BluRay player won't play certain MKV/MP4 files

[Dan091]

My LG BD620C player sometimes won't play MKV/MP4 files from a USB, and skips it to play the next item. I'm getting fed up with not knowing why, so could someone please let me know what's wrong? I've got my player's compatibility and the info for the latest movie that won't play below.


Here's my Blu-Ray's compatibility:

Available resolution size: 1920 x 1080 (W x H) pixels

Playable subtitle: SubRip (.srt / .txt), SAMI (.smi), SubStation Alpha (.ssa/.txt), MicroDVD (.sub/.txt), VobSub (.sub), SubViewer 1.0 (.sub),
SubViewer 2.0 (.sub/.txt), TMPlayer (.txt), DVD Subtitle System (.txt)

Playable Codec format: “DIVX3.xx”, “DIVX4.xx”, “DIVX5.xx”, “XVID”, “DIVX6.xx” (Standard playback only), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG2 PS, MPEG2 TS

Playable Audio format: “Dolby Digital”, “DTS”, “MP3”, “WMA”, “AAC”, “AC3”
• Not all the WMA and AAC Audio format are compatible with this unit.

Sampling frequency: within 32-48 kHz (WMA), within 16-48 kHz (MP3)
Bit rate: within 32-192Kbps (WMA), within 32-320Kbps (MP3)


And here's my video file's info:

Format: Matroska
Format version: Version 4 / Version 2
File size: 2.71 GiB
Duration: 2h 5mn
Overall bit rate: 3 080 Kbps
Writing application: mkvmerge v6.7.0 ('Back to the Ground') 64bit built on Jan 8 2014 15:10:52
Writing library: libebml v1.3.0 + libmatroska v1.4.1

Video
ID: 1
Format: AVC
Format/Info: Advanced Video Codec
Format profile: High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC: Yes
Format settings, ReFrames: 4 frames
Codec ID: V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration: 2h 5mn
Bit rate: 2 713 Kbps
Width: 1 280 pixels
Height: 532 pixels
Display aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Frame rate mode: Constant
Frame rate: 23.976 (24000/1001) fps
Color space: YUV
Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0
Bit depth: 8 bits
Scan type: Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame): 0.166
Writing library: x264 core 130 r2273 b3065e6
Encoding settings: cabac=1 / ref=1 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=2 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=0 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=6 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=1 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=10 / rc=abr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=2713 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / vbv_maxrate=62500 / vbv_bufsize=78125 / nal_hrd=none / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language: English
Default: Yes
Forced: No
Color range: Limited
Color primaries: BT.709
Transfer characteristics: BT.709
Matrix coefficients: BT.709

Audio
ID: 2
Format: AC-3
Format/Info: Audio Coding 3
Mode extension: CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness: Big
Codec ID: A_AC3
Duration: 2h 5mn
Bit rate mode: Constant
Bit rate: 384 Kbps
Channel(s): 6 channels
Channel positions: Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate: 48.0 KHz
Frame rate: 31.250 fps (1536 spf)
Compression mode: Lossy
Language: English
Default: Yes
Forced: No

[Baldrick]

I can't see anything that would cause any problems with the video details.

I guess you can play other files that are bigger than 2GB ?

[Dan091]

That's right, file size is no issue. Are there things other than compatibility that can cause problems? It plays fine on my PC with VLC.

[chang123]

Hi,

I'm experiencing the same problem on my LG BD550 player. Any help would be appreciated.

Many Thanks.

[Baldrick]

You can try "remux" the mkv with latest mkvtoolnixgui. Add the mkv and make a new mkv. No video reconversion.


Or remux the mkv to mp4 with mkv2mp4. It should also not reconvert the video.

[sneaker]

Try newest MKVToolNix GUI->Preferences->Merge->Default Values. Enter into field "Default additional command-line options":
--clusters-in-meta-seek --disable-track-statistics-tags --engage no_cue_duration --engage no_cue_relative_position
(see FAQ for more info)
After that open your file and remux. Then try playing again. If it still does not work show more MediaInfo of working and not-working file and/or upload samples.

[KarMa]

The only possible thing I can think of is the fact that this video is a mod4 video, meaning the height is only divisible by 4. Some devices only like mod8 and mod16, and can choke on mod2 and mod4. This is just a guess because there is nothing else wrong with your file that I can see.

[Dan091]

Unfortunately, none of the above worked. When trying to play the file as an mp4, my player gave me a message saying "This file may not play properly" before exiting back to the list of files on my usb, instead of simply skipping it and playing the next file.

Here's info for an mkv that plays properly:

Format: Matroska
Format version: Version 4 / Version 2
File size: 6.56 GiB
Duration: 2h 28mn
Overall bit rate: 6 338 Kbps
Writing application: mkvmerge v8.3.0 ('Over the Horizon') 64bit
Writing library: libebml v1.3.1 + libmatroska v1.4.2

Video
ID: 1
Format: AVC
Format/Info: Advanced Video Codec
Format profile: High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC: Yes
Format settings, ReFrames: 5 frames
Codec ID: V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration: 2h 28mn
Bit rate: 4 829 Kbps
Width: 1 280 pixels
Height: 536 pixels
Display aspect ratio: 2.40:1
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): 0.294
Stream size: 4.99 GiB (76%)
Writing library: x264 core 148 r2638 7599210
Encoding settings: cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=12 / lookahead_threads=2 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=4829 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language: English
Default: Yes
Forced: No

Audio
ID: 2
Format: DTS
Format/Info: Digital Theater Systems
Mode: 16
Format settings, Endianness: Big
Codec ID: A_DTS
Duration: 2h 28mn
Bit rate mode: Constant
Bit rate: 1 509 Kbps
Channel(s): 6 channels
Channel positions: Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate: 48.0 KHz
Frame rate: 93.750 fps (512 spf)
Bit depth: 24 bits
Compression mode: Lossy
Stream size: 1.56 GiB (24%)
Language: English
Default: Yes
Forced: No

Here's info for an mp4 that plays properly:

Format: MPEG-4
Format profile: Base Media
Codec ID: isom (isom)
File size: 171 MiB
Duration: 19mn 52s
Overall bit rate mode: Variable
Overall bit rate: 1 205 Kbps

Video
ID: 1
Format: AVC
Format/Info: Advanced Video Codec
Format profile: High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC: Yes
Format settings, ReFrames: 5 frames
Codec ID: avc1
Codec ID/Info: Advanced Video Coding
Duration: 19mn 52s
Bit rate: 1 088 Kbps
Maximum bit rate: 8 790 Kbps
Width: 720 pixels
Height: 404 pixels
Display aspect ratio: 16:9
Frame rate mode: Constant
Frame rate: 23.976 (24000/1001) fps
Color space: YUV
Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0
Bit depth: 8 bits
Scan type: Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame): 0.156
Stream size: 155 MiB (90%)
Writing library: x264 core 148 r2638 7599210
Encoding settings: cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:1:1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=13 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=60 / rc=crf / mbtree=1 / crf=20.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Color range: Limited
Matrix coefficients: BT.709

Audio
ID: 2
Format: AAC
Format/Info: Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile: LC
Codec ID: 40
Duration: 19mn 51s
Bit rate mode: Variable
Bit rate: 112 Kbps
Maximum bit rate: 148 Kbps
Channel(s): 2 channels
Channel positions: Front: L R
Sampling rate: 48.0 KHz
Frame rate: 46.875 fps (1024 spf)
Compression mode: Lossy
Stream size: 15.9 MiB (9%)

And here's info for another mkv file that won't play:

Format: Matroska
Format version: Version 4 / Version 2
File size: 297 MiB
Duration: 1h 4mn
Overall bit rate: 643 Kbps
Writing application: Lavf56.40.101
Writing library: Lavf56.40.101 / Lavf56.40.101

Video
ID: 1
Format: HEVC
Format/Info: High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile: Main@L3.1@Main
Codec ID: V_MPEGH/ISO/HEVC
Width: 1 280 pixels
Height: 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio: 16:9
Frame rate mode: Variable
Original frame rate: 29.970 fps
Color space: YUV
Chroma subsampling: 4:2:0
Bit depth: 8 bits
Writing library: x265 1.8+127-687f397dcd65:[Linux][GCC 5.2.1][64 bit] 8bit+10bit+12bit
Encoding settings: wpp / ctu=64 / min-cu-size=8 / max-tu-size=32 / tu-intra-depth=1 / tu-inter-depth=1 / me=1 / subme=2 / merange=57 / no-rect / no-amp / max-merge=2 / temporal-mvp / no-early-skip / rdpenalty=0 / no-tskip / no-tskip-fast / strong-intra-smoothing / no-lossless / no-cu-lossless / no-constrained-intra / no-fast-intra / open-gop / no-temporal-layers / interlace=0 / keyint=250 / min-keyint=25 / scenecut=40 / rc-lookahead=20 / lookahead-slices=4 / bframes=4 / bframe-bias=0 / b-adapt=2 / ref=3 / limit-refs=0 / no-limit-modes / weightp / no-weightb / aq-mode=1 / qg-size=32 / aq-strength=1.00 / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rd=3 / psy-rd=0.30 / rdoq-level=0 / psy-rdoq=0.00 / signhide / deblock / sao / no-sao-non-deblock / b-pyramid / cutree / no-intra-refresh / rc=crf / crf=24.5 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30
Default: Yes
Forced: No
Statistics Tags Issue: mkvmerge v8.6.1 ('Flying') 32bit 2015-12-20 10:47:35 / Lavf56.40.101
FromStats_BitRate: 1853423
FromStats_Duration: 01:04:38.431000000
FromStats_FrameCount: 116236
FromStats_StreamSize: 898541151

Audio
ID: 2
Format: AAC
Format/Info: Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile: LC
Codec ID: A_AAC
Duration: 1h 4mn
Channel(s): 2 channels
Channel positions: Front: L R
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Frame rate: 43.066 fps (1024 spf)
Compression mode: Lossy
Writing library: Lavc56.60.100 aac
Default: Yes
Forced: No
Statistics Tags Issue: mkvmerge v8.6.1 ('Flying') 32bit 2015-12-20 10:47:35 / Lavf56.40.101
FromStats_BitRate: 125588
FromStats_Duration: 01:04:38.498000000
FromStats_FrameCount: 167032
FromStats_StreamSize: 60886383

[Kerry56]

The last one uses HEVC video codec. I'd be surprised if this Blu-ray player could handle that codec at all.

[Cornucopia]

That 1st clip info posted (the one that wouldn't play) has WAY TOO HIGH vbv & maxbuff sizes (well above blu-ray standards), so it's no surprise it would have trouble in a blu-ray player.
And as Kerry56 mentioned, the clip with HEVC wouldn't likely play either.

My guess is that whoever is creating these encodes is "cherry picking" the settings to be seemingly efficient, without truly understanding their implications.

The container, the codec, the layer/profile/level (and thus bitrate range), the framerate, the color subsampling, and the vbv/maxbuff are all important variables, whether the device/app in question specifies them or not.

Scott

[Dan091]

Thanks for the replies. So is there anything I can do with the file in my first post with mkvtoolnix to change some settings so it can play?

[KarMa]

That 1st clip info posted (the one that wouldn't play) has WAY TOO HIGH vbv & maxbuff sizes (well above blu-ray standards), so it's no surprise it would have trouble in a blu-ray player.

My guess is that whoever is creating these encodes is "cherry picking" the settings to be seemingly efficient, without truly understanding their implications.

The container, the codec, the layer/profile/level (and thus bitrate range), the framerate, the color subsampling, and the vbv/maxbuff are all important variables, whether the device/app in question specifies them or not.

Scott

All of the x264 settings used, conform to High@L4.1 of H.264. This has become seen as the highest/most-compatible profile and used for just about every HD x264 video I see. Even my Chromecast can play High@L4.1, as stated on their website. For this Bluray player I can't get any hard details on what profiles they support with H.264. If this Bluray player can't at least deal with High@L4.1 then that would be disappointing compared to most USB Blu-ray players and TV Media Players.

[Cornucopia]

Not VBV it doesn't (conform), especially not for hardware players (blu-ray or general media). That would likely cause a buffer OVERFLOW.

Again, I didn't just say bitrate. I didn't just say Level/Profile. There are other important factors. VBV is one of them, particularly WRT memory-limited devices.

Scott

[KarMa]

Not VBV it doesn't (conform), especially not for hardware players (blu-ray or general media). That would likely cause a buffer OVERFLOW.

Again, I didn't just say bitrate. I didn't just say Level/Profile. There are other important factors. VBV is one of them, particularly WRT memory-limited devices.

Scott

Seems to at least for H.264 in general for High@4.1

Source: http://www.gwg.nga.mil/misb/docs/trm/TRM1404.pdf

Anyway these values are pretty commonly used. When using the High@4.1 profile in Megui, it will tack on the --vbv-bufsize and --vbv-maxrate

program --level 4.1 --preset slower --bitrate 1000 --deblock -1:-1 --keyint 300 --min-keyint 25 --vbv-bufsize 78125 --vbv-maxrate 62500 --output "output" "input"

-------

When using x264 through CLI (with avs4x264mod.exe), using the settings

avs4x264mod --level 4.1 --preset slow --bitrate 1000 --output out.264 in.avs

I get a video with seemingly no vbv-bufsize or vbv-maxrate.

Video
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 5 frames
Duration                                 : 2s 920ms
Bit rate                                 : 1 000 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 280 pixels
Height                                   : 720 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)                       : 0.045
Stream size                              : 356 KiB (62%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 148 r2638 7599210
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=8 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=9 / lookahead_threads=1 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=50 / rc=abr / mbtree=1 / bitrate=1000 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00

Seemingly having no limit. I also don't believe a ABR of 2713kbps should be able to come close to stressing a Bluray player, maybe 2-Pass on certain exceptional videos but ABR is just not that efficient at spreading out the bitrate. Maybe this player just does not support the High Profile.