
Hanover, PA | reply to PhoenixDown
Storage is cheap so just rip the entire DVD to an iso. |
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BillTager
join:2000-09-20
Charlotte, NC
| reply to PhoenixDown
quote:
I thnk it might be the program, I forgot to add that if I choose an 1080P format (which takes hours to run and outputs a 10gig file), it will let me save a 5.1 audio stream.
I'm curious to know how does it looks when you upconvert to 1080p?
quote:
Storage is cheap so just rip the entire DVD to an iso.
That would certainly fix the audio issue, but it may cause problems when he starts using extenders.
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Dogg
Premium
join:2003-06-11
Belleville, IL | reply to PhoenixDown
Waste of time and HDD space to save/convert 480i content as 1080p. Your HTPC or your TV could just as easily upconvert the video during playback.
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
Premium
join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs: | BillTager - Sorry I cancelled the process before it finished. I am curious but it defeats the purpose of the project.
Dogg, totally agree on that one. |
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tlniec
join:2004-08-02
Cedar Rapids, IA
| reply to BillTager
You mentioned extenders... I'd like to follow-up on this, since I'm soon looking to archive most of my standard DVDs to HDD (I'll keep using optical for HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, though).
What I would like to do is archive my DVD movies to a USB HDD, then play them back on my XBox 360.
Most preferred would be to just plug the HDD into the Xbox 360, and play movies that way. If I archive the DVDs as disc images on the HDD, will they behave just like a real disc in the DVD tray? If not, what is the best way to archive the DVDs for this type of playback?
If hooking the HDD directly to the XBox 360 isn't a great idea, I COULD instead hook the HDD up to my PC (which is in another room), then use the 360 as an extender to stream content via Ethernet.
In the end, I just want to replicate the DVDs as faithfully as possible. I'd love to have some sort of front-end for selecting and launching movies, but I don't think the XBox 360 can do that, right? Just a boring old file browser? |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
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join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs:
| reply to PhoenixDown
tlniec,
Sounds like are trying to accomplish the same thing but taking very different roads to get there.
You may be interested in this thread:
»www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre···ght=xbox
Hope it helps,
- J.
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tlniec
join:2004-08-02
Cedar Rapids, IA
| said by PhoenixDown :tlniec, Sounds like are trying to accomplish the same thing but taking very different roads to get there. You may be interested in this thread: » www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre···ght=xboxHope it helps, - J. Thanks for the link - I frequent the AVS forums, but I had not run across that thread before. Looks like this raises an interesting THIRD option -- utilize an XBox, instead of a 360. It just so happens I do have an XBox, which hasn't been seeing much use ever since I got my 360. I may have to look into soft-modding it.
Question -- from what I understand, one of the "limitations" of the XBox / XBMC approach is that it cannot handle high-definition content. I am looking to archive standard-definition DVDs only, so it seems that shouldn't matter. I am wondering, though, if there is likely to be a significant quality difference between playing a DVD movie from an ISO file on my XBox versus playing a DVD in an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player for upconversion (I have a Mitsubishi HC1500 projector, 720p native resolution). Or perhaps the XBMC approach is capable of 720p upconversion?
Or am I getting into "if you want all that, suck it up and build an HTPC" territory?  |
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PhoenixDown
-- Wants FIOS
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join:2003-06-08
Fresh Meadows, NY
clubs:
| I am not an expert and know less about solutions using an xbox or xbox 360 (didn't realize the thread was about xbox) but I think your projector should be able to handle the upconversion. It should state that in the specs. Would the quality be better on some $300 upscaling DVD player? Ya, maybe, but it may not be a noticeable difference for you and your set up. |
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rabidmoose
join:2008-12-09
Arvada, CO
1 edit | reply to tlniec
said by tlniec Question -- from what I understand, one of the "limitations" of the XBox / XBMC approach is that it cannot handle high-definition content. I am looking to archive standard-definition DVDs only, so it seems that shouldn't matter. I am wondering, though, if there is likely to be a significant quality difference between playing a DVD movie from an ISO file on my XBox versus playing a DVD in an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player for upconversion (I have a Mitsubishi HC1500 projector, 720p native resolution). Or perhaps the XBMC approach is capable of 720p upconversion?
Or am I getting into "if you want all that, suck it up and build an HTPC" territory?
:
Any HDTV (or HD projector) has to scale anything coming into it to it's native resolution. That's the ONLY way it can display things. The question then becomes: How good of a job does it do?
For your other question, Yes. You're starting to get into HTPC territory with what you want. I'd suggest doing some research, and building something with enough horsepower to output 720p, and loading XBMC onto that (the HTPC would need to be running Linux). That's probably going to be your most graceful solution.
(As for the HTPC itself, I'd wait until after the CES in January, and see what gets announced there. It's expected that we'll start seeing "nettops" that can easily handle HD content, and have integrated HDMI, for $500 or under. Grab one of those, format it, install Linux, install XBMC, and start ripping ) |
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tlniec
join:2004-08-02
Cedar Rapids, IA
| Yup - what I should have probably asked was whether the XBMC approach would provide 720p scaling/deinterlacing perfromance similar to upconversion via an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray player (in which case, I'd let it do the heavy lifting), or if I'd be better off letting the projector handle those duties.
Thanks for the heads-up on the CES predictions. I hadn't heard much talk about 'net-top' devices. I will reseach more into that, too. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
1 edit | reply to PhoenixDown
I rip my SD DVD's and Blu-Ray discs with AnyDVD, then use TMPGEnc to convert it to WMV. I upscale my SD DVD's to 720p and crop out the black bars and I scale down my Blu-Ray discs to 720p and crop out the black bars. I've tried to get other formats to play nicely with VMC and my XBox 360, but WMV is the way to go. The files require a higher bitrate than H.264 MP4, but the quality is very good. I don't care what other people say, XviD and DiVX quality is terrible compared to WMV9 AP or H.264 MP4.
TMPGEnc will let you convert a DVD to WMV and if you choose WMA 10 Pro, you can do up to 768Kbps 7.1 Audio if you want. You'll have to get something to decrypt the DVD first though. There are a TON of free programs out there for that. However, I decided to pony up and purchase AnyDVD and TMPGEnc (about $150 total) because they are extremely easy and completely worth it. I have templates saved and it's about a 10-click process to rip the DVD/Blu-Ray, then get TMPGEnc started encoding it. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| reply to tlniec
tlniec:
No, they will not act as a drive in the tray. If you want more info on how to play them from a USB drive, let me know.
The 360 front-end is a file browser, but it will show you a thumbnail of the movie if you convert to WMV. I convert a lot of my favorite DVD's to WMV and upscale them to 1280x720 (720p) and the quality is as good as the DVD upscaled when in the drive itself. |
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tlniec
join:2004-08-02
Cedar Rapids, IA
| reply to Matt
Thanks - that is another approach to consider.
I'm torn between trying to find an approach that will have high WAF (wife approval factor ), and one that is simple and practical.
WAF was what got me thinking about front-ends (makes the experience of choosing a movie more fun) and the idea of playing back ISOs (keeps menus and everything intact, for a more familiar DVD experience).
But efficiency/practicality seems to favor re-encoding to WMV and playing via the XBox360.
The other constraint is that I'm trying to be really cheap about this.  I already have an XBox, and it looks like the cost to softmod it is pretty low. I'm not as familiar with the costs for DVD archiving/re-encoding software (perhaps there is some decent freeware out there?). |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| You can definitely find free versions of software out there, but you typically won't have features like dual (or quad) core encoding support, nor upscaling capability -- without using some of the more non-user friendly tools. I've been playing with tools for close to a year now and I wound up purchasing the tools I did because they make my life so much easier.
Keep something in mind though, if you play a video file back on the 360, it WILL NOT upscale it on an HDTV like it does if a DVD is in the drive. You will have to have your conversion program upscale it for you, otherwise you'll have to watch the video with black borders on all sides. Not very appeasing.
As far as the WAF, my setup has the GAF. She loves being able to turn on the 360, use the MS Media Remote I picked up for $20, scroll to the video blade, click a few buttons and have a ton of movies that she can play immediately. |
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tlniec
join:2004-08-02
Cedar Rapids, IA
1 edit | I may start with the 360 route, just to test the waters. I do have my Harmony remote set up so that it can drive the 360, and especially with the NXE, going to the video blade and launching movies from there has a good chance of passing WAF.
So the 360 won't upscale a video file, period? Even over HDMI? And it also locks the resolution to 1:1 mapping, so your display device won't scale it? I'm hoping that's not the case, since I'd prefer not to have things pillarboxed... and I'd prefer to have any scaling done real-time (to ease storage space requirements). |
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rabidmoose
join:2008-12-09
Arvada, CO
1 edit | It was that way pre-NXE. Since then, videos play back full-size, in native aspect ratio. They still don't appear to be upscaled by the Xbox360, but the TV seems to do an OK job of that (at least good enough to pass WAF in my house).
FYI - I have my 360 hooked up via VGA cable, since mine is too old to have HDMI. Most videos I play are DivX-encoded AVI. |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| reply to tlniec
said by tlniec :So the 360 won't upscale a video file, period? Even over HDMI? And it also locks the resolution to 1:1 mapping, so your display device won't scale it? I'm hoping that's not the case, since I'd prefer not to have things pillarboxed... and I'd prefer to have any scaling done real-time (to ease storage space requirements). I was told that as long as I set the container resolution to 1280x720, that I didn't have to upscale the video itself. However, I've never been able to get this to work. It just fills the extra pixels with black. It even displays this way with Media Center or WMP 11. So I don't think it's a 360 problem, probably a WMV problem. However, my MP4 video and the DivX/XViD I've displayed also doesn't auto-scale to fill the screen, so who knows?
And yes, even over HDMI. I run my 360 over HDMI. You may be able to tell your HDTV to scale it by choosing stretch or whatever the equivalent is, but I find that looks awful and I hate letterboxes on a 16:9 HDTV, so I just run it through my filters to take care of all of that.
FWIW, I can compress a Blu-Ray at 720p down to 6GB to 7GB and a SD DVD that's upscaled to 720p at 2GB to 4GB - both with phenomenal quality and 640Kbps 5.1 surround - so you don't need to worry about space constraints. Most SD DVDs are DVD9 (9GB) so you'll wind up saving a ton of space anyway.
The real kicker is encode time. I have a Quad Core Q9300 (SSE 4.1) and a SD DVD takes about 2-3 hours to re-encode and a Blu-Ray takes about 8-12 hours. |
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