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Streaming mkv movies to my TV without having to convert first?

I

idyll

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
500
15
Is it possible to stream mkv movies to my TV without converting them first?

What about 3d mkv movies that are about 4gb in file size?



I'm willing to buy any hardware or device needed to make this happen, don't have to be limited to an Apple TV.

If there is no wifi solution, please let me know of a device that I could plug my USB hard drive into and play the mkv movies that way.

Thank you! :)
 
Billy Boo Bob

Billy Boo Bob

macrumors 6502
Jun 6, 2005
493
0
Dark Side Of The Moon
For AppleTV, I think you'll find that it has to be in a format that iTunes likes, therefore some sort of conversion will be necessary...

I've found that iFlicks will take an MKV and generate a quick M4V file... The video seems to passthrough (assuming it's x264) and the audio does some converting (for iTunes compatible). Set for "iTunes Compatible". Couple minutes for an MKV movie to convert... Not like the long time Handbrake or whatever will take.
 
rocknblogger

rocknblogger

macrumors 68020
Apr 2, 2011
2,346
481
New Jersey
albeik said:
I have been using Beamer running on my Mac and was worth it - never had an issue with all the MKV (including surround sound) files I streamed.

I am not sure about 3D though.
Click to expand...

+1 for Beamer. I never use Air Play anymore, this app is that good. It's a very simple app and does only one thing which is stream any kind of video to Apple TV and it does it remarkably well.
 
I

idyll

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
500
15
Great advice! Going to try Beamer. With Beamer I can stream to any AppleTV I choose, correct? Is it pretty good with 4gb or larger mkv files?

Anyone have experience with 3d mkv files? I have problems playing them on my Mac let alone streaming them via wifi.. I found suggestions on changing VLC settings to get the 3d files to play but then I need to change the settings back every time I want to play a different file type such as avi.
 
P

priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,038
641
Estonia
What do you mean by 3D mkv files? Are they SBS/OU or full-frame-3D?
Streaming the former is easy. I know of no solution to stream the latter, though.
E.g. Sony streams their 3D demo clips in double-framerate mode, but that won't work from external input, just inside their SEN 3D Experience app.
 
I

idyll

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
500
15
Thanks! They are SBS/OU.

Know of a good player to play them in OS X by any chance? When I try to play them I get the same image side by side.
 
P

priitv8

macrumors 601
Jan 13, 2011
4,038
641
Estonia
idyll said:
Thanks! They are SBS/OU.

Know of a good player to play them in OS X by any chance? When I try to play them I get the same image side by side.
Click to expand...
What do you mean to play in OS X?? This OS doesn't have 3D support whatsoever nor does any Mac have a 3D-display. Modern Macs with nVidia cards should be able to display 3D image via HDMI to external 3D display under Windows, though.
I use this SBS technique via my AppleTV. It's the 3D-telly that knows how to cut and strech this image properly for L and R eye. You need to switch the 3D-mode on your 3D TV set from normal to SBS or OU, according to source.
 
I

in4fun

macrumors regular
Dec 4, 2012
108
0
What I use now is a Western Digital Media Player (No.1 on amazon)

What I don't like is that I transfer all my mkv-files to an external hard drive then plug it into the media player and play it from there

I know the updated model can play via wifi without a drive connected so basically like an apple tv with the beamer app included.

I'm thinking now to update either to the new WD wifi Media Player or the Apple TV. I read about lags when streaming mkv to the Apple TV (i don't use iTunes file formats and never will). Is that really noticeable while watching?

The other concern I have is that the Apple TV should receive a hardware upgrade soon, so is it wise to wait another month?
 
C

Che Castro

macrumors 603
May 21, 2009
5,878
676
Go with iflicks , it will turn your mkv into m4v in a minute , with metadata and will add the movie to iTunes for you

Last time I used Beamer it did not work too good with large 1080/720p files
 
I

idyll

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 5, 2007
500
15
Thanks for all the help I received. I'll be using Beamer a lot and may even purchase the WD Media Player.

For anyone wondering, I was setting this up for a friend and we ended up going with Plex. http://www.plexapp.com/

This probably ended up being the best solution for him because all of his TVs are Samsung, so we installed the Plex app on them through the Samsung App store (free) and the Plex Media Server (free) on his Mac Mini. We put the movies on a Apple Time Capsule and told the Plex Media Server to get them from there.

The benefit of this is he can access his movies from any TV in his house using his TVs remote without having to go to his Mac Mini each time he wants to play a movie.
 
zen

zen

macrumors 68000
Jun 26, 2003
1,713
472
Subler is free and will remux/transcode mkv files into m4v that the Apple TV will recognise. It can handle files larger than 4GB as it has a 64-bit offset checkbox.

It's easy to use, and takes about 30 seconds to remux an mkv.
 
I

in4fun

macrumors regular
Dec 4, 2012
108
0
But that is still all just a compromise.

I want to download any movie file format and stream it straight to my TV without the need to convert anything - I don't care if it only takes a minute - it's an unnecessary step and inconvenient.

I already read about the other solutions to work around this like:

- airplay (not reliable and stuttering)
- beamer (more reliable but still stuttering once in a while)

I didn't invest thousands of dollars in a top notch plasma panel to work with a stuttering compromise, so I say goodbye to the current Apple TV and just go with Western Digital which has none of those issues.

I also don't want to downplay the downside of this which is not being able to mirror my computer desktop on my TV. But since watching movies is my main priority I think Apple TV is simply the wrong choice for now.

I will however check back for the rumored hardware update in October and see if Apple was able to fix the lags and stuttering.
 
JGRE

JGRE

macrumors 65816
Oct 10, 2011
1,012
664
Dutch Mountains
in4fun said:
But that is still all just a compromise.

I want to download any movie file format and stream it straight to my TV without the need to convert anything - I don't care if it only takes a minute - it's an unnecessary step and inconvenient.

I already read about the other solutions to work around this like:

- airplay (not reliable and stuttering)
- beamer (more reliable but still stuttering once in a while)

I didn't invest thousands of dollars in a top notch plasma panel to work with a stuttering compromise, so I say goodbye to the current Apple TV and just go with Western Digital which has none of those issues.

I also don't want to downplay the downside of this which is not being able to mirror my computer desktop on my TV. But since watching movies is my main priority I think Apple TV is simply the wrong choice for now.

I will however check back for the rumored hardware update in October and see if Apple was able to fix the lags and stuttering.
Click to expand...

Beamer is not a compromise, but how iTunes should have been.
No remixing, no jailbreaking, just drag en drop (even additional subtitles). The stuttering is size-dependend, just stay below 5GB and your fine (note iTunes movies are about 3.5Gb on average, probably for the same reason).
 
jlrathke

jlrathke

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2011
78
0
rocknblogger said:
+1 for Beamer. I never use Air Play anymore, this app is that good. It's a very simple app and does only one thing which is stream any kind of video to Apple TV and it does it remarkably well.
Click to expand...

I downloaded the trial for Beamer and I like what I see. It takes forever for Handbrake to convert a MKV sometimes. Definitely going to give it a shot.

Jerry
 
rocknblogger

rocknblogger

macrumors 68020
Apr 2, 2011
2,346
481
New Jersey
jlrathke said:
I downloaded the trial for Beamer and I like what I see. It takes forever for Handbrake to convert a MKV sometimes. Definitely going to give it a shot.

Jerry
Click to expand...

Glad you like it. I think you'll be very satisfied. I've streamed some very large mkv files without any issues. All I can say is the larger files take a few extra seconds to load up. But other than that, love it!!!
 
xlii

xlii

macrumors 68000
Sep 19, 2006
1,867
121
Millis, Massachusetts
I have a samsung tv from 2011 and I can just plug in a usb drive with movies on it and can use the tv remote to play them. It plays .mkv, mp4, avi and a few more formats.
 
X

xp0z3d

macrumors regular
Jun 18, 2012
122
2
Give Plex connect a try and you gonna love it. I used to have WDTV live , then moved on to ATV3 , tried Airplay movies , Beamer ,converting everything to Itunes using Handbrake , Iflicks , Subler, Mp4tools etc this all was so much work.
Now with Plex connect , I have to do nothing , it plays everything and has been enjoying it since couple of months now. Only thing is you will have to do a small hack of Trailers app. And then just direct your Plex server to Folders you keep you media.
 
W

WDE87

macrumors member
Jun 7, 2012
35
0
Is there a program similar to Beamer for Windows? I'm trying to play video to my ATV3 without converting, etc. Thanks
 
bliggs

bliggs

macrumors 6502
Aug 15, 2012
287
267
Broken Arrow
rocknblogger said:
+1 for Beamer. I never use Air Play anymore, this app is that good. It's a very simple app and does only one thing which is stream any kind of video to Apple TV and it does it remarkably well.
Click to expand...

I use beamer as well! Have not had any problems at all. The best thing is that you can try it out for free! Works fantastic! Never tried to play 3D movies with it though.
 
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