How to re-encode MKV to MP4 for Roku 3?

Date December 11, 2015 Author Catherine Category MKV, Roku

Officially, Roku 3 supports MKV. Bu many people have been having some issues with certain MKV files playing using the Roku Media Player What happens is that at certain points while playing the MKV file there will be a slight blip and after that blip you will no longer get audio. Another case, when you play MKV file on Roku 3, they constantly stutter and skip as if they are in slow motion. 



There are many explanation in the Roku forum. One is to say that as your MKV is AC3,  Roku basically only supports it on passthrough. Meaning you have to have a receiver that can handle the AC3 audio. So even if it’s two channel AC3 it can’t play it natively. We hope that they could fix this in a firmware update or something. Another reason is Roku 3 USB Media Player channel only plays MKV files encoded with H.264 video codec. If the MKV is encoded with other video or audio codec like MPEG-2, WAV and etc, we will fail to play MKV on Roku 3 via USB drive, SD card or external HDD. And there is also some saying Roku 3 does support MKV but @30 fps, maybe that’s another reason for the problem. 

No matter for what reason, you just got unideal MKV playback on Roku 3 with bad audio performance. There are two solutions to help you. Method 1: try Plex. Plex is a common answer in this sub for these types of questions and is an awesome option, but it can be overkill depending on your needs (and requires a “server” to be running). Method 2: Converter MKV to MP4 for Roku 3 with MKV Converter.

Here, we will detailedly show you the second solution to solve MKV no audio playback on Roku 3. Pavtube Video  Converter Ultimate is a great application to convert your MKV files to Roku 3 most compatible format. It has a codec pack that enables to convert MVK with various codec, like H.265, H.264, WAV, MPEG-2, etc to another video format: MP4, MOV, AVI, M3U8, etc. It allows you to adjust audio resolution, bitrate, codec, frame rate and audio codec, bitrate, sample rate, channel. So you can choose the suitable video/audio parameters to get smooth MKV playback on Roku 3.

Free download and install
          

Other Download:
– Pavtube old official address: http://www.pavtube.cn/blu-ray-video-converter-ultimate/
– Cnet Download: http://download.cnet.com/Pavtube-Video-Converter-Ultimate/3000-2194_4-75938564.html

How to convert MKV to Roku 3 compatible format

Step 1. Load MKV files 

Download and install MKV to Roku 3 converter(Mac version). Directly drag and drop the MKV files that you want into the main window of this converter. You can also add MKV files by clicking the “Add Video” button on the left bottom. It supports batch conversion so you can add more one file at a time.



Step 2. Select Roku supported format

Click “Format” and select HD MP4 from HD Video as the output format. The reason mp4 is the target format is that by packing the videos in mp4, the file size will be reasonable small and the video quality remains



Tip: Just click the Settings (beside format) icon, you can adjust video/audio parameters as you want.

Step 3: Start to convert MKV for Roku 3

After all settings are done, hit the big red “Convert” button to begin the MKV to Roku 3 conversion. Once the process ends, locate the video in output folder. 

Now, transfer the converted MKV movies to Roku’s SD card or to a USB stick that can be attached to Roku streaming player. Now you can enjoy your MKV movies with Roku 3 without hassle.

1) Install the Roku Media Player channel, either through the Channel Store on your Roku or via Roku’s website.
2) Add the video file to your external USB drive from your computer. The Roku 3 can play MKV, MP4 and MOV files.
3) Connect the USB drive to the Roku 3’s USB port, located on the right side of the box.
4) Launch the Roku Media Player channel and select Videos.
5) Choose the drive that’s attached to the Roku 3.
6) Navigate to the folder that has the video file you want to watch. Click OK to open the folder.
7) Select the video to watch and click Play on the remote.

Additional Tips
If you have Blu-ray/DVD and 4K/2K/SD/HD video in Roku unsupported format, this app also can  help you re-encode them to Roku friendly format. And as a Christmas gift, you click here to get the app, saving $13.