EddieRanger Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 I have an LG Smart TV. The main reason I got this TV is so I can use my external hard drives to plug into the TV and play all my shows and movies. For the most part it works great. But with some files they show up as invalid and can't be played. The part that confuses me is, it can be an MKV file which this TV supports, yet it's still invalid, so I don't know exactly what the issue is. Does anyone have any idea about this? If there's a way around this, I'd love to know. I have a lot of Blu Ray files that I'd love to watch on a 65 inch screen as opposed to my laptop. I'd appreciate any help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undertehker Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Are those files "10 bit"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkDream787 Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Another thing to think of along with the 10-bit question above would be, is the codec it was encoded with. Just because its an MKV file and an MKV file is supported by your TV, it doesn't mean the codec that the video or audio was encoded with that's inside of the MKV container is supported by your TV. You might want to verify their codecs and if the TV supports them. If the codec is the reason, my suggestion is get or use a converter that can convert into a format you know the TV is compatible with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieRanger Posted July 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Thanks for the quick replies! How do I check if it's "10 bit" and the codec? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieRanger Posted July 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 (edited) To give an example, OZC's Gundam Wing & Gundam 0079 don't work on the TV. http://www.ozc-anime.com/ Edited July 26, 2014 by EddieRanger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satabell Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 To give an example, OZC's Gundam Wing & Gundam 0079 don't work on the TV. http://www.ozc-anime.com/ You can always change the container with MkvtoMp4 http://www.videohelp.com/tools/MkvToMp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koby Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 This is why it's utterly stupid to buy playback devices or other hardware intended for playing video. You should always use a PC. Hook it up to a tv via HDMI or VGA; install CCCP and call it a day. You will never run into compatibility issues, you'll be able to fully support 10-bit encodes (which all fansubs utilize now and a lot of dual-audio encoders as well), you'll get updates to support newer things, etc.. With any other hardware you're extremely limiting yourself and only causing yourself more heartache and wasted time by trying to figure stuff out only to realize you'll need to re-encode and lose quality in the process to play it on an inferior device. To many things can be the culprit: 10-bit, incompatible codecs, incompatible encode level, incompatible ref frame setting, too much bitrate (yes some devices can't fully support high bitrate encodes), and lots of other things but it's 2:30 am and I'm tired so I don't feel like explaining more... I'm off to bed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnFlower Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 You should always use a PC. Hook it up to a tv via HDMI or VGA; install CCCP and call it a day.Just like to point out that high end Android devices can play 10bit 1080p files. I've tested a few of Coalgirls' releases on my Note 3 and they all play fine. The exception being subs. Typesetting is normally misaligned/laggy/missing completely, but that doesn't detract from the overall experience. I haven't tested higher spec'd files though... Hi444p is likely to rape most portable devices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick1109 Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 Considering that you mentioned the movies were bluray quality MKV's, its very likely that they might have been encoded to a higher level than your tv will accept. For example, if a movie was encoded to 1920x1080 with 5 ref frames, then it would probably be at level 5.0, but most TV's and portable devices can only read movies up to level 4.1. To check this, download "MediaInfo" (its free) and use it to view all the details about your mkv video. If it was encoded with x264 then look for something similar to "(High@L5.0)" in the video details. Ideally you would want it to say "@L4.1" or below for maximum compatibility. That is why I advise people to encode their 1080p movies to "1920x800" instead when using a high amount of ref frames (it solves the problem by simply cutting out the black bars). If your video is above Level 4.1 you can try using software to manually change the level of the video. It doesnt Really change it, but it tries to "TRICK" your device into thinking its encoded at a lower level so it "MIGHT" play (always works for me). I will go into it more if that ends up being your problem. Hopefully that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnFlower Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 The level means nothing. You can manually set it, even if your video doesn't meet the spec. Just another stupid thing about hardware media players~ You may have a point with refs, but if you don't know your players limit, it's useless. You might as well go with alternative methods of playing files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroPenguins Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 I did discuss about another option on another thread, which is transcoding your content and let it to stream to your TV via network. Another option is transcoding on the fly. I personally use Universal Media Server to transcode on the fly if I wanted to watch 10bit 1080p on my phone or tablet (also any device that supports DLNA-compliant UPnP Media Server i.e. Xbox, PS3, Smart TVs, etc etc). Works pretty decent, but you don't have video seeking options or chapter support. Though I haven't really looked into it. You of course have to edit profile configurations to get the most out of it. But it's pretty idiot proof if you know how to read... It has support for styled subs and avisynth+ffmpeg encoding, so you could do filters and have whatever scripts you want. I personally am using MEncoder at the moment. Well if I feel like it I can do a proper guide for it, though it's pretty much idiot proof so there is really no point, other than making a noob guide. http://www.universalmediaserver.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieRanger Posted July 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 I think I'm just going to use the idea Koby suggested, using an HDMI cable. It's a little annoying, but trying to figure out the exact issue is going to cause endless headaches. I appreciate all the feedback. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RikuoAmero Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 I have an LG Smart TV. The main reason I got this TV is so I can use my external hard drives to plug into the TV and play all my shows and movies. For the most part it works great. But with some files they show up as invalid and can't be played. The part that confuses me is, it can be an MKV file which this TV supports, yet it's still invalid, so I don't know exactly what the issue is. Does anyone have any idea about this? If there's a way around this, I'd love to know. I have a lot of Blu Ray files that I'd love to watch on a 65 inch screen as opposed to my laptop. I'd appreciate any help! LG Smart TV you say? https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140511/17430627199/lg-will-take-smart-out-your-smart-tv-if-you-dont-agree-to-share-your-viewing-search-data-with-third-parties.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131119/06503625288/lg-smart-tv-caught-collecting-data-files-stored-connected-usb-drives.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick1109 Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 The level means nothing. It means something if he doesnt know how to change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovebump Posted July 26, 2014 Report Share Posted July 26, 2014 (edited) use media info to grab the specs of the file that doesnt play then use it again to grab the specs of a file that does work on your tv, post them both here to compare, it most probably incompatible codec or 10bit or rframes or bframes or indeed some combination of those. you may want to try streaming the file to your tv it may be more convenient than hooking up pc to your tv, by streaming the file that can get around most of the limitations imposed on your tv. Edited July 26, 2014 by lovebump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnFlower Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) It means something if he doesnt know how to change it.The point I was making is that any hardware media player is junk. Some people cling to them like a religion, even after jumping through all these hoops to get their files playing. The alternatives are so much better, not to mention easier. Edit: Grammar? What's that? Edited July 27, 2014 by JohnFlower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkDream787 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) Thanks for the quick replies! How do I check if it's "10 bit" and the codec? The program called MediaInfo should tell you pretty much every detail you want to know about the media file.I think I'm just going to use the idea Koby suggested, using an HDMI cable. It's a little annoying, but trying to figure out the exact issue is going to cause endless headaches. I appreciate all the feedback. Thanks! You could always look into standalone media players like Popcorn Hour and Mede8ter. Those things can play almost anything you throw at them, even ISO's. http://www.cloudmedia.com/products/popcornhour/a-410 http://www.mede8er.com/mede8er_product_med1000x3d.htmYou wont have to worry a whole lot about not being able to play anything on your TV anymore.Try reading about them at the posted links and see if they sound like something you would want. Edited July 27, 2014 by DarkDream787 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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