Video server. Why are VOB's no more than a gig? quality, game, networking, several, through

andy

I'm looking at a way of using my pc as a Video server for my entertainment center networking through an Xbox game console. Ive converted several movies to .AVI and have full remote usage through an app. called quot;XBOX Media Playerquot;. AVI works great, one click from the menu on my tv and I get straming vid from my server, but quality just isnt as good as orig. I can play .VOB files from the app. with orig. quality, but I have to select each one. I need to try merging all the VOB's into one VOB, 3+GIGs. Does anyone know of an app. that can merge the VOB files into one monster file? Has anyone out there had any luck with building a media server with a easy to use remote interface control fron TV? Why is the max size of VOBs a gig? Thanks for your help.

Originally posted by Dreadknot
Why is the max size of VOBs a gig? Thanks for your help.

Because of filesystems limitations.

Here you have various .VOB related software:
software2.htm#vobtools

ok, file system limitation... What other formats can I convert to that have better quality than gt;AVI?

The max file size is not 1GB, but is setup that way on DVDs for compatibility.  When ripping, you can set it up for no file splitting and you'll get one giant VOB.  

What other formats can I convert to that have better quality than gt;AVI?

AVI is not a format, but the container that the video and audio streams go into.  The video format is something like MPEG2, DivX, XviD, WMV9, etc etc.  The highest quality you'll get from ripping DVDs is retaining the original video/audio streams in the VOBs.  If you want to convert to an MPEG4 format, DivX5 or XviD are the best choices.  I prefer DivX, as it is pretty much block-free.  XviD has a sharper picture, but can be blockier (very annoying to me).  Go to the main page and read around about all the formats, how to convert, etc etc etc etc etc.  You'll get too much information to handle.  Also, search around the forums.  Chances are that any question you have has already been answered numerous times.  If you can't find an answer, post it and we'll try to help.

What other formats can I convert to that have better quality than gt;AVI?

Just make the bit rate heigher say 1000 / 2000 that should make the quality better , but remember that play back on a TV which by the sounds of it is what you are doing , will show more macroblocks anyway because of contrast and gamma . Also it maybe the DEcoder not giving best results, if your using a X-BOX player.
Regards Cyph