Horizontal Green Lines in BluRay MKV Files

[Hockeytown777]

Every movie I have tried to rip has had green horizontal lines during playback. I typically see these lines in scenes that have faster movements, but they appear at consistent times from media player to media player, embedded within the files.

I have tried switching the buffer size to the largest possible size in the settings, but didn't seem to do anything.

I am very frustrated at this point and am hoping someone can help with this issue, thanks.

[Woodstock]

Try VLC from VideoLan.org. You are probably trying to play a VC-1 Interlaced file, which is not universally supported in players. VLC will tell you if this is the case.

If it is, you will probably have to re-encode the file in a more supported video codec, like h264. I recommend handbrake from handbrake.fr for this, but it isn't the only encoder out there.

[Hockeytown777]

Thanks for the info, but the main place I am playing the files back is on a Plex media server.

I have tried playing the files in various other media players that show the same lines in the same places.

I can give VLC player a try, but many people use MakeMKV for their MKV files and play them just fine on a Plex media server, so this is why I'm puzzled.

[Woodstock]

Yes, but the first step is to find out if the file itself is the problem. VLC will help with that. If the file is bad, Plex isn't going to be able fix it.

But, by the same token, if the file is OK, there isn't anything that can be done with MakeMKV to fix it, either. So it is important to identify what failed.

If VLC plays the file without the lines, you can at least get the codec information (Information screen on VLC, Ctrl-I on most versions, otherwise Tools->Media information).

You can also find out if the file is interlaced; this is rare on Bluray, but it does happen; NISAmerica likes to encode the BDs as 29.97fps 1080 interlaced, rather than the more common 1080p. If it is encoded as VC1 Interlaced, you need to make sure your version of Plex is new enough to deal with it.

[deetce]

i too am experiencing the horizontal green line issue with bluray mkv files. i've followed the suggestion about using VLC, and it plays fine there and indicates that the CODEC is H264. So far, the players i've tried include windows media player, cyberlink media suite 10, the movies and tv app in windows 10, and VLC. thankfully, VLC plays it just fine, but i'm concerned as i also want to make the file available to PLEX and obviously don't want to deal with any issues in playback quality. thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

[Woodstock]

If Plex is doing a re-encode for your playback device, they may have the same issue that handbrake had a year or two back, where the encoder looked beyond the edges when encoding. I never saw it, but some tweaks were made to handbrake to fix it.

[deetce]

reading between the lines then, should i look at using handbrake to digitize the discs that are having issues?

[Woodstock]

If the original MKV file doesn't have the green line, handbrake could be one work-around, until Plex can be fixed. Given how Plex works, it may be as simple as a tweak to the player configuration.

[deetce]

appears that the blu-ray is protected and handbrake wont recognize the source disc.

[Woodstock]

Handbrake isn't ripping software - it's not SUPPOSED to read protected media. You feed it the MKV file that MakeMKV creates. Works just fine that way.

[deetce]

AHHH....well that clears that little confusion up lol. When i feed it the file, should i keep the default settings, or are there some specific changes i should make?

[Woodstock]

I'd start with one of the stock profiles to begin with. "HQ 1080p30 Surround" is a decent starting point.

If you know which chapter you usually see the green lines appear, encode JUST that chapter to start with, and see if the problem exists. Faster than waiting for a full encode.

Plex generally will use the equivalent of handbrake's "fast" presets, to keep the frame rate up. If your Plex server has an Intel processor with QuickSync Video hardware, Plex can take advantage of that to speed things up, but QSV has its disadvantages. One of those disadvantages is that its hardware decode sometimes screws up REALLY badly, but that does more than put green lines on the screen.

[MrMadness]

I have the same problem. But it happens from the ripped mkv. Tried another program but had the same result.

Running the video through Handbrake did not help. Only happened with 2 bluray movies. There's Something About Mary and Sex Drive ( both regular versions and extended).

Could this be some new copy protection for blurays?