Ratings of the best programs How to open MKV video on a computer
Author: Anna Kiriyenko
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MKV is a video file format that is called a “container” because it stores several types of media: video, audio, subtitles, images. It is popular due to its high quality and relatively small size. The format is not as widespread as MP4 and AVI. Therefore, sometimes you may wonder which MKV player you should use to view these files.
In this rating, we have selected popular media players for playing video files with the mkv extension. We also considered an alternative option for opening these files on your computer. It is suitable for those who want to transfer the video to a smartphone or play the film on a standard player or TV set-top box.
An alternative MKV player – VideoMASTER
It is not enough to simply download a player to your computer to watch rare video files. The required codec must first be installed on the device. If the player cannot open the video with this extension, the best option is to use a converter with a built-in player.
VideoMASTER is a program in Russian with simple controls and a large package of functions. The application supports popular and rare video formats and allows you to view them using the built-in player. If you wish, you can edit the video, convert it to another format and save it for viewing on your PC, smartphone, tablet or iPad.
VideoMASTER main window
Download the program to open MKV right now:
Works great on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP
To play a file, just load it into the program by clicking on the “Add” button. In this case, you can not only watch video from your computer, but also download it from DVD or the Internet. Start watching by clicking the Play button in the preview window. Additionally, the software allows you to apply filters to the video, correct volume errors, contrast, perspective, and much more.
Among the program's functions:
- Supports almost all video formats and codecs;
- Editing functions: trimming, rotating, cropping, auto-enhancement;
- Advanced work with sound: replacing and overdubbing audio, recording from a microphone;
- Creating GIF files and screenshots;
- Optimizing video for portable devices;
- Burn DVDs with interactive menu;
Part 1. Best MKV Player with Customizable Features
Apeaksoft Blu-ray Player is a free MKV video player available for both Windows and Mac. It is a versatile video player that can satisfy almost all your requirements. For example, if you are a movie lover, you can enjoy Blu-ray playback without any problem. If you are a Windows user, you can play any DVD disc, DVD folder and ISO file with high quality picture and sound.
Peculiarities:
1. Play Blu-ray disc/folder and ISO file on your PC/Mac.
2. Play DVDs/folders/ISO files in high quality (Windows only)
3. Play 4K UHD, 1080p/720p HD and SD videos in any format.
4. Create your own Blu-ray playback by customizing effects and video/audio settings.
5. Take the photo you want and save it automatically.
Free Download Free Download
Here are the steps to play all kinds of videos. Follow the instructions and enjoy Blu-ray playback.
Step 1
Download and install
Download and install Blu-ray Player on your computer. Then run this.
Step 2
Select MKV file
Click the Open File button in the main interface. Or you can select File from the top menu bar and click Open File…. Select your desired video and your MKV file will be played automatically.
Step 3
Setting up video effects
On the top menu bar, you can click Tools and then Effects. Here you can adjust hue, brightness, contrast, saturation and gamma. When everything is ready, you can click Close to save the settings.
Step 4
Change audio/video settings
You can change your audio settings by clicking the Audio button on the top menu bar. Then you can change the audio track, audio device and select audio channel such as Stereo, Reverse Stereo, Left and Right.
Click the Video button and you can change the video and subtitle track. You can also change the aspect ratio, trim the video, and deinterlace the video.
Apeaksoft Blu-ray Player is definitely the best MKV player. It is available for both Windows and Mac. Additionally, you can adjust the video/audio settings to achieve your desired video effect. If you are satisfied with its features, you can download it and try it out.
Summarizing
Although MKV is not a widely used format, there are enough media players that can read these video files. Just select the option with the most suitable functions and install it on your computer. However, this method is not suitable if you want to play the video on your phone, tablet or TV. Many portable gadgets and players do not support this format.
Therefore, the best solution would be to convert the video file to a more popular format. This way you will forever get rid of the question of how to open an MKV file. Download the VideoMASTER converter and convert MKV to AVI if you want to play the movie on a wide screen. Or convert the video to MP4 to download to the Internet or to your phone. The program will also be useful if you just want to watch a video. This makes VideoMASTER a universal solution for all types of tasks.
Install VideoMASTER right now
Works great on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP
Part 3. 5 Best MKV Players for Mac Users
Macgo Mac Media Player
Macgo Free Mac Media Player is a completely free media player with high resolution up to 1080P/4K Video and DTS5.1 audio. Almost all kinds of video/audio formats and photos can be played. It supports MKV, MOV, AVI, FLV, WMV, MP4, MPEG, RMVB, MP3, WMA and more. It is also designed as a free DVD player for Mac. You can enjoy DVD even with 1080P HD and 4K Video resolution.
Eltima
Eltima is one of the best MKV players for Mac users, which is compatible with most versions of macOS. It can play not only MKV files, but also FLV, RM and RV, XAP, SWF, MP4, AVI, WMV and others. You can use it to adjust video color, saturation, brightness, and subtitles. It can play videos you download from YouTube and Vimeo. However, the free trial has limited features.
Mac Blu-ray Player
Mac Blu-ray Player can be used to play almost any video file. You can enjoy high-quality video playback with resolutions up to 1080p HD. Hardware acceleration is available to users. If you enable it, it will help you save 20% - 50% CPU, extend your Mac's battery life, and allow you to run multiple tasks while playing Blu-ray movies. But it can only be used for free for three months.
IINA Player
IINA Player can play almost any media file you have. It supports third-party subtitles of many formats. If you download or record videos from YouTube and Vimeo, they are also compatible with this player. The interface and operation are convenient. It supports more than 20 languages. IINA supports Picture-in-Picture feature, which allows you to enjoy your videos without any distractions.
5KPlayer
5KPlayer supports all MKV files and subtitles with built-in MKV codec, including 4K and HD. Apart from being an excellent MKV video player for Mac, it provides more features. You can convert MKV videos to MP3 and extract high-quality movie soundtrack to MP3.
Format Description
MKV is a video container, similar in architecture to AVI, and capable of storing large amounts of information. The code configuration feature helps to refine and adapt it, complementing and expanding the functionality. The development of the MKV format was carried out within the framework of the Russian project “Matryoshka”, designed to eliminate the imperfections of AVI, which arose after the release of the blu-ray format. Due to the prohibitive quality of the video, it was not possible to compress it into BD-rip: the quality suffered, it was not possible to add subtitles and the option to change languages. The MKV format took into account and eliminated these shortcomings - that’s why it was so often used when downloading movies and TV series on torrent trackers.
Media Player Classic
This player is often confused with Windows Media. There is a certain grain of truth in this: the product has an appearance identical to WMP version 6.4.
But that's where the similarities end, since MPC is based on completely different code.
It is noteworthy that only one programmer named Gabest is working on the program.
This product is capable of reading almost all formats, including VCD, SVCD, AudioCD and DVD. As for digital ones, all the details can be found on the official website. developer website.
Attentive people will notice that MPC does not include support for MKV and will begin to panic.
You should not do this, since the program supports DivX version 7, so there will be no problems with mkv files. Even codecs do not have to be updated additionally.
In addition, the player copes well with flash video, frame capture via a TV tuner, and more.
As for the shortcomings. First, you won't be able to adjust brightness and contrast automatically. You'll have to tinker with the settings manually, which is not entirely convenient.
Secondly, on weak systems the program will be slow because it requires SSE support.
Overall, a good household player for non-trivial tasks.
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Media codecs for third-party media player
A codec is a computer program used to encode or decode any digital media file. To play MKV video, you need codecs that allow you to do this using the “default” (installed by default) system video player.
MKV developers recommend using the following to play this type of file:
- Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP);
- or K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows PC.
Installing K-Lite Codec Pack
Step 1: The K-Lite Codec Pack installation file can be downloaded from: https://betdownload.com/k-lite-codec-pack-basic-570-download. To download, click the green Free Download button and the orange Start downloading button at the top left.
To download, click the Free Download button
Step 2. After downloading the file, open it with a mouse click. The K-Lite Codec Pack installation window will appear. Click “Next”.
Click “Next”
Step 3. In the next window, do not move the checkbox, leaving “Normal mode”. Click “Next”.
Leave “Normal mode” and click “Next”
Step 4. The Select components window prompts you to select codec installation options. You can leave the default settings and click Next.
Selecting codec installation options
Step 5. The next window configures the launch mode for the K-Lite Codec Pack (eg, creating a shortcut to configure settings, etc.). Click “Next”.
Setting up the launch mode for K-Lite Codec Pack
Step 6: This window offers K-Lite Codec Pack integration with your default media player. After selecting the media player, click “Next”.
After selecting the media player, click “Next”
Step 7. This window prompts you to select an association of files with the media player selected in the previous step.
To associate files, check the Video file extensions on Matroska (.mkv, .webm) and Audio file extensions on Matroska (.mka) checkboxes.
You can also click Select all video and Select all audio if you want to play on the selected media player all video and audio files supported by the installed codec. Click “Next”.
Checking the boxes
Step 8. In the “Ready to install” window, click “Install”. The K-Lite Codec Pack installation will start.
Installing K-Lite Codec Pack
Step 9. After installation is complete, click “Finish”.
After installation is complete, click “Finish”
To run an MKV file after installing a media codec, you need to launch the media player with which the codec is integrated and open the media file in the standard way for this player.
RealPlayer
RealPlayer is one of the oldest media players that is still supported by developers to this day. Since its release in 1995, it has undergone significant changes, while maintaining its main feature – cross-platform and “omnivorous” video player. RealPlayer is published in four versions: Free, Plus, Premium and 100GB.
Multimedia RealPlayer allows you to watch videos and listen to music in all modern formats. In addition to playback, there is a function for direct and reverse conversion of video files (conversion occurs from any to any format). To save videos from the Internet in Real Player there is a video grabber that works with leading video hosting sites, including YouTube. The developers also left the still relevant function of playing and burning CDs and DVDs.
The program will appeal to professional streamers - you can broadcast and receive streaming video on the Internet, or by connecting an Xbox or SmartTV. Real provides access to its own cloud services, allocating the amount of free space according to the subscription plan.
Externally, RealPlayer is no different from the interface of its competitors. Despite the high quality of the interface, the developers did not import the Russian language, which is quite rare in 2022.
Advantages:
- Supports all commonly used music, video and image formats;
- The program includes a video grabber and converter;
- Software for streaming from various platforms;
- own web browser focused on the RealCloud service;
- multi-platform player for PC and mobile devices;
- providing a choice of several subscription options;
- RealPlayer Free is completely free.
Flaws:
- there is no Russian-language interface.
