Will any app play 1080p .mkv files?

[areinus]

Hi all,

Just got the new iPad (3rd gen) and am hoping to really put this new Retina display to the test. I have a bunch of 1080p .mkv files and want to find a good app to play these. I'm sure the new iPad and its quad-core GPU are more than capable of doing this at some point, but does anyone know of any good apps now to try to play HD .mkv files?

I know it's probably too early for most apps to take full advantage of the quad-core GPU, but I'm just looking for recommendations on good media player apps to try. Thanks!

 

[Squeeze Play]

I'm having good luck with GoodPlayer. It plays my 1080p files well and allows you to switch audio tracks if they're available. Quite a few options.

 

[Rene Ritchie]

I stream them from my Mac to my iPad using Air Video. They're all stored on a Drobo so I don't have to worry about space and Air Video transcodes them on he fly.

(It can also send them to your HDTV via AirPlay and the Apple TV)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Sonlon]

Hi all,

Just got the new iPad (3rd gen) and am hoping to really put this new Retina display to the test. I have a bunch of 1080p .mkv files and want to find a good app to play these. I'm sure the new iPad and its quad-core GPU are more than capable of doing this at some point, but does anyone know of any good apps now to try to play HD .mkv files?

I know it's probably too early for most apps to take full advantage of the quad-core GPU, but I'm just looking for recommendations on good media player apps to try. Thanks!

I haven't found this kind of media player apps, but I watched an video about how to play mkv videos on The New iPad from Youtube, I think it can help you. which is the way to convert the mkv videos to New iPad first and then they can be played on it.

The way to play mkv videos on New iPad.

 

[Mella]

Yeah, the new iPad featured a stunning new Retina display, but it still only supports to playback videos in MP4, MOV, M4V format.
So to play HD .mkv on it, you'll need to do some encoding, Air Video is a good App to play video for the iPad, you could try it first.
If not, maybe you could turn to Handbrake~

 

[acecommander]

I use Freemake Video Converter to turn all my videso into MP4. I've tried many different converters, but Freemake is the easiest one for me since I thrive on easy.

 

[areinus]

Thanks everyone for the tips and suggestions. I've looked through the options you've presented and did some hunting elsewhere and ultimately I've landed on XenonMKV. There's a few reasons I chose this program (aside from it being easy and running really well):

1. I travel a lot and need to take the movies with me (thus cannot stream them)
2. I don't want to transcode the video, decreasing the video quality
3. I'm on a PC, not a Mac

XenonMKV, from what I understand, basically extracts the h264 video from the MKV container and adds it to a new MP4 shell. It does transcode the audio on conversion (to an AAC codec that the iPad will recognize), and this does decrease the audio quality some (if coming from something like DTS), but I can live with that, especially since I'll just be listening using headphones.

Other programs that I've also heard are good are GOTSent and MkvToMp4. I think they work similarly to XenonMKV.

Anyway, thanks again for the help!

*Edit*: Just to be clear, XenonMKV is a Windows Application which converts the MKV file MP4. Then I add it to iTunes, then to my iPad and finally can play it through the native video player. Hopefully someday there will be an app from the AppStore that can handle this files without any conversion! I've tried GoodPlayer, GPlayer, and AcePlayer and get a lot of stuttering and the files are un-watchable.

 

[marketsqhero]

Search for AVPlayer in the AppStore, great bit of software and allows you to play any format directly without transcoding.

 

[winniell]

Handbrake is totally freeware.
[link=http://www.orzsoft.com/articles/how-to-use-handbrake-convert-video-rip-dvd-mac-fre.html]]How to use Handbrake to convert video and rips DVD on Mac for free?[/url]

 

[mjsavage]

Yea I use handbrake it just takes a long time to covert about 4 1/2 hours per movie for me. I tried Freemake but it increased the size of the file to much went from 700 mb to 2.4 gb. Handbrake is the only software that I have found that converts so can play on Apple tv and iPad.

 

[areinus]

Thanks for the feedback, but as I said I don't want to transcode the video so Handbrake isn't the right solution for my needs. I think the way I'm currently doing it (described in my previous post) is still the best method for what I'm trying to do.

 

[Dadman]

I'm having good luck with GoodPlayer. It plays my 1080p files well and allows you to switch audio tracks if they're available. Quite a few options.

How do you get the movie files from your computer to the iPad? I understand the Goodplayer app will work once they are physically on the iPad. How do you get them to that point?

 

[meballard]

How do you get the movie files from your computer to the iPad? I understand the Goodplayer app will work once they are physically on the iPad. How do you get them to that point?

However you want. GoodPlayer supports USB (using iTunes), or using Wi-Fi via a built in http/ftp server, and also has a SMB/CIFS client, uPnP/DLNA Client, WebDAV Client, FTP Client, SFTP Client, or downloading using the Download & Browser function, GoodPlayer is very capable.

Main limitation is that for non-standard formats it has to use the CPU to decode, which can be an issue for high res 1080p MKVs, but it works well on many formats though.

 

[Zak8022]

Thanks everyone for the tips and suggestions. I've looked through the options you've presented and did some hunting elsewhere and ultimately I've landed on XenonMKV. There's a few reasons I chose this program (aside from it being easy and running really well):

1. I travel a lot and need to take the movies with me (thus cannot stream them)
2. I don't want to transcode the video, decreasing the video quality
3. I'm on a PC, not a Mac

XenonMKV, from what I understand, basically extracts the h264 video from the MKV container and adds it to a new MP4 shell. It does transcode the audio on conversion (to an AAC codec that the iPad will recognize), and this does decrease the audio quality some (if coming from something like DTS), but I can live with that, especially since I'll just be listening using headphones.

Other programs that I've also heard are good are GOTSent and MkvToMp4. I think they work similarly to XenonMKV.

Anyway, thanks again for the help!

*Edit*: Just to be clear, XenonMKV is a Windows Application which converts the MKV file MP4. Then I add it to iTunes, then to my iPad and finally can play it through the native video player. Hopefully someday there will be an app from the AppStore that can handle this files without any conversion! I've tried GoodPlayer, GPlayer, and AcePlayer and get a lot of stuttering and the files are un-watchable.

Tried this out last night and it worked great. Thanks! I only tried it with some 720p tv shows, but it was certainly faster than Handbrake.

 

[mikerlinks]

However you want. GoodPlayer supports USB (using iTunes), or using Wi-Fi via a built in http/ftp server, and also has a SMB/CIFS client, uPnP/DLNA Client, WebDAV Client, FTP Client, SFTP Client, or downloading using the Download & Browser function, GoodPlayer is very capable.

Main limitation is that for non-standard formats it has to use the CPU to decode, which can be an issue for high res 1080p MKVs, but it works well on many formats though.

1080p is too big, why not convert 1080p to 720p HD, the quality are very similar

 

[jssqmaty]

iPad 3 only surpports to play 1080p movies in h.264 .mp4, .m4v, and .mov formats

iPad 3 only surpports to play 1080p movies in h.264 .mp4, .m4v, and .mov formats. You shuld better convert MKV video to MP4 for playing in 1080p.

Put AVI/MKV/TiVo/MPEG videos/movies to new iPad 3 | Tablet movie playback

 

[phinx404]

oplayer HD off the app store will play the DL .mkv files perfectly. i have had no issues even some of the ones from 2gb-9gb each. great for traveling

 

[khoatran_huevn]

1080p MKV, FLV playback with HD Player Pro

Just use HD Player Pro, .
HD Player Pro supports MKV, FLV acceleration so it can play 1080p MKV, FLV videos smoothly on:
- iPad, iPad 2 & iPad 3rd gen
- iPhone iPhone 4, iPhone 4S
- iPod touch 4th gen

View tech specs at HD Player Pro

iTunes link: App Store - HD Player Pro

Some reedem code to try HD Player Pro (1 month):
9T3JT7T9KHLJ
36W9R96KTHPM
WKJE4T67A9Y6
XKY7M39YEWKP

 

[Steve-O]

CineXplayer will soon support .mkv files on the iPad. Have been using it for sometime now & looking forward to the next update.

 

[lazling520]

Same poor experience once when I wanna play some 1080p mkv movies on my iPad 3. Google widely, I got the solution from one post HD MKV to iPad 3 Mac conversion tips(Tablet Video Tips, if my memory serves me right.) The uesr recommended the Brorsoft Video Converter for Mac to format the mkv files. I've purchased the software due to it exactly did what I want.