Another MKV to MP4 conversion question

[cbjfan2009]

I'm new to this forum, and I've spent the last few days trying to hash out this problem. I have a variety of .mkv files that I'd like to convert to .mp4 so I can more simply stream them to my PS3. I stream using TVersity, but have never successfully streamed a .mkv file to my PS3. I've read several "definitive guides" to doing this, and have given up...always the same error. So....

My .mkv files are variable in size, shape, content. Some are basically 720p rips, while others are 1080p rips. I used XMedia Recode to re-container a few .mkv files into .mp4. This was easy enough when the .mkv contained the rather ubiquitous H.264 - MPEG-4 AVC video stream and AC3(a52) 5.1 audio or AAC 5.1 audio tracks. Some action-oriented videos contain DTS 5.1 audio tracks that I'd like to maintain, but XMedia Recode doesn't know how to handle them. I'll explain.

File 1:
Video - MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, profile high 4.1, 1280x528.
Audio - 768kbps DTS, 48KHz sample rate, 16bit sample, 5.1 channel.
When I open this in XMedia Recode, I only have the option to "convert" the audio to 448bitrate AAC or 640bitrate AC3 audio.
I don't need to do this. I want DTS main. PS3 can decode all the major codecs, and if it cannot, it should pass them through to my Onkyo TXSR805 via HDMI, correct?

File 2:
Video - MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, profile high 4.1, 1920x800.
Audio - 1536kbps DTS, 48KHz sample rate, 16 bit sample, 5.1 channel. Same issue, I don't want to change the audio quality. I have a high quality surround sound and want all of it utilized.

Am I missing something here? Am I overlooking some basic fact about transcoding/re-packaging media? I don't want to degrade performance. I've always preferred DTS quality over Dolby. It's always seemed crisper and a little more dynamic to me.
Help me understand what I've missed, please!

[Baldrick]

Have you tried stream with ps3 media server?

[cbjfan2009]

Baldrick: Yes, I've tried using PS3 Media Server. Again, I'm guessing that I didn't have something set properly, because I never got that working for just about any files. I've read that it's a very good program, so I've been trying to just transcode everything. I'd also like to transcode so I could possibly put some files onto my iPod or my Samsung Galaxy SIII. I know that will require a whole other set of changes, so I'm focusing on getting the files working simply on the PS3 first.
I didn't put this in the OP, but I have 1080p TV, receiver supports every modern audio codec (DTS HD, MA, Dolby TrueHD, etc...so even though PS3 does too, I'm not relying on it), everything is HDMI connections.

[cbjfan2009]

Bump

[aedipuss]

you could try mkvtomp4, mediacoder or avidemux, they give you the option to copy video/audio with no changes.

[FulciLives]

I have a PS3 and I use PS3 Media Server and it allows me to stream MKV files.

I do have another suggestion though that you might want to try.

The PS3 has two native formats it will play. One is MP4 and the other is M2TS. A MP4 file is simply H.264 video with AAC audio. A M2TS file is simply H.264 video with AC-3 audio.

There is a handy program called PS3Muxer that will take a MKV and make a M2TS file. If the original is AC-3 audio it just passes it through (basically you are just remuxing from MKV to M2TS) if the original audio is DTS then it will convert it to AC-3 for you.

This M2TS file can then be played directly on the PS3. Obviously you should be able to stream it in real time or do a file copy to the PS3 (and watch it from the HDD). But since you can't seem to get that working you can just copy it to a USB Thumb drive and then plug that into the PS3.

Just make sure the USB Thumb drive is formatted FAT32 and realize that no single file can be over 4GB in size BUT tht PSMuxer program can split the file for you into 4GB chunks (if the file is over that size of course).

*** EDIT ***
Please note that M2TS only supports one audio track (which must be AC-3) and it doesn't support subtitles.

[FulciLives]

I should add that if you have a MKV that has more than one audio track (and you want both) or it has subtitles then you have to make an AVCHD which can be burned onto a DVD disc OR a USB Thumb Drive. Doing it this way allows you to keep all the audio tracks and subtitles tracks.

This can be done using tsMuxeR (to create the AVCHD) but make sure you have it split the files at 4GB chunks and then use AVCHDMe to make sure it is compatible with the PS3.

Now you can burn it to a DVD (follow a guide to burning AVCHD) or just copy it to a USB Thumb drive (keeping the AVCHD folder in the ROOT of the USB Thumb drive).

[cbjfan2009]

Thanks for the posts. I'm going to try PS3 Media Server again and see if I can stream the mkv's directly. TVersity streams everything else for me, FulciLives. I don't want to transcode audio formats. I've streamed mp4 files that contain AAC and AC3 audio codec audio, so my goal is to stream the mkvs with their high bitrate DTS tracks intact.
I'll post back if I'm successful with PS3 M S.

[FulciLives]

Well the only thing I can think of is that it may not work with DTS-HD MA tracks. You will probably have to extract the "core" making it a standard DTS audio track. If MKV with DTS is giving you trouble that could be the issue.

Same thing with Dolby TrueHD usually has the same issues.

However PS Media Server works for me but I prefer making a M2TS file, doing a file copy to the PS3 (using PS3 Media Server) then playing it back locally from the PS3 itself.

[cbjfan2009]

Thanks again for the posts. I will try to experiment more with this tomorrow in the evening. Does anyone have a link to a detailed guide for setting up PS3MS? I was getting DLNA or whatever errors tonight.... I think that's why I never got into using it in the past.
Thanks.

[FulciLives]

I've never had issues with it and that's supposed to be the beauty of it ... there is nothing to "set up"

Then again I do have a WIRED network (not wireless) so maybe you have a bad signal or your router is not set up right but I'm not sure how to fix something like that.

[cbjfan2009]

I have good news: I've been able to get PMS working to stream .mkv files to my PS3! This is much easier than converting every file. The problem I'm having now is this:
1080p .mkv with 5.1 DTS audio streams to PS3, DTS shows up on my receiver (which tells me the receiver is getting unprocessed signal passed to it from PS3 and the receiver is decoding it. Is this the correct assumption?). When I hit "Select" and see the specs of the video/audio stream, it says "2 channel LPCM". Why does it say that? Am I actually only getting a 2-channel stream passed to the receiver?
I know this question isn't directly related to my OP, but it still flows with the progression of this discussion.
Thanks so much everyone.

[cbjfan2009]

More bad news for server setup problems: when I stream video to my PS3 (even 1080p aka high bandwidth files) I get no audio skipping. When I stream a crappy little mp3 file, the audio skips every 10 or 15 seconds. This seems unbelievably silly considering the significantly lower bandwidth requirements. Any suggestions on this issue, or the problem of DTS audio showing up as 2.0 in the Select info view even when the audio track in the video file is DTS 5.1?
Thanks everyone!

[smitbret]

This is getting far more complicated than it needs to be.

Download a program called TSmuxer.
Run the .exe.
Drag your .mkv into the Source field.
Select the streams you wanna keep and make sure your h264 level is 4.1 or lower.
Select .m2ts as the destination file type and select your destination location.
Click Go and wait 3 minutes for the file to remux.
Turn off transcoding in Tversity and forget about transcoding on the fly, file size limitations, container formats, etc.

Or

Just install MKV2VOB
Drag .mkv file to your source field and wait 3 minutes.
If you aren't using a separate AV receiver, make sure you check the box that converts .dts to .ac3.
Turn off transcoding in Tversity and forget about transcoding on the fly, file size limitations, container formats, etc.

That's all you need.