ISO playback

[Karkas]

I'm currently planning my HTPC project, I've been researching for weeks and I feel almost as lost today as I did when I started.

I want to rip all my DVDs, HD-DVDs, and blue rays to .iso because I want to preserve everything from the original and keep my digital library build from turning into a full time job. (I will rip them to iso with anyDVD HD)

Does anyone know of a media player which will recognize these .iso formats and display them in a graphical interface which can be navigated with a remote control (the remote would be a luxury, so I would be willing to use a wireless mouse if absolutely necessary).

I also need a sofware solution for recording TV to my home server (either linux NAS or WHS, I haven't decided yet.)

I really want this to be so easy my kids can navigate and watch their movies at the age of 4-5 years old.

I have looked at media extenders, but it seems their support of iso playback leaves much to be desired. It seems silly to me that there isn't a simple solution to this since there are a million sofware solutions which play video_TS etc and programs like daemon tools (which I use).

Thanks in advance

[DJ Bobo]

You said it yourself, Daemon Tools. Kids learn very quickly. Just associate ISO files with Daemon Tools. That way, when you double click on them, they will mount automatically, and the DVD player will also launch automatically.
Simple as that.

[RunningSkittle]

Windows Media Center (needs a registry hack i think) and the xbox 360 support reading .iso

VLC and Mplayer support .iso as well

[QuadcoreHD]

I think VLC will only play standard DVD .ISOs however, not HD-DVD/Blu-Ray...

[RunningSkittle]

You could always save your self the hassle of .iso (and HDD space) and make a small batch file to transcode your media to a mkv, mp4 or another container. You would probably want to do this with HD media anyway.

Of course then you cant keep things like extra's and menus...

[Karkas]

You could always save your self the hassle of .iso (and HDD space) and make a small batch file to transcode your media to a mkv, mp4 or another container. You would probably want to do this with HD media anyway.

Of course then you cant keep things like extra's and menus...

Yeah, thats my problem... I started playing with muxing the stuff into mkv, but found it kind of annoying that the viewer gets no choice between stuff like commentary or subtitles.

I hear it is best to include them or you may not get some needed subtitles certain movies when they are speaking a foreign language as well as imbedded stuff like setting info. The major problem with this is many different people will watch the movies and I want them to have the choice to enable them or not (and it's a pita to add in subtitles).

You said it yourself, Daemon Tools. Kids learn very quickly. Just associate ISO files with Daemon Tools. That way, when you double click on them, they will mount automatically, and the DVD player will also launch automatically.
Simple as that.

Great suggestion, I never thought of associating an iso with daemon tools. Any suggestion of a particular OS or software solution to display the files in a way more aesthetically pleasing than a file?

Also is there a way to navigate through system files with a remote or would I have to bite the bullet and make everyone use the wireless mouse/keyboard?

Thanks for the responses guys

[RunningSkittle]

Its fairly easy to add and switch between multiple audio and subtitle tracks in matroska containers.... you just wont have a menu or multiple angles like in a dvd.

[dat720]

Yeah, thats my problem... I started playing with muxing the stuff into mkv, but found it kind of annoying that the viewer gets no choice between stuff like commentary or subtitles.

MKV indeed supports multiple audio/sub tracks, you just have to make sure you include them in the mkv during which ever process you use to create MKV's.

The only gotcha is Windows Media Centre will not be able to change audio tracks.

You could use a different windows package similar to Media Centre called Media Portal....

Or you could go one better and use MythTV and be unbound from the Windows Monster!!!

Myth will playback ISO's and MKV's with no hassles at all and support any combination of audio/sub tracks in teh MKV's

[Karkas]

MKV indeed supports multiple audio/sub tracks, you just have to make sure you include them in the mkv during which ever process you use to create MKV's.

The only gotcha is Windows Media Centre will not be able to change audio tracks.

You could use a different windows package similar to Media Centre called Media Portal....

Or you could go one better and use MythTV and be unbound from the Windows Monster!!!

Myth will playback ISO's and MKV's with no hassles at all and support any combination of audio/sub tracks in teh MKV's


Myth TV even plays back HDDVD and blu RAy ISOs?

It seems most of the software I looked into deeply can do regular ISO, but not HD ISOs.

[dat720]

Never tried it, i know for sure it does with DVD ISO's but unsure abotu blu Ray/HD, i don't have any ISO's to test with, and don't really have any time to test that right now.

Myth TV's media player uses mplayer as a back end, if mplayer can play it Myth TV can play it.