It has to do with the audio in the file. I believe the Playbook doesn't support DTS natively. As suggested, pay for the Kalemsoft media player app and you should no longer have issues with playback.
Download WatchMore from BB World. It will convert the file to MP4 on the Playbook. Make sure you have enough storage space available to accommodate both files until the conversion is complete and then you can delete the MKV file.
Yes, it does cost money. Other option is to try and get an older version of mVideoPlayer (sideload). It is free, but more recent versions have broken mkv compatibility apparently. I'm using version 4.0.3 if that helps. It's not as good as Kalemsoft (as it isn't native), but offers a free alternative. I have both on my PB, and use Kalemsoft 95% of the time.
I believe that they are separate purchases. I have Kalemsoft on my PB, but shows that I have to pay on my Z10.
Thanks. I don't really need it on the phone but was going to buy it there if it would go on both devices. Too bad...I know Neutron player works that way.
Handbrake - is free. I have had success with makemkv also free. The original file is the key because mkv is just a container. If I transcode a dvd with makemkv, it plays on my playbook.
Try freemake.com
You can choose which device you want to watch on.
Even the PlayBook ist available!
It takes a while to convert movies in .mp4. But after that it works like a charm, even the audio codecs are correct.
Change the extension from .mkv to .avi
Then it will work.
Hey Moazzam,
I changed one of my mkv files to avi and it plays fine on my W8 laptop, but when I transferred that renamed file to the PB, no go. I still get the "unsupported file format" error message.
Guess I'll have to buy a copy of Kalemsoft. Sheesh... it's up to $6.99 now Grrrrrrr