MKV on USB through TV.

Slaphead07 · 15-11-2012 3:01pm #1

I'll be soon looking for a new big screen TV (50" or thereabouts) and while 3D and "Smart" Tvs don't really interest me I would like the ability to play MKV files through a USB port.

Anyone know or models or reputable brands that do this?

Zillah · 23-11-2012 3:09pm

I'm not positive but mkvs tend to only be used in the warez community, I seriously doubt you'll find any TVs that can run them, regardless of codec. You'd probably need to transcode to mp4.

horse7 · 23-11-2012 5:20pm

most new tv ,s will play mkv files, i have a samsung ,about 2 years old, and it will play divx xvid avi mkv etc. the tv manual will list files supported on usb play mode.

Slaphead07 · 23-11-2012 9:58pm

Thanks Horse, a lot of manuals don't seem to specify anything beyond DIVX or avi but I suspect they will play them.

Z, you're not wrong in that it tends to be downloads that use MKV but it is an accepted format and a good one too.

horse7 · 25-11-2012 2:41pm

ps, one of my tv,s does not play mkv files,so i use any video converter to change the file to avi, and i can play the file on any tv. its free

Zillah · 25-11-2012 3:09pm

horse7 wrote: »

ps, one of my tv,s does not play mkv files,so i use any video converter to change the file to avi, and i can play the file on any tv. its free

Bah, Handbrake should be anyone's first port of call for free video transcoding.

Slaphead07 · 26-11-2012 9:35pm

Zillah wrote: »

Bah, Handbrake should be anyone's first port of call for free video transcoding.

I had a look at Handbrake and it seems to convert MKV to MP4 - this is equally usless! I need AVI or DIVX. Am I missing something?

Slaphead07 · 02-12-2012 2:45pm

So... nobody knows???

Slaphead07 · 04-01-2013 3:23pm

In case anyone else was was following this...

I bought an LG 47" LCD TV (LG 47 LS650) and it can read MKV via the USB slot however... the TV cannot decode DTS so any MKV file using DTS sound will have unsupported audio. The way around this is to re-encode the MKV to MP4 using something like rebox.net and then it works well enough.

As this TV also has DLNA I've networked the TV to a PC which has these movies on it so no need for a USB after all! The same "unsupported audio" is there of course but the solution is as mentioned above.

Rabidlamb · 04-01-2013 3:36pm

MKV's always gave me trouble on my 5 series Samsung through the USB.
Audio would go out of sync over time or not be supported at all.
When x264 became the standard for TV Episodes I was completely bunched.

I use this free software to convert to avi using through xvid & the audio into mp3.
http://filehippo.com/download_any_video_converter/

Don't mess with the settings too much, I select 2000 for the bit rate & keep the frame size & frame rate the same as the original.
Remember large files way need to be broken in two using the time index.
Your TV's media player only recognises FAT32 (the format of your USB stick) & wont play anything over 2GBs, or will play it then cut out 5 minutes before the end :mad:

Best of luck.

Slaphead07 · 04-01-2013 4:14pm

Thanks for that. I've been using files on USB for years now, mainly through a Panasonic DVR, and once converted to AVI or burned to DVD they're fine. Given I now have the TV networked reformatting a USB or external HD isn't an issue.

slave1 · 07-01-2013 12:56pm

Picked up a 37" Panasonic Viera last week in Power City and playing all the .mkv files I've thrown onto a USB key

omerin · 07-01-2013 1:06pm

Rabidlamb wrote: »

MKV's always gave me trouble on my 5 series Samsung through the USB.
Audio would go out of sync over time or not be supported at all.
When x264 became the standard for TV Episodes I was completely bunched.

I use this free software to convert to avi using through xvid & the audio into mp3.
http://filehippo.com/download_any_video_converter/

Don't mess with the settings too much, I select 2000 for the bit rate & keep the frame size & frame rate the same as the original.
Remember large files way need to be broken in two using the time index.
Your TV's media player only recognises FAT32 (the format of your USB stick) & wont play anything over 2GBs, or will play it then cut out 5 minutes before the end :mad:
QUOTE]

I have a Samsung and it has done this (cut out and move onto the next film)a few times for films that were not over 2gb

MKV on USB through TV.

Comments