For Video, use the following:
For Speed in ripping, use XviD. Its the best.
For Best Quality, use H.264, specifically the x264 codec.
For HD Videos, use VP7, the ultimate codec.
Never use DivX, WMV-HD, RealVideo, VP6, Sorenson, etc. they suck compared to others.
remember, in any case, Divx <<<<<<< XviD
And Matroska is the best archieving container to use in case no other container is available.
For audio, use the following:
1. AoTuV Vorbis Beta 5 for general perpose CD ripping and transcoading @ bitrates <= 64 kbps - audiophile
2. MusePack For high bitrate Audiophile quality CD ripping. This is almost always transparent.
3. Nero Digital HE-AAC rocks at bitrates below 64 kbps.8)
remember, WMA, WMA Pro, mp3, MP2, wav, etc suck
For Lossless Audio, use the following:
1. WavPack is the most effitient, and it has a unique hybrid feature allowing you to create a lossy high bitrate small size file that can be used in mp3 players, PCs, etc as well as a correction file for making the audio lossless, so that you can archieve it. It also has normal lossless mode.
2. FLAC is the most supported, very fast, and quite good, almost close to WavPack. Its recomended by me for general perpose high speed encoding at compression level 5(8 is much slower and less gainful)