Native MKV Support on the PS3

[coursemyhorse]

First let me explain for those that may not understand about the importance of native MKV support:

So this is a feature that A LOT of people have been crying out for on the PS3 since pretty much day 1. The PS3 is a powerful central media hub for the home and many people use it to play music and video, particularly HD video whereby the mkv container format is the most popularly used to store HD rips of bluray content.

In order for people to be able to seemlessly play MKV files without having to encode them to another format (such as using mkv2vob software) the most commonly used apps for this is PS3 media server (PS3MS). PS3MS is a great piece of "no fuss" software that transcodes HD video on the fly so that the PS3 can simply select and play MKV files on externally shared media via a PS3MS installation on say your PC.

The problem with this option, is that the PC used to provide the PS3MS server service, tends to have to be a fairly capable CPU to be able to transcode high quality full 1080p rips on the fly. Some people would much prefer to be able to point their PS3 at a NAS or low powered always on file server, and use the PS3 to play MKV files natively. (in other words out of the box, i.e. it needs no external help/services/transcoding and will just select an MKV either on the internal hard drive or on external storage and simply play it).

So now you can see why a lot of people would welcome this feature. So far the PS3 has not been updated by Sony to allow this. Why would they?

However, with the development of the jailbreak in recent weeks, how long do you think native MKV support might take and what limitations/implications/considerations might there be? I assume that the PS3 is perfectly capable of playing them in terms of hardware if a homebrew app came about? Would you then have to boot into a specific app to play them or would it be possible to browse to files like we can now in the XMB and then simply select to play and it would just work?

All discussion on it can be had here I guess as I could not find another thread.

Thanks

[Xeauron]

Good post mate. I'm fully behind the introduction of MKV as I do use a media server for streaming. However I do have to put up with HORRIBLE seek times on 1080p films transcoded meaning I cannot rewind or fast forward and have recently experienced a few pauses during playback which can be very irritating.

Like you said if it could be done so that the data just gets streamed to the PS3 and not transcoded on the fly, alll this would be improved greatly.

Though it's a little early in the day to think this will be coming any time soon (just my opinion), this is definitely something most brewers want!

[superior.pokez]

I'm guessing he is asking what lvl access right would it take to alter the xmb and the way it works? I'm guessing root no doubt.

Because now we could only install homebrew apps as 'games' (the way xmb sees it), and only work within the limits set by the xmb (which means no choosing what app to launch x file)

So then were pretty much restricted to one game or one app at a time unless someone makes a CFW 'game' from within the xmb. lol

[coursemyhorse]

Good post mate. I'm fully behind the introduction of MKV as I do use a media server for streaming. However I do have to put up with HORRIBLE seek times on 1080p films transcoded meaning I cannot rewind or fast forward and have recently experienced a few pauses during playback which can be very irritating.

Like you said if it could be done so that the data just gets streamed to the PS3 and not transcoded on the fly, alll this would be improved greatly.

Though it's a little early in the day to think this will be coming any time soon (just my opinion), this is definitely something most brewers want!

I forgot to mention that drawback as well so thanks for reminding. Yes, using seek with PS3MS is not particularly reliable. I prefer to use my bluetooth remote and use the display button then go to "go to" and select X number of minutes into the future or past. A bit slower but it works.
With Native mkv support I'm sure seek would be much more like watching a bluray. Not perfect, but much better surely.

So I guess (I am no expert) it is fair to say that the recent jailbreak has "shown light at the end of the tunnel" in that it allows it to run unsigned code. Is it only a matter of time until it can become rooted or are there further hardware/security hurdles?

[edit_text]

The first thing I thought about when I heard homebrew on the PS3, XBMC. What a sweet day that will be.

e_t

[Xeauron]

The first thing I thought about when I heard homebrew on the PS3, XBMC. What a sweet day that will be.

e_t

Am I sight in thinking that's Xbox Media Centre? What would be the advantages of running that? The PS3 can handle most (if not all) media files pretty damn well...

Just curious...

So I guess (I am no expert) it is fair to say that the recent jailbreak has "shown light at the end of the tunnel" in that it allows it to run unsigned code. Is it only a matter of time until it can become rooted or are there further hardware/security hurdles?

For now it would be a stand alone application which you would click into on the XMB rather than running MKV from the XMB as it stands.

That is until someone figures out firmware emulation and is able to tinker with the firmware to include native MKV support from there...

[Access_Denied]

Trust me, we're a LONG way off from even thinking about native MKV support. It would require us to have enough knowledge to successfully edit the files on the flash without rendering the XMB useless. And that would require us decrypting them first. Then we'd have to start building our own user modules and somehow incorporate them into the XMB. This still haven't even been done on the PSP, and they've had years to work on that. Trust me, don't hold your breath. Stick with MKV2VOB.

[Mik3h]

Trust me, we're a LONG way off from even thinking about native MKV support. It would require us to have enough knowledge to successfully edit the files on the flash without rendering the XMB useless. And that would require us decrypting them first. Then we'd have to start building our own user modules and somehow incorporate them into the XMB. This still haven't even been done on the PSP, and they've had years to work on that. Trust me, don't hold your breath. Stick with MKV2VOB.

It's already been said that we can edit dev_flash files without any risk of bricking, look here - http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Dev/skfu-...stom-firmware/

We already have a backup loader, an FTP application and a semi-working Dreamcast emulator, I don't see how a working XBMC is a "LONG way" away.

[dualdeath]

It's already been said that we can edit dev_flash files without any risk of bricking, look here - http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Dev/skfu-...stom-firmware/

We already have a backup loader, an FTP application and a semi-working Dreamcast emulator, I don't see how a working XBMC is a "LONG way" away.

tell me you've read the whole article.. it states there that in theory, if we could run dev_flash from the usb, there won't be risk of bricking or messing up the unit.. it doesn't say there that there aren't any risk of bricking..

[Mik3h]

it doesn't say there that there aren't any risk of bricking..

it states there that in theory, if we could run dev_flash from the usb, there won't be risk of bricking or messing up the unit

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