Encode DVD video to Blu-ray compliant H.264 with MeGUI

Even though Blu-ray is primarily used for HD video and audio, it also supports the standard resolutions used on DVDs as well. This guide will show you how to use the x264 MPEG-4 video encoder to create Blu-ray compliant video files from DVD sources.

Why use Blu-ray for SD video

You might be wondering why anyone would waste his time putting standard definition video on a Blu-ray disc. In fact there are some excellent reasons you may not have considered. Most people still have plenty of DVDs they haven't, and possibly won't, replace with Blu-ray versions. Although you can make high quality copies of these discs using programs like DVD Rebuilder, there are limits to how much you can shrink a DVD before there is noticeable quality loss.

Blu-ray, on the other hand, offers much more compression with little or no visible quality loss. It's also possible to make BDMV discs, the standard Blu-ray movie format, with standard recordable DVDs. Combine those two facts and suddenly Blu-ray may be an attractive option for backing up DVDs. This is especially true if you have a lot of TV series discs and would like to condense them to fewer discs. With a little work, a single 4.3GB BD-5 (a Blu-ray compilation on DVD media) can sometimes be used to back up two dual layer (8.5GB) DVDs.

Software used in this guide

	MeGUI
	AviSynth

Configuring MeGUI

Before you start using MeGUI you will need to make sure you have AviSynth installed. Once that's completed run MeGUI. You will see the following message.

For now you will answer No so you can adjust the Autoupdate settings.

Start by selecting Settings from the Options menu

In the Options dialog you will need to go to the Extra Config tab. AutoUpdate settings will be on the right side. Make sure AutoUpdate is checked and set it to use the development update server. Then close the Settings window and go back to the Options menu to run the Update manually.

During the update process, MeGUI will give an error downloading the Nero AAC encoder. This is normal and not important for us now. You can uncheck it in the Update window or just ignore it.