Converting DVD's With Handbrake

I decided to compress all my dvd files for my Popcorn Hour to a smaller form factor to save space on my hard drive.  When I loaded up Handbrake it alerted me to a new version I could download.  I did, and began converting with the new program.  After doing several at the default settings, I tried playing them back on the Popcorn Hour and could not get any Dolby Digital sound!  Even if I selected it with or without a downmixed AAC stereo version, I would only get the AAC version.  So, I tested and restested, and was about to give up.  Then I googled MP4 and Dolby Digital and found out that MP4 does not natively support it.  I switched to the mkv container, like I used to use, and what do you know, it worked!  I could also include the director's commentary soundtrack and select it on the fly while playing.  Awesome!

Now, my computer is still going to be tied up for a few more days while converting....

Netflix Streaming

I finally got the opportunity to try out some Nextflix streaming.  Is it the way of the future?  Maybe.  The first thing I tried out was a widescreen standard definition show.  While I had a good quality connection, there was a lot of pixelation during scenes with a lot of motion in the picture.  Very disappointing.  Next I watched an episode of the Office, which was listed in HD, but my connection was too slow at the time for the HD.  However, this was much better, and had little pixelation, if any, but still looked softer than my Dishnetwork service.  I tried an HD movie the following day and got the full HD streaming.  This looked as good as anything I've scene on my dish.

The main problem I would complain about is surround sound.  If you really enjoy home theater, you want to have discrete surround sound like Dolby Digital.  When Netflix can provide that, streaming will be something to really get excited about.