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Why the MKV files for S14 E1?

Triborough

Triborough

Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Messages
15
Who's brilliant idea was to use the rubbish non-standard mkv format?
Why not some sort of normal format like avi or mpg?
 
Everyone that knew anything about encoding. Can't be bothered to post links to the numerous posts containing more reasons, use the search feature.
 
mkv IS the standard for HD video on the internet.
 
mkv is becoming increasingly common for non-HD as well, which I find annoying because Windows Media Player is the only thing that will run them properly on my netbook. What happened to good old Divx/Xvid.... I could play DVD rips on my Pentium II laptop.
 
thevictor390 said:
mkv is becoming increasingly common for non-HD as well, What happened to good old Divx/Xvid....
Click to expand...

Don't mix containers (avi, mkv) with codecs (xvid, x264) :mrgreen:

xvid got outperformed by x264 - better quality for lower file sizes.
New divx has made some improvements, but the internet mentality clashes with corporations like divx, it prefers free stuff like mkv and x264.
 
^ my bad :idiot:

In my situation I'm more worried about performance than filesize, but I see the appeal.

EDIT: Also in my experience, nearly all .avi is divx and nearly all .mkv is x264
 
thevictor390 said:
In my situation I'm more worried about performance than filesize, but I see the appeal.
Click to expand...

You can try VLC (which by the way is developed by the same people as x264).
If with its default settings the playback performance is too low you can try disabling loop filters for h264 deblocking. Settings -> Input & Codecs menu.

When testing with a 1080p file it decreased my CPU load by 10-15 points, so it dropped from for example 45 to 30-35 percent.

Edit: With "official" scene releases avi = xvid and mkv = h264 may be true.
My miniDV video camera produces files in the avi container, compressed with Sony's DV codec.


PS: Great thing about VLC, it tries to play back anything you throw at it. Wrong file name extension? No Problem. Still downloading the second half of the file? No Problem. Broken File? No Problem (if sufficient data is present).
 
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I have used and loved VLC for a long time. I used to watch the 700 MB Top Gear rips on my 366 MHz Pentium II laptop back when it was in 0.8. Performance has been a lot worse for me since 0.9.

I have already posted this in the tech thread but lately, WMP has excelled on the netbook where VLC and MPC lag like hell.
 
thevictor390 said:
^ my bad :idiot:

In my situation I'm more worried about performance than filesize, but I see the appeal.

EDIT: Also in my experience, nearly all .avi is divx and nearly all .mkv is x264
Click to expand...

Xvid more like it.

Triborough said:
Who's brilliant idea was to use the rubbish non-standard mkv format?
Why not some sort of normal format like avi or mpg?
Click to expand...

x264 in avi, what an abomination that would be :)
 
Well if you want to stick to your beloved .avi there's always the SD version.
 
I'm fairly used to HD MP4 files from iPlayer, which can be given the .avi extension to play on my Xbox. Mkvs can be converted to MP4 fairly easily though.
 
Can a 360 play MKV files ?
 
narf said:
If you just change the extension then the file content (and the video's container format) will not change.
Click to expand...

I know that, but the Xbox won't play x264 videos with a .MP4 extension, only with the .avi extension. I download shows directly from iPlayer in MP4 and have to do this to play them.

Mkv files don't play natively on the 360, they need to be put into an MP4 container, sometimes requiring an audio re-encode.
 
For converting from mkv to mp4 for playback on your 360 download GOTSent. It's very fast and easy to use.

Here's a nice guide from afterdawn explaining how to do things.
 
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