I put a bunch of videos on my new MicroSD that I got in the mail yesterday, and while all of them will run in Moboplayer (except for American Psycho which is in AVCHD in a .m2ts container), they all seem to stutter a bit.
So, I was wondering what is the most reliable video codec and container for the NT?
It says that it supports:
3GP, 3G2, MP4, M4V, MKV, WEBM, H.264 (Baseline/Main/High profile) up to 1920x1080, MPEG-4 Simple/Advanced Simple profile up to 1920x1080, & H.263
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but H.264 seems to stop running every few seconds for me.
Quick edit: Just finished uploading an MKV file and it seems to be the best so far, although the subtitles are coming up even though I disabled them in Moboplayer.
Any other recommended video players perhaps?
i use mx video player personally
yea mx video player is most smooth IMO. If available SW Fast decoding provides best playback of HD files 720p or 1080p. Of course it drains more battery so yeah...
Just installed it and it's running much better than Mobo was for me, thanks you guys.
Any time. Btw handbrake is a great way to convert your dvd's to mkv or mpeg4 format. Blurays will be too large to play,but most dvd,s will be about 700meg. I also use anydvdhd to strip the drm. On the computer i also use media browser for listing the movies. Bluray dvd's i have are played with media player classic hd with shark 007 codec pack
I grabbed 2 Youtube music videos - one 720p and one 1080p - both mp4 files. They work with no issues with the B&N video player but mx video player installed from the market wont play them. I don't get any errors or warnings its just stuck there at 00:00 with no movement and a black screen with the video controls - all i can do is exit. If I am to install one of the codec packs from the market - arm6/7 etc - which one should it be? Not sure what the processor is!
OMGitsShan said:
I grabbed 2 Youtube music videos - one 720p and one 1080p - both mp4 files. They work with no issues with the B&N video player but mx video player installed from the market wont play them. I don't get any errors or warnings its just stuck there at 00:00 with no movement and a black screen with the video controls - all i can do is exit. If I am to install one of the codec packs from the market - arm6/7 etc - which one should it be? Not sure what the processor is!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understand you shouldn't install ay codex pack unless mx player tells us to
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
OMGitsShan said:
I grabbed 2 Youtube music videos - one 720p and one 1080p - both mp4 files. They work with no issues with the B&N video player but mx video player installed from the market wont play them. I don't get any errors or warnings its just stuck there at 00:00 with no movement and a black screen with the video controls - all i can do is exit. If I am to install one of the codec packs from the market - arm6/7 etc - which one should it be? Not sure what the processor is!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think its ARM7 you want to get.
Also, mp4 is only a container filetype. The codec used for compression is also important, for example HuffyUV, H264, X263.
yea i have a video thats an avi but it closes out any media player right away...just opens the player then closes lol
Doctorword said:
yea i have a video thats an avi but it closes out any media player right away...just opens the player then closes lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have an avi on my NT and it loads fine. i think the previous poster was right about the codec. the codec is more important than the container. you might want to email the developers who made mx video player and ask them about it.
I need to run g-spot on it, it might have a weird codec or something
Been using Mx Video and it has worked with every video that I have thrown at it.
h264 codec is hardware accelerated in MX Video player. Even FullHD videos are played smoothly.
What container are you using? I can't get HW acceleration to work for any h.264 files in mkv, mp4, mov, or m4v. I use MX player and it kicks over to the SW decoder every time.
Here are my discoveries about HW video decoding in MX Player:
1. originally I uploaded some 1.5 gig MKV file downloaded from the web to SD card and tried to play it, but nothing happened - MX played it in SW mode.
2. Then, I created/converted some small video to MP4 (H.264 and AAC) and tried playing it with MX - and it worked fine
3. Strangely, but after playing hand-converted video MX started to play MKV, but with glitches...
So I think MX has some bugs when run on NT or it is not fully compatible with NT.
EDIT: ArcSoft Media Converter was used...
Related
Firstly, I use mVideoPlayer pro (an excellent video player) which doesn't include any software decoding. The player only uses the soc codecs but adds subtitle support and it recognizes the .mkv extension.
The latest version now supports:
- srt, ssa, ass, sub/idx, mpl, smi, txt, sub, sami.
- Internal MKV Subtitle (srt, ssa, ass)
Anyway, I have 2 identical video samples (.mkv), but only one of them will play. (using mvideo or stock player).
I am wondering if this is a software bug and if anyone has had the same issues?
The samples are both H264 MPEG4 AVC, 23.97 frames with DTS Audio (no audio is expected). One video is 1280x544 and the other is 1280x532. The only difference is that one has internal subtitles and the other does not.
Any info would be appreciated.
I'm having similar issues . One video will play audio just fine but will freeze playing the video a few seconds in but continue with audio. The other video is just extremely stuttery. I don't have codec specifics or video specifics at the moment but it is an issue .
Grrr!
Animatorman said:
I'm having similar issues . One video will play audio just fine but will freeze playing the video a few seconds in but continue with audio. The other video is just extremely stuttery. I don't have codec specifics or video specifics at the moment but it is an issue .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny enough, some of my videos start off blocky or have that green video effect for the first 2 seconds, but then play fine afterwards. I don't get any freezing during play. If a video starts to play, it continues fine for me. (Although, I haven't watched a full length movie as yet).
Did you get the 2 HTC updates? I did a check for HTC updates and factory reset my phone as soon as i got it. (lost the stupid hornet movie)
I am downloading more 720p video samples for testing. it may be the internal subs causing my issue, which would be strange.
(EDIT: xvid has the same problem, some video plays some don't)
1Ghz hummingbird puts all of these dual core ***** SOC's to shame. Long live Galaxy Tab 7 and Galaxy S!
Wow, this app seems really nice. I was using the latest rockplayer because it had hardware decoding, but I noticed that it wouldn't play audio on any of my 720p mkvs. This app looks much more polished, and the video plays back every bit as smoothly, but it appears to have the same problem of not playing any audio along with the video. God, we're so close!!
Oh, I tried samples with DTS and some that were just 720p rips from broadcast tv, and neither had audio. For that reason, I didn't test enough of the video to verify your issues, sorry for the threadjack.
Junon said:
Wow, this app seems really nice. I was using the latest rockplayer because it had hardware decoding, but I noticed that it wouldn't play audio on any of my 720p mkvs. This app looks much more polished, and the video plays back every bit as smoothly, but it appears to have the same problem of not playing any audio along with the video. God, we're so close!!
Oh, I tried samples with DTS and some that were just 720p rips from broadcast tv, and neither had audio. For that reason, I didn't test enough of the video to verify your issues, sorry for the threadjack.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wont play DTS audio and that is expected. Only my Archos 101 could play DTS audio out of the box, but Archos added that decoding feature.
Try encoding with Handbrake, the default setting will convert the DTS audio to MPEG AAC stereo.
So I tried more random MPEG4 AVC with DTS videos and I am very confused:
video #1 1280x720 had subs, didn't play
video #2 1920x800 no subs, video played
video #3 1280x534 no subs, didn't play
video #4 1280x720 no subs, video played
More tests:
I used mediainfo and compared codec data between several video files that played and some that didn't play and they all look the same.
I even used mkvmerge GUI to remove the audio and subtitles out of some of the videos just to see if that would work, but they still didn't play.
try dice player.
diceplayer can play 720p H.264 High + DTS +MKV flawlessly.
with gesture control ( brightness / volume ) + external subs + embedded subs
This is old, but I haven't found any related threads so just confirming that 720p MKV playback works flawlessly on the Xperia arc (all builds, firmwares). Unfortunately, it's only with the PAID app DicePlayer: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.inisoft.mediaplayer.dice
It works with all the efnet MKVs I've downloaded (TV shows) but failed with some Blu-Ray ripped MKVs with embedded subtitles.
It's available as a trial to test first: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.inisoft.mediaplayer.trial
YouTube 720p (HQ) also works flawlessly.
HDMI output/mirroring is put to good use with 720p playback (and yes, HDMI output works on any display/TV, not just Sony).
Hi,
I just tried playing one 720p .mkv file ( an old Sienfeld episode) and it does not work smoothly neither with MoboPlayer or DicePlayer .... only works in software mode with both players.
Not all mkv files are the same, so I will try more .....
just tried again with 3 files, two were samples from movies 70mb and 25mb and one full episode, about 400mb , all of them 720p mkv.
NONE played ok with MoboPlayer or DicePlayer, actually both worked only in software mode, video was laggy, sound was delayed or totally crashed. One of the files played almost OK and I think is just a matter of bitrate. It would be very good to know if there is one player that can use hw acceleration for .mkv 720p files.
Well .mkv is just the file container. You'll need to check what codecs are actually used for audio and video compression, if you want to find out what works and what not.
You are right.
mkv is the container. The most usual codecs are .x264 and VC-1
But if the bitrate is too high the files will not be properly played
I use MX Video Player to play videos.
It uses HW acceleration if possible and if not software decoding.
Mx video player is the best player at this time
Just download
1) MX video player Pro 1.3C apk (This pro file easily available just search in Google)
and
2) MX video player Codec for AMRv7 apk (This file is free in market just search in market)
Only MX Video PRO can play HD videos in the proper way? I've just started it out on my Dell Streak 7 and the video was lagging. :/
Best MKV 720 Video Player till now .
DicePlayer Ad.
thanks a lot, I'll try it out!
I'm using MX video player on neo v and is working fine.
Select the Mobile BRAVIA Engine while playing mkv files.
Sent from my MT11i using xda premium
i'm using "Kascend Video" player..play smooth with 720p MKV video..^^
BSPlayer also uses hardware acceleration.
Sent from my LT15i using XDA App
I just want to paste this post from Q&A section so it can be helpful to as much people as it can:
I use Dice player to play mkv videos but not all mkv videos can be played i H/W mode and I think I know why. Developer of DicePlayer wrote in description that Xperia arc can play "720p [email protected]/4.0(some Level 4.0 file have shutter problem)" videos. From what I know scene releases of tv shows and hd movies now need to be converted with 4.1 profile so our arc/arc s can't play it. There is no need to reconvert video to change Profile Level do 4.0 or 3.1 thanks to H264 Level Editor tool. It can change level within 1 second. Tested with justified.s03e04.720p.hdtv.x264-compulsion.mkv. Changed level from 4.1 to 4.0 and still couldn't play it via DicePlayer so I changed it to 3.1 and it worked like a charm.
Don't know why but video still can't be played in MX Video Player.
I just hope this can be usefull to somebody having touble with playing 720p mkv videos.
rafu997 said:
I just want to paste this post from Q&A section so it can be helpful to as much people as it can:
I use Dice player to play mkv videos but not all mkv videos can be played i H/W mode and I think I know why. Developer of DicePlayer wrote in description that Xperia arc can play "720p [email protected]/4.0(some Level 4.0 file have shutter problem)" videos. From what I know scene releases of tv shows and hd movies now need to be converted with 4.1 profile so our arc/arc s can't play it. There is no need to reconvert video to change Profile Level do 4.0 or 3.1 thanks to H264 Level Editor tool. It can change level within 1 second. Tested with justified.s03e04.720p.hdtv.x264-compulsion.mkv. Changed level from 4.1 to 4.0 and still couldn't play it via DicePlayer so I changed it to 3.1 and it worked like a charm.
Don't know why but video still can't be played in MX Video Player.
I just hope this can be usefull to somebody having touble with playing 720p mkv videos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know.
Download link to the tool: http://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/h264leveleditor#download
Hey guys,
Loving my Prime but I'm finding the video playback hit and miss to be honest.
I'm finding them all very buggy and most of them kick me out of the video randomly even without anything else running.
All of the below run perfectly on my friends Galaxy SII so it may be ICS?
I want to play back XVIDs and MKVs with subtitle support.
Below are the players I've tried and their results:
Google Videos:
Reads MicroSD
Plays MKV (some without sound) but NOT XVID
Doesn't support subtitles
STABLE
Rockplayer
Plays XVID & MKV
No subtitle support
UNSTABLE
MX Video Player Pro
Plays XVID & MKV
Subtitle support
UNSTABLE
MoboPlayer
Plays XVID & MKV
No subtitle support
UNSTABLE
How have you guys been finding video playback on this guy?
I play on using this tablet for a lot of video consumption so I'd love to get this sorted.
Thanks for the help!
Dice Player has been gold for me, playing everything I've thrown at it (720p mkv, avi, mpeg). I haven't tried anything with subtitles, but it supposedly supports them.
There's currently only the ad-supported version available, but the ads are small and don't show up at all should you use microHDMI to display the video on an external screen.
MX video player has worked great for me. Try different encoders if something in your video isn't working well (ie, HW, SW, etc). Also, try re-installing if you think ICS broke it.
Diceplayer is the best I think. Plays everything just fine and have good setting for subtitle.
I watch my videos most with subtitle and i haven't had any problems. Easy to change size and if you long press on the subtitle text you can move it up and down. Also have easy access to change the subtitle sync. And the add only shows when the controls are showing. here You don't see the add when the video plays and the controls and status bar hides.
And if some videos don't play properly i say that the problem often is the video file that is encoded strange.
MX Pro works great for me even on my high profile x264 encodes. SW decoder works better than HW decoder (go figure right? I would have thought the opposite) with fast mode disabled.
Edit: I have to agree with Andreas, if you're having playback issues it's likely the video not the player. Encoding is a subtle art, not everyone gets it right. Get your vids from well known sources like Thora.
Thanks a million guys.
MX Player Pro doesn't support HW decoding on the Transformer Prime. At least on mine it doesn't. Dunno why. And its really flakey. It keep crashing out on any file I try to play (XVID, MP4, MKV)
DicePlayer is WIN so far! Thanks for the recommend!
It's playing everything with subtitles too.
The only thing I don't like about it is the background 'behind' the movie is a gradient from black at the top to grey at the bottom so on some movies you've got a grey at the bottom of the picture instead of it playing on a full black background.
Unless you guys know how I can change that I'll be using DicePlayer until something better comes along.
HURRY UP VLC!
HW decoding technically works on my Prime, but SW decoding performs better. Is the option not even available for you in settings? Free or Pro? Also, no VLC...ever. Just no.
OK!
Very happy to report that after purchasing the full version of MX Player Pro EVERYTHING WORKS GREAT!!!!
Many thanks again guys!
XDA ROCKS!
lediva said:
Dice Player has been gold for me, playing everything I've thrown at it (720p mkv, avi, mpeg). I haven't tried anything with subtitles, but it supposedly supports them.
There's currently only the ad-supported version available, but the ads are small and don't show up at all should you use microHDMI to display the video on an external screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another vote for DICE. Hopefully they can get their payment issues sorted out.
Dice is the best IMO. I run huge 1080p files and only Dice can handle it without a hiccup. MX Player Pro has a skip every once and a while. Not that big but Dice doesn't do it so it wins.
VitalPlayer Pro seems to work well. It can't navigate to the MicroSD card though.
BSPlayer has worked well for me. I use the lite version and all is good. It handles all video/audio as well has HW decoding for supported video types.
My vote goes to Dice player. It is the only one that I have tested that doesn't have audio lag when I am using bluetooth headphones. Also it plays everything I can throw at it.
And don't forget to instal mx player codec pack for armv7.. In market too.
MX Player will prompt you if it needs a codec pack installed. In the Primes case it does not, it is good to go.
Since I use and like DVD Catalyst 4 to convert my DVD's to video I also use their video app called Movie Gallery. Not sure if it plays all codecs but it sure works great with my converted DVD's
I used to use VPlayer when it was beta/free but now I use vlc for android http://cvpcs.org/blog/2011-09-18/videolan_for_android_pre-alpha
I get my TFP tomorrow but it works on my phone and the OG transformer according to the post so it should work on the prime. NONeon btw at least the OG was NONeon
I sure hope that it does.
video and sound on tv, subtitle on prime
I've tried Dice- and MX player and with both programs I get sound and video on my tv playing avi but the subs will be displayed only on the Prime. Has anyone the same problem or does someone a solution?
Does MXPlayer require an internet connection for the key verification? I saw some reviews that stated it did. Obviously on a wifi only device i may be without internet... Anyone have trouble with this?
Schutter said:
I've tried Dice- and MX player and with both programs I get sound and video on my tv playing avi but the subs will be displayed only on the Prime. Has anyone the same problem or does someone a solution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to use software decoding if you want soft subs, the hardware decoder on the prime doesn't handle them when outputting.
Hi
i have use mx player for a while on my tablet.
but since they removed the DTS audio codec i have switched to vplayer
but my issue on my prime is that when i play for instance an episode of game of thrones or breaking bad on 720p .mkv version it starts ok...
but after a minute... the audio decoder doens't work anymore and it seems like you can hear only the background noise...
i used to have the same problem with mx player, but there i had found an easy option make the audio normal again. I use to switch form hardware <--> software decoding. And then it would be ok.
the odd thing is that this doens't happen with HD movies...
But for the vplayer i haven't found a sollution. Is there anyone who had te same issue?
thanks
I had issues with MX player when trying to play 1080p .mkv files and the best solution i found was to download and use BSPlayer and go into settings and set it to use Hardware decoding (BSEngine).
Never had any issues and 1080p .mkv files play perfectly - even on power save mode
diallito said:
Hi
i have use mx player for a while on my tablet.
but since they removed the DTS audio codec i have switched to vplayer
but my issue on my prime is that when i play for instance an episode of game of thrones or breaking bad on 720p .mkv version it starts ok...
but after a minute... the audio decoder doens't work anymore and it seems like you can hear only the background noise...
i used to have the same problem with mx player, but there i had found an easy option make the audio normal again. I use to switch form hardware <--> software decoding. And then it would be ok.
the odd thing is that this doens't happen with HD movies...
But for the vplayer i haven't found a sollution. Is there anyone who had te same issue?
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, go for DICE player. For me, on my prime it works flawlessly.
MXR2 said:
Dude, go for DICE player. For me, on my prime it works flawlessly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seconded, definately! DicePlayer playes anything and everything.
fordwolden said:
Seconded, definately! DicePlayer playes anything and everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Third! It's what I use!
Tried different formats?
I've only had my TP for a short time and have only tried a couple of movies on it. Not knowing which format was best I chose to rip to MP4 format and it hasn't given me any trouble so far. Is there some advantage to .mkv?
mkv is more of a losless wrapper, better quality, no compression, much larger file than mp4
The thing with Diceplayer or most players doesn't render embedded subtitles. MX Player renders it fine though. So even thought I get artifacts on MX Player when playing 10bit MKV or 1080p MKV animes, I stick with it. Yes I messed with the settings on those other players.
Well I'm getting issues with Dice not wanting to open files with DTS audio. If I open the video through file manager and choose Dice, it'll play the video no problem but no audio. If I try to open inside Dice, it crashes. Vplayer works with audio, but drops frames even if I choose 'hardware acceleration' I'll try mx and see if that works.
EDIT:
Nope, MX won't play the audio either. It at least shows me that their is an audio track, and that the audio is DTS track, but it won't play it. Any suggestions besides transcoding the audio?
i believe it was when MX player got updated to 1.6 that they removed the DTS codec. If you never had problems before they removed the codec and prefer mx player just google MX player apk X.XX and find the version with the codec in it. I would tell you the website to go to, but it's a no no on XDA.
mburke178 said:
i believe it was when MX player got updated to 1.6 that they removed the DTS codec. If you never had problems before they removed the codec and prefer mx player just google MX player apk X.XX and find the version with the codec in it. I would tell you the website to go to, but it's a no no on XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks!! Downloaded 1.5a and bam! DTS playback is perfect! Thanks again!
FYI
Dice version 2.0.5 also has DTS intact. You can find it somewhere on google, and plays HD files better in my opinion.
The latest version of MX Player that still supports DTS audio is 1.6f, and for Dice Player it's 2.0.6.
I've heard these versions are incompatible with Jelly Bean, so it looks like we'll have to find a new solution once the update comes out. (likely switching to BS Player)
I've always been an advocate of Dice, and with the majority of my stuff in Xvid or more recently, mp4, all stashed on a server that was smb shared, it worked a treat.
However, I've never been able to get HD mkvs above 720p to play well, and even those had the occasional laggy or jerky moment. I always put that down to network speed, though.
However, I've just tried the latest BS Player and all I can say is wow. It has just played all of my 1080p stuff over the LAN without breaking a sweat.
I am jumping ship. Very recommended.
I bought the Nexus 10 mainly for movie playback, I have downloaded several 720p mkv files and 1080p mkv files. The 720p mkv works fine in MX Player, but 1080p mkv does not work at all. (not only the sound but also the video), Ive also tried VLC player , BS player, Dice player, nothing works.
Its weird because Ive seen several clips on youtube where 1080p mkv files do work, but I dont understand how.
Can someone please help me???
PetStore said:
I bought the Nexus 10 mainly for movie playback, I have downloaded several 720p mkv files and 1080p mkv files. The 720p mkv works fine in MX Player, but 1080p mkv does not work at all. (not only the sound but also the video), Ive also tried VLC player , BS player, Dice player, nothing works.
Its weird because Ive seen several clips on youtube where 1080p mkv files do work, but I dont understand how.
Can someone please help me???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MX player and BS player are the best... try with sw/hw decode.
I don't know how relevant this is but...
I got "The Tunnel" free with uTorrent awhile back. Legally. I went to watch it on my older, last-gen A500 (720p mkv file) on MX Player. Didn't work with H/W at all. S/W, would play video and audio. Audio'd desync around 1 minute in with video slowing down. 2 1/2-4 minutes in, audio dies permanently. Didn't work through the HDMI or on-board screen. Could it be similar causes?
lKBZl said:
MX player and BS player are the best... try with sw/hw decode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesnt work.
lKBZl said:
MX player and BS player are the best... try with sw/hw decode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
dibblebill said:
I don't know how relevant this is but...
I got "The Tunnel" free with uTorrent awhile back. Legally. I went to watch it on my older, last-gen A500 (720p mkv file) on MX Player. Didn't work with H/W at all. S/W, would play video and audio. Audio'd desync around 1 minute in with video slowing down. 2 1/2-4 minutes in, audio dies permanently. Didn't work through the HDMI or on-board screen. Could it be similar causes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesnt work.
Can only someone who owns a Nexus 10 reply.
Use dice player with the custom DTS plugin (guessing that's why its trying to force software playback). Its called libffmpeg.so - do a Google search for it, put it in root, then activate it in the settings menu in dice player. Should play in HW mode. No matter what peeps say, I keep using dice player (can stream over ftp shares!)
xrecartp said:
Use dice player with the custom DTS plugin (guessing that's why its trying to force software playback). Its called libffmpeg.so - do a Google search for it, put it in root, then activate it in the settings menu in dice player. Should play in HW mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isnt DTS only for sound? the problem is also the video, there is no playback at all, so are you sure it will work? what is "put it in root" ???
Never try a 1080p mkv
realpg said:
Never try a 1080p mkv
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why?
The mkv is made of two or more parts: the video, and the audio(sometimes multiple streams). If the audio is unsupported by the hw decoder, it will try to play via software (slower). Root directory /sdcard/
I recently started using dice player because it plays my mkv videos 1080p with dts sound.
Default settings used and no custom codecs.
Mxplayer doesnt support dts audio due to some licence issue otherwise I prefer Mxplayer
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
shahed26 said:
I recently started using dice player because it plays my mkv videos 1080p with dts sound.
Default settings used and no custom codecs.
Mxplayer doesnt support dts audio due to some licence issue otherwise I prefer Mxplayer
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did that with a Nexus 10?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2156254
Did you try mxplayer with the custom codec from this thread? 1080p mkvs work for me with this. Using h/w+ decoder , s/w audio decode and 4.0 compatibility mode in the settings.
PetStore said:
You did that with a Nexus 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
BS Player works fine for me on my Nexus 10. Have you ticked the "Use alternate HW decoding mode" under playback preferences? Sometimes when I do get the odd 1080p MKV file not working with this, I swap it to software decoding which then works fine.
Dude, HW+ and Software Audio Decoding in MX Player does the Trick... I even created a 2560x1600 h.264 mkv video (25fps) with high preset, and it works smoothly - however, you must have the exact pixel count. If the Nexus 10 has to do rescaling, e.g. because of the navbar, you will get horrible stuttering. Nevertheless, this is pretty impressive. It is all about proper usage.
Edit: 1080p can be scaled up without stuttering, of course.
i don't know what it is you're doing wrong, but MX Player and BSPlayer both play 1080p perfectly fine as long as they're in HW decoding mode. I prefer MX Player since BS is having issues with A/V sync when playing a lot of the smaller 720p videos i have tried. make sure to enable HW+ decoding in MX Player, add the custom DTS codec for the current version and get some proper 1080p mkv files and it will play pretty much anything perfectly.
What is the bitrate of your mkv?
I encoded the video using Handbrake at High Profile (CRF20), which produced 19mb/s in average, with peaks at up to 70mb/s.
My source file was "Redwood National Park" by Jacob+Katie Schwarz (you can find it on YouTube). I avoided letterbox with a combination of cropping and resizing.
Keep in mind that you have to match the native resolution if you want to enjoy insane video playback like this without stuttering. If you create a 2560x1604 file for example, you end up seeing one frame every three seconds...