> Came across this the other day. Matroska files (.mks) are > containers for one or more tracks. Sort of like when you > have .vob files from a DVD you can have multiple audio > tracks, video tracks, and subtitles. > > One of the problems with converting movies to divx or xvid is > that you lose those options - you generally have to pick > which audio track you want and if you choose a subtitle it > will always be displayed. > Matroska files allow you to encode the video to mpeg4 getting > the benefits of the compression and then during playback > choose multiple audio tracks and/or subtitles. > > Anyone played around with this? Seems like a good idea for a > HTPC if you don't have the storage for all your movies in vob > form but still want all the cool menus, features, and subtitles.
I haven't played about with them myself, but I've read a bit about them. They seem to be pretty widely used in OSS software, but I've yet to hear of a comercial product that uses them. I'm not sure what functionality of the container can be used with just the DirectShow filters. The player may need to know what is going on with them too. DivX have just released a DivXAuthor package that might be workth a look. I know it allows you to create menus and chapters within a DivX file (not an AVI), I think it has support for multiple audio and subtitle streams, but I'm not 100% sure on that.
