In our previous AVCHD guides for PlayStation 3 we have use DVD recordables as the medium for transferring the content to the console. This however has some downsides, the worst one being that file size increases in the MKV to AVCHD conversion process as the AVCHD adds all kinds of meta-data to the content. In practice this means that if you have a Matroska (.MKV) file that is matched to the size of a DVD-R(W) at 4.4GB and you convert it to AVCHD then it will not fit a regular DVD-R(W) and you’ll need a dual-layer disc. This is where a USB pen drive comes very handy – the prices have gone way down and one can get a 8GB or 16GB USB memory for peanuts. A USB pen drive is an excellent medium for transferring and watching you HD video content on PS3 – it’s reusable, portable, fast, and convenient. And now with the latest mkv2vob version you have an excellent tool for the MKV to USB AVCHD conversion. You’ll be watching your video on PS3 in 5 minutes – read on!

Preconditions

• A USB pen drive (or a memory card reader with a card inserted) with sufficient capacity. The size of the files will increase during the AVCHD conversion process,  so make sure your drive is bigger than the intended video file. NOTE: the drive has to be formatted with the FAT32 filesystem. You can format the drive in My Computer – just click right mouse key on the drive letter and choose Format.
• Matroska .MKV video file with AVC (h.264) video and AC3 audio streams.
• A .SRT subtitle file with exactly matching name for the .MKV video.
• mkv2vob software. Download from here and install
• Recommended reading: Read our AVCHD guide for more detailed information.

Configuring mkv2vob for AVCHD – USB output

Couple of options need to be set in the mkv2vob Configuration tab to enable the AVCHD output.

1. Set the Output type as AVCHD – USB. In this mode the mkv2vob creates a folder \AVCHD\ and the AVCHD file structure as sub-folders. The \AVCHD\ folder must be placed to the root of the USB drive in order to PS3 to recognize the video.
2. In order to get the subtitles, tick the Load Subtitles from file. Note that the .SRT subtitle file name must be EXACTLY the same as the name of the .MKV video file. So if you have My_TV_series_episode_1.mkv you must also have My_TV_series_episode_1.srt.
3. There are two additional subtitle options to choose: Overscan Compensation and Large Subtitles. The Overscan compensation feature places the subtitles slightly higher in order to avoid them being cut of on some TV systems. Large Subtitles increases the size of the subtitle font. For my HDReady 32″ Samsung television I prefer to have the Compensation on and Large subtitles disabled. Try it out on your own system to see which is the best setting for you. On 40″ FullHD televisions the Large subtitles may be a better option for good readability.
4. Set your Subtitle Language and Audio Language.
5. Video Transcoding should be left to automatic – mkv2vob will apply the re-encoding of the file if needed. The Transcoding Codec is x264 for AVCHD complicancy and best image quality.
6. In AVCHD – USB mode you can leave the File Splitting to None. In this mode the mkv2vob creates standard compliant output automatically.

Using mkv2vob

Using mkv2vob is very simple as it is only a matter of choosing the input file and defining the destination folder for the output

1. Click on Source file / Browse and point to your .MKV video file. Rememer to have the matching .SRT subtitle file in the same folder as the video.
2. Click on the Destination Folder / Browse and point the desired destination for the AVCHD output
3. Click Add File which adds the file to mkv2vob the queue, immediately processing the 1st file in the queue. As seen on the picture the test file subtitle_test.mkv is AVCHD compliant and only needs to be muxed with the subtitles into the AVCHD format. This process is very fast and takes only couple of minutes. If mkv2vob detects non-compliant characteristics in your file, it will re-encode the content. This will take a lot of time, but quarantees that your video actually works with your console.

Copying the files to the USB drive

Now the final step is to copy the resulting \AVCHD\ with subdirectories to the USB drive, which of course is only a matter of dragging and dropping the folder using Windows Explorer. You can also configure the mkv2vob output folder straight the USB drive, but this feature has one design flaw within mkv2vob – at least with the version 2.4.5, the mkv2vob outputs a folder structure of \video_file_name\AVCHD\ which the PS3 does not recognize as the AVCHD folder must be located at drive root. This is very easy fix though, as you can just browse to the USB drive in Windows and move the AVCHD folder to the root level of the drive.

Now eject the USB drive from Windows, unplug it and stick it to your PS3. The console recognizes the AVCHD content and the video is playable as it would a be a video disc. Very convenient! Enjoy your High Definiton video!