MKV and the home video library
MKV (Matroska) became the favourite format for DVD backups and TV recordings in home media libraries. Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Kodi and VLC all handle it well, and most smart TVs and media boxes play MKV from a USB drive or the home network. If you keep a collection of family DVDs or TV recordings, converting MPEG to MKV gives you files that media servers index properly, with correct length and fast seeking.
Why not keep the MPEG files?
- Size. MPEG-2 files are large. Modern codecs in MKV need far less space for the same picture, so a shelf of DVDs fits on a much smaller drive.
- Seeking and length. Raw .vob and .ts files often show a wrong duration or jump badly, because they were made for disc players and broadcast, not for files.
- Transcoding load. Many TVs and phones cannot decode MPEG-2, so a media server must convert it on the fly every time. A modern MKV usually plays directly.
What the converter does
The MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video is decoded by the built-in converter engine and encoded with a modern codec, and the sound is converted to a widely supported audio codec. This runs in your browser, on your computer, and DVD content of an hour or more takes some time. Files that already hold modern codecs, such as many .ts recordings from HD TV with H.264, can be moved into MKV without re-encoding, which is fast and lossless.
Working with DVDs
Copy the VOB files from the VIDEO_TS folder of the disc. The film is usually split into VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB and so on, each up to 1 GB; the small VTS_01_0.VOB often holds only the menu. Convert the numbered parts and join them afterwards if you want one file. Commercial DVDs are encrypted and cannot be converted here.
Keep the original resolution and frame rate for the most faithful copy. MKV does not play in QuickTime or on iPhone; for Apple devices use MPEG to MP4. After converting, you can trim or crop in the MKV Editor, and convert back with MKV to MPEG.