mkv support what. How to open mkv file

The familiar AVI video format has been on the market long enough to achieve cult status. It was developed by the guys from Microsoft, pursuing purely commercial interests. Things were going great until they announced blu-ray with incredible picture quality and more.

Attempts to compress the original data from the “blue” ones into AVI were made more than once, only the output was not a high-quality BD-rip, but a mediocre fake:

  • terrible resolution;
  • you can't add subtitles;
  • Possibility to sew up only 1 language.

In an attempt to develop a universal container for video files, domestic developers came up with the now familiar “Matryoshka” ( Matroska video– mkv). The product's capabilities are head and shoulders above those of AVI, but the distribution is much smaller, so some users may have problems opening it.

How to open a mkv file?

Modern players for Windows 7 and Windows 10 are capable of playing almost any format. Most home HD players support Matryoshka by default. But let’s look at ways to view it on a computer:

  • GOM Player;

Why these programs? They are free, have wide functionality, are easy to use and are popular with everyone. Why use an unknown player if you can download one of the popular ones.

The record player is systematically confused with Windows Media because of the name. Yes, the product is very similar to the 6.4 version of the “windowed” player, but that’s all. Software-wise, these are completely different products, and only one developer worked on MPC.

Officially, the program plays VCD, AudioCD and DVD, not counting similar formats. Support for digital media can be found on the official portal, but the list of supported extensions is impressive. It is noteworthy that MKV is not announced, but MPC supports 7 DivX version, so there will be no problems with opening.

As for the shortcomings. The player does not implement automatic contrast and brightness settings. Not critical, but I would like it. Also, the tool works correctly only on relatively new PCs that support SSE instructions.

The well-known “cone” is a trouble-free workhorse that can be fed to any extension without worrying at all about the problem of incompatibility and unsupported codecs. It is not surprising that the software has been downloaded by more than 500 million users over the entire history of the player.

The key feature of the project is cross-platform. It works on Mac, Android, Windows, Linux. Yes, the versions are different, but the attention of developers to different operating systems is surprising. Also implemented is working with a keyboard shortcut, which is practically not found anywhere else. Take a screenshot, adjust settings, add brightness and playback speed without using a mouse.

Release 2.0 pleased users with skins that completely change appearance player almost beyond recognition. The function is already outdated, but fans of customization will appreciate it.

VLC has no disadvantages as such. It is simple, easy to navigate, omnivorous, with cross-platform support. An ideal choice if you want to watch movies on your TV.

Do not confuse the regular KMPlayer and our representative with the prefix “The” - these are fundamentally different products. The latter was created for Windows and Android, while the former was developed for the KDE environment.

A distinctive feature of the player is its incredible omnivorousness. Among the popular ones, it easily opens mkv, flv, avi, wmv and even QuickTime. Add to this support for a huge number of modern audio/video codecs and you get a modern product for viewing multimedia.

Among the undeniable advantages, we note the ability to play even broken and incompletely downloaded files (except DVDs).

GOM Player

Another interesting product for reading mkv on PC. It also opens broken movies with ease. Just be prepared that the final picture may suffer, as well as the sound track.

On the other hand, no one is stopping you from recording your own audio and subtitles using the player. Not every product is capable of this. The product is good for new and old cars, even 10-12 years old. Post-processing is implemented so well that even on weak hardware you won’t feel any stutters, stutters or stutters when watching HD content.

The only annoying thing is the built-in advertising, which cannot be removed due to the closed source code. And she's pretty annoying.

The name of the player speaks for itself. Although the program is primitive in terms of capabilities and interface, it copes with the key task perfectly. It also easily opens files like AVI, WMV and more. Outwardly similar to WM player version 7, only the buttons here are implemented with text labels, and not in the form of icons.

But the functionality is meager: only adjusting the playback speed and turning on subtitles. Nothing more. Suitable for familiarizing yourself with the track, but comfortable viewing is out of the question. Moreover, the player doesn’t even really read the MKV format. It only works if you do not touch the rewind.

If the file is slow

Methods MKV opening known. But what should you do if the playback is choppy, jerky and periodically slows down? We will try to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Remember that the format transmits an HD picture, which indicates a high requirement for the PC in terms of hardware characteristics. If the computer is old, or runs on a video core built into the processor, then there can be no talk of any smoothness.

First, close all programs that are not needed during the viewing process, but can heavily load the processor (browsers, skype, running torrent, etc.). Also unload the video card (rendering, games). Additionally, make sure that disk subsystem was not distracted by strangers at the moment things (copying files, writing, deleting, defragmenting).

It wouldn’t hurt to upgrade the system’s native codecs by installing new ones (try K-Lite Codec Pack).

The last moment is decisive. Run the file that is slowing down and open the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Del). If you see that the CPU load in front of the player exceeds 80-85%, then there can be no talk of any smoothness.

I wrote you a letter in which I briefly outlined my problem, namely how to open mkv file or more correctly, what codec needs to be installed so that a movie in mkv format can be played back built into Windows 7 Windows player Media? You explained to me what I need to download and install free package codecs K-Lite Codec Pack and it will solve all my problems. On the official website you indicated www.codecguide.com, the K-Lite Codec Pack program exists in four or, if I’m not mistaken, five versions. Which one do I need? I don’t want to install something that is not needed in advance. Please answer another question. Why does the image in films, mkv format look so much better? better picture AVI format, because they are the same size. Anatoly.

And the second letter that came to us by mail, friends, with another problem, but it also concerns files with the mkv extension.

Tell me which program to open mkv file, to edit it? It turns out that my TV can show movies in this format from a flash drive and the quality is simply Ah. They say that despite the small size this file, (on average 2 GB), it can be further reduced, without loss of quality, by removing from there the audio tracks I don’t need from foreign language and subtitles. And one more question. Is it possible to add an audio track taken from a DVD I purchased to a mkv movie? In many video editors, this can be done only with complete recoding of the film and, accordingly, a deterioration in its quality.

How to open mkv file

Contents of our article: First, I will answer the second question. How to open and edit mkv file, free program MKVToolnix, it is very simple and without a doubt you will come in handy more than once if several films in mkv format do not fit on your flash drive, when you go to your friends on the weekend to watch films in this format on their new and large TV. By the way, now more and more digital TVs support this format, and their owners don’t even know about it. Then we will download and install the K-Lite Codec Pack together and ensure that our Windows Media Player will show movies with the mkv extension.

By the way, the K-Lite Codec Pack has its own Media Player Classic - quite good multimedia player capable of reproducing anything.

A file in mkv format is a kind of container, it is also called “Matryoshka”, containing different videos and audio data processed by various high-end codecs (for example newest video H.264 codec and AAC audio), as well as audio tracks, subtitles, video chapters, menus, and so on. Reminds me of a DVD, doesn't it? The now widespread AVI format cannot accommodate this, that is, mkv is the same container for video and audio files as AVI, but much more modern and of higher quality. Most importantly, the mkv file is very easy to edit without full processing, for example, we can easily remove and remove unnecessary audio track and subtitles from it, thereby significantly reducing its size.

Initially, in the installed operating system Windows 7 and Windows XP, there is no codec that supports the mkv format, so many novice users are faced with the problem of playing movies on their computer in this format.

Editing a mkv file with MKVToolnix

We open any movie in mkv format in it. File->Open or directly drag and drop the movie file into the main program window. As we see in our film there is one video track, as well as three audio tracks and one with subtitles. We leave one video track and one soundtrack, uncheck the remaining tracks, click the Browse button and indicate the name and where exactly to save our future film with one audio track and no subtitles. Press the button Start processing. In a few minutes, a file with the mkv extension will appear where we indicated. This will be our film. In my case, it became instead of 2.3 GB -> 1.7 GB.

You can add an audio track in the same way, for example, you can extract it from a DVD with a program DVD Audio Extractor , and paste using the aforementioned MKVToolnix. You can experiment. Unfortunately, I cannot discuss all the intricacies of this interesting issue in this article, since we will deviate greatly from the topic.
Well, we've come to our main question. how to open mkv file. Let's go to the official website K-Lite programs Codec Pack. The K-Lite Codec Pack consists of ffdshow decoder libraries that can play almost any audio and video files.
Well, here we are on the website - www.codecguide.com

Click download.

As we see, 5 options await us.
Basic - the package contains everything you need to play the most common formats - AVI, MKV, FLV, MPEG, MOV, HDMOV, MP4 and so on.
Standart - I personally chose it, not only can it play almost all media files, it also has a very good Media Player Classic, for which you will thank me more than once.
Full – for particularly picky users and professionals.
Mega additional filters, codecs and so on, those who choose this package know why they need it.
K-Lite Codec Pack 64-bit - for 64-bit players.
So we are advanced and experienced users, select –Standart and click Download Standard.

Mirror 1. Select mirror No. 1
Click Download Now (11,880 kb)

I have it installed free download Master and he intercepted the download.

Have you downloaded it? Now let's install.

First option - Simple installation. We will choose the second option – Advanced mode or Advanced installation.

Installation folder C:\Program Files\K-Lite Codec Pack suits us quite well.

Profile 1: Default is the most optimal, let's select it.

Do you like watching movies? Until recently, in order to watch an interesting movie, you had to carefully follow the TV program or go to the cinema. Now everything is so simple that it’s enough to literally download a movie in high quality to your PC in a matter of minutes to enjoy watching it on your favorite sofa. There are many video file formats. Some are more popular, others are rarer. In this regard, there may be a problem with the correct reproduction of some of them. One such format is MKV. What are its advantages over others? What Windows players can you use to watch it? We present the answers to these questions in today's material.

One of best formats for watching movies – MKV

What is the MKV format

During times slow internet and low-power computers did not have much need for high-quality video playback. A high-resolution file takes up a lot of space and requires a significant amount of computer performance, which is sorely lacking for most home users. In addition, such a file was almost impossible to download over the Internet due to . In such a situation, the AVI format could not meet the needs of users.

Over time, the speed of Internet access and the power of home computers have increased, resulting in a time when almost every device has several tens of gigabytes of memory. multi-core processor, and the connection speed is measured not in kilobits, but in tens of megabits per second. Accordingly, users have become more demanding in terms of content quality. The usual AVI was no longer enough, because the picture quality was no longer acceptable by modern standards, in addition, it was impossible to change audio tracks and add subtitles.

The developers set out to create a universal format that would allow video transmission high resolution and bitrate, as well as adding multiple audio tracks and subtitles. The newly created format received the MKV extension. Most films in HD quality today are distributed in it. At first, problems arose due to its low prevalence, which cannot be said now. You can watch it through almost any player for Windows. Let's get acquainted with the best and most proven ones.

Best Players to Play MKV

VLC Player

One of the most popular and most versatile media players for Windows, as well as almost any existing operating system, including mobile and server ones. The program is omnivorous, as it can open a file, disk, online stream and data from any external device. Once you install this program, you are unlikely to ever encounter the inability to reproduce something. It is also completely free and does not contain any spy modules, advertising and viruses to track your activity. Those who like to change the appearance of programs will appreciate it large number shells, thanks to which the player can change its design beyond recognition.

VLC Player Features:

  • Hardware decoding uses the full power and multitasking of the processor, as well as video cards to play movies with high resolution and bitrate.
  • Supports almost all existing media file formats and codecs.
  • Ability to open a video stream from external camera, satellite receiver or online television server.
  • Wide range of settings for playback and synchronization of subtitles, video and audio.

Download Player from the official website (www.videolan.org/vlc).

PotPlayer

Less popular than VLC Player, but nevertheless an equally advanced and completely free media player for computers running the Windows operating system. It has many built-in codecs, so you can watch the MKV extension and many others without installing additional software. Does not contain advertising modules and other malicious components.

Program features:

  • Very high quality playing all media files.
  • Supports almost all video and audio formats.
  • Support for all types of subtitles, reproduction of effects in them.
  • Availability of built-in codecs.
  • Ability to open a broken file.
  • Change the playback speed and the scale of the displayed video.
  • Theme support.
  • Window transparency during playback.

Download the player from the official website (potplayer.ru/download).

PotPlayer is a free player with a flexible settings system

GOM Player

Advanced, completely free video player for the operating room Windows systems. Capable of opening a large number of files, including 360-degree videos virtual reality. Program features:

  • Ability to search for subtitles via the Internet.
  • Play virtual reality video and control it using a keyboard or mouse.
  • Repeat playback, screen capture, change playback speed, video effects.
  • Support for themes, the ability to customize the player to suit your own needs.
  • Remote control: open a file, search and control computer power.

Download the program from the official website (player.gomlab.com/download.gom?language=ru).

Very light turntable with open source code. It will be very useful for owners weak computers running under Windows. Despite its simplicity, it supports almost all common video and audio formats, including MKV. It does not contain spyware modules, advertising or various toolbars and panels. Program features:

  • Very small size programs, minimal use of computer resources.
  • The widest possible customization, support for third-party modules and plugins.
  • Reproduces any file with high quality.
  • Support for built-in and external subtitles of the most common formats.
  • Built-in sound equalizer.

You can download the program from the official website (mpc-hc.org).

Media Player Classic is one of the most popular players among users

Light Alloy

Once very popular, but now a little forgotten MKV video player for Windows. Nevertheless, this is a very worthy competitor to the most popular programs of this kind. It can open almost any format, and thanks to the presence of built-in codecs, you don’t have to worry about installing third-party packages that will once again load the system.

Features and features of the program:

  • IN windowed mode A time scale is displayed, divided into minutes and seconds, making it much easier to keep track of how much has already been viewed and how much is left to complete.
  • Video preview window when you hover the mouse over the timeline.
  • Play from network sources, including YouTube.
  • Internet radio, extensive catalog of radio stations.
  • Convenient selection of audio track and subtitles.
  • Automatic disc playback.

Conclusion

In fact, programs that can open a file with MKV extension, much more. We have selected only the best of them. If you use other software, write about it in the comments.

MKV - what format is it? It is a video container similar to MOV and AVI that supports an unlimited number of audio, image and subtitle tracks (such as SRT or USF).

This format is often considered as a medium for high-definition online videos because it supports descriptions, ratings, cover art, and even chapters. It is for these reasons that it was chosen as the default video content format for the popular DivX Plus software.

Description

MKV - what format is it? The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard, free format file that can contain an unlimited number of video, audio, images or subtitle tracks in a single container. Designed for use as universal format for storing shared multimedia content such as movies or TV shows. Compared to the AVI format, MKV is conceptually similar to the technological solution of formats such as MP4 or Advanced Systems Format (ASF). The contents of the file are fully disclosed in the specification: the implementation consists of open source software. Matroska file extensions:

    MKV - for video (with subtitles and audio);

    MK3D - for stereoscopic video;

    MKA - for audio files;

    MKS - for subtitles.

Story

MKV files, also known as Matroska videos (from the name of the Russian souvenir toy "Matryoshka"), appeared in Russia in 2002. Lead developer Lasse Kärkkäinen worked with project founder Steve Lomme and a team of programmers to create a comprehensive media container file format.

Goals

The Matroska team has expressed some of their long-term goals on the Doom9.org and Hydrogen Audio forums:

    creation of a modern, flexible, extensible, cross-platform format of multimedia containers;

    development of reliable streaming support;

    development of a menu system similar to the EBML-based DVD system;

    invention of a set of tools for creating and editing MKV files;

    expanding the gallery of libraries that can be used to provide developers with Matroska support for their applications;

    work with equipment manufacturers includes support for Matroska in embedded multimedia devices;

    MKV support on various operating systems and hardware platforms.

Development

MKV - what is the format and what are its features? The project is supported by a non-profit organization in France and is a free standard to use. His technical specifications available for private and commercial use. The Matroska development team licenses its projects under the LGPL, with parsing and replay libraries available under BSD licenses.

Version support

Contrary to popular belief, MKV files are multimedia container formats and not an audio or video compression format. A container can wrap audio, video, and subtitles into a single file, even if those elements use different types coding. For example, you might have an MKV file that contains H.264 video and something like MP3 or AAC for audio.

Matroska developers have included several key functions, preventing data obsolescence:

    quick search;

    support for chapters, menus and metadata;

    selection of different audio and video streams;

    compatible with streaming data;

    subtitle support;

    error recovery, which allows you to play damaged files.

Myself MKV container also supports almost any audio and video format, making it highly responsive and easy to use.

MKV format: how to open it?

Since this extension is not an industry standard; not all media players support it, but their list is expanding due to the growing popularity of the format. There are two main options for playing these files:

    using MKV media player;

If you are on Windows you can use the following software to work with this format - MPV, MPC-HC, KMPlayer, DivX Player, MKV File Player or The Core Media Player (TCMP).

Some of these apps can be used to open an MKV file on macOS. Elmedia Player and Roxio were also written specifically for this operating system.

IN Linux files MKV can be played using xine and some of the above programs that work with Windows and Mac, such as VLC.

Play on iPhone, iPad and iPod using the free PlayerXtreme Media Player or VLC for mobile applications, which also works with Android devices

You can use CorePlayer mobile software to open MKV files on devices with operating system Palm, Symbian, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry.

The best option is VLC Media Player

MKV - what is the format and how to open it? Best choice to play MKV files is VLC media player, mainly because it has built-in support and does not require installation of additional components. It's easy to download and install the program. You need to go to the official download page and run the exe file to install VLC. The whole process takes no more than two to three minutes.

Beware of downloading installation file from other resources, as there are fake VLC download sites that spread the virus.

Once the installation is complete, you will be able to watch any movies in MKV format. Note that while VLC bundles with all supported video and audio formats during installation, including MKV, it is not registered as the default application for these file types.

To view the MKV file using VLC, click right click mice required file, select Open With, and then select VLC Media Player.

To make VLC the default player for MKV files, right-click any file, select "Open With" and click "Select Another Application". In the application selection window, select "VLC Media Player", enable the "Always use this application to open .mkv files" option, and then click "OK".

After this, you can simply double-click the MKV file to have it open in VLC.

Loading codecs

The Matroska website offers several offerings for Windows with built-in support. Alternative option: Download codecs to make the .MKV file compatible with a third-party media player.

If you prefer to use Windows Media Player or another Windows player, you need to install some support files known as codecs. These components help the video player understand how to decompress files that it does not support.

How to change MKV format to MP4?

The MP4 format is a much more popular media standard, compatible with most modern devices. Quite often users have a question about how to change MKV format. There are several options. Let's look at each of them step by step.

Convert with VLC (Windows/MacOS)

VLC media player can recognize and play almost any video format, including MKV. It can also convert them into something more versatile, such as MP4. Before changing the MKV format, you must complete the following list of actions:

    Go to home page VideoLAN and download VLC. Be sure to read the fine print when installing to avoid getting a virus.

    Open the software, click the "Media" tab in the top left corner and select "Convert/Save" from the drop-down menu that appears.

    Click the "Add" button and find the file you want to convert on your computer. After selecting it, click the “Convert/Save” button at the bottom of the window.

    Specify the desired video format (in in this case"H.264 + Mp3 (MP4)") using the drop-down menu next to the "Profile" button. Clicking the tool icon will also allow you to fine-tune the file's options.

    Then specify in the “Destination” section the location to store the converted file. Click Start. The timeline will turn into a progress bar, and once it completes, the video will be ready.

Convert with Cloud Convert (Web based)

If you don't want to install any file conversion software, you can use a web service. There are several different options, but Cloud Convert is the most popular because it is simple and supports a huge array of formats.

It is important to note that you need to upload the video files to your server before converting. Cloud Convert's privacy policy states that the contents of the files remain inaccessible. Step-by-step algorithm:

    Go to home page Cloud Convert and upload the file via the Select Files button or simply drag and drop it into the browser window.

    Scroll through the list of video formats and select MP4. The default settings should be optimal, but you can further adjust the quality and other aspects. Then click the “Start Conversion” button at the bottom of the page.

    When the conversion process is complete, a green "Download" icon will appear. Click to upload a new video.

Now that your video files are in your preferred format, make sure they are protected.

MKV format

What is a video/audio container MKV


While you, unsuspectingly, are watching your favorite movie on your PC, the player plays at least, one video track and one audio track. The player can also play subtitles or show you convenient menus to navigate between chapters of the movie. That is, when you launch one video file, you launch not only the video, but also audio, subtitles and all the service information stored in it. Theoretically, you should need two separate file, however, thanks to the invention of special containers, all files can be stored in one, user-friendly form.
For greater clarity, the container can be called special archiver, which packs all service information, video and audio tracks, subtitles into one file. In fact, a container is special program, which not only packs these files, but also stores a lot of information, such as comparing the playback time of video and audio tracks (timing), subtitles, menus and other things.
Beginner PC users may be intimidated by such complexity, but all this is not so difficult and is already quite common in the world of multimedia. In fact, all the usual films AVI formats, MPG, MOV, MPEG, MP4 - containers containing all of the above data. To play containers, which is the MKV discussed in this article, you need a special program - a codec that installs special filters, splitters, sound decoders and others on your PC. With the codec installed in the system, containers are normally played by most modern players and do not cause any difficulties for PC users.

What is MKV format


MKV is a special audio/video container, similar to AVI, that stores a huge amount of information. The MKV format is an open project Matryoshka (Matroska), designed to create a unified standard for multimedia containers on the PC. Its peculiarity is the openness of the code, which allows any programmer in the world, as well as a team of programmers, to improve this format. The MKV format has become extremely common in lately, due to its capabilities and, in particular, the predominance of functions compared to AVI.
The multimedia container Matryoshka (Matroska) contains a video track (MKV), an audio track (MKA) and a subtitle track (MKS), as well as many official information, which allows you to create menus similar to DVD movies, control timing, etc.

Differences between the MKV and AVI multimedia container


The main difference between the multimedia container proposed by the Matryoshka - MKV team from AVI is more flexible capabilities for creating and managing navigation between video chapters, creating menus, subtitles, and switching between audio track languages. Matryoshka or MKV container is aimed at the future, therefore it is becoming increasingly popular among experienced users PC.
Let's look at some improvements to the Matryoshka project and its MKV multimedia container from the good old AVI format:
versatility, the MKV container, unlike AVI, allows you to contain video in the following formats: H264, AVC1, WMV, MPEG1, MPEG2, and AAC audio
the MKV container can be easily edited, as well as extracted video or audio from it, without the use of video editors
The MKV format is more advanced, which prevents some freezing or stuttering when playing large videos
The MKV container allows you to store information about video chapters, menus, subtitles and other DVD functions, which AVI cannot
MKV file may contain various languages audio, which is not allowed in AVI

How and with what to open MKV files and movies
For MKV playback files and movies, you will need to install special codecs on your PC, after which you can view MKV movies with any modern player, such as LightAlloy or Windows Media Player.
To play and view MKV format files, you need to install a special Matroska splitter or a more complete set for playing subtitles, sound and menus from MKV - CCCP (Combined Community Codeck Pack), which includes all software to watch MKV.
After installing it, you can easily watch any movie in MKV format in any of the multimedia players installed on your PC. One of the most common and adapted for playing the MKV format is the Core Media Player, which already has built-in plugins for more comfortable playback of MKV files.

List of programs


Splitter for playing MKV files Matroska Splitter

A set of codecs for playing MKV files CCCP

Player for playing MKV files Core Media Player