DVDs or MP4 files ????

[ruedabeat]

With new technologies, better processors, more memory(RAM) and better machines, new and better transfers of films and videos are circulating by people who share their work(AdamBound, LordReith, Innerwreck, just to mention a few ), we can nowadays watch excelentes videos in great quality(not to mention all that stuff in HD,FHD or even 4K). I´ve been downloading some DVDs shared in the forum and I can say they are great compilations in "good" quality , but every time far away from the new standards.

My question is DVDs or MP4 files ????

[alphabeatles]

Good topic! I am not a video expert but I understand that even DVDs are compressed from the original HD, and MP4s perhaps even further.

Though in my own experience with Handbrake, sometimes the MP4s look as good as the original DVDs, especially if the source material is rough to begin with.

In my own video collection (on an 8TB external drive) I have opted to go with MP4 for most everything except the core titles (Beatles Anthology, The McCartney Years and such). Otherwise they take up way too much room. And I don't do DVD discs anymore...

So the answer is, it depends on how you view the material (TV or computer) where you store it (computer or disc) and the quality of the material (a lot of boot video or even video sourced from VHS is not worthy of anything but MP4), so do some experimentation and see what works best for you.

[yymca6]

Let me put in my two pence.

I prefer to get the DVD version first (VIDEO_TS), especially with music films and/or videos.

Why? Because I can extract the audio files and listen to the music without having to bother with seeing the image.

Also because I can convert the VIDEO_TS anytime to MP4 or MKV or even M4A for Apple TV.

But the opposite is not possible (from MP4 back to VIDEO_TS).

[ruedabeat]

This a list of a few examples of files in MP4 or MKV all of them in excellent quality:

- The Ultimate Concert For Bangladesh (50th Anniversary Edition) by KitsuBeatles & Music lounge
- The Beatles In Nederland (deluxe) by LR.
- Hollywood Bowl- Why Don't We View It In The Bowl - Lord Reith
- Drop In, France 1965, Australia & many more Promo films by Lord Reith
- Twickenham videos by Innerwreck.
- Apple videos by Innerwreck.
- Hey Bulldog Complete Filming/Recording Session Reconstruction by AdamBound
- The Beatles at Chiswick Park 1966 - Complete Filming by AdamBound
- Paul McCartney - MTV Unplugged (Full TV Special in Full HD, 1991, Remastered)

Just to mention a few examples(very few), all of them watchable even in large Screens. So no reason to watch a lot of DVDs containing this stuff in lower quality.

IMO

[alphabeatles]

Another advantage of ripping certain DVDs to MP4 is that the chapters can be separated out and the resulting videos filed away more appropriately, rather than being (as they often are) a hodgepodge of random stuff on one disc.

[I Am The Walrus]

Well, I'm not an expert either.
Lately I'm taking all my DVDs and extracting the videos I like and interested in and moving them to my hard drives so I can watch any time I want without having to find them on any specific DVD.
I convert the videos to MP4 or MKV whatever and it has worked really well for me.

[MrMurphMcgee]

I prefer MP4 as I no longer want to have to store and burn so much physical media. Plus it’s so much easier these days to serve up video to the average smart TV.

[KitsuHitsuyy]

MP4 is encoded in MPEG-4, a more modern type that has a better compression algorithm (and yeah, lossless digital video doesn’t exist, just high quality).

DVDs contain VOB files, which are encoded in MPEG-2 and then even more compressed to fill the 4 gigs of information on the disc.

In short, MP4s > DVDs

[ruedabeat]

MP4 is encoded in MPEG-4, a more modern type that has a better compression algorithm (and yeah, lossless digital video doesn’t exist, just high quality).

DVDs contain VOB files, which are encoded in MPEG-2 and then even more compressed to fill the 4 gigs of information on the disc.

In short, MP4s > DVDs

That´s a good point. MPEG-4 better quality than MPEG-2(DVDs)

[MrMurphMcgee]

Though in my case, most of my MP4 files are sources from DVD so maybe not an improvement though the potential is there.