What is the best MKV file Media Player in the Windows store?

[AiR DEGETA]

I need an app that works on both a PC & Surface so it can not be a Desktop App. Also I wouldn't mind playing for it, if it's under $5

Thanks in advance.

 

[wphashan]

Edberg

 

[wphashan]

Edberg

Sorry! It was a accident!

 

[zorc]

My first try would be VLC. Although it is still in beta and has some bugs, basic playback works. If you open a second movie, it will start at the position the first one stopped. Weird. Still it works, just seek back to beginning.

I have tried other MKV players some months back, but they worked bad and most of them converted the file first to a Windows 8 format and only started playback after conversion. VLC directly plays MKV without conversion at least. Maybe there are other good MKV players, but I cannot name any...

 

[RumoredNow]

If the Surface is not RT...

K-Lite Codec Pack. Allows Media Player to play virtually everything. I have it on my Laptop and my Dell Venue 8 Pro. Works a treat.

Not an App but solves the issue you mention and oh so many more incompatibilities: Download K-Lite Codec Pack Mega

 

[RajeevT]

If you want a Metro app then of those I mentioned here I recommend mobile.HD in the <$5 category.

 

[thisise]

Try the VLC player - well trusted and it's also free! =)

 

[AiR DEGETA]

Thanks for the VLC player suggestion it's good but it is currently only for the desktop I need one for that and the Surface 2.

 

[Ed Boland]

Plex

 

[luke_f]

Thanks for the VLC player suggestion it's good but it is currently only for the desktop I need one for that and the Surface 2.

There is a beta version for VLC available for windows 8. Still has some bugs but for basic movie watching it did work for me. Just search for "VLC" in the Windows Store. The app is called "VLC for Windows 8" i think...

 

[emma24xia]

Have you tried the VLC media player? I have installed it on my Win 8 PC and iPad 2, it works on both devices and it plays movies in MP4, MKV and AVI in great performance. Though sometimes it does not work, and I will use other problem to convert MKV video to other format that my computer and iPad both accepts.

 

[Mikefg1957]

I'm a long time user of the K-Lite Codec Pack. Have it both on my PC and Dell Venue 8 Pro. However it doesn't work on the Metro side. At least the version I have. Is there a version that crosses the fence? So far I have tried various players and none of them support .mkv while in metro.

 

[Mikefg1957]

VLC I think is still too buggy to use unless you are using the desktop version. I guess that still just surprises me too since there are are several metro apps that play video that work very well. My go to is Multimedia 8 on my Dell Venue 8 Pro. I watch a lot of video on the train, so with an 8" tablet I am looking for controls my fat fingers can navigate. It has a nice interface. When I am home and tooling around the house it picks up all my content running on my PC. Works like a charm. (No it doesn't play .mkv) If I want to cast to Chromecast on my TV I use AV Remote.

 

[Alpanther]

I really don't know why people bother with software to convert between the container types AVI, MP4 and MKV.

For most of these files, their extensions are interchangable. I have just downloaded a .MKV file of 4.5gb.
Using AnyVideoConverter to convert to MPEG II was going to take about 6 hours on my slow old mainframe.

While I could view the file using Media Player Classic Home Cinema, I wanted to play it through my TV.

So I simply changed the extension from .mkv to .mp4. Simples. It works perfectly.

 

[Yazen]

I'm a long time user of the K-Lite Codec Pack. Have it both on my PC and Dell Venue 8 Pro. However it doesn't work on the Metro side. At least the version I have. Is there a version that crosses the fence? So far I have tried various players and none of them support .mkv while in metro.

You should try CCCP instead of K-Lite. Less conflicts, no "offers" in the installer.

MKV is a container type. It holds different types of audio and video streams, some of which could be incompatible with your devices.

VLC app is not very good, does not add extra formats that aren't supported by hardware playback.

Convert the MKVs, have the subtitles hard coded in the video. Best way to watch on mobiles

 

[Yazen]

The best cross-platform media player I used is VLC. It can play MKV/AVI/ MP4/WMV, etc various formats. I also install it on my phone, it really works well!

VLC Desktop is very different from VLC Mobile. Also
VLC for Windows Desktop is not very good either...

See VLC was built for Linux and relies on Gstreamer. Windows DS filters are much faster and less buggy.

Best to use CCCP / Media Player Classic on Windows. On Linux you do not have much of a choice, VLC is the most stable.

 

[DavidinCT]

If you ONLY need to play back MKV files, then why download a whole codec pack ? MKV (Matroska) is a container, all you need is a driver to tell what it is and you can play them back in Media Player. Easy enough to do. All you need is Haali Media Splitter, this is a simple driver that tells Media Player how to handle MKV files.

Download Haali Media Splitter 03/03/2011 (freeware) - AfterDawn: Software downloads

Now this will tell windows how to handle the MVK format, about the only other problem you might run into is some codecs used in the MKV container. If you want to go the Codec pack route, about the best one now is Shark007's pack. Easy to setup, easy to configure and completely removes on uninstall.

All depends on what you want to do.. All of these options are free. So why do you need a dedicated player when you can play then right in the OS like a native file ?

 

[Yazen]

Thanks!

Does CCCP / Media Player Classic compatible with Mac OS?

No, this software is designed for Windows.

Have you tried niceplayer?
https://github.com/jbtule/niceplayer