h.264 instead of MPEG2?

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cornfedcub
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:04 pm

h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#1 Post by cornfedcub » Sun May 09, 2010 5:09 pm

I'm new to the application, but my Samsung TV won't play the finished MKV or MP4 file with MPEG2. Is there anyway to get it to use h.264 instead?

Will

NomadCF
Posts: 125
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2009 7:38 pm

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#2 Post by NomadCF » Sun May 09, 2010 7:07 pm

You'll have to re-encode it to h264, AFTER MakeMKV is finished.

setarip_old
Posts: 2136
Joined: Wed Dec 09, 2009 1:31 pm

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#3 Post by setarip_old » Sun May 09, 2010 10:08 pm

@cornfedcub

Hi!
Is there anyway to get it to use h.264 instead?
No - MakeMKV does not convert videostreams (nor most audiostreams) to different formats. Therefore, if you use MakeMKV to process a standard DVD, the videostream in the created .MKV will remain MPEG-2...

mikeinessex
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2010 5:48 pm

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#4 Post by mikeinessex » Mon May 10, 2010 1:32 pm

I have the samsung hdtv high res 23in one. and mkv works fine on mine. i connect with vga and a 2.1 sound through my pc if that helps?

crowfax
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:55 am

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#5 Post by crowfax » Mon May 10, 2010 5:07 pm

mikeinessex wrote:I have the samsung hdtv high res 23in one. and mkv works fine on mine. i connect with vga and a 2.1 sound through my pc if that helps?
I believe his TV natively plays video files (via USB or card interface), rather than being connected to an external source.
Home Theater PC: Assassin HTPC, XBMCbuntu 12.0 (Frodo), Intel i5 3570k 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge w/ HD 4000, LG BD-ROM
Playback Devices: Mede8er MED600X3D, MyGica EnjoyTV 120, Xtreamer SideWinder 3, Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox

TODDMKV
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 4:35 am

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#6 Post by TODDMKV » Mon May 17, 2010 3:08 am

Not an expert here, but isnt' MPEG2 a very common format thats been around for a long time, compared h.264 a realtively new format?

Would it be unusual for any mainstream product to play h.264 and not play MPEG2?

crowfax
Posts: 972
Joined: Thu Feb 18, 2010 5:55 am

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#7 Post by crowfax » Mon May 17, 2010 3:41 am

TODDMKV wrote:Not an expert here, but isnt' MPEG2 a very common format thats been around for a long time, compared h.264 a realtively new format?

Would it be unusual for any mainstream product to play h.264 and not play MPEG2?
There are licensing fee's attached to MPEG2 so maybe that's why it's not in much hardware.

However, I think a more reasonable explanation is that most players aren't expecting to see MPEG2 video inside an MKV file.
Home Theater PC: Assassin HTPC, XBMCbuntu 12.0 (Frodo), Intel i5 3570k 3.4 GHz Ivy Bridge w/ HD 4000, LG BD-ROM
Playback Devices: Mede8er MED600X3D, MyGica EnjoyTV 120, Xtreamer SideWinder 3, Crystal Acoustics MediaMatchBox

cornfedcub
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun May 09, 2010 5:04 pm

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#8 Post by cornfedcub » Sun Jun 06, 2010 9:24 pm

crowfax wrote:
mikeinessex wrote:I have the samsung hdtv high res 23in one. and mkv works fine on mine. i connect with vga and a 2.1 sound through my pc if that helps?
I believe his TV natively plays video files (via USB or card interface), rather than being connected to an external source.
Indeed my Samsung TV plays video files natively via USB and via DLNA. It is expecting H.264, Divx, XviD, or MPEG4 in the MKV container, but not MPEG2. I love MakeMKV, because it works the same across Mac and PC platforms, it is fast, and it correctly rips the content I want, unlike Handbrake. However re-encoding every files is time consuming. I wish there was a way to chose the video encoding type.

trondmm
Posts: 82
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2010 12:50 pm

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#9 Post by trondmm » Mon Jun 07, 2010 4:36 pm

cornfedcub wrote:I wish there was a way to chose the video encoding type.
But, there's nothing to choose. MakeMKV doesn't encode video at all. It extracts it and puts it in a new container.

rachel
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:35 pm

Re: h.264 instead of MPEG2?

#10 Post by rachel » Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:39 am

Just to combat confusion, hopefully... cornfedcub: the mkv files show an encoding type of mpeg2 because that's what the enclosed video *is*. You can't just change the metadata to say the enclosed video stream is h.264 and leave the mpeg2 video stream in there. Your tv won't appreciate being lied to in this fashion! :-)

All of which is to confirm what you probably suspected: that, for you, there is no alternative to those lengthy re-encodes. Just use handbrake (you can feed it the files made by makemkv if you're having trouble identifying the right titles and tracks from a DVD in it's own gui - no shame there, sometimes it's problematic) and cultivate patience like the rest of us. It won't lead you wrong. :-) Alternatively instead of relying on your tv's own playback feature, connect a pc running xbmc or similar. That will happily play back mpeg2-containing mkvs as directly produced from DVDs using makemkv. Have been doing this more myself lately since my last raid upgrade, although I expect to encode them down later during the period of denial before my next such upgrade. :-}

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