Hi ,My Ipod cannot play mkv video,why?

[umvideoconvert]

My Ipod cannot play mkv video, how can I do this?

[kornchild2002]

It can't play MKV videos because it isn't compatible with them, that is just how the hardware and iOS are setup. You can find the tech specs for various iPods on Apple's website. I don't know what model you have but the only iPods currently on the market that can playback video are the iPod touch and iPod classic. The 6G/7G iPod nano cannot playback videos, period. Now, if you have an iPod touch and the MKV videos are not in high definition, you can always download an app that would play them back (search the app store or use Google to find the best one).

HD MKV videos will have to be converted since no app, except the built-in video app of the iPod touch, is able to smoothly playback HD videos (at least from what I have tried). There are plenty of free converters out there such as Handbrake. Again, you can use Google to find the converter that suites you. Lastly, if you have an iPod classic, you will just have to convert the videos.

[kornchild2002]

Nero also makes their own various mpeg-4 audio and video encoders and those work with Apple's devices and software. It's not about supporting a format from a rival company (plus MKV is open source so it wouldn't be that big of a deal to add support for it) but rather Apple decided to go the mpeg-4 route. It's the same reason why, back in the day, mp3 players mainly worked withe mp3 and WMA files. They didn't add OGG vorbis or support for Liquid Audio because they were more obscure. mpeg-4 media files are something normal in this day and age yet MKV still hasn't been able to get out of the "geek" circle. It may have all sorts of benefits but it will never reach the same levels as the mpeg-4 container, mpeg-1 container, mpeg-2 container, or even the Windows Media container.