confused between .iso or .avi or .vob

[yellow360f]

which format is the most preferred one if you are reading movies over the network on a network attached storage using popcorn a-110.
that can also show subtitles.

I wish there was one standard format. I am a noob and these can drive someone crazy. I have read and the more i read the more confusing these things get.

Lastly, do all 3 have good picture or is one better than the other?

I must note that i like the single more than all separate files sitting for each movies like 5 vob's for a single movie, i don't know who uses that format, but i keep hearing about it.

tanks a lot.

[chris57]

Use ISO format for DVD movies. If the movie comes as a set of vobs within a video_ts folder then create an ISO:-
http://www.networkedmediatank.com/showth...p?tid=6455

[cheaper_popcorn]

(08-28-2008 11:49 PM)yellow360f Wrote:  which format is the most preferred one if you are reading movies over the network on a network attached storage using popcorn a-110.
that can also show subtitles.

I wish there was one standard format. I am a noob and these can drive someone crazy. I have read and the more i read the more confusing these things get.

Lastly, do all 3 have good picture or is one better than the other?

I must note that i like the single more than all separate files sitting for each movies like 5 vob's for a single movie, i don't know who uses that format, but i keep hearing about it.

tanks a lot.

ISO is not a movie format in itself, it is a format that simulates an entire real DVD disc. This type of file is called a 'DVD image file'. Apart from ISO, DVD image files can also have the extensions IMG, NRG, etc.

As you probably know, a regular DVD disc can contain other files than movies as well.

But when an ISO file contains a DVD movie, the actual movie files inside the ISO are the same VOB files that also occur separately. This means the quality of the video is the same, regardless if the VOB video file is on its own, or embedded in an ISO file.

AVI is a 'container format' that can also contain several different types of actual video files. The word 'container' is good because just like a physical container, you can put anything inside as long as it fits.

The most commonly used video files inside AVI containers are XviD and DivX, (codecs which are part of the MPEG4 standard). DivX, and later XviD, have been the most popular formats for compressing DVD video to a smaller size file (typically 700MB or 2 x 700MB - this is so they can be burned to CD) while maintaining as much of the quality as possible. But when compressing, the quality will suffer.

So to answer your question, in conclusion, the quality of the most commonly occuring AVI files is not as good as that of VOB files (which are the basic format for DVD video). But for smaller TV screen sizes, the difference is not so noticeable. And the smaller size saves you hard disk space obviously - more movies on less space. It was more important before when large capacity hard drives were more expensive.

Hope that clears some of it up.

[yellow360f]

Thanks a lot guys. I will stick to the .iso.