Member Avatar for fuzebox40

I'm just an average joe trying to convert my DVD movies into a smaller single file to store and watch on my HTPC. I have Win 7 on it and like to use WMC to pull up and watch my movies. My delima is that I've tried several different converters and it seems the video quality is poor compared to leaving it in a vob file format. I've downloaded video on line that has been converted to other formats as well as greatly reduced in size that is still good quality. I don't expect great quality after a huge reduction in size but right now I'm still getting the vissible squares in the picture after converting even without reduction in size.
Can anyone recommend a good converter program and tell me what file formats work best?
Thanks.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by chris.stout

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Goal and quick diagnosis (for ): the visible “squares” are classic macroblocking from over‑aggressive compression, a too‑low bitrate/quality setting, or from improper handling of an interlaced DVD source. For reliable WMC playback on a Windows 7 HTPC, target H.264 (x264) in an MP4 container (MKV is fine but often needs extra codec support for WMC). Rip only the main title (longest runtime) and skip extras before encoding.

Practical encoder settings (builds on ’s suggestions): use a constant‑quality x264 encode (CRF/RF mode) rather than a tiny fixed bitrate. Start with RF ~20 (RF 18 = higher quality/larger file; RF 22–24 = smaller but riskier). Set the x264 preset to medium or slow (slower presets give noticeably better quality at the same file size). Use “same as source” framerate, enable a decomb filter (not an aggressive hard deinterlace) if the DVD is interlaced, and pick High profile / level 3.1 for compatibility.

Audio, sizing and artifacts: keep original AC‑3 passthrough if 5.1 surround is needed; otherwise encode AAC at ~160–192 kbps for stereo. If a strict file size is required, do a 2‑pass VBR with a target bitrate calculated from movie length. Hardware encoders (QuickSync/NVENC) are fast but usually require higher bitrates to match x264 quality and can show more blocking — prefer software x264 for the best quality/size tradeoff.

Workflow and troubleshooting checklist: encode a 1–2 minute test clip and view it on the HTPC/TV before batch‑processing. If blocking persists, lower RF (improve quality), use a slower preset, confirm decomb is active for interlaced sources, and avoid extreme downscaling. Typical good‑quality rips for a two‑hour DVD land around 1–3 GB with RF ~18–22; adjust from there to balance space versus visible artifacts.

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Member Avatar for chris.stout

I'm not terribly familiar with what tools exist on Windows for this. However, you can use VLC to convert video files. Here's a article showing the basic process.

Member Avatar for fuzebox40

The article shows the procces for converting any file to .mp4. Is the .mp4 format the best way to go? What I'm hoping to achieve is to take just the movie from my duel layer DVD's and reduce the size as much as possible (to save hard drive space) yet avoid having extremely poor quality. Of course I don't expect high def, I just don't want to see it breaking into little squares constantly either.

Member Avatar for chris.stout

The process for converting to mp4 is pretty much the same as any other format with vlc. I'm really not sure what the best format would be. I personally like my videos in mkv. I'd suggest taking a shorter video clip and trying many formats/settings to find what you like the most.

I'd also suggest trying multiple tools to find out what suites you best. Below are two I quite like.

Handbrake is a very solid video conversion tool. I didn't realize it was available for Windows.

I've also heard good things about WinFF. If my understanding is correct, it's just a gui for FFMpeg (which I'm quite fond of). It's available for Windows and Linux.

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