Any MKV file experts here?

ChrisGTL · 24 Apr 2012 at 12:39

Sorry to bring this old thread up but thought it was quite similar to my current problem.

I have a LG BD650/UK with a external HDD hooked up to playback some blu-ray's in another room.

http://www.lg.com/uk/tv-audio-video/...ayer-BD650.jsp

5 of my MKV's will not play on the LG BD650/UK - and everything else plays fine (also MKV's)

When I try to play on the LG it says can't play file - so I have extracted the media info from a file that plays and one that doesn't (Good.MKV = plays & Bad.MKV = doesn't play)

Does anything look a miss with the Bad.MKV and is there anything I can do to fix the file?

Code:

General
Unique ID                                : 210325284874212548397550408498830054015 (0x9E3B2D29DE292E9BA127453296B3127F)
Complete name                            : C:\Users\Chris\Documents\Films\Good.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 2
File size                                : 7.25 GiB
Duration                                 : 1h 36mn
Overall bit rate                         : 10.8 Mbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2009-10-26 07:12:12
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v2.9.7 ('Tenderness') built on Jul  1 2009 18:43:35
Writing library                          : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 4 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 1h 36mn
Bit rate                                 : 9 088 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 1 080 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)                       : 0.183
Stream size                              : 5.96 GiB (82%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 68 r1179M 96e2229
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=9 / psy_rd=1.0:0.1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=48 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=6 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / bitrate=9088 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=50000 / vbv_bufsize=50000 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:0.90
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : DTS
Format/Info                              : Digital Theater Systems
Format profile                           : ES
Codec ID                                 : A_DTS
Duration                                 : 1h 36mn
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 24 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 1.01 GiB (14%)
Title                                    : DTS-ES [email protected]
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio #2
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Format profile                           : Dolby Digital
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_AC3
Duration                                 : 1h 36mn
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 192 Kbps
Channel(s)                               : 2 channels
Channel positions                        : Front: L R
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 132 MiB (2%)
Title                                    : Director's Comments@192kbps
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Code:

General
Unique ID                                : 187700828985220157106902135715608970402 (0x8D35DD5DD3018064A25968A22F98C4A2)
Complete name                            : C:\Users\Chris\Desktop\Bad.mkv
Format                                   : Matroska
Format version                           : Version 1
File size                                : 7.95 GiB
Duration                                 : 2h 10mn
Overall bit rate                         : 8 717 Kbps
Encoded date                             : UTC 2007-08-08 17:53:58
Writing application                      : mkvmerge v2.0.2 ('You're My Flame') built on Feb 21 2007 23:40:55
Writing library                          : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID                                       : 3
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : [email protected]
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames                : 8 frames
Codec ID                                 : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                                 : 2h 10mn
Bit rate                                 : 8 329 Kbps
Width                                    : 1 920 pixels
Height                                   : 816 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 2.35:1
Frame rate                               : 25.000 fps
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.213
Stream size                              : 7.44 GiB (94%)
Writing library                          : x264 core 56 svn-667C
Encoding settings                        : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-4:-4 / analyse=0x3:0x133 / me=umh / subme=6 / brdo=1 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=2 / deadzone=4,6 / chroma_qp_offset=0 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / bime=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40(pre) / rc=2pass / bitrate=8329 / ratetol=1.0 / rceq='blurCplx^(1-qComp)' / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / zones=187687,195786,b=0.15 / aq=1:0.3:15.0
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Audio
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension                           : CM (complete main)
Format settings, Endianness              : Big
Codec ID                                 : A_AC3
Duration                                 : 2h 10mn
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
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 358 MiB (4%)
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : Yes
Forced                                   : No

Text
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : UTF-8
Codec ID                                 : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info                            : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language                                 : English
Default                                  : No
Forced                                   : No

Thanks.

Calcutter · 24 Apr 2012 at 12:44

First thing that springs to mind is that they both have different level profiles.

The good MKV is at: Format profile : [email protected]

Whilst the bad MKV is at: Format profile : [email protected]

Paste some more bad MKV infos for comparison.

EDIT: A quick look on the LG page under "Video Format" section would suggest it's only capable of handling profiles up to L4.1, see: http://www.lg.com/us/blu-ray-players/lg-BD650-blu-ray-dvd-player

Nismo · 24 Apr 2012 at 13:01

I have issues with some mkv's on my LG because of something called Header Stripping. A Windows plugin called Media Info can identify this. I then run them through a command line program called mkwdclean (I think from memory) which produces a fixed file which then plays fine.

I'm pretty sure the profile levels don't affect anything in my case either, just header stripping.

ChrisGTL · 24 Apr 2012 at 13:12

Well spotted with the L5.1 vs L4.1

Looks like this is my issue as all the MKV's that work are L4.1 or lower.

The ones that don't play are L5.1

Bummer!!

lord filbuster · 24 Apr 2012 at 17:21

You can change the level information in the header of the file, and see if the player will accept it. I'd imagine all of the level 5.1 files you have will also conform to 4.1, and it is only the fact that they are flagged as 5.1 that the player rejects them.

To change it, extract the raw video from the MKV to a .264 file, change the level to 4.1 using a program called h264info, which won't re-encode the video, then remux the .264 file back into an mkv.

ChrisGTL · 24 Apr 2012 at 19:22

lord filbuster said:
You can change the level information in the header of the file, and see if the player will accept it. I'd imagine all of the level 5.1 files you have will also conform to 4.1, and it is only the fact that they are flagged as 5.1 that the player rejects them.

To change it, extract the raw video from the MKV to a .264 file, change the level to 4.1 using a program called h264info, which won't re-encode the video, then remux the .264 file back into an mkv.

I know I'm a pain but could you talk me through how to do this?

lord filbuster · 24 Apr 2012 at 21:09

ChrisGTL said:
I know I'm a pain but could you talk me through how to do this?

No problem. I'll update this post in half an hour or so with details.

lord filbuster · 24 Apr 2012 at 22:07

Right, I'm assuming you are on windows, so you'll need these three pieces of software:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVtoolnix

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/H264info

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVExtractGUI-2

Firstly, install or extract MKVtoolnix and MKVextractgui to the same directory. Then run mkvextractgui, and select the mkv file you want to alter. Then, select an output directory (one on a separate HD speeds things up nicely), and tick all the boxes under 'tracks', then just click extract.

Once that is done, load up h264info, and open the .h264 file that MKVextractgui created. In the 3rd box down on the right, marked level, enter 4.1. The output file should just be saved as .h264 in the same directory. Click start, and wait for the start button to turn back to black, then it is finished (the progress bar is a little screwy). You can then delete the unaltered .h264 file.

Finally, go to where you extracted/installed MKVtoolnix, and open mmg.exe. Under input files, select the output .h264 file of h264info, and the audio file(s) extracted by MKVextractgui. Then just choose the output filename at the bottom, and hit start muxing. The final file should then be marked as level 4.1 compliant.

I also found a program called h264 level editor, which can edit the levels without all the fuss above, but i tested it, and it was able to increase the level of 3.1 files to 4.1, but when i tried to downgrade a 5.1 file, the media info still showed up as 5.1 in media player classic.

The way I have written above changed the level in all the info programs I tried though.

Heres a link to the level editing program, you might want to give it a shot first, then use my method above if it doesn't work. http://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/h264leveleditor

You simply load the mkv, select the level you want, and hit change, and it does it instantly, although for some reason it didn't work for me.

Obviously, this may not work, so test one of the videos first, rather than wasting time converting all of them only to find they still don't play. In particular, the number of ReFrames in the level 5.1 video is higher, and basically, more ReFrames need more memory to decode. Hopefully, in most cases, the player will still be able to do it, but if this doesn't work, you will need to reencode the files to comply with level 4.1.

Slade2 · 24 Apr 2012 at 22:08

This is probably obvious but the bad files is format version 1 and the good one is format version 2. Could it be that its a fairly new TV and it isnt compatible with the older versions? you might be able to redo it to a newer version and get it to play at least if the above doesnt work.

ubern00b · 24 Apr 2012 at 22:46

Just my 2p but you will probably find its less the profile level (Players should all be able to play [email protected] as its a standard) and more the number of Reference Frames. In your example above there are 8. There should be no more than 4 (Sometimes 5 will work) for 1080p material.

Only way around this, as far as I know, is to re-encode.

Edit: Just realised the L5.1 profile is probably what sets the 8 reference frames. Doh

ChrisGTL · 25 Apr 2012 at 08:57

lord filbuster said:
Right, I'm assuming you are on windows, so you'll need these three pieces of software:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVtoolnix

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/H264info

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MKVExtractGUI-2

Firstly, install or extract MKVtoolnix and MKVextractgui to the same directory. Then run mkvextractgui, and select the mkv file you want to alter. Then, select an output directory (one on a separate HD speeds things up nicely), and tick all the boxes under 'tracks', then just click extract.

Once that is done, load up h264info, and open the .h264 file that MKVextractgui created. In the 3rd box down on the right, marked level, enter 4.1. The output file should just be saved as .h264 in the same directory. Click start, and wait for the start button to turn back to black, then it is finished (the progress bar is a little screwy). You can then delete the unaltered .h264 file.

Finally, go to where you extracted/installed MKVtoolnix, and open mmg.exe. Under input files, select the output .h264 file of h264info, and the audio file(s) extracted by MKVextractgui. Then just choose the output filename at the bottom, and hit start muxing. The final file should then be marked as level 4.1 compliant.

I also found a program called h264 level editor, which can edit the levels without all the fuss above, but i tested it, and it was able to increase the level of 3.1 files to 4.1, but when i tried to downgrade a 5.1 file, the media info still showed up as 5.1 in media player classic.

The way I have written above changed the level in all the info programs I tried though.

Heres a link to the level editing program, you might want to give it a shot first, then use my method above if it doesn't work. http://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/h264leveleditor

You simply load the mkv, select the level you want, and hit change, and it does it instantly, although for some reason it didn't work for me.

Obviously, this may not work, so test one of the videos first, rather than wasting time converting all of them only to find they still don't play. In particular, the number of ReFrames in the level 5.1 video is higher, and basically, more ReFrames need more memory to decode. Hopefully, in most cases, the player will still be able to do it, but if this doesn't work, you will need to reencode the files to comply with level 4.1.

Wow!! I owe you a beer or something after writing all that, mega appreciation here.

Well, tried this last night and the h264leveleditor worked - within 2 mins I had 5 working MKV's that are fully playable for the first time.

Unfortunately the quality seems to have taken a hit - its only a subtle difference in quality but enough to see it is not full 1080p HD quality.

I tried editing the level to 4.2/5.0/5.1 and nothing worked apart from L4.1. Good to know for the future though. I will try re-encode the material using L4.1 and hopefully won't impact on the end result.