HD video formats

[fuzz092888]

So I'm thinking about getting this program Pavtube, but am unsure if it's the right one for me. Honestly I haven't done a ton of research so this may be a silly question, but I'm unsure if this program will rip with full blu-ray quality.
It does HD formats like MPEG-TS HD Video and others. It also says something like raw lossless video. Are these blu-ray quality formats or am I going to be losing quality?

Is there a better option than this for mac?

This is my first step in the whole HTPC thing so I'm trying to figure it all out. Thanks.

 

[jinjuku]

So I'm thinking about getting this program Pavtube, but am unsure if it's the right one for me. Honestly I haven't done a ton of research so this may be a silly question, but I'm unsure if this program will rip with full blu-ray quality.
It does HD formats like MPEG-TS HD Video and others. It also says something like raw lossless video. Are these blu-ray quality formats or am I going to be losing quality?

Is there a better option than this for mac?

This is my first step in the whole HTPC thing so I'm trying to figure it all out. Thanks.

I usually look for H.264 encoding. That would be my suggestion to you. You could use handbrake.

 

[fuzz092888]

With a little searching I see pavtube does have H.264

Although handbrake is free so that's a rpetty solid argument for handbrake.

H.264 is lossless and blu-ray quality?

 

[jinjuku]

With a little searching I see pavtube does have H.264

Although handbrake is free so that's a rpetty solid argument for handbrake.

H.264 is lossless and blu-ray quality?

H.264 is Blu-Ray.

 

[fuzz092888]

Ok thanks jin

 

[fuzz092888]

Oops, forgot to ask, any advice for blu-ray burning software on a mac?

 

[Grador]

The video files on the bluray disks are stored as MPEG-TS files, if you rip to that they will be exactly as they were on the disk. I'm not familiar with the sofware you're talking about, but I presume when they say they'll save H.264 what they mean is that they will use H.264 to reencode the files to something smaller.

Similarly handbrake is not sofware that is used to rip disks, it is simply an H.264 encoder.

Also, though most blurays are H.264 there are some that are VC-1, both codecs are supported by all players for bluray disks.

As for software, I use DVD Fab, which has a free version capable of ripping blurays perfectly fine. I do reencode them with handbrake for space concerns (i've done an A/B between origional files and reencodes and for the life of me cannot pick them out at ~8 GB a film). Both of these are available for mac.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

H.264 aka AVC (Advanced Video Compression) is by definition not lossless , but then again neither is BluRay.. the difference is bitrate (how many bits per each "frame" ) and resolution....

Grador, I see in your sig a 37" TV - to be honest - you need at least 55" to notice any differences and even then not on just any material. The only time I actually noticed big difference it was on Discovery BluRay - BluePlanet - the Ice Episode - Gosh it was stunning on see in it's full glory......

That said - Most stuff done in hollywood would be basically identical in 8 Gb compressed file to it's bluray source

 

[Grador]

Grador, I see in your sig a 37" TV - to be honest - you need at least 55" to notice any differences and even then not on just any material. The only time I actually noticed big difference it was on Discovery BluRay - BluePlanet - the Ice Episode - Gosh it was stunning on see in it's full glory......

That said - Most stuff done in hollywood would be basically identical in 8 Gb compressed file to it's bluray source

Not to contradict your point, but simply to add information: my comparisons were done on a 1080 28" almost reference level monitor (would specify model, but it is not mine and I don't remember). I was looking for very specific detail in the comparison, banding in darker segments, noise, loss of fine detail sharpness. On my TV [which is additionally only 720] I know the encoding will be very forgiving, I should attempt go and do a comparison on my father's 55", I'm curious to see if i can spot any differences.

(sorry for the thread hijack fuzz)

 

[fuzz092888]

No problem, it's always interesting to learn more about the stuff I'm researching. So correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've gathered from this thread so far

-Handbrake is only a reencoder not a ripper

-DVD fab is a ripper and I can get it for free (I'll have to look into what I lose exactly by using the free version)

-H.264 is a lossy codec, but the original blu-ray files are as well and loss of quality wouldn't be seen with a TV under 55"

So I have another question, when you rip a blu-ray does the software rip audio and video separately? I've never ripped a DVD and obviously a blu-ray before so I'm trying to figure it all out. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

No problem, it's always interesting to learn more about the stuff I'm researching. So correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've gathered from this thread so far

-Handbrake is only a reencoder not a ripper [Yes]

-DVD fab is a ripper and I can get it for free (I'll have to look into what I lose exactly by using the free version) [Yes]

-H.264 is a lossy codec, but the original blu-ray files are as well and loss of quality wouldn't be seen with a TV under 55" [Yes]

So I have another question, when you rip a blu-ray does the software rip audio and video separately? I've never ripped a DVD and obviously a blu-ray before so I'm trying to figure it all out. Thanks for the help guys.

Then you rip DVD/BD the ripper copies the files from disk in a special movie file containers, in case of DVDs called VOBs , in BD disk called m2ts
They contain all the info. The Encoder takes these files, splits them and processing Audio and video separately.

To clarify, What Jinku posted before - Yes, BluRay movies very often encoded using H.264. The re-compression done to make it smaller file is simply is reducing the bitrate and often the resolution

 

[jinjuku]

H.264 is not a lossy format unless you set the encoding to make it so.

You can do lossy or lossless with H.264

 

[dkane360]

I use MakeMKV as a ripper. It's normally $50, but it's free while in beta. You just have to keep updating the key every month from their website.

 

[adk highlander]

Well I'm going to toss my advice into the ring to really mix things up.

I've been ripping my Blu-Rays to a server and using a Popcornhour C-200 as my playback device for almost 2 years now.

The best process for me has been ripping the BR using AnyDVD HD. I tried DVDFab and I had far too many issues with the software. It always said there was no BR drive. AnyDVD was a bit more expensive but it has always worked. I do my rips to BR folder structure.

I then use ClownBD to remove all the extras from the rip and keep only the main movie and HD sound track and keep the BR folder structure.

So I end up with a smaller file than an ISO and I don't add any compression to the video or audio.

 

[fuzz092888]

Well I'm going to toss my advice into the ring to really mix things up.

I've been ripping my Blu-Rays to a server and using a Popcornhour C-200 as my playback device for almost 2 years now.

The best process for me has been ripping the BR using AnyDVD HD. I tried DVDFab and I had far too many issues with the software. It always said there was no BR drive. AnyDVD was a bit more expensive but it has always worked. I do my rips to BR folder structure.

I then use ClownBD to remove all the extras from the rip and keep only the main movie and HD sound track and keep the BR folder structure.

So I end up with a smaller file than an ISO and I don't add any compression to the video or audio.

popcornhour looks pretty interesting. So you use either ethernet or wireless to access the movies on the server?

 

[adk highlander]

Only use a wired Ethernet for it and have never tried wireless for that. I am using a monoprice 10/100 switch and have not had any issues. I think there are some who have used wireless for lower resolution and data rates but don't remember anyone streaming 1080p wirelessly.

The popcornhour is a funny product. If it was not for user support and open source software like YAMJ (also made by users) I don't think the product would still be around. After going through setting one of these up you will at least learn all you want to know about network setup, mapping network drives, YAMJ and jukebox setup. Their forum is networkedmediatank.com. Go over and take a look around and you can see examples of the different jukeboxes and the different skins available.

 

[dkane360]

I use a Dune Smart H1 for my media playback

Dune HD Media Player - Dune HD Smart H1 | Dune HD

 

[fuzz092888]

Only use a wired Ethernet for it and have never tried wireless for that. I am using a monoprice 10/100 switch and have not had any issues. I think there are some who have used wireless for lower resolution and data rates but don't remember anyone streaming 1080p wirelessly.

The popcornhour is a funny product. If it was not for user support and open source software like YAMJ (also made by users) I don't think the product would still be around. After going through setting one of these up you will at least learn all you want to know about network setup, mapping network drives, YAMJ and jukebox setup. Their forum is networkedmediatank.com. Go over and take a look around and you can see examples of the different jukeboxes and the different skins available.

I'll have to look more at the forum and everything, I've only taken a quick look so far, but it's very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I use a Dune Smart H1 for my media playback

Dune HD Media Player - Dune HD Smart H1 | Dune HD

The thing about the dune is the small form factor, I know that would probably go over a lot better with the lady.

These both seem like great options for playback. It gives me a lot to think about since I was considering upgrading to the oppo BDP-93, but now I'm considering going with something like this instead. Lots of time to do more research and weigh my options

Thanks guys for the help and advice.

 

[Grador]

H.264 is not a lossy format unless you set the encoding to make it so.

You can do lossy or lossless with H.264

<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">H.264 is always lossy, there is no lossless H.264 profiles. I think you may be thinking of the difference between keeping a file already H.264 as is, or reencoding it at a lower bitrate.</span>

Edit: I guess there are lossless profiles, I have never seen this used a single time.

 

[jinjuku]

<span style="text-decoration: line-through;">H.264 is always lossy, there is no lossless H.264 profiles. I think you may be thinking of the difference between keeping a file already H.264 as is, or reencoding it at a lower bitrate.</span>

Edit: I guess there are lossless profiles, I have never seen this used a single time.

Most people are using Handbrake to shrink down the movie so the can either conserve HD space or for use on their portable devices.

I rip all my movies and music full bit rate/depth. So now you have seen this used at least a single time

Storage is DIRT CHEAP.