The VideoLAN Forums

I have some MKV files I have to convert to MP4 to play on an LG TV (cannot believe they are STILL not supporting MKV directly). When I do this with VLC, I start with, let's say a 1 hour file that is 25GB in MKV format for 2160p HDR with multichannel sound in lossless form (TrueHD/DTS HD-MA or Atmos/DTS:X). When the MP4 conversion is done, the files are more like 5GB. I am assuming that audio is being downgraded AND that video is at a minimum, more compressed. I don't see a lot of settings in the Convert/Save function where I can just click a box that says "preserve original video and audio quality" so I have no idea if I'm g
So my questions are:

-- Does MP4 even support 2160p/HDR content with a lossless audio format? If not, is there a file format that works with 2160p/HDR & lossless audio formats that is compatible with LG's internal media player AND is compatible with VLC's conversion capabilities?

-- What settings need to be made in VLC (or ARE there settings in VLC) to make the converted MP4 video file as identical as possible to the original (in my case, MKV) video file? Can VLC even make an MP4 version of any 1080p or 2160p (only resolutions I use) video with image and sound quality as good as the original MKV? Remember, original MKVs with 2160p and HDR are 25GB-35GB, in this example, most of the time. But converted MP4s are closer to 5 GB after conversion. Seems unlikely that video and audio quality in the converted file would be as good as the original if the MP4 is so much smaller?

You don't need to convert the video and audio streams, just copy them (Keep original track) into a new MP4 container

I made several presets for conversion for various needs and one i use the most just converts containers and retains video and audio as is

VLC can handle that case real fast and efficiently

deleted -- no longer relevant

deleted - no longer relevant

Deleted---no longer relevant

OK, thanks for the tips. I finally found the magic combination of settings for Preset and Convert/Save that let me change a 3.3 GB MKV to a 3.3 GB MP4. It only takes about 30 seconds for this to happen vs. 25 minutes or so for the convert process.

I could still use an answer to the question:

Source file: 6 GB MKV: 3840x2160p; x265; TrueHD or DTS HD-MA (and potentially Atmos or DTS:X); 10-bits per color; HDR

Can I turn that into MP4 the same way? Same resolution, same audio, 10-bits, HDR, x265 ? (is MP4 compatible with all that "stuff"?)

You just copy the streams (audio, video, subs) from MKV to MP4.
This process is lossless because no transcoding is performed.
I'm not sure Atmos will work in MP4, though.

Sorry to butt in, but I'm not familiar with the idea of copying streams from MKV to MP4. I have some MKVs that I would like to convert to MP4 - can I do this within the VLC window?

Oops, I meant to say, "..copying streams from MKV to an MP4 container. And can I make a file-to-file copy or can I only copy streaming videos int the MP4 container?

Yes, VLC will do this, but it CHOKES HARD if the drives holding the MKVs is an NAS without a drive letter. If you want to change say 10 MKVs to MP4 losslessly, in the Conver/Save function there are 2 places where you need to pick COPY and NOT Convert to keep the same audio and video quality. It's fairly obvious, but I don't have VLC on this particular computer. The Video options have one of the places where you select COPY instead of CONVERT and The Audio options have the other place.

Hello. Newbie here. Resurrecting an older thread.

I am trying to convert a music animation video from MKV to MP4. The VLC converter works beautifully -- for the video side. The audio (music) does not carry over.

What am I doing wrong here?

(Windows 10 PC)

Thanks!!

Well, after an additional web search I found something "Video Conversion for Dummies" and actually managed to do a conversion!

Not that I will ever remember it again.

Coming from the early days of open source, I get it. And almost every good and useful app has a learning curve. But it would it would be helpful if the FAQ and forum were a bit more user friendly - as in step-by-step instructions for old geezers.

But VLC has long been a go-to for me so my request is humble and whispered.....