DVD rip for a personal media library (Handbrake-style). H.264 at CRF 21 for high quality from SD/DVD sources, AC-3 passthrough to preserve the original Dolby Digital 5.1 track, MKV for chapter and subtitle support.
| Video Codec | H.264 |
| CRF | 21 |
| Resolution | 1080p |
| Audio | AC-3 |
| Container | MKV |
ffmpeg -i input.iso -c:v libx264 -crf 21 -c:a ac3 -b:a 448k output.mkvAC-3 passthrough (stream copy) preserves the original DVD audio bit-for-bit. Re-encoding AC-3 to AAC for "space savings" only saves ~100 MB per movie but permanently loses the 5.1 surround mix — a bad tradeoff for archivists.
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