[mythtv-users] Is MythTV the right tool for the job?

[Dewey Smolka]

>   Be able to burn my DVD collection to a streaming media server.
>   Have a HTPC at my TV.
>   Have On Screen menus for selecting DVDs
>   Have the ability to schedule "broadcasting" or a playlist of shows.
>   Retain the 5.1 or greater sound capabilities.
> 

I'd look into using dvd::rip to get the films into a good format, then
MythVideo for cataloging and playing them. It's a wrapper for
transcode, and offers a lot of flexibility with output. I generally
use it with xvid to shrink the video down, but it works with lots of
codecs, or as raw DVD mpeg-2. It also allows ac3 pass-through for
keeping 5.1 sound.

Mythvideo is really useful as a browser and catalog database. You can
set the default player command in the Settings -> Mythvideo settings
menu, and you can assign a specific command for each video file
through the Video Manager.

There was a discussion here not too long ago on loading dvd isos into
the database as well.