Guidance about Lossless conversion of DVD content
 

I converted some VHS-C tapes to a DVD using a LG RC199H DVD VCR. The DVDs that are produced have the standard Video_TS and Audio_TS directories and associated .vob files.

I want to convert the DVD movie to a format that I can put on my 4TB drive that is attached to my NAS.
What is the best lossless converting format to save the movie in? (MP4?)

What are some freeware (and non-free) programs that would be good for this conversion? Prefer Windoz programs, but also have a Mac and Linux machines. A bonus would be if the conversion program would/could do some optional video enhancements, e.g. sharpening.

The resultant file size is not too much of a concern but smaller would be better since these files will be served over a network. (either a Plex or Kodi environment).
Thanks for any guidance/suggestions.
J

Well, DVD video uses a lossy codec (MPEG2), so the ship has already sailed for getting a lossless conversion of those tapes. Perhaps what you meant is that you don't want to do any further lossy conversions, which is understandable.

But that means that you will need to leave them in the MPEG2 codec. So you won't be converting the footage, you'll just be ripping it from the DVDs and putting it in a suitable container--you can use mp4 but I would suggest mkv.

Handbrake is a free, cross platform tool that will do this for you. If you do decide to further recompress to h264/h265 then Handbrake can also do that for you. https://handbrake.fr

The nice thing about Plex (probably Kodi too although I haven't personally used it) is that it will transcode the files on the fly if you need to play them on a device that doesn't have an MPEG2 decoder. However, if you're running Plex on the NAS itself then you may need to check and see whether your NAS box is capable of hardware transcoding. If not then its underpowered CPU may struggle to transcode in real time.

Edit: Also check out MakeMKV

Yes, I realize about the lossless conversion for those tapes has sailed...this is just an interrium thing.
You are correct, I dont want to do any further lossy conversions.
I have used handbrake and I thought it is a pretty good program. Some ppl have been very negative on it so I thought I'd ask for conversion programs in general. I like handbrake in that it can apply some video enhanccements.

I'll take a look at .mkv....I've run across it but don't know its strengths/weaknesses. Is this format widely supported?

Your point about Plex and transcoding is understood/appreciated. The Plex server would be standalone and not running on the NAS. At this point I am experimenting with Kodi just to get something going quickly...kind of a strange thing in that it is basically a standalone player, and not a client server architecture like Plex.
About the best I can do with Kodi is have it talk to a NAS.

Thanks - much appreciated!

Some apps in Kodi can playback DVD disc images, So just copy each disc image to HDD and let the program play the disc image, no conversion, no further loss of quality.