Question: Best video format for streaming

Legacy 2nd gen Apple TV
1

Hi there,

 

as I own several DVDs and an appleTV I’d like to purchase a NAS as well and stream all the DVD on demand instead of using “old school” dvd player. Further more I have a few Bluray available too.

My question now is what the best video format would be to store the DVD/BD on my NAS in order to stream it to my atv. What is my understanding of best? Well, that’s quite simple: It should be good to handle (just one file). Metadata fetch should work and the quality should be close to the origin source.

I already considered an ISO file to be the best choice as the menu structure remains available. But I think this won’t work for BD, correct? Serveral guys mention a mkv container with h264 and mpeg4 content.

Once you could give me an advice please mention also how to achieve this (tools).

 

Cheers,

 Oliver

2

Handbrake is probably your best option. There are presets for aTV, so it’s a very simple operation to convert your source media to a format compatible with aTV. I use handbrake all the time for this.

http://handbrake.fr/

3

Thanks for the reply!

This still does not answer the question with respect to container format, ect. as this could easily be overridden as I already found a HowTo for aTV that states one should choose “high profile” preset and tune some settings…

Here are so many guys with working nas configurations - they should easily be capable of sharing their experiences…

Thanks in advance,

 Oliver

4

Hi again, sorry about that. The container and content are all presets, based on the destination (in this case: aTV). But yes, you can override these if you wish.

Since the aTV is limited to 720p it may be worth sticking with the presets. I’ve read several comments in other places (sorry, no sources) stating that in these people’s experience the presets are pretty much as good or better than their tweaked settings.

I should note that I have zero experience with a NAS.

All the best!

5

Thanks again!

I think this is not just relevant for nas users but for all guys that would like to stream content to atv…

Thanks,

 Oliver