Are there desktop sets that play mkv files burned on dvds?

[nasdravi]

Cant find one that does that, some i found play mkv thru usb or streaming.... any ideas?
thanks
PS my tv supports mkv thru hdmi

[yoda313]

That is a rare combo. Don't know of any off hand.

Your next best bet is harddrive support. Something like a bluray player or wdtv unit will play mkv off harddrives - ntfs.

I'd still stay at 2tb or under as over 2tb have spotty support right now. Though that may be changing in given models as 3tb and larger become mainstream (different boot structure on the larger drives).

You MAY be able to use a wdtv and hack it so it can read a usb dvd drive. Than you could do what you want - play a mkv off a dvd. However that is more work and you can just as easily use a harddrive with mkvs on it with a wdtv.

Might I ask why you need dvds? Harddrive support is much greater now than ever before (even bluray players support ntfs harddrives now, not just dedicated file players like wdtv).

I might rethink your search strategy. Just an fyi.

Edit - you could remux the mkv to mp4 and than game consoles could play them off dvdr. However if they aren't level 4 h264 you are going to have to reencode them as the ps3 and xbox 360 are pretty picky about the type of h264 video they can play. And note neither will read ntfs drives only fat32 (4gb file limit) but the 360 will read mac hfs+ drives that don't have the 4gb limit. Though I haven't confirmed it apparently that only allows you to use any size wmv files not mp4 but I haven't tested that personally on my xbox 360 to self verify.

Edit 2 - DOH!

Just put them on dvdr and use a bluray player that supports mkv!!! Duh why didn't I say that earlier? I do that on my current model sony bluray player s1100 something or other.

Problem solved.

However a bluray player still won't play as wide a range of codec types and file structures as a wdtv type unit will. But a bluray player with file support (specifically h264 in a mkv file) will be more versatile than a ps3 or xbox 360 as they can read files off a ntfs harddrive that the game consoles can't do in any capacity.

[johns0]

Most sony and lg and phillip blu-ray players will play mkv burned on dvd.Any hdtv with hdmi inputs will play mkv through hdmi as long as the device that's connected to it supports mkv.

[nasdravi]

Most sony and lg and phillip blu-ray players will play mkv burned on dvd.Any hdtv with hdmi inputs will play mkv through hdmi as long as the device that's connected to it supports mkv.

I didnt know that. thanks!

[nasdravi]

That is a rare combo. Don't know of any off hand.

Your next best bet is harddrive support. Something like a bluray player or wdtv unit will play mkv off harddrives - ntfs.

I'd still stay at 2tb or under as over 2tb have spotty support right now. Though that may be changing in given models as 3tb and larger become mainstream (different boot structure on the larger drives).

You MAY be able to use a wdtv and hack it so it can read a usb dvd drive. Than you could do what you want - play a mkv off a dvd. However that is more work and you can just as easily use a harddrive with mkvs on it with a wdtv.

Might I ask why you need dvds? Harddrive support is much greater now than ever before (even bluray players support ntfs harddrives now, not just dedicated file players like wdtv).

I might rethink your search strategy. Just an fyi.

Edit - you could remux the mkv to mp4 and than game consoles could play them off dvdr. However if they aren't level 4 h264 you are going to have to reencode them as the ps3 and xbox 360 are pretty picky about the type of h264 video they can play. And note neither will read ntfs drives only fat32 (4gb file limit) but the 360 will read mac hfs+ drives that don't have the 4gb limit. Though I haven't confirmed it apparently that only allows you to use any size wmv files not mp4 but I haven't tested that personally on my xbox 360 to self verify.

Edit 2 - DOH!

Just put them on dvdr and use a bluray player that supports mkv!!! Duh why didn't I say that earlier? I do that on my current model sony bluray player s1100 something or other.

Problem solved.

However a bluray player still won't play as wide a range of codec types and file structures as a wdtv type unit will. But a bluray player with file support (specifically h264 in a mkv file) will be more versatile than a ps3 or xbox 360 as they can read files off a ntfs harddrive that the game consoles can't do in any capacity.

thanks too

[yoda313]

thanks too

You're welcome.

One other thing to consider.

If you have a mkv with dts only you might not be able to play it back over your digital amp when its file mode and not in a disc structure like dvd or bluray.

I've tried a mkv with dts only over a usb and on a burnt dvdr and it wouldn't play in surround sound on my amp. Even though dts on a pressed dvd and a pressed (ie manufactured not self burnt) bluray play just fine.

I don't know if its a quirk of my particular sony bluray player or if its a restriction all bluray players put in.

Also note I am using a fiber optic out connection as my amp doesn't have a hdmi port. So it may be different for mkvs with dts if you are using a hdmi receiver. I can't say as I don't have one.

Also it might be a bitrate issue. However I don't have any dts samples under 1mpbs to test to know if its a bitrate deal or if it just won't do it all.

Please note I can do 640kpbs dolby digital just fine in file format over usb or burnt to disc.

Again it might just be a quirk of my particular bluray player or it might be a limitation of using fiber optic output and file playback.

Of course you can simply convert your dts track to ac3 with something like eac3to and you'll have a minimal loss in quality and will be able to simply remux (recopy) the new track with the original video and you are good to go.

Just something to consider if you have lots of dts only mkvs.

Plus note these days bluray players do have 2 channel dts output available so you can play a dts track over your tv (since otherwise you'd have to have a dolby digital track otherwise because most if not all tvs don't have built in dts decoders - again at least older models, I don't have any new model tvs, my newest is at least a year old now and wasn't top of the line either when it was out).

Just some more things to review in your search. Best to know more before you buy.

Best to check out feedback at websites like amazon and the like to read consumer reviews. But read more than the first two or three and keep in mind there might be paid reviewers out there giving false testimony out there - though I think its supposed to be illegal to do that but who knows anymore. Also there are always fanboys/girls of a given company who can never say anything bad about them and perpetual haters who can never say anything good about a company. Best to read a lot of reviews and try to come up with some average between the highs and lows. There's always bound to be a an exception in there where somebody got a dud and swears off the company but that shouldn't necessarily scare you away.

Good luck.

[johns0]

The reason you can't hear the audio on a mkv with dts as a file on usb or disc is that your amp can't decode dts,when playing in blu-ray your player decodes dts to pcm unless you specify that the amp can decode dts,if you did that then you won't hear any audio on a blu-ray that uses dts as it's main audio.

[yoda313]

The reason you can't hear the audio on a mkv with dts as a file on usb or disc is that your amp can't decode dts,when playing in blu-ray your player decodes dts to pcm unless you specify that the amp can decode dts,if you did that then you won't hear any audio on a blu-ray that uses dts as it's main audio.

My amp does dts and it does it just fine.

I have tried many different audio out scenarios on my bluray player. However I don't think it just outputs bitstream.

The model is sony bdp s1100.

Sorry for going a bit offtopic here.

Edit - I just pulled out my manual and here is something interesting. Dts isn't a supported format for all file structures.

It says here for mpeg4/avc dts is only supported in a ts container - either m2ts or mts.

That is damn odd.

It supports dts with mpeg1 and 2 video in mpg files but won't support it with xvid video.

It will support dts with vc1 but only in ts containers.

What a weird layout.

I think I'll try muxing a rip into m2ts and see if the dts works in that.

Edit - its on page 31 of the manual fyi.

[johns0]

That's the other thing i was thinking about that some player are limited in what audio that the file contains,my player will play mkv with dts and it's an older sony bdp-s380 but since my receiver is only dd i make my blu-rays into mkv with 640 5.1 ac3.

[yoda313]

That's the other thing i was thinking about that some player are limited in what audio that the file contains,my player will play mkv with dts and it's an older sony bdp-s380 but since my receiver is only dd i make my blu-rays into mkv with 640 5.1 ac3.

I have no problem with dd only its just it would suck if I can't use dts in file mode.

Yep i have to test the containers. I'm doing a dvd rip right now and I'll mux that into a supported container.

then I'll mux a h264 file that has dts and put that in the only supported container.

Hopefully both will light up my dts light and I'll be good to go.

It would make ripping blurays a whole lot faster without needing to convert the audio. Of course I'll need to buy another harddrive if I go this route