NAS Video/Movie Storage: What format is best?

Housey

Housey

Housey

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I have a Synology NAS with around 6TB of storage and want to get all of my DVD and and Blue Ray disks loaded onto the NAS so they can be easily shared across the house. Now I have seen this debated over and over but it ends up full of differing views and no real consistent advice so wanted to lay out my pre-requisits.

1) I want to retain the best quality I can when I rip the movies but also would like to use a format than can be played on XBox 360's and PS3's.
2) I am not bothered about trailers or having various sound track options preferring to chose the best quality sound.
3) I have purchased various DVD and Blue Ray rippers (yes, with my own monies!) so can pretty much take the disk and turn it into most formats

So then, what do people think is the best file format for DVD and for Blue Ray.

Added to this I will also have TV's in bedrooms and want to know, outside of the games consoles what people would advice as a media player if we take as read I don't want a PC in each room. Think simple to use, small and plugged into a TV and you have what I am looking for and will a WiFi enabled TV allow me to stream without such a device?

Thanks
Housey!
 
I would simply remux to MKV using MakeMKV or a similar program, no change in quality or time spent encoding. All you need is AntDVD HD to remove protection. You can stream to the PS3 using TVersity or similar, I don't know about the 360. For your TV's there are a few media players like the WDTV, Popcorn Hour etc or for a bit more ION PC's like the Acer Revo which would give you more options and better playback.
 
I would second .mkv's but the XBox360 wont play them. Forget about XB360 as a front end, there are plenty of more than adequate media streamers around the £100 mark that will do a far better job. Personally I use handbrake for ripping DVDs as it is effortless.

Mushii
 
Have you considered just copying the DVDs (folders and files)?
I recently did this and it works out at approxiamately 6GB per disc.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=15068058&postcount=3145

Advantages' of doing it this way are:
- menu structure remains
- easier (less) naming of files, especially when it comes to TV series - no need to individually name each episode.

Disadvantages
- takes more disc space (but it seems you have plenty ;) )
 
Tomsk said:
Have you considered just copying the DVDs (folders and files)?
I recently did this and it works out at approxiamately 6GB per disc.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=15068058&postcount=3145

Advantages' of doing it this way are:
- menu structure remains
- easier (less) naming of files, especially when it comes to TV series - no need to individually name each episode.

Disadvantages
- takes more disc space (but it seems you have plenty ;) )
Click to expand...

Can you suggest a media device that will play in this format? I did this at first, but none of the consoles would see them!
 
AbsenceJam said:
I would simply remux to MKV using MakeMKV or a similar program, no change in quality or time spent encoding. All you need is AntDVD HD to remove protection. You can stream to the PS3 using TVersity or similar, I don't know about the 360. For your TV's there are a few media players like the WDTV, Popcorn Hour etc or for a bit more ION PC's like the Acer Revo which would give you more options and better playback.
Click to expand...

But TVersity means I need a PC/Mac in the chain right? I don't want anything feeding the devices, I want them to access the NAS and play, nothing more than that.
 
Housey, you need WDTV live's.

Best device ever, its so easy to use, it just connects to a network share, lists the files in a no nonsense way, and plays them. Job done. The units are very small too so ideal for bedroom's.

Put it this way, it got my girlfriends approval, even she uses it, and even commented that it makes dvd players seem rubbish. She is useless with technology.
 
Jez said:
Housey, you need WDTV live's.

Best device ever, its so easy to use, it just connects to a network share, lists the files in a no nonsense way, and plays them. Job done. The units are very small too so ideal for bedroom's.

Put it this way, it got my girlfriends approval, even she uses it, and even commented that it makes dvd players seem rubbish. She is useless with technology.
Click to expand...

Will is play Vob files Jez, or whatever the standard format is on DVD and will it play HD Blue Ray stuff? Looks ideal, right size etc.
 
And while I'm at it, Sonos devices for music seem to be the best for multi room that isn't plumbed in, do we all agree?
 
MKV container if you don't care about menus. MakeMKV will rip DVD movies to a single MKV file, and TV series to an MKV per episode. If you want menus etc dvd decryptor is still as good as anything IMO.

Store in the correct structure

Film Name (Year) or (ie Aliens (1986)
Series Name/Season xx/Series Name SxxExx (or SxEE) Episode Name.filetype (ie Brass Eye/Season 01/Brass Eye E01S01 Animals.mkv)

and you're on to a winner.

WDTV live or HTPC with Win7 and MediaBrowser over network share.
 
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Housey said:
Will is play Vob files Jez, or whatever the standard format is on DVD and will it play HD Blue Ray stuff? Looks ideal, right size etc.
Click to expand...

It does play VOB files, but i am not sure about whatever blu-ray uses. It seems to play everything i have ever tried but its definitely worth checking on perhaps one of the many community forums based around the WDTV.

TBH they are such good units that i would say its worth getting one for how nice they are alone, then recoding blu-ray if it doesnt work :)
 
Housey said:
And while I'm at it, Sonos devices for music seem to be the best for multi room that isn't plumbed in, do we all agree?
Click to expand...

I don't know that much about the sonos other than it's pretty pricey compared to the Logitech squeezebox products... we've got several round the house with all the music on the server.
 
I'm just sorting out kitting my house out as well and it's a complete nightmare.
I'm probably going to use Revos for maximum options but this is far from straightforward (going from the threads on avforums).
 
chipperhead said:
I'm just sorting out kitting my house out as well and it's a complete nightmare.
QUOTE]

I think if DLNA had been more popular and properly implemented as a standard, then it would have all been much easier. Sadly implementation of DLNA seems to be pretty hit and miss, with certain devices not interfacing properly with one another.

For the devices that do run DLNA well, the combination of a Twonky equiped server / NAS and a well configured streaming device is excellent. That is my only gripe with both Sonos and Squeezebox Devices. Both work very well but are propriatary standards although Sonos does suppurt uPnP.

Good luck with your journey through the minefield that is multi-room AV

Mushii
Click to expand...
 
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