Entire DVD collection to view on TV via hard drive. File type? Options

[tarkovsky]

I have a large DVD movie collection that I would like to put onto a large hard drive and get rid of all the DVD's. I should note first that I would like to rip it all without compression. I am of course open to comments on this however.


I mainly want to go directly from my hard drive to my TV. I have had some luck with the VOB files in terms of playing them on my TV via hard drive, but the transitions are not always perfect. Images are convenient for ripping, and I can play them from my laptop to the TV, but this isn't the most convenient for me. I'd rather have them going straight from my hard drive. I also realize future TV could accept more (or perhaps less) file types.

In short, i'm looking for an easy way to rip DVD's as I have hundreds of them, and i'm open to any suggestions and discussion. I currently have a Samsung series 5 40 inch TV.

Thanks in advance.

[Sunhillow]

edited after reading greynol's comment

This post has been edited by Sunhillow: Dec 2 2012, 22:00

[greynol]

In short, i'm looking for an easy way to rip DVD's as I have hundreds of them, and i'm open to any suggestions and discussion.

Any and all comments must comply with TOS #9. Violation of this rule can and will result a loss of posting privileges.

That the OP may own the physical media or where he lives is completely irrelevant.

@Sunhillow:
Your post before you removed it was perfectly OK.

This post has been edited by greynol: Dec 3 2012, 08:14

[smok3]

The basic idea would be to rip to iso images and aquire a player device (like wdtv), that is capable of playing this (i heard some can play the entire structure including navigation, but personally never really tested that).

(Iam assuming that you authored all this dvds, so the procedure should be easy and straightforward)

[tarkovsky]

I am not trying to get past any copy protection or anything like that at all. I simply have DVD-R's that have audio/video on them, and I'm a bit uncertain what the best way to get it all on a hard drive is. The mentioned iso files appeals to me because it seems so easy; just one file for the entire disc. What are my options with playing the iso files? Would a DVD player do that via a USB connection?

As mentioned, I have lately been ripping the Video_TS and Audio_TS folders to a large hard drive. Sometimes these play pretty good from my hard drive to TV, sometimes not. I really want that convenience of being able to play all from a hard drive as I live in a very small place and believe it or not, can't afford much more room on my shelving.

Anyway, I may start with the iso ripping process soon, as at the very least I know all the data will be there. I just want to be able to conveniently play them, that's all I worry about with this method. Sorry for the long post. Any advice on playing iso via non-computer/laptop sources appreciated.

[tarkovsky]

The basic idea would be to rip to iso images and aquire a player device (like wdtv), that is capable of playing this (i heard some can play the entire structure including navigation, but personally never really tested that).

(Iam assuming that you authored all this dvds, so the procedure should be easy and straightforward)

Thanks. I just looked at the WDTV. It is a bit pricey for me, with another remote, but I guess that just may be what I have to do (or something like that). I think for now I will just start ripping iso files, and hope the future is kind to me Any further comments welcomed though, hope I explained my question good enough.

[tarkovsky]

I also just looked into VOB2MPG, which seems ideal for my purposes. I am not exactly sure how it works yet though, I'll have to try it out when I get home. I assume it extracts a single MPG file from the non-encrypted DVD??

I'll mess around with the already mentioned options and update the thread later. Thanks again.

[DVDdoug]

I don't think there's any really standardized way to do what you want... The "standards" are shiny discs.

There are also standards for audio/video connections, such as composite video or HDMI. Just about every modern flat screen TV has these inputs. I'd stick with something standard that's going to work with any TV.

I know some TVs have USB ports, but I wouldn't rely on the TV to read & decode a file off a hard drive. Different TVs support different formats (assuming you get it working at all) and you're likely to have problems if you try to use a different TV. Plugging a hard drive into a DVD player (that has USB) is going to be hit-or-miss also.

So, I'd look for a media player that has video outputs (ideally HDMI) and a USB input for a large external hard drive. Or, you can look for some kind of network streaming box that plugs into a network on one side and has audio/video out on the other side. Then, you can store your A/V files on a server.

You could use a laptop as a server, or get a laptop with an HDMI connector and use the laptop as your media player plugged drectly into the TV. Of course, the advantage of a computer (as a server or as a "direct" media player) is that it will play just about any format (with the correct software/codecs).

I have an "extra" laptop that is set-up in my living room for playing music that's connected to my home theater receiver, but unfortunately it does not have HDMI. At some point, I'm gong to replace it with one that has HDMI & a Blu-Ray player.