Best Video Format For TV

[crazyfool]

hey guys,
I have just finished (after about 2 months lol) setting up my htpc so it is working reliably. I have one final problem though which is nothing major but i just need a bit of help with. I have a number of tv episodes that i have ripped from dvd and each episode is a single .vob file. I have used the tv series plugin for mediaportal which is great but although dvds play great using h/w acceleration with powerdvd 9 codecs these single episodes just freeze and then my htpc requires a restart. So what i want to do is convert the files into a format which will keep them as best quality as possible. They are going to be viewed on a 32inch lcd and atm the vob files are averaging about 1 - 2gb per episode so size isn't really going to matter. So in your opinion which format, which bitrate and which software would be best for this... thanks in advance...preferably lossless...

[FifthFreedom]

If you post your HTPC specs people may be able to help you better.

Personally, I would be tempted by MKV conversion. Then when you get 720p shows from other sources they will all be the same format.

But of course that won't work if your HTPC specs are up to decoding MKV's on the fly.

[Papipap]

You could try a different program for playback. I use media player classic, which plays back anything, and uses the ffdshow codecs.

If you post your HTPC specs people may be able to help you better.

Personally, I would be tempted by MKV conversion. Then when you get 720p shows from other sources they will all be the same format.

But of course that won't work if your HTPC specs are up to decoding MKV's on the fly.

Will this be possible if the system is already struggling with vob files?

[crazyfool]

the system isn't struggling with the files... mediaportal just has this weird thing where if you use h/w acceleration it sometimes just freezes... combination of software and drivers... the specs are 780g motherboard with 2.5ghz dual core and 2gb corsair...

[FifthFreedom]

My advice in 5 simple steps:

1)Uninstall all media drivers (To prevent conflicts...)
2)Install K-Lite FULL Media codec pack from http://www.free-codecs.com/K_lite_co...k_download.htm
3)Download mkvtoolnix from http://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkv....4.0-setup.exe
4) Use mkvtoolnix to convert your files to mkv format.
5)Use Media Player Classic (Included in K-Lite Pack) to watch the movies

Enjoy your HTPC!