Going to get a Blu ray player, handbrake question ...

[bergmef]

I have an apple tv and a mini hooked to my tv. I'm getting a Blu ray player and want to use handbrake. My question is this: Would you guys rip to what the apple tv can currently handle (apple tv preset) or to what you hope the next one can handle? I can play the higher rates on the mini for now, but if it takes a while for apple to change hardware, I might have a decent size collection to completely redo at that time. Just wanted to hear some opinions on the matter.

Thanks.

 

[tommylotto]

So far, I am encoding for the current AppleTV. However, I am keeping the full resolution MKV file to watch in Plex and for easy access should I want to re-encode. However, that process filled up a 1TB drive rather fast.

 

[bergmef]

Is mkv the format on the disc? Do you use mkv tools to pull it off? Never played with a Blu ray player before.

 

[tommylotto]

Handbrake cannot handle BluRay disks. You must first rip your BluRay with a program called "Make MKV" which will make an MKV file from your BluRay disk. The MKV file will be full resolution and full quality but about 20 gigs in size. Then you can use handbrake on the resulting MKV file. You can read about this process on other threads here and elsewhere.

 

[tbayrgs]

I have the same dilemma and decided to encode for the TV after testing out the difference on my mini. While 1080p certainly looks great, I don't have the storage to save 20-30 GB files for each 1080p .mkv file, and don't have the patience to wait for my poor mini to encode a full HD file in Handbrake (16-18 hrs). I'll probably encode some of my favorites in 1080p but otherwise am more than happy with the results from TV specs but as always YMMV. And with the uncertainty surrounding the TV itself, waiting/hoping for a unit that will became everything we hope it will be could be a nothing but a pipe dream.