Containers and encoding re: Netgear EVA8000

[gdaymate]

I have a Netgear EVA 8000 which supports:
Container Formats: AVI, DivX, Xvid WMV, MOV, M4V, VOB, MPG, MP1, MP2, MP4, ISO, IFO, MKV, TS, M2TS
Video CODECs: MP1/2/4, Xvid, VC-1/WMV-9, H.264, FLV, OpenDivX all to 1080p
Tag Formats: ID3 v1, ID3 v2, WMA, WMV, AVI, DivX, Xvid, FLAC, EXIF, MOV, M4A, M4P, M4V

I want to use it's tagging tool, so have to choose one of the tagging formats to encode a ripped DVD in. However I want to preserve DVD menus, so need to use ISO, IFO formats, and I think VOB, which do this.

So I'm confused about the difference between encoding formats and/or container, and selecting the best combination of these.

Also,can't find the key for BluRay DVD 'Across the Universe".

[dat720]

There is no best container format, the most common would be XVID/DIVX + AC3/MP3 in a AVI container, as HD content becomes more popular H264 + AC3/DTS in a MKV container is becoming the norm, but by far the most popular is AVI.

To preserve DVD menu's your only option is to dump the whole dvd and maybe strip unwanted streams, and or transcode to a lower bitrate using software like DVD Shrink, it's all been covered here numerous times, have a read do some research!