[brazen1]

Dear Fellow Kodi users, I am new here so please bear with me as I feel some of you are well placed to answer my question.

I am thinking of digitising all my "Original" blu ray movies, 1080p and 4K HDR. I want to generate 1:1 copies so that they are identical to the original without any compromise. I like the MKV container because it is open source and flexible - Has anyone achieved this ?

Secondly, I just want a simple way to access all my movies through an on-screen menu where all the movie covers are shown and can be catagorised e.g. Action, Drama, Comedy etc.

A very nice and friendly member of the KODI development team (Fritsch) has told me that the player in KODI has been optimised to provide the best in terms of image and sound fidelity.

I take it that there are skins to achieve such an interface.

Any help from members who have achieved this will be appreciated.

In order to generate 1:1 copies so that they are identical to the original without any compromise, an iso container is what you want to place all the files in when ripping.  Converting to an mkv container is no where near the same and never will be.  While an mkv is more flexible with various players, consider the players are the thing that isn't flexible... not the ripping method or container used.  Most players simply can't handle a real 1:1 rip let alone display it correctly in its entirety.  Praising all the popular players that only work half ass and jubilating the butchery required to titles in order for them to work in these half ass players is beyond me?

Many justify the butcher jobs as a benefit because it saves them a little space here and there yet they are still adding or increasing size of hard drives.  LoL!  Eliminating all that "unnecessary junk" comes with a price though.  Mainly the integrity of your rip when you altered it into an mkv just turned into a Frankenstein job.  Unfortunately, using advanced techniques such as madVr are only compatible with half ass players.  Aside from one I think, (a competitive costly front end vs Kodi) they simply are not designed to work with uncompromised 1:1 rips fully.  However, they are able to handle playback of the main movie only but no where near mimicking a physical disc in a dedicated hardware player like other software players do such as PowerDVD and DVDFab Media Player. 

These players use their own adjustable algorithms and madVr is not designed to be compatible with them.  Using their own vs madVr is debatable and suggestive.  Much has to do with screen size and if one is actually able to comprehend real life differences.  For example, using a 65" display, imo, you aren't going to notice one setting vs another nor any difference between players.  Most evaluation is in ones head and not what the eyes actually perceive.  Blind tests have proven this over and over.  Half ass players sometimes offer more control in other areas such as remote mappings or shader techniques for example where fully iso compatible players are not as elaborate and for many users these detailed settings have zero benefits.  So it really depends on exactly what you desire for an end result.  What may be important to you may not be for the masses.

That said, personally I prefer exact 1:1 rips original without any compromises and provide myself with an exact backup of the physical disc.  This may be wise for future proofing too such as Dolby Vision usage from an HTPC more than likely coming in the near future.  A butcher job mkv will be left in the dust and many will scramble to re-rip their collections.  Have a nice day, or month, or year(s) :  )  When I desire to interact with these pristine rips I use the proper player(s) designed for the specific mood, company, time, quality, task etc.  I set up Kodi to use all these players seamless and reliably with any and all formats including mkv, iso, bdmv, 4k, 3D, etc.  So can you following any of the guides provided including the one in my sig.  Each fills a specific duty:

Kodi VideoPlayer
MPC-HC
MPC-BE
PotPlayer
PowerDVD
DVDFab Media Players 3 & 5.

Lastly, you want a simple way to access all your movies through an on-screen menu where all the movie covers are shown and can be catagorised e.g. Action, Drama, Comedy etc.  Kodi can provide all of this.  Most skins do including this one.  Beyond just the skin you select, skins have Views that further customize the look.  Set the skin to show 'info'.  This is includes a synopsis describing most relevant information provided by the scraper you select when adding a source.  A small part of that information includes the Genre info you asked about.  As you navigate from title to title, the poster, this info, and many other things change to reflect the title you are focused on.

Imo, stay with complete 1:1 rips in an iso container.  An iso will play in most if not all popular players the difference being with or without menus and/or compatible with 3rd party software when/if desired.  Use Kodi as a front end and expand your horizons by following guide(s) now or in the future.  Skins are highly subjective and there are many.  Being a user for many years, I've found my combinations that work for me.  This particular skin fills most of my needs and desires.  Mike Silvo who maintains this skin is very open minded and completely on the ball imo.