MakeMKV video playback issue

[Night457]

Sometimes I have VideoTS folders or DVD ISOs and I convert them to MKV format with MakeMKV. This is because I can play MKVs on my BluRay Player > TV setup.

The DVD files play back decently on my computer and also fast-forward or rewind without issue. But sometimes fast-forwarding or rewinding though the MKV makes a mess of unviewable digital blocks. I have to guess if I fast-moved to the correct spot.

If MakeMKV makes a 1:1 copy, why this difference in playback? Is there a better way of making a 1:1 copy so that the MKV result is not worse in the playback ability? I still am trying to avoid the several hours involved in recoding the disk using Handbrake, XMediaRecode or the like.

[Sue04]

Although MKV is convenient, I prefer the ISO file, which is a real 1:1 copy with all menus, programs, etc.

[Night457]

I understand those who want the whole package for sure. I just have DVD burnout. I used to dutifully go through every single special feature on a DVD. I would watch all the trailers, read all the onscreen essays, frame-advance every still image. Thank goodness I did not have the money for laserdiscs when they were a thing.

Now I want to narrow things down to ONLY what I want to view. Sometimes there are bonus videos that I will want to see, although probably not more than once. Mostly I just want the movie and that is all. Hollywood studios ruined the DVD experience by consistently putting automatic trailer playback before the menu came up, and the worst of them made it so that those trailers could not be skipped. If I watch a movie ten times, then I absolutely do NOT want to see the same 6 trailers 10 times over when all of those movies are garbage. Unrelated trailers on DVDs have aged terribly. Now I do not even want to see a DVD menu more than once, particularly if it is animated. The very first DVDs did not even have menus, they just auto-played the only item on the disk: the movie. A good remote control with Audio and Subtitle buttons is all I need.

Admittedly I only make 1:1 MKV copies because it is so much faster than recoding a disk as a rip. When a movie has not made it to HD, I will prefer the unaltered DVD to a poor quality rip any day.

My current bugbear is BluRay rips with long and loud musical movie studio opening logos. I will trim the BluRay rip in order to remove them. I particularly hate StudioCanal and the modern Universal Studios theme songs. When they have the new Universal opening plastered on an old Universal movie from the 1940s I am downright offended.

[Sue04]

This is all valid point of view. For different things, everyone may like different parts.
It's just that when you have a whole package, it's very easy to pick out the part from it.
But if you only have a part, it can be difficult when you try to find more complete parts.
For DVD players, you may not be able to skip some parts.
But with ISO file and software players, it's always easy for you to jump to any part.
The easiest way is to mount the ISO image and then play the largest file with any player.
You could make lossy or lossless MKV or other formats through ISO files.
But you can hardly do the opposite. Like what you said:

Sometimes the BluRay Menu explains what the additional content is, but my slew of generated .mkv's can be bewildering.

[Night457]

It's just that when you have a whole package, it's very easy to pick out the part from it.

Yes! People share the whole disk for the reasons you say, and then I take the parts that I want from it. I have shared a few entire disks myself, but most of my disk collection has already been shared by other people with identical copies.

But with ISO file and software players, it's always easy for you to jump to any part.

On my old computer it used to take a few minutes for an ISO to mount and play. My newer computer does not take that long thankfully! Still, once I know what I want to keep, an MKV of just the movie plays faster than an ISO and sometimes takes less space. It is also easier to play an external subtitle file with an MKV, because it is automatic if it is named the same.

I used to save original ISOs / VideoTS folders I had downloaded along with the parts that I wanted to keep just to playback for myself. With the demand for the originals disappearing along with my drive space, I delete the items that are no longer of any value to me.

ME: Sometimes the BluRay Menu explains what the additional content is, but my slew of generated .mkv's can be bewildering.

Of course if I can read the menu once, then I can easily rename the generic MKVs that I decide to keep if there is anything other than the movie!

[Sue04]

Yes, it is very good practice for you to carefully select and make MKVs if you plan to watch some parts over and over again later.
A lot of times I'm just not sure I'll re-watch it later, or different needs that may arise, so I mostly just keep the ISO, it may be slightly less convenient and a little bigger, but once I somehow need it I don't regret that I didn't keep the original material.

[Night457]

That is absolutely logical! It is easier to keep something than to try and download it again later if you decide to watch it again.

Myself, I have no problem deciding what I might or definitely will not watch again. Most movies are "mights" although in practice it usually turns out to be "never". Bonus features are easier to decide for me, because most of them I can barely manage a single viewing. Laurent Bouzereau's brilliant feature-length behind-the-scenes documentaries are the rare exception in the world of bonus features. Most other mere featurettes are either flashy and shallow puff pieces or excruciatingly dull unedited interviews. Laurent's editing would keep the pace and the focus. I do not know if his more recent work has maintained the standard set in the laserdisc/early DVD days.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0100522/

Back to my original thread question, I am thinking that there is something about the MPEG-2 (DVD) codec that plays more efficiently containered in a DVD than in an MKV. Darned if I can figure out why.

[Sue04]

It doesn't necessarily have to do with MKV, which is just a catch-all container, the most likely issue is codec and player compatibility and optimization.

[Night457]

Which still leaves me confused. I play VideoTS folders or ISO with VLC, which I also use for MKVs. The same MPEG-2 codec material plays back differently in the different containers.

If my BluRay player with hard drive attached played ISOs or Video TS folders then I never would have noticed this in the first place. It plays MKVs so that is what I use. I exclusively watch movies on my TV and not on my laptop.