# Is there any standalone device that can play IFOs, VOBs, BlueRay ripped from a HD?



## oposky2006 (Jan 4, 2010)

Greetings: 

I would like to backup all my DVDs and BlueRay collection onto several HD. Is there any standalone device that: 
- Can hook directly into either my Denon AVR-4806 or Plasma TV TH-50PX77U HDMI port. 
- Has DTS support 
- Has a swappable or interchangeable HD (500GB and beyond) capability. 
- Allows to play the IFOs, VOBs and eventually BlueRay ripped format if needs be. 

Thanks in advance for your time and help


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## wbassett (Feb 8, 2007)

The Popcorn Hour (around $300) or ASUS O!Play ($99) can both do what you are looking for.


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## Ashmanuk (Sep 14, 2007)

You must checkout the Xtreamer media client i think it is a wow bit of kit...

http://www.xtreamer.net/xtreamer/overview.aspx

It's more file based than fancy GUI but still looks nice though 

hope this helps


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## rizzi_nyc (Mar 12, 2010)

Can somebody explain to me the advantages/disadvantages to backing up Blu-Ray movies to ISO versus a file structure on the hard drive? From what I've been seeing, most people recommend the ISO route, which also includes "mounting" on a virtual drive. I'm starting to understand this process but my biggest question is why do the ISO versus ripping to files? For my DVD's, I've always backed up to VOB files. This has worked seamlessly with my Windows Media Player and MyMovies add-on. Before I start diving into my Blu Ray collection back-up, I want to make sure of the best way to do this, i.e., most flexible down the road, so any input would be appreciated!


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## MrBachelor (Jun 25, 2009)

If your hard drive can handle the volume go with ISO. It is a perfect image of the disk. I have started backing up my collection... more for ease of access than backup. I've been using a HTPC in lieu of a dvd player for over a year.

When you say "ripping to a file structure" what are you referring to? VOB files? I would rather get the whole disk than sort through the VOBs. Guess it was easier for me to mount them than sort out what I wanted while ripping.

I haven't started using MyMovies but have been looking into it. Need some way to add meta-data to ISOs, looks promising. Does MyMovies allow you to mount ISOs through WMC? That would be awesome.... sorry to divert from the topic.


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## rizzi_nyc (Mar 12, 2010)

Yes, when I said ripping to a file structure, I meant to Vob files in the case of my dvds; and .m2ts in the case of blu ray. I agree with you that it seems more efficient to simply have one file, but I was more concerned about the seemingly "work-around" that was needed to do this, aka, the virtual drive. I'm not crazy about installing another software program...I like the way the dvd system works by having a media player simply play the native vob files. But the more I'm reading about the ISO, the more I'm getting comfortable.

Regarding MyMovies, they do appear to support ISOs. See below for an excerpt from their site...

"Besides playback of all media files supported by Media Center, My Movies also lets you play back DVD, HD-DVD or Blu-ray titles stored as ISO images.

This feature requires installation of SlySoft Virtual CloneDrive, which My Movies uses to mount the ISO images. When playing back a title stored as an ISO image, My Movies will mount the file via. the ISO mounter software, and Media Center's autoplay feature will pick up the disc insert, just as if you inserted a disc into a drive.

Notice! We recommend using VIDEO_TS folder structures for DVD's, as these by their direct file access gives several options that ISO files does not. For Blu-ray and HD-DVD it is recommended to use ISO files."

Btw, I think the last paragraph is interesting...that's kind of my point. Not sure why you would treat the back-up of DVDs different than Blu Ray. But it is what it is I guess.

One more question, with the ISO process, it sounds like you assign a drive to each ISO? So what happens when you have 50 Iso on your drive? Do you have to replace one of the previously assigned iso's/drive letter with a new one? That kind of defeats the purpose of building a catalog of your movies on your hard drive. Let me know your thoughts.


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## Harpmaker (Oct 28, 2007)

The reason I rip to ISO files is it gives me the complete DVD in a single file on the PC so I can have one file per DVD instead of one folder per DVD with other methods.

I too hated using Virtual drives to mount ISO's, but my player of choice, VLC, will read ISO files directly from a hard drive. 

All this is for regular DVD's, I don't know about BR.


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## perritterd (Mar 11, 2010)

*ISO Backups-Dual layer?*

If you do an "ISO" backup of a BD, do you need a dual layer burner DVD player for the computer (sorry if this isn't the correct terminology) to do the read for the backup to a hard drive? 

Thanks, 
Bob.


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## rizzi_nyc (Mar 12, 2010)

Harpmaker said:


> The reason I rip to ISO files is it gives me the complete DVD in a single file on the PC so I can have one file per DVD instead of one folder per DVD with other methods.
> 
> I too hated using Virtual drives to mount ISO's, but my player of choice, VLC, will read ISO files directly from a hard drive.
> 
> All this is for regular DVD's, I don't know about BR.


I can definitely see the benefit of having one file but before I started looking into backing up BR, I didn't even know it existed. It seems a bit more universally used in BR. In any case, I'm sold.

Regarding the VLC, I did install that and you're right, it does work with ISO, including BR. The only issue I have is I use MyMovies to manage my movie collection and it doesn't seem to work without using a Virtual Drive. I assume you are not as interested in "cataloging" your movies and playing straight from that software versus simply playing out of VLC? At the end of the day, my biggest objective is simply functionality and if VLC is the best way to playback a movie, I'd be fine going that route, and not worrying about integrating into MyMovies (or some other similar program).


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## rizzi_nyc (Mar 12, 2010)

*Re: ISO Backups-Dual layer?*



perritterd said:


> If you do an "ISO" backup of a BD, do you need a dual layer burner DVD player for the computer (sorry if this isn't the correct terminology) to do the read for the backup to a hard drive?
> 
> Thanks,
> Bob.


I don't think that you do but I could be wrong.


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## MrBachelor (Jun 25, 2009)

*Re: ISO Backups-Dual layer?*



perritterd said:


> If you do an "ISO" backup of a BD, do you need a dual layer burner DVD player for the computer (sorry if this isn't the correct terminology) to do the read for the backup to a hard drive?


I do not own any BD at this time but logic indicates that in order to create the ISO you have to have a BluRay reader. No burner is necessary, just the BD reader and software to play the disk.



> I too hated using Virtual drives to mount ISO's, but my player of choice, VLC, will read ISO files directly from a hard drive.


On another note.... I should have known VLC played ISOs. It plays everything else I have thrown at it even MKV. Did not realize it played them though. I've been mounting them with Magic ISO.



> One more question, with the ISO process, it sounds like you assign a drive to each ISO? So what happens when you have 50 Iso on your drive? Do you have to replace one of the previously assigned iso's/drive letter with a new one? That kind of defeats the purpose of building a catalog of your movies on your hard drive. Let me know your thoughts.


I'm not certain how MyMovies mounts the files but there is no need to keep more than one ISO mounted at a time. Just because you have 50 (or 500) back up ISOs doesn't mean you need to mount them at boot time. Just when you want to play one.

Now if I could just get time to get my collection backed up to disk I'd be happy. :bigsmile:


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## Harpmaker (Oct 28, 2007)

rizzi_nyc said:


> Regarding the VLC, I did install that and you're right, it does work with ISO, including BR. The only issue I have is I use MyMovies to manage my movie collection and it doesn't seem to work without using a Virtual Drive. I assume you are not as interested in "cataloging" your movies and playing straight from that software versus simply playing out of VLC?


Nope, I'm not too much into cataloging my videos yet. I tried it a couple of years ago, but then lost interest for some unremembered reason. :dontknow:

I would take a close look at MovieManagerPro, it was the cataloging program that I tried that impressed me the most. They have a totally free version (old) and a trial version of the current version. The paid version is now $28.95. I remember the author as being quite responsive to user needs and feed-back, but only for the paid version, which I understand. The cataloged ISO's will play back with VLC directly from within MMP.


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## rizzi_nyc (Mar 12, 2010)

Harpmaker said:


> I too hated using Virtual drives to mount ISO's, but my player of choice, VLC, will read ISO files directly from a hard drive.
> 
> All this is for regular DVD's, I don't know about BR.


Looks like I misspoke. VLC doesn't seem to work with BR ISOs. It was the .mt2s that I had tried. When I went to play a ISO last night via VLC, it didn't work. So it appears that I will need to go the mounting route, or stick with the native .mt2s files. I'm leaning towards ISO, as that appears to be what most people are doing.


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Virtual Mounting is the right way to go. It will probably be less effort when all is said and done.


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## Will5757 (Mar 23, 2010)

i believe that many people use iso's as a way to preserve the true hd and dts ma audio tracks as well (there is a way to convert the audio to flac, but it's more difficult them simply creating a iso)


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## Grumpy (Apr 23, 2010)

Ok I'm no expert. I have tried and used a couple of different extenders and have settled on HTPC's because they can play anything when there is a compatable player or codec installed on it. That being said I've gone to the simplist path (kiss) to accomplish my needs. I rip everything to folders (ISO's are just extra overhead because you'll need a app to mount and play them from). I was ripping with ClownBD or MakeMKV (again MKV's add to the overhead). That worked great but, I found that I wanted all the extras that were on the disk so I stopped doing that. In the folder rip you still get the whole disk (1:1) and lose nothing. All the audio tracks are there and are selectable. Plus, if you need to you can always convert to a ISO later and burn a backup disk. I do the same thing with my music collection. 
All this just means. . . do what is comfortable for you and don't be afraid to try something new or different.


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## iponk1322 (Jun 14, 2008)

I use the PopCorn Hour A-200 in my system. This NMT can read ISO files from DVD-backup and also folders with a VIDEO_TS folder containing IFO files .. I have not tried ISO files from BD-backup, but according to the spec and the experience of others, this NMT can read it too.
With 'Oversight', a Video JukeBox application, I can see all of my movies collection with DVD/BluRay cover thumbnail which is neatly arranged.


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