What would make a mkv file (x264) play or not on a Media Jukebox?

[Christophe Lambert]

Hi,

I have 2 mkv x264 files 1080p that are listed as MPEG4/ISO/AVC under mkvmerge but for some reason one of them won't play on my Media Jukebox (LG 32LH5000). Both files seem quite similar, so I don't understand why one would be recognized and not the other. This is the first time it happens. What could make an mkv (x264) file play fine? I heard of AVC levels but I'm not sure how it functions.

Here is the mkvinfo of the culprit:

(MKVInfo) + EBML head at 0
(MKVInfo) |+ Doc type: matroska at 5
(MKVInfo) |+ Doc type version: 1 at 16
(MKVInfo) |+ Doc type read version: 1 at 20
(MKVInfo) + Segment, size 11744868384 at 24
(MKVInfo) |+ Seek head at 36
(MKVInfo) | + Seek entry at 41
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek ID: 0x15 0x49 0xa9 0x66 (KaxInfo) at 44
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek position: 4099 at 51
(MKVInfo) | + Seek entry at 56
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek ID: 0x16 0x54 0xae 0x6b (KaxTracks) at 59
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek position: 4264 at 66
(MKVInfo) | + Seek entry at 71
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek ID: 0x11 0x4d 0x9b 0x74 (KaxSeekHead) at 74
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek position: 11744730889 at 81
(MKVInfo) | + Seek entry at 89
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek ID: 0x1c 0x53 0xbb 0x6b (KaxCues) at 92
(MKVInfo) |  + Seek position: 11744682506 at 99
(MKVInfo) |+ EbmlVoid (size: 4025) at 107
(MKVInfo) |+ Segment information at 4135
(MKVInfo) | + Timecode scale: 1000000 at 4141
(MKVInfo) | + Muxing application: libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1 at 4148
(MKVInfo) | + Writing application: mkvmerge v2.4.0 ('Fumbling Towards Ecstasy') built on Oct 11 2008 20:13:15 at 4186
(MKVInfo) | + Duration: 9133.312s (02:32:13.312) at 4263
(MKVInfo) | + Date: Sat Nov 22 07:56:58 2008 UTC at 4270
(MKVInfo) | + Segment UID: 0xaa 0xce 0x63 0xea 0x0a 0x6a 0x91 0x67 0xbd 0x55 0x7d 0x6c 0xc8 0x17 0x11 0x26 at 4281
(MKVInfo) |+ Segment tracks at 4300
(MKVInfo) | + A track at 4306
(MKVInfo) |  + Track number: 1 at 4309
(MKVInfo) |  + Track UID: 1 at 4312
(MKVInfo) |  + Track type: video at 4316
(MKVInfo) |  + Enabled: 1 at 4319
(MKVInfo) |  + Default flag: 1 at 4322
(MKVInfo) |  + Forced flag: 0 at 4325
(MKVInfo) |  + Lacing flag: 0 at 4329
(MKVInfo) |  + MinCache: 1 at 4332
(MKVInfo) |  + Timecode scale: 1 at 4336
(MKVInfo) |  + Max BlockAddition ID: 0 at 4344
(MKVInfo) |  + Codec ID: V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC at 4348
(MKVInfo) |  + Codec decode all: 1 at 4365
(MKVInfo) |  + CodecPrivate, length 41 at 4368
(MKVInfo) |  + Default duration: 41.708ms (23.976 fps for a video track) at 4412
(MKVInfo) |  + Language: eng at 4420
(MKVInfo) |  + Video track at 4427
(MKVInfo) |   + Pixel width: 1920 at 4429
(MKVInfo) |   + Pixel height: 1080 at 4433
(MKVInfo) |   + Interlaced: 0 at 4437
(MKVInfo) |   + Display width: 16 at 4440
(MKVInfo) |   + Display height: 9 at 4444
(MKVInfo) | + A track at 4448
(MKVInfo) |  + Track number: 2 at 4450
(MKVInfo) |  + Track UID: 3635596195 at 4453
(MKVInfo) |  + Track type: audio at 4460
(MKVInfo) |  + Enabled: 1 at 4463
(MKVInfo) |  + Default flag: 1 at 4466
(MKVInfo) |  + Forced flag: 0 at 4469
(MKVInfo) |  + Lacing flag: 1 at 4473
(MKVInfo) |  + MinCache: 0 at 4476
(MKVInfo) |  + Timecode scale: 1 at 4480
(MKVInfo) |  + Max BlockAddition ID: 0 at 4488
(MKVInfo) |  + Codec ID: A_AC3 at 4492
(MKVInfo) |  + Codec decode all: 1 at 4499
(MKVInfo) |  + Default duration: 32.000ms (31.250 fps for a video track) at 4502
(MKVInfo) |  + Language: eng at 4510
(MKVInfo) |  + Audio track at 4517
(MKVInfo) |   + Sampling frequency: 48000 at 4519
(MKVInfo) |   + Channels: 6 at 4525
(MKVInfo) | + A track at 4528
(MKVInfo) |  + Track number: 3 at 4530
(MKVInfo) |  + Track UID: 3337919387 at 4533
(MKVInfo) |  + Track type: subtitles at 4540
(MKVInfo) |  + Enabled: 1 at 4543
(MKVInfo) |  + Default flag: 0 at 4546
(MKVInfo) |  + Forced flag: 0 at 4549
(MKVInfo) |  + Lacing flag: 0 at 4553
(MKVInfo) |  + MinCache: 0 at 4556
(MKVInfo) |  + Timecode scale: 1 at 4560
(MKVInfo) |  + Max BlockAddition ID: 0 at 4568
(MKVInfo) |  + Codec ID: S_TEXT/UTF8 at 4572
(MKVInfo) |  + Codec decode all: 1 at 4585
(MKVInfo) |  + Language: eng at 4588
(MKVInfo) |+ EbmlVoid (size: 1024) at 4595
(MKVInfo) |+ Cluster at 5622

Thanks in advance

[poisondeathray]

possibly incompatible encoding settings were used

mediainfo (view=>text) copy & paste the report back

[Christophe Lambert]

Here's the mediainfo:

General
Unique ID                        : 227040398937458345630241655781401760038 (0xAACE63EA0A6A9167BD557D6CC8171126)
Complete name                    : I:\2008-RG.mkv
Format                           : Matroska
File size                        : 10.9 GiB
Duration                         : 2h 32mn
Overall bit rate                 : 10.3 Mbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2008-11-22 07:56:58
Writing application              : mkvmerge v2.4.0 ('Fumbling Towards Ecstasy') built on Oct 11 2008 20:13:15
Writing library                  : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : High@L5.0
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 5 frames
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 2h 32mn
Bit rate                         : 9 644 Kbps
Width                            : 1 920 pixels
Height                           : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 16:9
Frame rate                       : 23.976 fps
Color space                      : YUV
Chroma subsampling               : 4:2:0
Bit depth                        : 8 bits
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.194
Stream size                      : 10.0 GiB (92%)
Writing library                  : x264 core 65 r1028 83baa7f
Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=6 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=9644 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language                         : English

Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : AC-3
Format/Info                      : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                   : CM (complete main)
Codec ID                         : A_AC3
Duration                         : 2h 32mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 640 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                        : 16 bits
Compression mode                 : Lossy
Stream size                      : 697 MiB (6%)
Language                         : English

Text
ID                               : 3
Format                           : UTF-8
Codec ID                         : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                    : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language                         : English

[poisondeathray]

probably the format profile header that says "High@5.0"

Even if it's not truly L5.0, most hardware players will "barf" when seeing it.

L4.1 and lower is usually compatible

Sometimes usually just change the value with a tool. A custom ffmpeg tool can do this (but the site is down)
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=152419

Someone made an easier to use tool, I can't remember the name, he posted in a dozen threads search for it
Maybe it's this one?
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Other-VIDEO-Tools/H264-Level-Editor.shtml




Sometimes >4 ref frames will cause playback problems as well on "weaker" players (yours has 5). If this is the case, you would have to re-encode it. Try the level change first (easier and faster, no quality loss)

[Christophe Lambert]

Thanks, I'm gonna search for the tool you're talking about.

[poisondeathray]

yes it's this one, but I'm not sure how well it works
http://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/h264leveleditor


If changing the header doesn't work, then there is probably something else incompatible, you may have to re-encode

[Christophe Lambert]

I'm currently changing the header with TSmuxer. I'll try leveleditor if it doesn't work.
Thanks again!