MKV in Windows 8 Video app [sort of]

[RealDave]

Despite most of what I've read on the internet, it is possible to get the Xbox video app on Windows 8 to open MKV files by following the steps below

1. First we need to add the video app to the 'open with' list for .mkv files follow the original guide here or just enter the following in a admin command prompt

reg add HKCR\.mkv\OpenWithProgids /v "AppXhjhjmgrfm2d7rd026az898dy2p1pcsyt" /t REG_BINARY /f

There is now an option for the video app in the open with menu, however the app will only open not attempt to play the video. Contrary to popular belief however it is possible to get the app to recognise other formats

2. Download and install the Shark007 Windows 8 Codecs here. After the install you will be displayed with the settings menu for the codec pack, select the MKV tab and uncheck the option 'Disable the DivX Media Foundation splitter'.

The video app will now recognise mkv files, however (this is where the "sort of" comes in) most files just throw a format not supported error. if you switch to the now playing screen you will see it list the name of the file, and the length if you try to play the file.

The problem lies in the DivX MKV Media Foundation splitter, it will only play certain profiles and codecs rather than connecting with the entire media foundation library. I have gotten files with mp3 audio to play with no video as per the attached screenshot.

So it is possible to expand the supported formats of the video app, the pressure is now on DivX and the community to make more Media Foundation splitters and codecs available

As a final note, don't expect subtitle support for MKVs anytime soon, the reason it was never supported is because the media foundation video renderer [EVR or Enhanced Video Renderer] doesn't allow for external modifications to the video output (e.g. subtitle overlay)

[br0adband]

Or you can just install Haali's Media Splitter - which is NOT a codec and will not interfere with anything else in Windows with respect to the native multiformat decoders - and watch MKV files with Windows Media Player, Media Center, or even the Xbox video app - and no Registry edits are ever required.

Codec packs installed on Windows 7 and 8 are a bad idea in general - they tend to overwrite some crucial media foundation settings (especially with Windows 8 even more so) and the OS's native multiformat decoders already handle 99.9% of the content available online.

The only video format (not container, big difference) the Windows native multiformat decoder can't open or play is Real Media content - it can handle effectively anything else, even QuickTime (without needing to install QuickTime or iTunes). Those decoders in Windows 7 and 8 are absolutely fantastic things, seriously.

Also: container != video format, but that's another thread altogether and a topic that gets many many people very confused anyway.

[RealDave]

Haali Media Splitter has played havoc with my system in the past, don't generalise about codec packs, shark is excellent software the windows 8 version is very light and is setup by default to only fill in the gaps.

I know the difference between formats/containers and codecs/splitters.

I posted this, as in every thread I found on the topic, most people had tried and concluded it wasn't possible to add external support to the video app, moreover if these media foundation codecs/splitters were to be created for missing formats (real, flash video, FLAC, Vorbis) and containers (MKV, FLV, real media, OGG) they could be compiled and distributed through the windows store for WindowsRT/ARM devices, which have no other options than the Video app

[Subhadip]

As others have mentioned, MKV is only a container. A simple remux to MP4, while maintaining streams makes it work fine in Xbox Video. Of course, MP4 does not support multiple streams.

There's a Windows Store app that has been playing MKV just fine, with subtitiles, for several months now - PowerDVD. Fairly expensive, so here's hoping for a free MXPlayer type app in the Store in the coming months.

[Arceles]

Or you can just install Haali's Media Splitter - which is NOT a codec and will not interfere with anything else in Windows with respect to the native multiformat decoders - and watch MKV files with Windows Media Player, Media Center, or even the Xbox video app - and no Registry edits are ever required.

Codec packs installed on Windows 7 and 8 are a bad idea in general - they tend to overwrite some crucial media foundation settings (especially with Windows 8 even more so) and the OS's native multiformat decoders already handle 99.9% of the content available online.

The only video format (not container, big difference) the Windows native multiformat decoder can't open or play is Real Media content - it can handle effectively anything else, even QuickTime (without needing to install QuickTime or iTunes). Those decoders in Windows 7 and 8 are absolutely fantastic things, seriously.

Also: container != video format, but that's another thread altogether and a topic that gets many many people very confused anyway.

Well I'm a K-Lite Codec pack user since quite looooong time and there hasn't been a single problem iwth it, Media Player Classic is a real Video Player.

[TPreston]

Remux to Mp4 (transcoding audio to aac) and tag with MetaX

[Crimson Rain]

I use cccp. Will it work?

What about Windows RT?

[nekrosoft13]

nothing will work with RT, RT is not x86 based, its arm code.

and i use windows 7 codec pack from shark on both windows 7 and windows 8. windows 8 codec pack is useless its missing halli, ffdshow etc...

most video encoding tools like ripbot, multiavchd simply will not work when halli, fddshow are missing.

WMP is ok player, the new metro video is pathetic.

[Lord Method Man]

Stopped reading at "shark 007."

As br0adband said, just install Haali. You don't need any codecs to playback the files.

[LaP]

Haali Media Splitter

Or use Media PLayer Classic in desktop mode.

[UseLess]

Whats a Codec? I use The KMPlayer =P (I realise that IS a separate app, and not entirely helpful)

If you have your media on a home server, i would also consider using something like PS3MediaServer and transcoding to an acceptable format (I do realise this is not always ideal if your ENTIRE collection was mkv)

[nekrosoft13]

i use codecs because I do a lot of encoding

[Julius Caro]

the media splitter should do the trick. most MKVs have h264 video and windows can handle that. though I guess it all depends on whether you want to use WMP vs the xbox video app or if you have windows RT then nothing will work so far