Blu-ray to appleTV 3 workflow

[mazuma]

I know there a lot of threads on this subject, but the information seems to be fairly fragmented depending on the final output device the media will be play on. I am considering converting my disc blu-ray collection to a format that will play on my appleTV 3. Good idea or bad?

My current planned workflow is
Blu-ray disc -> MakeMKV -> Handbrake -> appleTV 3

From what I've been able to piece together is that.

1. appleTV 3 will only play m4v files and not mkv? mkv is for a HTPC or similar setup?
2. appleTV (or any mac) won't natively play DTS-HD passthru? So, I'll need to either not include this or include a second track? Which one? AC3 or AAC?

I wen through the process on one disc and ended up with a file that has no sound if I try to play it though quicktime on my mac. I only selected the DTS-HD passthru though. VLC will play the mkv file with no problem, but doesn't play the m4v file? Not sure why. Really doesn't matter though because that is not my end game.

Side note. At one point I tried mac mini HTPC with Plex, but it seemed like Plex never really would just work. Seemed like a lot of software restarts to get things running. Ultimately I tapped out and went the apple TV route with my dvd collection and has worked near flawless. Now I'd like to repeat that with my blu-ray discs.

Thanks for any help.