Home Forums Peripherals & Multimedia Audio, Video, Photography DviX (MKV files)

OS 10.6.8 Re my post in 10.6, 10.7, & 10,8. I said I could not play Divx files on my TV using a flash card. Please allow me to clarify what I should have said. As you know, there are 3 Divx files ...MKV, AVI & MP4s. I omitted to say that only the MKV files would not play. No surprise to many users. I have a sony player (S370)
and a sony TV. I also have DivX pro 7 whose forum has many questions asking why MKVs do not play. I didn't see a definitive answer. As I said in my previous post, I convert them to MP4s to resolve the problem but that should not be necessary. If anyone has any info please advise.
jaybass

your question is a bit broad, so I'll give a broad answer. To directly view (not convert) a wide variety of formats (on your mac) your best bet is probably VLC. It supports all common container formats and most codecs, although performance (and stability) varies depending on the container and on the codec.

MKV is a container type. Although containers can usually hold any number of any kind of stream, certain codecs are more commonly found in certain containers. So to say you are having problems watching an MKV file is like saying you're having difficulty reading a book. (without providing any additional information)

Good reading here

Prior to MKV, the big headache was usually an unsupported codec. But something about MKV causes everyone major headaches. VLC isn't too stable with it, especially when seeking.

Virtual 1,
Thank you for that web site, I have bookmarked it. I have just read it but I can't digest that lot without reading it several times and even then only some of it. Only some of the article applies to my needs. I do use VLC quite a lot. When I convert MKVs to MP4s, the icon appear as a VLCs with M4V within the icon. 2 days ago I bought a new sony player (S3100) and it plays MKVs just fine but upon reflection, I have decided to take it back as it doesn't warrant the cost just to play MKVs. I'll keep converting them as I have been doing. I use MP4s and AVIs just about all the time and the picture quality suits me. You say VLC isn't too stable with MKV files. I didn't know it played them at all.
Thanks for your input.
jaybass

WOW

I just picked up an 8 core 3ghz mac pro (older gen) for $930 shipped. that'll run a whole lotta VLC...

and you can also use things like iskysoft's wares to convert video to other formats. and stream it if you're feeling ambitious with PMS or Plex etc. That's a good deal of hassle unfortunately.

I do have iskysoft ...a versatile tool which I use to convert videos but I have yet to figure out all the other features. I'll to talk to my son who also has it.
jaybass