DVD Ripper Universal Format?

[gangrene]

Hey guys,

I have looked around extensively, and done a lot of testing myself, but I may have missed something basic, so if you have links to other threads, please let me know.

Basically, in my house I have many Xbox 360's, PS3's, PSP's iPhones, iPod Touches, an iPad, and of course, a bunch of PCs with XP (mostly) and a few running Windows 7.

I would like to rip my DVDs to a format that can be streamed to _all of these devices_ (I currently use Twonky, but am open to suggestions.) I have tried different variations of the generics, and most of the standard settings for the profiles.

The only thing I have found that runs on them all was an M4V I made with something else. DVDFab crushes the competition for speed and simplicity, so I really want to use it.

What I can't seem to find is a way to make an M4V.

Anyway, if you have any advice, lay it on me!

Thanks!

[AGJ]

Try the Ipad, ipod and mp4 with h.264 as some of them have the mp4v you looking for but not sure which one it is you need

[ChillyK]

Universal Format

>>Xbox 360's, PS3's, PSP's iPhones, iPod Touches, an iPad, and of course, a bunch of PCs...

Ah, not so fast. If you don't have an Apple TV, then I would skip M4V. All of the Apple iOS devices you have will playback MP4 videos just fine, assuming you live within the specs (bitrate, framerate, et al. - see Apple's spec pages for their devices).

M4V and it's special requirements are useful if you have an Apple TV and you want a single video that seamlessly handles Dolby AC-3, as well as 2-channel stereo for iPod/iPad/iPhone, and can also correctly handle both SD and HD versions as a single listing in iTunes.

If you don't care about discrete surround sound, my advice to you is to encode as MP4, h.264, 1500 kbps video, 720 by 480 pixels (anamorphic), 2-channel stereo with Dolby Pro Logic II at 160 kbps AAC.

Trust me, the video described above will play on *everything* - I have everything you describe, except for an XBox, but your iPod, iPhone, PS3, PSP and, of course, your Windows PCs will playback that file and will look pretty darned good doing it - even if you connect any of the above to a television screen.

If you care about discrete surround sound (i.e. Dolby AC-3 pass-thru), you are in for a learning curve - especially with a PS3 and Apple iOS devices.

Good Luck!

[gangrene]

Thanks for your responses!

AGJ: I have been unable to find a profile that makes an M4V. I searched the XML in the profile definitions, and the only thing that has M4V in it is one of the PSP profiles, that specifies that the file name must _start_ with M4V, but have adifferent extension altogether.

ChillyK: I took your advice and set up a rip as you suggested. It worked fine on everything _except_ the PS3. On the PS3 it just shows a black screen when I attempt to play it. No error message, just nothing.

Here are the settings I specified:
Video Format - h264
Fixed Bitrate - 1500 kbps
Frame Resolution - 720 x 480 (I had to add this manually, as it is not a native option)
Audio Format - aac
Bitrate - 160 kbps
Channel - Dolby ProLogic II

[billbell52]

I played with mp4 a while back. There are several mp4 encoders (basic, High etc...). The one profile that worked on all my devices was the NookColor profile I posted. Some of the advanced encoders showed as black screens.