[mythtv-users] Should I prefer mp4 or mkv in Handbrake output?

[John Finlay]

On 9/19/2014 7:27 PM, f-myth-users at media.mit.edu wrote:
> Is there any particular reason to prefer one container or another (MP4
> vs MKV) in using Handbrake to transcode PVR-x50 SD MPEG2 data to MP4?
> Issues/bugs/performance re seeking?  Commflag issues?  Audio sync?  I
> recall messages a while back blaming seek problems on MKV, but don't
> know if they were misreported or resolved.  Some wiki examples seem to
> indicate using MKV, but I don't know if that was an arbitrary choice.
> I would typically just use MP4 given no other info since more things
> may understand it, but I'm willing to be convinced either way.
>
> Assume I'll be running mythcommflag/mythutil in 0.27 to rebuild the
> seektable and/or re-commflag, using North American cable material.
> I'm running Handbrake 0.9.9 under Ubuntu 12.04 to do the transcodes,
> with a close-to-Normal preset.  (Using --loose-anamorphic and probably
> adjusting speed.)  I'm not deinterlacing; I'll leave that to the
> rendering chain to maximize vertical detail for the future.*
>
> I've checked Trac and -dev and nothing's jumped out at me, but my
> memory and Google tells me of various suspicions of issues in various
> Myth versions, so if anyone knows of any current issues, please let
> me know.  (I'm not yet running 0.27 but expect to eventually, and
> don't want to be badly surprised if I do the transcodes in advance.
> Until I'm running 0.27, I'll be using mplayer to actually play the
> transcoded output (hence no mythfrontend and no commskip), but expect
> to use Myth's internal player when I'm up-to-date.)
>
>
I have done a lot of US OTA HD and SD transcoding using Handbrake and 
find no difference between using MP4 (M4V) or MKV. Both will support 
subtitles and closed captions and video and audio are synced properly 
though you have to use M4V if including subtitles or CC. I do not 
commflag the resulting files because I use lossless cut mythtranscode to 
remove commercials first before using Handbrake. The resulting files are 
renamed and transferred to my Videos storage area and seem to work just 
fine with MythTV 0.27 or VLC. I haven't tried replacing the original 
file with the transcoded file so no need to rebuild the seektable. 
Seeking on the video files seems to work just find for both containers.

John