I wrote you a letter in which I briefly outlined my problem, namely how to open mkv file or is it more correct to say which codec needs to be installed so that the mkv movie can be played by the Windows Media Player built into Windows 7? You explained to me that I need to download and install the free K-Lite Codec Pack and it will solve all my problems. On the official site you specified www.codecguide.com, the K-Lite Codec Pack program exists in four or, if I'm not mistaken, five versions. Which one I need, I don’t want to install what I don’t need in advance. Please answer one more question. Why does an image in mkv movies look much better than an AVI image, because they are the same size. Anatoly.
And the second letter that came to our friends mail, with a different problem, but it also concerns files with the mkv extension.
Tell me, what program to open the mkv file to edit it? My TV turns out to be able to show movies in this format from a flash drive and the quality is just Ah. They say that despite the small size of this file (on average 2 GB), it can be further reduced, without loss of quality, by removing audio tracks with a foreign language and subtitles that I do not need from there. And one more question. Is it possible to add an audio track taken from a DVD I bought to an mkv movie? In many video editors, this can be done only with a complete re-encoding of the movie and, accordingly, its quality deterioration.
How to open mkv file
The content of our article: First, I will answer the second question. How to open and edit an mkv file with the free program MKVToolnix, it is very simple and no doubt it will come in handy more than once if several films in mkv format do not fit on your flash drive when you go to friends on your day off, watch movies in this format on their new and big TV. By the way, now more and more digital TVs support this format, and their owners do not 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 - a pretty good multimedia player that can play anything.
A file in the mkv format is a kind of container, it is also called "Matryoshka", which contains various video and audio data processed by various high-quality codecs (for example, the latest H.264 video 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 contain this in itself, that is, mkv is the same container for video and audio files as AVI, but much more modern and better. Most importantly, the mkv file is very easy to edit without complete 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 the mkv file with MKVToolnix
Open any movie in mkv format in it. File->Open or directly drag the file with the movie into the main window of the program. As we can 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 audio track, uncheck the rest of the tracks, press the Browse button and specify the name and where exactly to save our future movie with one audio track and no subtitles. Click the button Start processing. In a few minutes, where we indicated, a file with the mkv extension will appear. 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 the DVD Audio Extractor program, and insert it using the aforementioned MKVToolnix. You can experiment. Unfortunately, I cannot discuss all the subtleties of this and interesting issue in this article, since we will deviate greatly from the topic.
Well, here we come to our main question. how to open mkv file. We go to the official website of the K-Lite Codec Pack program. 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 site - www.codecguide.com
Click download.
As we can see, we are waiting for 5 options.
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, you will thank me more than once for it.
Full - for especially 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. Choose mirror #1
Click Download Now (11,880 kb)
I have a free Download Master installed and it intercepted the download.
Downloaded? Now we install.
The first option is Easy Installation. We will choose the second option - Advanced mode or Advanced installation.
Installation folder C:\Program Files\K-Lite Codec Pack suits us just fine.
Profile 1: Default-the most optimal, select it.
Check the box and no changes will be made to the Start menu
How to open mkv format is a very popular question among users and therefore I decided to answer it in a separate article. Since the mkv file is a video file, you need to use players to see what is in this file. Some players refuse to open this file, and therefore it is possible that your player, which you have been using for a long time, cannot open this file.
The note: if you use popular video players, then you will not have any difficulties with new video files. Before you start installing something, it is better to read the article to the end. Most likely, you already have everything installed or you need to make settings. Below is a video that will show you how to convert MKV format.
This format can be viewed in different players, but you need to set up codecs so that everything is played back. We will consider players to try each, because if you have an old computer, then this format can slow down on your computer, usually there is a belated sound.
Note: if you already have any player installed and your computer is not old, then go down below.
Turntables
I want to note that I did not evaluate the players, because I would not want to impose my opinion. Choose the one you like and install. I will make a short review of the players so that you do not think about the question - how to open mkv.
The first video player that we will consider in this article is KMPlayer, which was developed by guys from Korea. Most users believe that there is no better program and never will be. But as practice confirms, exceptions sometimes occur 😉. I used this player, so feel free to install it if you like it.
Number two is GOM Player. I used this player very little, so I can not say anything about this player. You can install it on your computer and evaluate the player yourself.
The honorable third place in our list is occupied by Light Alloy, which means light alloy. This program feels great on a weak "office" computer. Sometimes when viewing a large video file size, the player may feel unwell.
At the beginning of the article, I said that you do not need to install anything! And here's why: you can open mkv in the standard player that comes with Windows. This is exactly what I will talk about in the next chapter of this article.
To play video on a computer or laptop, you do not need a highly sophisticated player. I have 3-4 players installed on my PC and laptop, but I usually use Media Player Classic, which is installed with codecs.
Codecs and built-in player
So, above I have reviewed several players so that you don’t have a question than to watch mkv. If you have problems opening the mkv file in any player, then let's configure/install the codecs. Now we will install K-Lite Codec Pack - codecs that have a simple player for reading different video formats.
In the event that you are not familiar with the concept of codecs and have no idea what function they perform in Windows, then read the article on the blog: "". This information is required reading for users who have just started to master the computer. Also in this article, I told you how you can install codecs, if you do everything according to the instructions, then you will no longer have the question of how to open a mkv file on your computer.
First, download the codecs and install them. To do this, go to the developers website. After going down a little lower and in the line "Full", on the right click "Download Full".
To download codecs, you can use different mirrors where these codecs are located.
For example, I will choose the first mirror. On the page that opens, click "Click Here To Download".
After downloading, open the codec installation file. Click next.
In the next window, leave everything as default, click "Next".
In the next window, you will be prompted to select a profile, for a regular user you do not need to change anything, just click "Next".
By checking the box in the next window, you will not add data about codecs. It makes no sense to change anything, and therefore click "Next".
So, now we go down the page and uncheck the box so that the developers' site does not open after installation.
In the next window, you can specify additional data about the "Decoding Method", if you are confused, then leave it as it is, and in the future you can change these settings if you need it.
Note: if you have an old computer that slows down when playing videos, then you should think about this setting. If the computer has normal characteristics, then this is not necessary. This is what the developers say!
At this stage, you select the player that will be associated with the video files.
In the next window, you can select the file extensions that will be opened by Media Player Classic.
Now choose your audio system. If you have a simple audio system, then nothing needs to be changed.
Click "Install" and the installation of codecs will begin.
After installing the codecs, now you will not have problems opening this file. By the way, you can also use the VLC player. It's really a very good player and if you have problems with opening files, for example mov, then this program will cope with such files twice. You may ask why you need to install another player, because there is no difference, since there are only one codecs! But no!
This player has built-in codecs! That is, even if there are no codecs on your computer, you can view video files through it. This is the player we used to open video files when I was working on TV. So be sure to install it and you will have a choice, if your codecs do not open some video file, then you can open it through VLC.
Small conclusion. You don't need to install many players! Just install the one you like best and that's it. It's all about codecs. If codecs are not installed on your computer or laptop, then you will have problems opening video files. In the event that your computer or laptop has poor performance, but you need to watch a video file with the mkv extension, then install several players and it is possible that the video will not freeze during playback.
Some users asked me how to open an mkv file, now I think it has become clear that the main thing is the installed codecs in your system.
Enjoy watching!
If your player or TV does not read MKV files, then you can do the conversion:
The MKV format, also called Matryoshka, is used for movies and TV shows that contain multiple audio tracks and subtitles.
Thanks to this, viewers can choose with which subtitles and in which language to watch the picture.
The name comes from a wooden Russian toy that opens to expose another doll, and this format works by analogy.
Why won't the TV open MKV?
MKV is just a kind of container, it doesn't tell us what kind of video is inside it.
Modern TVs support the H.264 codec, so if your MKV files contain such clips, they will play normally.
If not, it will cause problems. You can quickly get around the problem by converting MKV to the most popular TV format, MP4.
MKV files on Samsung TVs
Although Samsung TV claims to support such files, sometimes we still encounter problems playing such content.
As we said earlier, it's just a container that contains different encodings for video, audio, and subtitles.
In other words, you may encounter problems with audio codec not supported by Samsung TV and video codec not supported by Samsung TV.
For example, MKV files with DTS audio won't open on most TVs.
How to Play MKV on TV: 2 Ways
The first way is to install the SamyGO DCA application, we wrote about it earlier. The process is quite time-consuming, so it is not suitable for everyone.
It is much easier and faster to convert MKV to supported format.
We will show you two simple ways: using a program and an online service.
Convert MKV to MP4 with VLC Media Player
VLC Player is installed by default on every Windows computer, and everyone has used it at least once.
If suddenly there is no program - download from the official website.
- Open the player and go to the Media Convert section.
- Add the required mkv file and click the Convert/Save button.
- Leave the default settings and go to the Overview tab.
- Name the file any name, and write .mp4 at the end. For example Test.mp4
- After saving the video will be in mp4 format, which is supported by all modern TVs.
Convert MKV to MP4 Online
In order not to install third-party programs, use a free online service.
- Open the main Cloud Convert page and upload the file.
- Click on the small inscription mkv.
- Go to the video section and select MP4.
- Click the big red "Start Converting" button at the bottom of the page.
- When the conversion process is complete, a green download icon will appear. Click to download the converted video.
Download the video converter from the Movavi website, open the file and follow the installation instructions. It takes only a few minutes. The program is fully translated into Russian, so it will be very easy to understand it.
Choose a file to convert
When the installation is completed, run the program, click on the button Add files in the upper left corner, select add video and add AVI, FLV, WMV, MP4, MOV or other format files to convert to MKV. You can also add MKV movies and videos to the program to convert them to another format. To add DVD video, in the menu Add files select item Add DVD, and then click Open DVD.
Choose format
Click the tab at the bottom of the interface Video, click on the section mkv and select the appropriate profile from the list. You can change the video settings manually: click the gear button below the formats panel to open the settings editor.
To transcode MKV for playback on PS4, PS3, Xbox, Android smartphone, iPad tablet, mobile phone or other device, open the tab Devices and select a profile for your gadget model.
Start converting files
Before starting the conversion, click the button with the folder icon and select the location where the new video files will be saved. Now you can start the conversion: to do this, click the button Start in the lower right corner. The conversion may take several minutes or more depending on the size and number of source files.
Wait for the conversion to finish
When the conversion is completed, a folder with video files will open. You can burn the resulting MKV file to a DVD for viewing on a wide screen, or you can play the video on your computer using Movavi Media Player in Movavi Video Suite for Windows. In addition to a media player and video converter, it includes programs for burning to DVD, capturing video from the screen, creating your own movies and slideshows, a full-fledged video editor and much more. Download the trial version of Movavi Video Suite and try all these programs in action.
If you have converted MKV to formats for mobile phones or game consoles, write the finished files to your device by connecting it to your computer: open the file transfer application and follow its instructions. Movavi Video Converter blurs the boundaries between formats: now you can easily transfer movies and clips to any video viewing device.
One of the common formats for recording videos with subtitles is the mkv format. The format is designed to store different types of multimedia content on your PC. Mainly used for high quality video. However, many users have problems running MKV on a computer, let's take a closer look at how to open it.
What is MKV format?
The name of the format MKV (MKV) stands for matroska video. It (the mkv container) appeared relatively recently during the heyday of Blu-ray technology and was intended to replace the archaic avi and mp4, which do not support such high quality and video resolution. The mkv format file, as a rule, differs from the files of popular formats by its large weight, but it is considered optimal for viewing on widescreen monitors and TVs.
Matryoshka supports the normal embedding of subtitles, switching audio tracks, and has finer settings for viewing video files. But in order to open a file with the MKV extension, we need to download and install a set of codecs, for example, k-lite codec pack. After installing the codecs, you can try to open the file using most modern player programs. Let's take a look at a few of them as an example (they all work under Windows 7, 8, 10):
How to open MKV file on Windows?
Almost any popular universal media player from a well-known developer today has support for MKV, but the format is still not opened by the built-in operating system tools. Although the standard has been used for a long time, and the source code of the mkv video container format is open.
Here is a short list of applications that can play mkv on a Windows computer:
- VLC Media Player
- Media Player Classic Home Cinema
- Light Alloy
- KMPlayer
- Daum Potplayer
- Gom Player
- Kantaris Media Player
- AllPlayer
- Kodi xbmc
- SMPlayer
- bs.Player
- MKV Player
The list could be continued, but we will focus on the first three programs. You can read more about the rest in our selection of Video Players.
1. VLC player- cross-platform (Windows, MacOs, Linux) program for playing video audio streams. The utility works with both online multimedia and regular files on your PC's hard drive.
- This player can play undownloaded files, images and audio files. It also has built-in Internet radio and a chic equalizer.
- The disadvantages of the player is that there is a problem with playing the TS format (format for HDTV broadcasting) and DVD can sometimes slow down.
2. Media classic palyer - one of the oldest and most popular players among people who prefer the classics. The player looks archaic, but perfectly copes with the tasks.
- The advantages of the player are that you can control it from the command line and arbitrarily format the video playback screen. Plays damaged avi files.
- The disadvantage is that it is impossible to change the meta-data and computers with old hardware can slow down when it works.
3. Light Alloy - in my opinion the most omnivorous player. The program is very functional and has a Russian interface language. However, this application lacks many features of newer developments: Potplayer, KMPlayer, etc. Its support has practically ceased.
- Very convenient to use.
- It can automatically download from the Internet codecs which are not enough to watch the video. The program has the ability to view streaming video - Youtube and IPTV.
- The software is more focused on older computers, newer PCs cannot fully work with it, because. more advanced alternatives can be installed on them. It is like Winamp in today's world of video players.
We dare to note that the choice of the considered programs for Windows is solely the opinion of the author of the review. If you like other players from our MKV format compatible list, use them, but check the MKV compatibility in the app description before settling down with popcorn and watching a movie.
How to open mkv format on Mac OS?
Unfortunately, Apple has not been able to add the ability to play the MKV to the built-in Quick Time, but there are more functional alternatives, for example:
- VLC Media Player
- MPlayer
- mkplayer
VLC will be handy for users who have migrated from Windows and can't get used to the Mac. MPlayer and MKPlayer have roughly equal capabilities. They are free, but MKPlayer - MKV & Media Player is available directly from the Mac App Store, so it's easy to install without any special instructions or settings. In general, the player's interface resembles QuickTime, but it supports many more formats.
How to open MKV on Android, Smart TV?
For the Android OS, there are many programs that support MKV. For example, MX Player, the ubiquitous VLC, FX Player. These players carry an MKV codec on board, so they don't require anything extra to be installed. The same MX Player will offer to download the desired codec if it is not available.
For TVs and other devices with a large screen, the set of applications running on Android is similar. If your Smart TV does not allow them to be installed, does not read MKV out of the box or does not want to play sound on it, then the only option left is to convert the file to the older MPEG 4 format (mov, mpg, wmv, avi, mp4). You can do this with the help of programs:
You can also use any of the analogues of these applications. In order for the resulting file to be read by almost any household video player, a relatively old Smart TV or a set-top box for a flash drive on Android, we recommend setting the divx compression container for video and the mp3 format for the audio track during encoding. Compared to MKV, you will lose quality, but get the ability to play on almost any stationary and mobile devices.