ISO vs mkv

[ottovonkopp]

Hi!

I rip my DVD to iso with DVDFab and remove all crap before ripping. Only keeping the main movie, one or two audio tracks and subtitles.

I store the files on a network share and stream to Boxee or VLC over WiFi with no issues except that VLC stutter some times. Boxee runs fine.

Now I had read that mkv is better for streaming. I have converted one iso to mkv with makemkv and found some differences.

The file size is about 100 mb smaller. When I play the iso in Boxee the audio has two tracks, English 1/2. When I play the mkv it shows English DTS and English Dolby digital. Everything else is the same.
Edit: One more thing. Hitting Info in Boxee showing 5.1 in iso while mkv reports 6 channel.

Now to my questions.

Is mkv better for streaming?
Do I lose any quality if I convert to mkv?

Kind Regards
/Bernt

[zwaaa]

Is mkv better for streaming?
Do I lose any quality if I convert to mkv?

Kind Regards
/Bernt

If I think I understand this correctly, ISO is an image file so what you are actually doing is creating an image file with an mpeg2 vob file in it and boxee is mounting that iso.

MKV is just a container, but I'm assuming that you transcoded the mpeg2 stream to xvid or some other mpeg4 variant - which would give you a variably smaller file size depending on the encoder settings.


Yes, you lose quality, but if your encoder settings are good you will lose very little (and don't think that mpeg2 is "flawless").

All of my "streaming" is just playing content from samba shares.

I usually encode a two hour mpeg2 to 700-1gig using two pass xvid and I will occasionally put that in an mkv wrapper (or just leave it as an avi) and it "streams" just fine, although I have had no issues with iso's over my wireless either.

Your stuttering on VLC is probably due to small buffer.

Of course, I am really just guessing here.

[ottovonkopp]

Thanks for the reply.

I did'nt do any trancoding that I now of. http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1124

The goal for me is to stream movies with the same quality (lossless) as the source (DVD).

I don't have any concern about filesize or burning the files back to DVD. Just want highest possible quality.

Is rip to iso and then make a mkv file the way to go or should I just stick with iso?

/Bernt

[gmd024]

Thanks for the reply.

I did'nt do any trancoding that I now of. http://www.makemkv.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1124

The goal for me is to stream movies with the same quality (lossless) as the source (DVD).

I don't have any concern about filesize or burning the files back to DVD. Just want highest possible quality.

Is rip to iso and then make a mkv file the way to go or should I just stick with iso?

/Bernt

I could post a tutorial about MKVs - but let's just say your best choice would be MKVs - especially since you are not concerned about burning back to disk - and if you get into BDs, MKVs will stream without issue compared to BD ISOs - I should clarify that, on my wireless network BD MKVs stream without issue if using a wireless N bridge which allows more thru-put than an N adapter - and most of my BD ISOs won't

It sounds like you are familar with MakeMKV - it's as good as it gets for ripping to MKVs - it's free while still in beta - but I was so impressed I purchased a license - and never had an issue with it

[ottovonkopp]

Sounds great. I have all my music ripped to flac and using Squeezebox for playback. Now I want to do the same with my DVD movies using mkv (or anything that is lossless and works for streaming) and playback to Boxee.

Are your BD rips lossless?

/Bernt

[gmd024]

Sounds great. I have all my music ripped to flac and using Squeezebox for playback. Now I want to do the same with my DVD movies using mkv (or anything that is lossless and works for streaming) and playback to Boxee.

Are your BD rips lossless?

/Bernt

Yep - all done with MakeMKV

[jussing]

Edit: One more thing. Hitting Info in Boxee showing 5.1 in iso while mkv reports 6 channel.

5.1 means "5 channels plus subwoofer", which is really 6 channels. So the two propgrams propably agree, they just write it differently.

Cheers,
- Jonas