Samsung BD-P1590: MKV/MP4 playback?

[Ai Haibara]

I have a Samsung BD-P1590 that's using the current firmware. Until recently, though, I didn't really know what was in each update (so I was surprised when I found one of the updates added the ability to access YouTube ).

I noticed one of the recent updates mentions adding support for playback of MKV/MP4 videos:

Ver 2.02 : SEP. 3. 2009
1. Youtube/Blockbuster e-Contents service.
2. MKV/MP4 file playback.

...and this question in their FAQ section mentions that you can't play them from the USB port, because it doesn't support USB 2.0:

Blu-ray Disc Players : My BD-P1590 Does Not Stream Videos From A USB Thumb Drive, Why?

The BD-P1590 does not support USB 2.0 which is needed to playback movie files from a USB thumb drive. Consequently the BD-P1590 will not stream videos from a USB thumb drive.

MKV and MP4 video files must be burned to a CD/DVD/BD disc for playback.

The BD-P4600 and BD-P3600 are the only current Blu-ray models capable of movie playback via a USB thumb drive.

However, I haven't been able to get the player to recognize ANY MKV or MP4 on a data disc (that they're even there). Because the above is all I've seen regarding the support (I don't even know if it's not on all versions of the BD-P1590), I can't even tell if:

A) the videos have to be in a certain folder
B) the disc has to be formatted a certain way
C) what kind(s) of video/audio it actually supports IN those two containers
D) whether or not it'll even list MKVs or MP4s that don't meet any criteria the player is looking for
E) the videos have to be accessed a certain way from the player's menus

...etc.

At this stage, it's really just a novelty for me, but it'd still be nice to know.

[c3max]

I have the same problem. I am running firmware v.2.05

I have tried many variations of files and disc formats and can't get an MKV or MP4 to even show up.

I always get a "No Program is found." error, which sounds like the video player application is missing in the firmware.

I decided to contact Samsung, and I have just gotten the run around twice. They state that MKV/MP4 support is a new feature with no documentation for how it works. That is obvious! Both times they told me to reset the firmware and reload the newest version, neither time was any different.

I guess any vendor can make the claim that their bluray player has MKV/MP4 support and just not include an application that can play the files, especially if their players are sigma based.

[Ai Haibara]

One thing I've heard is that the videos may need to be exactly 1280x720 or 1920x1080, though I could've sworn that most (if not all) of the videos on the range of DVD data discs I tried were encoded using those resolutions.

[c3max]

I have tried files with those resolutions and they do not work. It is pretty obvious that something is missing, because when I put in a disc and select video, it doesn't even try to read it like it does when I select music or photos from the menu.

[Ai Haibara]

Yeah, if I could even get the player to recognize/show there are MKV/MP4 files on the discs, it would be a start. (But then, it'll turn out they need to be burned to a BD data disc... (Just kidding, but I hope not...))

[alex8642]

Hello guys and gals, I also have a Samsung BD-P1590 blu-ray player with firmware version 2.05. I have tried a few things here...

1: I tried burning the file to the disc (should have worked lmao right? but no samsung lies haha!)

2: I used a program called TsMuxer to mux the mkv's into AVCHD with a blu-ray structure and it began to load until it said disc couldn't play. (In other words I made a blu-ray disc on a DVD... Just like you can put a DVD on a videoCD)

3. I learned that mkv's CANNOT PLAY if they are in DTS 5.1. This is NOT supported by any current blu-ray players. So somebody may wish to try and make a disc with the file on it BUT make sure you remux the audio with 4.1 instead of 5.1... I have been told this is a fix. though I really do not have the time to mess around and try it... Maybe one of you will have better luck? Maybe also use the resolution of 1920x1080 as well as mentioned in a previous post? One of us will get lucky I am sure and then everyone will be much happier when they can play mkv's on their blu-ray player haha!

Kindest Regards,
Alex8642

p.s. I included a screenshot of the program I used to mux the movie resident evil extinction. I might also mention there is a guide on youtube that works for most blu-ray players... I do not know if the samsung blu-ray players support AVCHD so this may be a lost cause. Either way give it a shot

[Ai Haibara]

I only really tried one experiment with AVCHD on the player, but I'm not sure it liked it (I actually chose to create it to be compatible with the PS3, but the PS3 didn't like it, either... ), so it still might support AVCHD... but that defeats the purpose of trying to get the MKVs and MP4s to work.

[MJA]

are these players any good?I saw stacks of them at walmart selling for $125 I think

[Ai Haibara]

Ours seems to work okay, though the menus are a little clunky, IMHO. I haven't had any problems with it, really, but I also haven't compared it to any other player (our only other BD player is my sister's PS3, and she doesn't have it connected to an HDTV), so I couldn't comment on the quality or any differences between the Samsung and any other players.

It doesn't have built-in wireless, so I also had to connect an antenna to the Ethernet port, but that's only a minor annoyance.

[tnabrian]

I have had a lot of success making avchd discs for the Samsung P1590. Out of about 30 discs made I only had 3 that wouldn't play. I've been using the guide I found here http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/arch...nd_blu-ray.cfm. Except the newer version of TS Muxer has an extra option "AVCHD disc". So follow the guide but instead of ticking "Blu-ray disc", tick "AVCHD disc". Not all the resolutions I used were 1920x1080 or 1280x720. Some of them were other resolutions and they still work fine. Some of the mkv's I've ran through tsmuxer would throw an error because of the subtitles not being timed right or something like that so I would un-tick the subtitle box so it could mux and it would then create the avchd files just fine. I use Nero burning rom to make the discs. Use DVD-ROM (UDF), under UDF tab change udf level to 2.50, and no multisession. The only thing I haven't had good luck with in TS Muxer is compiling multiple mkv's into one avchd disc. I tried it with mkv episodes of south park but the Samsung rejects the discs.