MKV2ATV FAQ

Q: On what devices can i play the converted video files? Only on the Apple TV?

Q: What limitations does MKV2ATV have? Are all audio-tracks and sub-tiles converted?

Q: What is the difference between MKV2ATV and MKV2MP4?

Q: What is the difference between MKV2ATV and MKV2IOS?

The converted files are not just compatible with the Apple TV, you can also play them on every standards-compliant MP4 player.

Limitations:
• Some files (10-bit video / larger than FullHD) will not play on on the AppleTV because it don't support this.
• Some rare MKVs contain video in non-standard formats like VP9, these videos will fail to convert or play.
• At this time MKV2ATV only converts the selected audio track from the MKV to the MP4 file. All additional audio tracks are discarded. (Exception, there is the option to include additionally a 5.1 surround channel of the selected language, if available).
• Some (image-based) subtitle formats are not transcoded (see subtitle question).

Yes, most subtitle formats are supported, and converted into proper native MP4 subtitles.

Note that you currently have to explicitly enable conversion of embedded subtitles from the preferences because this can cause conversion to fail under rare circumstances.

To convert subtitles they must either be embedded in the MKV file or be located in another file in which case they will only be picked up if:
• the subtitle file has the same name (minus extension) (as the MKV) and
• the subtitle file is located in the very same folder (as the MKV) and
• the subtitle file is dropped onto MKV2PS3 (together with the MKV file)

Supported subtitle formats:
• SubRip (.srt)
• SubViewer (.sub)
• MicroDVD (.sub)
• SubStation Alpha (.ssa / .ass)
• SAMI (.smi)
Other subtitle formats and most notably image-based subtitles like PGS or VobSub (.sub + .idx) are NOT supported. If you absolutely need to import these subtitles in the MP4 we recommend opening the resulting MP4 with Subler and adding the subtitles from the MKV to the MP4 manually. Subler can import image-based subtitles with an optical character recognition (OCR) engine, which of course is error-prone and only works for english subtitles by default, but it might just work well enough for your movie.

MKV2ATV is cheaper, has less options (which makes it easier to use) and is specifically tailored to create files playable with the Apple TV. MKV2MP4 on the other hand has more options, e.g. to create files that are not strictly standards compliant but can be converted very quickly and losslessly. If you only want to convert files for the Apple TV, chose MKV2ATV, if you want to convert MKVs to different players, chose MKV2MP4.

These products are technically identical - except that MKV2ATV includes surround tracks by default.