JWOINK | 0 points
Hi guys, I've been downloading some movies/shows recently and I see that most are in the form of a .mkv file, which means I can't play them on my Mac unless I use Handbrake to convert it to .mp4. Is .mkv a better file to download for PC users? THank you!
[-] TheAnonymi | 28 points
Imagine a video file that supports
Matroska does all of this. It is superior to all other video containers, which the exception of "support" such as some Smart TVs, though more manufacturers are adding it nowadays.
You do not have to convert the MKV files to MP4. It would be better to use a video player tha can support it natively like VLC as others have mentioned. If you must convert it so another device can play it, you should
For Windows users with ffmpeg installed who want to mux files quickly to MP4, you can open Notepad, copy and paste this line and save it as ".bat". All you have to do is drag and drop your file onto the .bat file and in a few seconds a new MP4 file will be created.
ffmpeg -y -i "%~1" -vcodec copy -acodec copy "%~dpn1_Mux.mp4"
Just download vlc or a codec pack for QuickTime
[-] maxpowers83 | 0 points
It's just a better file format period. Better compression, good quality, the works.
Just play them on a good media player program.
[-] EddieEbola | 28 points
MKV or M4V or MP4 is just the container. You can have different formats within each so none are necessarily better quality than another.
[-] morphagentOG | 8 points
Yet another vote for VLC. I use it exclusively to play all media. It has never faltered. I don't really even pay attention to the container anymore as I know VLC will play it. Best free software I've ever used, hands down. Also plays h.265 files.
[-] TMGreycoat | 5 points
You should have a look at MPC-HC. It's open source and definitely worth checking out. It supports at least as many codecs as VLC and has a ton of useful features
[-] SavageAlien | 5 points
MPC-HC
this thread is about watching on a Mac. Good suggestion otherwise.
[-] TMGreycoat | 3 points
Huh, well I'll be. Didn't realize it was Windows only
Because the mkv container is best container.
if it was the best container, it would be adopted by more hardware.
Microsoft started supporting Matroska officially in 2015 aloong with several open source formats like VP9, FLAC and Opus (formats of the future so to speak). It's actually just Apple and Adobe and a few other high end hardware brands that still don't accept the MKV container at all. From an end user/customer perspective, Matroska is indeed the best container format, because it has no limitations and is openly specified. But because many video and audio formats are patented / license-encumbered in the USA and some other countries that acknowledge software patents [How can you patent mathematics, I wonder?], supporting all formats can become quite expensive for commercial vendors. You can't tell what's inside an MKV file. This also complicates things, if you're a supplier like Apple who likes to market simple consumer hardware "that simply works". Then it's easier not to support it at all... But it would be better (and MUCH easier) for the end users, if all vendors supported this future-proof container and all the technically superior open formats and abolished those idiotic software patents once and for all.
most hardware doesnt support mkv. i have yet to see a smart tv support it. maybe it will grow, but right now its not the "best" option as so many noobs seem to think. All of their excuses as to why its the best are all features supported by m4v/mp4. m4v seems to have the largest marketshare as far as compatibility. maybe that will change, but i dont see it happening for a long time... maybe when h265 is more widely adopted and doesnt take a fucking beast computer to encode at a reasonable time.
[-] [deleted] | 5 points
All of their excuses as to why its the best are all features supported by m4v/mp4.<
I don't know who they are, and what they have said, but MP4/M4V doesn't support
Also, it is completely useless if you want to store lossless video in the modern archival standard FFV1 video. That feature alone is crucial to anyone working with lossless preservation.
Furthermore, MP4/M4V doesn't support advanced subtitle formats like SSA/ASS, and its support for advanced audio and soft subtitles isn't standardized, so you're actually not better off using MP4 for these features than your are with MKV.
With MKV you can be sure that ANYTHING can be stored without reencoding, both open source and commercial standards.
MKV is actually also streaming-friendly, because it has a very small header size, but WebM was invented as a subset, because of MKV being too versatile.
MP4/M4V is only designed for consumers / end users. MOV or MXF would be the commercial standards for the advanced features mentioned above, but even they are much more restricted... Matroska can do it all - and it's not owned by any commercial interests who can decide for themselves when they want to stop supporting it.
Please see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_video_container_formats
It always resorts to someone arguing lossless features which rarely anyone will ever use. I'm talking about compatibility. About the ability to run on everything..
youre arguing on the side of a content creator, my arguments are towards consumer needs.
Quite the contratry, actually. New improved video, audio and multimedia features are signs that the existing standards lack some qualities, and consumers don't want restrictions on what they can play, so I am arguing that we don't even need any other container format than MKV. All other formats suck one way or another.
You are the one who argue that users should settle with what the industry standard wants to offer them and stay there, until the industry thinks they have to move on.
Why shouldn't the user who paid for a DVD with DTS audio be able to store the original audio in a file container? There is a demand, but there is no business case... Do you give in and settle with the today's most common formats and sacrifice some quality, or do you look for a better option?
i dont care what you guys end up using. what im stating is that mkv is currently not the most adopted format and not the most supported, therefore isnt the best option currently.
The recently added native MKV support in Windows tells me that if you want to improve things, you need to fight for them sometimes. If everyone just settled with 2nd or 3rd best, we would still be stuck with much worse standards.
Maybe MKV is a bit too advanced for your hardware setup. You should of course decide for yourself what you want to use, but for digital preservation - for consumers as well as content creators - MKV is the better option in the long run. In 10 years, people won't give a flying fuck about what an iPad could handle in 2017. They will just be annoyed that it has crappy audio.
I do not disagree that mkv has potential. What I'm saying is its not widely enough adopted to state that it is the best option simply because it supports more features (which are also majorily not adopted).
If you live in Botswana and you know 14 languages except the native tongue, are you better off?
[-] Richtofen-72 | 1 points
Several TVs of mine support MKV.
what are the brands?
[-] Richtofen-72 | 1 points
All are LG
[-] EddieEbola | 5 points
Download Subler and convert them to M4V with that. Often much quicker than Handbrake if the video within the MKV is H264 or whatever. You can also use it to gather iTunes metadata and a nice icon.
I always convert MKV to M4V as they're just a bit more Apple friendly.
wow... there are so many players on mac support mkv. like mpv...
[-] EddieEbola | 2 points
Yes, but iPhones, iPads and the Apple TV don't natively support them. I don't only watch movies on my laptop.
Lots of iOS and tvOS apps do play them, but it requires transcoding, so I just got into the habit of making them into M4V files.
[-] harryharpratap | 1 points
Why not use VLC for iOS then? iPhone doesn't have 3rd party video players now?
[-] EddieEbola | 1 points
There are 3rd party players. I personally use Infuse. VLC for iOS is very no-frills.
I used to use iTunes though, then Plex, then back to iTunes and now Infuse... so I just got in the habit of using M4V whenever I rip a disc, or Subler whenever I download a movie and want to embed subs and metadata.
[-] [deleted] | 1 points
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[-] EddieEbola | 1 points
It's to mux and tag so it's pretty quick
https://subler.org/
MKV, the file format for Matroska Multimedia Container, is an open standard free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture or subtitle tracks inside a single file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows. MKV can hold all of the same digital elements of MP4. MKV can also compress high quality videos into smaller files.
You don't need to convert the files, just change the .mkv to .mp4. The file will still play.
Not true unless you have the correct codec for it , for example Google chrome use it own codec , if you play a "mkv" in it as "mp4" it will simply either not work or audio or video only Rename "mkv" to anything you want and it will still be playable cause video player don't count on the extension to figure what codec the file is .
[-] thisisatesttoseehowl | 1 points
VLC can play .mkv
[-] Hadam10Rose | 1 points
It's just more popular, it holds the subtitles and other things together. I don't use subs so I just convert them to mp4. When I used to upload I only did mp4 but that's because I like to have the art work on the file instead of the black box mkv's have.
[-] TheGoodSheep | 1 points
While I agree on better quality sadly my TV doesn't like MKV. But well, I won't complain about free stuff.
[-] lucykatrina | 1 points
MKV file is an envelope format that supports several types of audio, video and subtitles screams, allowing users to store a complete movie with subtitles or CD in a single file.
MKV Pros Supports multiple audio and subtitle tracks; Good for storing high definition (HD) videos/movies; Popular in the movie/TV show fan-subbing community; http://i-loveshare.com/audio-video-package-format-encoding-knowledage/
[-] GhostHawk666 | 1 points
[-] [deleted] | 1 points
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[-] lucyallen0 | 1 points
MKV won’t open in a standard movie player app. If your media player that comes with your Mac is unable to play MKV files, you have to choose a MKV player Mac that supports MKV files for help. You can find the solution here: https://www.cisdem.com/resource/Recommend-5-Best-Free-MKV-Video-Player-Softwares-for-Mac.html
.mkv is better as simple as that , especially with the codec
Download VLC and you are ready to go no need to convert a thing : http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
[-] [deleted] | 2 points
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[-] maxpowers83 | 1 points
wut?
[-] [deleted] | 1 points
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[-] maxpowers83 | 1 points
HEVC is only for low filesize encodes. AVC is far better quality.
source?
MPV is better than VLC too.
based on what?
[-] Sportfreunde | 0 points
I like MKV so much in terms of the quality/size ratio that I generally will skip downloading a file if it's an mp4 (not to mention an avi lol this isn't 2006 anymore).
If the mkv file says x265 on it then it's encoding will generally be even better than an x264.
One thing I would caution though is to be careful of YIFY releases or any other similar ones where they package a 90 minute+ movie into a 1-2 GB file. The quality is usually decent but not that great, there's a decent amount of artifacts on it (also the sound is poorer if you care a lot about that).
[-] maxpowers83 | 2 points
I generally will skip downloading a file if it's an mp4
that has to be one of the stupidest things i've read today. mkv and mp4 are containers. a mkv can contain the literally same content and codec as a mp4.
Good to know, thank you. What program do you use to play mkv files?
[-] Sportfreunde | 1 points
VLV or MPV are both fine, small enough. I think VLC had a better interface and some extra effects like letting you change contrast, saturation, film grain, etc
[-] rprebel | 38 points | Feb 05 2017 16:12:09
Another vote for VLC. It'll play anything.
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[-] simplefilmreviews | 2 points | Feb 05 2017 16:23:14
Have you tried converter with VLC? For some reason it never works properly and I typically only end up with audio only. Or a semi-corrupt file for some reason. (When trying to go MKV-> MP4)
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[-] rprebel | 1 points | Feb 05 2017 16:29:20
I don't think you need to convert the stream to get from mkv to mp4, you just need to change the container format. That means going through the conversion process in VLC but selecting "pass through" in the options.
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[-] simplefilmreviews | 2 points | Feb 05 2017 16:34:38
I'll have to try that when I get home! Tahnks for the tip!
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