HomeVLC media player can recognize and play almost any video format, including MKV. But sometimes, when we playback 1080p HD MKV file son VLC, the video is choppy as the problem states:"I have downloaded a .MKV file from internet, and it has file size of 1.9GB. When I had tried opening it with VLC, the video lags, gets all pixelly, and the colors are distorted. "
As we all know, VLC Video Player is a free and open-source, portable and cross-platform media player that can handle anything including MKV. But MKV, as a free container format, can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks in one file. VLC can handle these video coding formats: Dirac, DV, H.263, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.265/MPEG-H HEVC, MJPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2, Theora, VP5, VP6, VP8, VP9. Normally, your MKV files downloaded from internet often encoded with these codecs, too.
In this case, VLC can play 1080p MKV filess without hassle. But exception exists that MKV has a VLC unsupported video and audio codec. Under the circumstances, you need to use a video converter to convert 1080p MKV video to VLC more supported video format like MP4. In addition, you also need to consider these things that might be able to lead the issue of " choppy video 1080p .mkv file with vlc": Is your computer really old/slow? Do you have a cpu/video bottleneck that you cannot solve other than installing a video card? When your computer is OK and you have a nice video card and still choppy when playing back 1080p MKV choppy with VLC, you can move to the video conversion.
Best MKV to VLC Video Converter
Pavtube Video Converter for Windows/Mac is an application which you can use to encode videos. With it, you can convert 4K MKV, 1080P MKV to VLC more compatible 1080p MP4 video files. This video converter handles hundreds of video and audio codec so that you don't need to worry that it can't read your MKV files with a rare video codec. Aside from MKV, it also can convert TS, AVCHD, MTS, MXF, XAVC and some other complex video containers/formats to VLC video files. If you play 4K videos with VLC choppy, you can compress 4K video to 1080p for VLC.
Thus, you can configure the frame size, width and height, adjustment, video codec, frame rate and bitrate, as well as select audio codec, channels, sample frequency rate and bitrate. You also can trim, rotate, split video files with built-in video editor. For example, when your MKV video is so long and you don't want the beginning, you can cut of the beginning video.
Steps to Convert MKV to MP4 for VLC Playback Smoothly
Step 1: Load MKV files into the program.
After the successful installation, click "File" > "Add Video/Audio" or "Add from Folder" to load mkv files with unsupported audio codec into the program.
Step 2: Output VLC playable file format.
If the MKV files contains some video codec that VLC does not handle very well, you can just select to output one of VLC more compatible file format such as "H.264 HD Video (*.mp4)" under "HD Video" main category. Then you can click "Settings" on the main interface to open "Profile Settings" window to tweak the output audio codec as AAC or other VLC readable audio codec according to your own needs.
Step 3: Convert MKV to VLC
After all the settings, go back to the UI and hit right-bottom "Convert" button to start to convert MKV video to VLC best compatible 1080p H.264 MP4 formats.
Now, you try to play the videos on VLC, it should be OK. The video should be no longer distorts.
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