Which file format to convert for Panasonic TH-P50V20z

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Lizard1977

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Topic # 205993 5-Dec-2016 20:46

I have some MKV video files which won't play on my Panasonic TH-P50V20Z TV. They were ripped from my DVD collection to make playback easier on a TV that didn't have a DVD player connected (a Samsung 32"), but now we want to play them on our main TV. However, the Panasonic doesn't recognise the MKV files. According to the manual it accepts AVCHD, MPEG2 and DivX. I tried converting a file in Handrake using MP4 as the container and MPEG2 as the codec, but it didn't work.

Any ideas?

Lizard1977

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Reply # 1683751 7-Dec-2016 10:51

Really? No-one has any ideas?

Spyware

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Reply # 1683759 7-Dec-2016 10:58

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Typically one would use a media server, e.g., Twonky, to stream the file to TV - assumes DLNA client in TV.

Ross

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Lizard1977

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Reply # 1683762 7-Dec-2016 11:00

Looking for a simpler, plug n play solution than that. For now, I've got them on a NAS and playing back through a Raspberry Pi running Kodi. But I'd prefer to just slap the USB stick into the side of the TV and use the built-in player. If that won't work then I'll stick with Kodi...

shk292

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Reply # 1683769 7-Dec-2016 11:12

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I have a Panasonic home theatre system and a Freeview recorder / DVD recorder. I gave up on the file playing abilities of both, just too random and restricted what they will accept. In contrast, I have yet to find a file that my Samsung TV won't play directly from my NAS. So my advice would be to change TV, stick with what you're using, or add a Samsung BR player with USB port to the mix.

allio

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Reply # 1683783 7-Dec-2016 11:37

You may have better luck using good old AVI for the container and MPEG-4 (i.e. Xvid/DivX) for the codec. Ah, that takes me back...

Spyware

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Reply # 1683784 7-Dec-2016 11:37

One would think that TV would see DLNA server on NAS then. Are they connected to the same network??

Ross

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Lizard1977

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Reply # 1683785 7-Dec-2016 11:38

Thanks for that. Yes, I've found the cheap Samsung 32" is fine for file formats, as is the dirt cheap 19" Veon from the Warehouse. But my expensive Panasonic plasma limps along.

I may take your advice about the Samsung BR player. My old Panasonic HDD/BD recorder bit the dust about a year ago and I replaced it with a cheap Panasonic disc-only player, which is painfully slow to power on and load up. Maybe Samsung is a better option for Blu Rays...

Rikkitic

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Reply # 1683830 7-Dec-2016 12:43

I had similar problems in the past converting MKV so I could edit with VideoRedo. Normal MP4 conversion seems to leave some stuff in the file that various devices and software have problems with. My recommendation is to try a variety of conversion programmes and formats to see if you can find something that works. Any Video Converter, Bigasoft, even VLC are all possibilities. I think VideoLan converts by streaming the file, which ought to work, though it may not be the handiest option.

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tangerz

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Reply # 1684287 7-Dec-2016 21:16

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Lizard1977:

Thanks for that. Yes, I've found the cheap Samsung 32" is fine for file formats, as is the dirt cheap 19" Veon from the Warehouse. But my expensive Panasonic plasma limps along.

I may take your advice about the Samsung BR player. My old Panasonic HDD/BD recorder bit the dust about a year ago and I replaced it with a cheap Panasonic disc-only player, which is painfully slow to power on and load up. Maybe Samsung is a better option for Blu Rays...

Simply put, this is a matter of the age of the TV. IIRC this model came out around 2011? At the time, functions for anything other than just TV were in their infancy any kind of 'smarts', including the media player function, were quite limited, (as you are finding out!)

My VT30, (which came out the following year), does manage to add mp4 files for playback, but overall it is still rather limited. My suggestion would be, forget about the 'inbuilt' media player and simply add an external box for all the other 'smart' fuctions and media playback.

Just leave the TV to do the job it does best... as simply a display panel... (a job I;m sure you''ll agree the plasma does very well!)

lNomNoml

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Reply # 1684308 7-Dec-2016 22:00

Give Freemake Video Converter a try to convert your MKV to MP4 or AVI.

fe31nz

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Reply # 1684977 8-Dec-2016 23:07

Lizard1977:

I have some MKV video files which won't play on my Panasonic TH-P50V20Z TV. They were ripped from my DVD collection to make playback easier on a TV that didn't have a DVD player connected (a Samsung 32"), but now we want to play them on our main TV. However, the Panasonic doesn't recognise the MKV files. According to the manual it accepts AVCHD, MPEG2 and DivX. I tried converting a file in Handrake using MP4 as the container and MPEG2 as the codec, but it didn't work.

Any ideas?

The AVCHD format is the best quality one on that list. It is a very restricted subset of H.264 MP4 format. My old Sony KDL-32V5500 has that its best format also, so when I first got it, I worked out how to convert things to that format. But since then I have never used the TV much for playing video files, as it is much easier to get my MythTV box (directly connected to the Sony) to play videos as it accepts almost all formats. See:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCHD

ilovemusic

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Reply # 1685916 10-Dec-2016 22:47

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panasonic built-in media players are rubbish.

save some hassles and buy a cheap media player off trademe.

da5id

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Reply # 1696440 30-Dec-2016 10:49

I've had some luck converting MKV to the format M2TS using the freeware program tsMuxer.

It's quite a small program and the conversion doesn't take that long as it is basically just changing the container from MKV to M2TS.
The resulting file will play from a USB stick plugged directly into our Panasonic TV.

The program -

http://www.videohelp.com/software/tsMuxeR

INstructions -

http://delphintipz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/how-to-play-mkv-format-videos-in-sony.html

robjg63

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Reply # 1696448 30-Dec-2016 11:21

http://video-help.over-blog.com/2016/12/watch-mkv-on-panasonic-th-p50v20z-tv.html

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