Mkv video file unknown and convert

[ProffesorX]

Hi there,

I got two video's of 12+ gb which I would like to play on my led tv. I got a sharp Led tv 810 series which plays mkv. Now most of my mkv files work on my tv, I only needed to convert the audio from DTS to Ac3, so I do it with popcorn converter. But these two vid files which are also .Mkv don't play on my tv because it isn't able to play the video format.

So I would like to know how to find out what the video format is and if there is program which directly converts the video file within the mkv container without me needing to extraxt and merge the mkv file?

[admin]

Mediainfo should help you figure out just exactly what's in the MKV file:

http://www.digital-digest.com/software/mediainfo.html

There are some tools that can take in a MKV file and output a MKV file (of course, internally, it does all the things you normally do, like demux, convert, and the remux). I would normally probably use MeGUI, but VidCoder is a software that I've been using more and more lately (there's a link to a tutorial on the page below, if you need one):

http://www.digital-digest.com/software/VidCoder.html

[ProffesorX]

Hi thanks for the tools, only now I found out that all my video formats are AVC but some play and some don't on my tv. What could be the problem?

[admin]

It really depends on how the AVC/H.264 stream was encoded, and your TV most likely only supports a subset of the encoding features of the codec. In MediaInfo, under the video stream section, it should list some of the properties of the video stream (eg. "High@L4.1 (CABAC / 4 Ref Frames"), perhaps you can check if these properties differ, especially the "Level" rating (eg. 4.1 or 5.1). Also take note of the audio, which is most likely AAC, but make sure it's "LC" not "HC", which I suspect your TV won't support either.

If you want, you can post a screenshot of the MediaInfo details of the files that don't work.

[ProffesorX]

Here's a printscreen of mediainfo of a file that doesn't work and one that does..

[admin]

The left screenshot, is that the one that doesn't work?

If so, I suspect the "Header Stripping" may be what's causing the problem.

My recommendation would be to remux the MKV file and see what happens (it's only a remux, not a re-encode, so it shouldn't take too long). First, download and install the latest version of MKVToolnix, then download and run Popcorn MKV ReMuxer by loading your MKV file in, click on the save icon thing and set your output options (I use "Same directory as source" -> append "_OUT", which will save remux the MKV file with "_OUT" added to the filename, so it doesn't overwrite your original file), click on the "Run" button and now see if the file works on your TV or not.

[ProffesorX]

Thank you admin, you helped me alot
It was the headstripper indeed..

[admin]

Glad it worked out for you

[JaneSmith]

Your posts are really useful, it help me out of trouble.