MP4 vs MKV help

[thumpy]

Hi all. I have been researching this for a while and there is so many different answers. I want to know what is the best video container format that keeps all the video and audio quality. MP4 or MKV

My primary use will be to put my videos on my HP MediaSmart server and stream them to my ps3. I use ps3mediaserver so I can play both MP4 and MKV files without a problem.

And I sometimes play them off my pc which is connected to my HDTV.

I appreciate your pointers and maybe you can shed some light on this. thanks

[jagabo]

The container has no effect on the quality. The codes and settings used with them determine the quality. That said, MKV supports a wider variety of codecs.

[thumpy]

Ok so if MKV is better not because of quality but because of codecs. What's the best way to convert mp4 to mkv?

[jagabo]

Remultiplexing your MP4 to MKV will not improve the quality. MKV supports a wider variety of codecs. But with the subset that MP4 supports the quality is exactly the same. Will my bread taste better if it arrives from the bakery in a wooden box vs. a carboard box? No, it's the same bread.

If you still want to remux into MKV you can use MkvMerge. If you want to convert from another codec or shrink an existing video you'll can use a program like MeGUI, Xvid4PSP and the codec of your choice. x264 is best for most video if you're looking for small file sizes.

[thumpy]

Isn't x264 for giving you the best HD videos?

[jagabo]

x264 works for SD too.

[smitbret]

Why remux to .mkv? PS3 already supports .mp4. Even though PMS allows you to use .mkv, you will gain nothing from it. In fact, it just adds another step, transcoding/remuxing, into the equation. Just one more thing that could degrade quality, slow your PC down or just plain go wrong. The only real advantage I could see would be the availability of soft coded subs, but I don't know that they would work once you've run the video file through PMS, anyway.

[thumpy]

Well that clears a lot. Thank you all for your help. I will stick with mp4