Best settings for movies on macmini w/ hdtv 55 inch

[chrobrego]

Hi,

Newbie question.

I'm setting up a macmini attached to our big screen hdtv (55 inch.) I'd like to start converting our dvd collection for use on the macmini, but I'm not sure about the best format.

I thought about using the Apple TV profile, but some people on this board recommended 720x400 with a 3300 bitrate using generic.avi.xvid.audiocopy.

What do you all think?

I'd like to maintain quality at a good size.

Thanks.

[GregiBoy]

The quality is a subjective topic and you really need to test and appraise it it yourself.

The generic option seem to be the best option at the moment and on the bitrate, I am quite happy with 1100 playing the resultant files on my Samsung 52" HDTV but as I said, this is VERY subjective and try it for yourself.

Just select a couple of chapters for the test. No need to do the whole movie.

[chrobrego]

Thanks very much for your help. I appreciate it.

Do you notice any difference between 1100, 2200, etc for bit rate? I know it's a subjective topic, but I was wondering what your opinion was. Thanks.

Secondly, I get a little black bar that shows up on the far left when I don't change the aspect ratio. If I change it to 720x400 as some people have recommended, then it disappears. Can I convert all of my movies to 720x400 and have no problems?

[GregiBoy]

Well, I have been using 1100 bitrate as my base setting for some years and I a quite happy with the results on my 52" Samsung HDTV, and I have asked friends opinions over the years and they all reckon it's great.

I will say though, I have sneaked the bitrate up on a few titles that have very fast action scenes to 1500.

On the 720 x 400 topic, I always have crop turned off and 720 x 400 as the resolution. This will encode the black letterbox bars on widescreen movies but it ensures that the file will always play with the correct aspect ratio on all players.

The black bars do not add much to the file size as thete is no motion in them.

[4i2FLY]

Best settings for movies on macmini w/ hdtv 55 inch

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