Video Conversion Questions...

I did a pretty thorough search and couldnt find the specifics I was looking for. I have a ton of Bluray rips on my iMac. 100% of them came from Netflix blurays that I ripped with MakeMKV then converted to m4v with Handbrake (h.264 full 1080p) to help conserve space. The m4v files look absolutely perfect. I stream them to my Mini connected to my HDTV no problems.
This solution has been working perfectly for me until my wife mentioned wanting to watch movies upstairs where I dont have a media renderer like the Mini or a PS3.
So I searched online and found the Iomega ScreenPlay Plus HD Media Player. The concept seems nice, it claims to support a bunch of formats up to 720p/1080i. MPEG-1, -2, -4, DivX, Xvid.
In comes my issue. I dropped a bunch of my bluray rips on there and none of them played. I remembered that the box said 720p or 1080i so I converted a couple to 720p h.264 but they still didnt work. So I tried to convert one with the MPEG video encoder, the file plays but it looks hideous! Am I doing something wrong here? I tried multiple settings with the mpeg encoder and they all look like crap. I mean no where even close to HD.
Can anyone tell me if my issue is with the MPEG encoder or am I just missing a setting that should clean these up? Anyone have any recommended settings for something like this?

Thanks in advance for the assistance!

 

How is ripping MKVs an obsession with possession? It's a file on my computer. If anything, I thought I was being economical.
With that said, I already realize the iomega doesn't accept h264, that's kinda the point of the post. I am trying to convert the m4v files using the mpeg encoder and it looks like garbage. I was simply looking for some people more familiar with that specific encoder than myself. I appreciate the bitrate recommendation though. I'll have to check that out.

Ripping blurays isn't a problem at all. I put them in a drive, they rip. Done. My issue is when I want to share the media with someone else or render it on a different piece of equipment.
Personally, my wife and I don't watch movies consistently so sitting on a netflix rental felt silly to me. I started ripping them and the rest is history. I no longer buy physical media, but that is a personal preference. I don't have to sift through 100+ cases, I can't just fire up plex and away we go.
I appreciate your feedback though.

 

Wow. I honestly didn't realize I was going to offend so many people with my question. It's obvious I am a horrible person who doesn't even deserve a polite response let alone an attempt at some help. I must be the only person who rips movies these days.
Thanks anyway guys. I ended up figuring it out on my own. It just took me a couple of days of doing some additional research. I probably shouldve done that originally. Next time I'll think twice before posting.

 

-DH, Ive never met you man, I would never throw insults in your direction for some trivial sh*t like this. I find it hard to believe that you feel better about yourself now that you have called me a dimwit. I know I do!

I have to admit ignorance here though... I was under the impression that backing up these movies to a file was considered legal and that any DISTRIBUTION of those files (torrent or likewise) was the illegal act. Either way, I pay for my netflix subscription fee and have bought plenty of movies in the past (if I feel they are worth it, I shoudnt have said 100% are netflix rips, I have a media cabinet with about 100 DvDs and 30 BDs that I have purchased and never watched again) so I consider this the same as someone who makes physical copies of rentals. Not to mention that 8 out of 10 end up in the trash bin anyway!

I also have paid decent money to the third party developers that create and maintain some of these tools, like MakeMKV.

With all that said, if my actions are in fact illegal then so be it. I didnt expect an overwhelming outcry to have me imprisoned for those actions. Especially not from the MacRumors forum police.

I didnt want a debate on copy protection, I was simply asking for suggestions on using the mpeg encoder in Handbrake... not for a lecture on morality. Ive been a contributing member of these forums for quite a while now, I think this is the first time a post of mine has been greeted with such ignorance. Like I said, I apologize to anyone I offended.

By the way, to anyone that finds this thread that actually wants information about the topic posted, I ended up getting perfect pic quality with the ffmpeg encoder in Handbrake by setting the Constant Quality to a QP of 1.

 

As I said, I didnt realize it was still considered illegal if Im just retaining the copies and not distributing them. Not a huge deal. Also, as I said, I wasnt posting for help obtaining the copy, just with ffmpeg encoder.

I shouldve worded the original post better and this couldve all been avoided. Like so...
Hey guys, I own a ton of movies and Im making backups of them all but I cant seem to get the ffmpeg encoder in Handbrake to output anything watchable. Any ideas?

Anyway, I dont see the need to continue with this thread since it has definitely strayed away from the original question/topic. If I crossed the line with my question, I would understand if the mods banned me.

 

Well, one drawback to ATV is the 720p limitation. So for you, you would need MakeMKV to ummm... make the MKV LOL. Then import that MKV into Handbrake and use the ATV preset to scale it down to 720p. MakeMKV is something like 50 bucks I think.

Keebler, I completely understand their feedback, albeit I think they could've used a little more tact in delivering said feedback.

As I said, I didnt realize it was stealing. Call me uninformed, or I guess dimwitted I subscribe to Netflix, last I checked, that is a pay service. Im sure some of that cost gets returned to the entertainment industry. Whether I watch the movie the day it's delivered, or rip to watch later, I didnt think that was illegal. I honestly didnt. I thought the only time it became illegal was if I started to sell them to make a profit or serve them up in torrent form. After you guys jumped down my throat I wiki'd the topic and see the legality lies within the ownership of the DVD. I can make backups of movies Ive paid for. It doesnt implicitly said I cant rip rented, but I guess thats a grey area.

With all that said, the whole "taking food out of your mouth" is a bit of a stretch. The entertainment industry is the only one that can get away with the "NO RETURNS!" policy. If I buy an electronic device and it sucks, I can return it. If I order food and it sucks, I can return it. Hell, Ive returned iPhones for trivial complaints and Apple kindly gave me new ones. However, if I drop $20-30 on a Bluray and it sucks, Im stuck with crap. Yes, I can resell it at a marginal loss, but no returns.

I have a ton of DVDs and Blurays I've felt compelled to purchase because they were good. I know I know... that doesnt make it right, Im just sayin.