DVD Ripper DVD to Ipad which video encoding?

[cslater]

I'm in the process of converting some of my own DVD's to Ipad format. These are older, performing arts DVD's, not HD. I'm following the recommended two-step method, i.e. first convert from DVD to hard drive, then convert from that file to Ipad format.
I'd like to get a pretty good video image. I'm using two-pass converting. One of the options under Video Frame H264 is Fixed Bitrate, controlled by a slider, which by default is way over to the left. Is there any recommended value for this; is there any down side in moving this far to the right.
Also, bits/pixel. Should I always make this the highest possible, for the aspect ratio of the source?
Thanks much.

[signals]

Keep the bits/pixel around 0.2 or higher using the bitrate slider. Choose the output size to match the devices you will be using for playback. For the iPad, 7xxX4xx should be fine. DVDFab will normally suggest several sizes with the proper aspect ratio. For the type of content you are converting, one-pass should look fine and will process much faster.

[cslater]

thank you for your reply. I actually set it quite a bit higher using the slider, around 1.9 or 2.0 bits/pixel. is there any problem if it's high, like that?
The encoded files play fine on my PC, using either Itunes or Quicktime. However, when transferred to the Ipad, they don't play properly. After a minute or so of playing, the screen becomes badly pixellated and the sound drops; then it may come back after another minute or so.
The converted files are around 2 GB each for a 30-minutes video.
If you have any idea why the eventual results would be so poor, I would appreciate it. As noted, the .m4v files play absolutely fine on my PC. When they do play, they look beautiful on the Ipad.

[signals]

The bitrate is too high. Try some short conversions at 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 bits/pixel and see if you can tell enough difference to make the extra size and encoding time worthwhile. You are encoding the files at a higher bitrate than the original DVDs, using much more efficient compression (h264) so it should not be necessary.

[cslater]

Thank you. I'll lower the bitrate, which will certainly lower the file size. Maybe it will play more smoothly on the Ipad.