Which is better for Blu-ray ripping, MKV or Blu-ray ISO? This is one confused question to many beginners that are about to start Blu-ray ripping. What’s the advantage of MKV compared to .iso? Compare MKV with ISO by yourself:

MKV vs. Blu-ray ISO: menu and features
Creating Blu-ray ISO from Blu-ray lets you keep everything of the original Blu-ray Disc, including special features, all the audio tracks and subtitles as well as menu. While ripping Blu-ray to MKV you get main movies only- neither menu nor special features will be retained.

MKV vs. Blu-ray ISO: file size and storage
While Blu-ray ISO keeps “everything original”, it results in HUGE file size- in specific, 20-25GB for a single layer Blu-ray disc and 40-50GB for double layer one. If you determined to have backup Blu-ray in ISO format, get a mass storage device first. A 2TB external hard drive would be good to hold 50-100 movies. Own hundreds of Blu-ray collections? Well, better go with MKV in that case. When you shrink a Blu-ray to MKV file, the file size is all up to you. People are saying that when downsizing a Blu-ray to MKV of 8-10GB the quality degradation is unnoticeable. Is that true? Why not get a Blu-ray Ripper to test it by yourself?

MKV vs. Blu-ray ISO: streaming
Don’t blame your WD TV Live Hub for not streaming ISO, since not any DLNA/UPnP server actually streams .iso files. An .iso file is a disk image. You can play it on computer, but don’t expect to stream it- it’s not a streaming media format. Plan to stream Blu-ray rips to HDTV or PS3? Better rip Blu-ray to MKV or AVI.

Why choose Blu-ray ISO over MKV
People choose ISO for Blu-ray backup because it keeps “everything original” of the Blu-ray movie.

Why choose MKV over Blu-ray ISO
Those who wanna backup Blu-ray to media center/server for streaming and organization find MKV the best way for the process of Blu-ray ripping. MKV lets you control the output file size, video quality, and which subtitles and audio tracks to keep.

The best Blu-ray to ISO ripper: Slysoft AnyDVD HD

The best Blu-ray to MKV ripper: Pavtube ByteCopy