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[Humbledore]

Hi,
if I want to convert my copied DVD movies (Video_TS folders) in order to reduce the file size, MC offers a lot of options; MP4, MPEG2, H264 and son on.
Can someone please explain or guide me what option I should choose from this extensive list!
I prefer 'preserved' video/audio quality and kept aspect ratio to compressed/reduced file size.
I have read that the H.264 codec is good.
Thanks!

[paul1970]

H264 is a good codec, and if you want to re-encode your DVDs then that's a good choice. Determining what is a good bitrate is harder though and depends on a number of things, such as intended screen-size and your own subjective preferences.

Do you really need to do this? I mean, disc space is pretty cheap...If you prefer 'preserved' quality then I would avoid transcoding to reduce size as there will be an unavoidable loss of quality. Your desire to reduce size and preference for quality over compression aren't compatible.

[Humbledore]

Thanks for your answer!
The reason I thought I should decode was the size of my first movie copies: > 7 GB. (And I have a lot movies to copy...) And I thought an H.264 decoding could bring the size down with not too much of quality loss. I read it's possible to come very close to the original. Maybe that is not the fact.

[jmone]

I'd suggest that you only bother to transcode to suit the format requirements of the device you want to playback on rather than just trying to reduce the size as disk space is cheap.

[StuckMojo]

I use Makemkv. It doesn't re-encode, but you can delete Audiostreams.
-Menus and Extras

+ Really fast conversion to .mkv
+ No quality loss, because video gets extracted and not new encoded.

-Size depends on how much Audiotracks and Extras are on the Disk.

I have used it, many times. It's a very good tool.
Most times i converted a DVD wich had 7-8 Gb, resulted in a 4-6 Gb .mkv File.

And you can also rip BluRay Discs too.

As long as it's in beta status it is Freeware.

[Humbledore]

Thanks for all answers! I also came across VidCoder which also seem too be a good tool based on Handbrake. But I realize I'll wait and see if disc space rapidly shrinks...

[Humbledore]

I also wonder, isn't there any video decoding 'lossless format' (or equivalent/similar) which just eliminate 'unnecessary' data in order to get very close to the original?

[JustinChase]

I also wonder, isn't there any video decoding 'lossless format' (or equivalent/similar) which just eliminate 'unnecessary' data in order to get very close to the original?

yes

I use Makemkv. It doesn't re-encode, but you can delete Audiostreams.
-Menus and Extras

+ Really fast conversion to .mkv
+ No quality loss, because video gets extracted and not new encoded.

-Size depends on how much Audiotracks and Extras are on the Disk.

I have used it, many times. It's a very good tool.
Most times i converted a DVD wich had 7-8 Gb, resulted in a 4-6 Gb .mkv File.

And you can also rip BluRay Discs too.

As long as it's in beta status it is Freeware.

...

[mojave]

I also recommend MakeMKV. Just like JRiver, MakeMKV takes some configuration to decode DTS-HD.

[Chico]

I use Magic DVD and Blue-ray.  Not free, but will allow you to copy the movie only, or rip to a different format.
As mentioned before, MC will copy the whole disc where Magic only copies the movie.  Just copying the movie substantially cuts on the space used.  The downside is that you don't get any of the extra's that come with the movie (not always a bad thing).

[Humbledore]

Thanks for your answers!