mkv playback on IOS

[Maurice_Gosfield]

I'm sure this has been raised previously but can anyone advise/help me with a playback issue on IOS.

I am attempting to play back 1276 x 716 MKV files on an iPad running iOS 9.2.1 and VLC 2.7.4. Files have been transferred over wifi from a PC running Windows 10. Audio plays OK but image freezes/greys out/pixellates. Same files play OK on VLC on my PC.

Any advice including directions to previous posts on this would be much appreciated.

[fkuehne]

What's the video codec and what kind of iPad do you use?

[Maurice_Gosfield]

x265 HEVC /iPad Mini 1

[fkuehne]

Yeah, sorry, this is never going to work.

HEVC is an extremely demanding video codec and the SoC included in the 1st gen. iPad mini is quite limited and there is no hardware decoder for this codec either. H264 at that size will probably play fine, but H.265 / HEVC is too much.

[Maurice_Gosfield]

OK - understood. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond. Donation forthcoming.

One other quick question: Do subsequent iPads (e.g. Mini 4) have the grunt to handle HEVC/H265/x265? It's maybe time for an upgrade....

[fkuehne]

HEVC with HD content in reasonable bitrates plays great on my iPhone 6s, so I guess it will also play correctly on the current generation of iPads (I don't have access those yet)

[defone]

I have an 1st Gen iPad Air and it plays HEVC perfectly at 720p. Running iOS 8.4.1 and VLC 2.7.6.

However I have the same issue as mentioned above (freezing, greying and pixelating) with 1080p playback.

Can anyone confirm if 1080p HEVC playback is an issue on 2nd Gen iPad Air or iPad Pro?