Best way to play mkv files

galvo_clare

Hi

Just wondering how most people deal with mkv files which are becoming increasingly common.
Sometimes changing the suffix to MP4 is enough but often the file is unplayable. I've tried various converters without much success.
I have a PS3, Roku 3 and my Panasonic Bluray recorder also has playback facilities.

SachaJ

Just a media player which it seems you already have. In my case I'm using an Nvidia Shield and a Dune Solo 4K.

galvo_clare

SachaJ wrote: »

Just a media player which it seems you already have. In my case I'm using an Nvidia Shield and a Dune Solo 4K.

None of them seem to handle mkv very well. Other formats are fine.

SachaJ

galvo_clare wrote: »

None of them seem to handle mkv very well. Other formats are fine.

Ah ok. Are you looking for something to just play MKV's or to scrape artwork and stuff like that also?

This is a great resource:
https://www.avforums.com/forums/network-video-streamers.332/

exaisle

vlc player is yer man....

galvo_clare

SachaJ wrote: »

Ah ok. Are you looking for something to just play MKV's or to scrape artwork and stuff like that also?

This is a great resource:
https://www.avforums.com/forums/network-video-streamers.332/

Just play it on the TV. I'll have a look at that link. Thanks.

galvo_clare

exaisle wrote: »

vlc player is yer man....

That's fine and sometimes I'm reduced to casting from my laptop. But even playing mkv files through Chrome is problematic. Generally, if you change the extension to mp4 it'll play but sometimes when you open them in Chrome it doesn't recognise the format and just downloads them.
The latest vlc beta has a chrome client but I don't find it that good. It failed to cast an mkv file I had downloaded.

galvo_clare

Just found this:

I knew about ffmpeg but hadn't really played with it.
Came across this batch file -

for %%a in ("*.mkv") do ffmpeg -i "%%a" -vcodec copy -acodec aac -ab 384000 -sn -strict -2 "%%~na.mp4"

Which converts to mp4 and it seems to work and doesn't take too long. It may be the best way to go.

galvo_clare wrote: »

Hi

Just wondering how most people deal with mkv files which are becoming increasingly common.
Sometimes changing the suffix to MP4 is enough but often the file is unplayable. I've tried various converters without much success.
I have a PS3, Roku 3 and my Panasonic Bluray recorder also has playback facilities.

Skatedude

Not sure why you would want to convert mkv's as they have been fine for years with most players such as Vlc or klite codec with media player classic.

galvo_clare

Skatedude wrote: »

Not sure why you would want to convert mkv's as they have been fine for years with most players such as Vlc or klite codec with media player classic.

I have no problem playing them on PC with VLC or similar but none of my media players handle them well.
Google Chrome doesn't play them 100% so it's sometimes impossible to send them to Chromecast too.

galvo_clare

Spoke too soon. None of the media players will play the resulting MP4 file and neither will Chrome.

galvo_clare wrote: »

Just found this:

I knew about ffmpeg but hadn't really played with it.
Came across this batch file -

for %%a in ("*.mkv") do ffmpeg -i "%%a" -vcodec copy -acodec aac -ab 384000 -sn -strict -2 "%%~na.mp4"

Which converts to mp4 and it seems to work and doesn't take too long. It may be the best way to go.

exaisle

galvo_clare wrote: »

That's fine and sometimes I'm reduced to casting from my laptop. But even playing mkv files through Chrome is problematic. Generally, if you change the extension to mp4 it'll play but sometimes when you open them in Chrome it doesn't recognise the format and just downloads them.
The latest vlc beta has a chrome client but I don't find it that good. It failed to cast an mkv file I had downloaded.

Pardon my ignorance, but "just downloads them" where?

SachaJ

Are you open to buying a new media player?

For me the Dune Solo 4K (or the Lite) will play them. The Amazon Fire TV will play them from installed VLC or with Kodi sideloaded or the Plex client (you can use your PC for the Plex server). Nvidia Shield either. I've never used an external hard drive with them though. Everything I have is on a NAS.

If it's any good to you I have my Mede8er 1000X3D for sale on Adverts. 100 euro for the player or extra if you want the 3TB internal hard drive I have for it. It's been solid for any MKV's I've thrown at it and stunning picture quality. http://www.adverts.ie/media-players/mede8er-1000x3d-media-player-with-2tb-hard-drive/10557258

galvo_clare

exaisle wrote: »

Pardon my ignorance, but "just downloads them" where?

Into Chrome's download folder. It's like it doesn't recognise the format even though the extension is MP4. It doesn't know how to treat it so it just downloads it.

Wheety

I use Kodi on a Raspberry Pi and it has never refused to play a file and most of them are mkv. What software is on your media players?

The Ritz

Mod Comment

Folks,

Happy to see technical discussion of what plays what, but please take a friendly word of warning - this thread should not stray into the questionable area of downloads.

/ Mod Hat Off.

On a personal note, I use Kodi as a movie library and player, its available for practically every media player platform and in my experience it plays practically everything, as does MP HC. I think the OP's problem might stem from Chrome. If you really want a problem-free media playing, I'd recommend investing in a new player - there are many new bluray players on the market which will play media files as wel, a quick look through the user manuals available online will point you in the right direction. I have a recent Sony bluray player and it plays most (but not all) files with ease.

Ritz.

SachaJ

One of your cheapest options is probably an RPi as mentioned above and put this on the SD card.
https://libreelec.tv/

Never used it myself but heard lots of recommendations for it.