universal file format? .m4vs working in other media centres?

[Keebler]

Hi folks,

This is related to the appletv, but more towards home theatres.

Here is the situation:

I transfer videos for clients onto DVD. With the surge in multi-media devices such as the apple TV and HP's Media Servers, as well as Windows Media Centre, i'm thinking I could output to .m4v files for clients. I ran a test of a client's tape and it looked amazing on my TV through my iphone.

Is there a universal movie file? I know there are so many with divx, avi's etc... but it would be beneficial to both me and my clients if i could choose 1 file and output to that format. Less confusing for them especially.

I realize that Windows machines can probably play m4vs if they have QT installed.

Of course, there's the whole issue of 'selling' this concept to them, but I think this is the way technology is going. DVD is great in many respects, but transferring to a high quality movie file where they don't have to worry about kids scratching the disc or losing would be nice. I could always burn the m4v files onto a back disc and ensure they have proper backup HD solutions with their computer.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Keebler

 

[d21mike]

As a business you may need to support multiple formats.

As for Windows. Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center can't play M4V's natively. However, you can play them if you install Quicktime or iTunes (from Apple) and Zune from Microsoft. If you have an XBOX it can play M4V's with a firmware update if you use Zune to Serve the Movies.

I have chosen to encode all of my movies in M4V since I need them for both AppleTV and XBOX. I also need them for my iPhone and iPod so I need to encode them to they play on all devices. I use Handbrake and if you use the AppleTV Preset you can play them on the iPhone. You can read about this on a number of threads here.

My guess is that Microsoft will support M4V format with all their players in the future (maybe Windows 7) so if I had to pick 1 format I would pick M4V. But like I said above, as a business you should be prepared to support other formats.

 

[Keebler]

As a business you may need to support multiple formats.

As for Windows. Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center can't play M4V's natively. However, you can play them if you install Quicktime or iTunes (from Apple) and Zune from Microsoft. If you have an XBOX it can play M4V's with a firmware update if you use Zune to Serve the Movies.

I have chosen to encode all of my movies in M4V since I need them for both AppleTV and XBOX. I also need them for my iPhone and iPod so I need to encode them to they play on all devices. I use Handbrake and if you use the AppleTV Preset you can play them on the iPhone. You can read about this on a number of threads here.

My guess is that Microsoft will support M4V format with all their players in the future (maybe Windows 7) so if I had to pick 1 format I would pick M4V. But like I said above, as a business you should be prepared to support other formats.

thanks Mike.

I need to look into the appletv preset b/c when i try, it says the iphone can't handle it so i need to choose the iphone/ipod touch setting.

Agree about the multiple formats for the business. Hoping to streamline it, but I do understand folks will have different requirements. I don't have an xbox, but I think plenty of folks have a console system so I need to keep that in mind as well. Just trying to stay on the leading edge for folks to be as flexible as possible.

Cheers,
Keebler

 

[NightStorm]

The AppleTV preset is not compatible with iPods/iPhones... the new Universal preset in .9.3 is compatible with both. I have a hard time believing that Windows Media Player can't read a .m4v file as its simply a MPEG-4 file with a different file extension.

 

[d21mike]

The AppleTV preset is not compatible with iPods/iPhones... the new Universal preset in .9.3 is compatible with both. I have a hard time believing that Windows Media Player can't read a .m4v file as its simply a MPEG-4 file with a different file extension.

Believe it. I know it is crazy that Micrsoft supports it with the "Newer" Zune Software but not the "Older" Windows Media Player. That's why I said I believe they will support in the a future release of WMP and Media Center.

 

[heavymetal4god]

Hi folks,

This is related to the appletv, but more towards home theatres.

Here is the situation:

I transfer videos for clients onto DVD. With the surge in multi-media devices such as the apple TV and HP's Media Servers, as well as Windows Media Centre, i'm thinking I could output to .m4v files for clients. I ran a test of a client's tape and it looked amazing on my TV through my iphone.

Is there a universal movie file? I know there are so many with divx, avi's etc... but it would be beneficial to both me and my clients if i could choose 1 file and output to that format. Less confusing for them especially.

I realize that Windows machines can probably play m4vs if they have QT installed.

Of course, there's the whole issue of 'selling' this concept to them, but I think this is the way technology is going. DVD is great in many respects, but transferring to a high quality movie file where they don't have to worry about kids scratching the disc or losing would be nice. I could always burn the m4v files onto a back disc and ensure they have proper backup HD solutions with their computer.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Keebler

If you need video conversion, I found this awesome software the converts any video format to whatever format you choose. It's windows only. It's called Axara Video Converter.

 

[hitekalex]

If you need video conversion, I found this awesome software the converts any video format to whatever format you choose. It's windows only. It's called Axara Video Converter.

Please don't spam here. No one is interested in Windows-only shareware, and the OP asked about format compatibility, not transcoding between formats.

 

[Keebler]

The AppleTV preset is not compatible with iPods/iPhones... the new Universal preset in .9.3 is compatible with both. I have a hard time believing that Windows Media Player can't read a .m4v file as its simply a MPEG-4 file with a different file extension.

dummy is me. i didn't use that format. i'm rock n' rolla'ing now. I knew there was a reason I kept the dvd builds on my system before erasing.

Thanks!

 

[Keebler]

The AppleTV preset is not compatible with iPods/iPhones... the new Universal preset in .9.3 is compatible with both. I have a hard time believing that Windows Media Player can't read a .m4v file as its simply a MPEG-4 file with a different file extension.

Hi Nightstorm,

Have you had any crashes using the Universal setting?

I'm trying to convert an avi, but HB (latest rev) keeps crashing when I try to output. I can use the iphone/ipod touch preset without issue.

edit: i found this on the hb forum site. sorry for the question, but hope this helps others. it's a known bug with a possible fix (only saying possible as I've yet to try

As an interim fix, switch to the audio tab and disable the second output track - this is for AC3 passthru and is what is causing the crash.


Cheers,
keebler