Beginner question about converting avi to mkv

[crackface]

Wondering if someone can help my understanding of this. I have a 200MB 30 min mkv video that has the following specs (unsure what's relevant):

Bitrate: 2610
1280 x 720
16:9
Frame rate: 23.976
Audio: AC3

My Dish satellite receiver plays mkv's fine. However it doesn't seem to care too much for AVI files. I have another 30 minute video (about 500MB) in AVI that I tried using AVS Video Converter to change to MKV, trying to follow the above specs/settings as much as possible. It worked, but it spit out a 1.7GB MKV file.

Do I have no option to keep sizes of the converted files to a reasonable level without significantly affecting the quality of the video? Are there better conversion methods?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[jagabo]

First try remuxing the AVI to MKV using MMG (part of MkvToolNix). That will give you a file of about the same size with no loss of quality.

If you end up needing to reencode, the size is determined by a simple equation:

file size = bitrate * running time

So if you want a smaller file use a lower bitrate.

[crackface]

Will try this tonight, thanks!

[crackface]

So I guess my Dish receiver is finicky about the mkv files it will play. I tried all these options with MkvToolNix for the "FourCC" options:
default - Tries to start playing but gets stuck and have to pull power on receiver
div3 - plays audio, no video
divx - looks like it might start, but then quits immediately
dx50 - looks like it might start, but then quits immediately
mp4v - looks like it might start, but then quits immediately
xvid - - Tries to start playing but gets stuck and have to pull power on receiver

I should note that the default mkv plays fine on computers and other media players, just my Dish receiver that's being a pain.

I noticed on the other mkv file that my Dish receiver CAN play, this is the video info from MediaInfo:

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 9 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 21mn 38s
Bit rate : 696 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
*Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.031
Stream size : 108 MiB (60%)
Writing library : x264 core 128 r2216 198a7ea
Language : English
Default : No
Forced : No
Matrix coefficients : BT.709

Is there any way to match the same type of video (codec?) above when creating these MKVs with MkvToolNix?

[jagabo]

You'll have to convert. Try Handbrake with the Regular/Normal or Regular/HighProfile presets.

[sanlyn]

I noticed on the other mkv file that my Dish receiver CAN play, this is the video info from MediaInfo:

Video
.......
.......
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 9 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 21mn 38s
Bit rate : 696 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels

I pass.

[jagabo]

Bit rate : 696 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels

I pass.

That low a bitrate can be watchable with some videos. Animated material, for example. In any case, the TV probably doesn't require that low a bitrate.