LG 55LS5700 won't recognize MKV video files

No doubt this is a complex topic. I've not found anyone who seems to have a full understanding. I've found a couple of tech-support types who hit all around what the "problem" is-- like the LG Chat tech who told me there were certain codecs that the TV did not support, and that he would email me a list (nothing so far). However that doesn't solve the problem. Also, I have trouble accepting his explanation for one very simple reason: I can copy the video file to my USB hdd, hook it up to the TV, and use the USB "input" on the TV to view the MKV file (container, bucket, whatever name you'd like to give it) with no problems (so how can it be a codec problem?). But if I just put the file (container, bucket) in the My Videos folder on my computer and then use the "Win 7 PC input" on the TV, there is no evidence that there are ANY .mkv's in the folder... not only can I not "play" the movie, it doesn't even show up. All my "share" settings must be correct, since I can "see" the AVIs, MPGs, etc... just not MKVs.

So, thanks for your comments, and I agree with you regarding lack of a comprehensive website and/or expert. Now, do you have any suggestions? I don't need a complete education on MKV (althought I would welcome it if you have any websites, etc.)... I'd just like to know what the heck the problem is and learn how to view the MKV movies directly from my computer without having to go through copying them to the external hdd, etc.

Thanks in advance to you or anyone else who can help.

You can put almost any media into a MKV in almost any encoding.


Since this TV does not understand the encoding in the content that is in the MKV, it does not play. So be sure to understand that there is usually no issue with MKV support because that's just a bucket of content. Now that we know this we can understand that to play what's in the MKV we have to be sure the encoding is supported.

This means you, like thousands of others will have to either get the content in compatible files or learn how to re-encode the content on your PC or Apple computer.

About that CODEC. This HDTV is not a PC so there is no support to add such to the TV,
Bob

Okay, I'm not trying to be redundant, but I don't think you completely follow the issue. In your reply, you said "...this TV does not understand the encoding..." but if you follow the two cases below, I think you'll see that the TV DOES understand the encoding, at least in one case.

Case 1. I copy a video clip, let's call it "clip.mkv" from the My Videos folder on my Win7-PC, to a USB thumb drive and plug the drive into the LG TV's "USB-1" port. I then navigate on the tv screen to select the USB input and I see a "video folder." When I click on the "video folder" on the TV screen, I see the video called "clip.mkv." When I click on "clip.mkv", the movie plays on the tv screen-- video and audio-- no problem... beginning to end. So, to state the obvious, the TV is able to decode and play the clip in the mkv bucket.

Case 2. I access the "My Videos" folder on my Win7-PC by selecting the corresponding "Win7-PC input" on the LG TV. There, I see a listing of all the video clips in the My Vidoes folder, including AVI, WMV, MPG, MP4, etc., but I DO NOT see in the listing is the video titled "clip.mkv". (Remember, this is the identical file to the one on the USB thumb drive.) And believe me when I say, "clip.mkv" is most certainly in the My Videos folder on the computer.

So here's my confusion-- Why can the TV "see" and "play" the clip in the MKV bucket when it's on a USB thumb drive plugged into it, but can't even "see" the clip in the MKV bucket when it's on the computer? Obviously, something is getting lost between the computer and the TV (over the hard-wired Ethernet connection). The only thing I can figure is that the TV handles the USB input differently from how it handles the network connection.
I know how to re-encode clips, and I can certainly do this, even though it's generally time-consuming (esp. for very large files). However, this is such an intriguing situation that I'd simply like to find an explanation.

I'm not the kind to beat a dead horse, but I'd really like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience, and has hopefully solved the problem. Thanks again for listening.

Over the network less encoding methods are supported.

That drives owners crazy and you'll find folk write just like you because they know the TV can decode the file.

-> It's a well discussed issue and it's only slightly differ from content that does play. There is no fix and so far the cause seems to be copyrights and patents. To enable such encoding to be played there are patents and royalties to pay so the makers opt for a lower cost set.

This again is something folk can't grasp at times.

And I'm being redundant here as that discussion has been had many times.

Sorry about the mess but I didn't create it.
Bob

Okay, that's an explanation that makes sense. I guess they should call the TV a semi-Smart TV, eh?

Thanks for hanging in there and explaining...

If you want to see similar complaints you can find them here in these forums and AVSFORUM as well. Sorry I didn't understand your issue up top.
Bob

I too have a same problem but i am able to play mkv format video through wif-idirect from my galaxy s3 on to my lg tv.

The issue is well discussed and for now, I suggest folk learn more about encoding, containers and such.
Bob

1. Very good article on WMP streaming:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/e7/archive/2009/05/12/media-streaming-with-windows-7.aspx

2. You can verify if you have another PC -- the problem exists even for other PCs. Go to Windows Media Player and go to "Other libraries", then select the Videos library on PC#1. You should see the exact same list that you see on the LG TV. If R. Proffitt had slowed down a little, the clue is that you CAN play the files via USB but NOT via DLNA input. I stumbled on this, which got me to thinking it's a file type / homegroup problem, NOT a LG / file problem.

For example that's a Transcoding Media Server. The TVs only can understand some encoding and by adding these codecs to the PC you can often get the server to transcode on the fly as needed.

-> You bring up a great point. Why aren't the makers detailing how to do this?
Bob

PS. This thread is more than 578 days old. You should find more current discussions as old discussions will be out of date.