MKV to M2TS Converter

Convert MKV to M2TS

M2TS is the BDAV MPEG-2 Transport Stream — the container Blu-ray Disc, Ultra HD Blu-ray and AVCHD camcorder footage are stored in. This tool takes a Matroska (.mkv) file, re-encodes what is inside it, and writes it out as a genuinely BDAV-framed .m2ts stream. What it does not do is author a disc, and the difference between "a real M2TS file" and "a Blu-ray" is where most of the confusion around this conversion lives. Everything below is about getting a stream your target actually accepts.

How to Convert MKV to M2TS

1. Upload Your MKV File: Drag and drop your .mkv onto the page or click "+ Add Files". You can queue several files and run them through the same settings.
2. Set the Video Codec: Open Advanced Options. "Video Codec" starts on H.264, which is the codec Blu-ray and AVCHD hardware expects. H.265, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX and Xvid are also selectable, but only H.264 and MPEG-2 belong to the Blu-ray video set.
3. Choose the Audio Codec and a Compression Mode: "Audio Codec" starts on AAC, which software players read but disc-oriented hardware does not expect — switch it to AC3 for that. Under "File Compression", "Quality Preset" defaults to "Very High (Recommended)"; "Specific file size", "Constant Bitrate", "Variable Bitrate", "Constant Quality" and "Constraint Quality" are there when you need to hit a ceiling instead.
4. Convert and Download: Click "Convert" and save the .m2ts. No sign-up, no watermark.

What ".m2ts" Actually Gets You Here

The extension is not cosmetic on this page. BDAV is a modification of the MPEG-2 transport stream for random-access media, and its distinguishing feature is packet layout: every standard 188-byte transport packet is prefixed with a 4-byte header — a 2-bit copy-permission indicator plus a 30-bit arrival timestamp clocked at 27 MHz — for a 192-byte unit. Our output is written that way, so a tool that inspects the file finds BDAV framing, not a plain transport stream. That is the part people are usually checking for.

The honest caveat sits one level up. A single .m2ts file is a stream, not a disc. An actual Blu-ray or AVCHD volume is a folder structure — BDMV with a STREAM directory holding the media, alongside clip-information and playlist files — plus the index and menu data a set-top player navigates. Nothing in a lone file can supply that, which is why a player that happily reads a USB stick full of video may still ignore an .m2ts dropped on it. Feed the file to authoring software when you want a disc; use it directly when your target is a PC, a media player, or an editor that ingests transport streams.

Matching Your Settings to the Target

The rule of thumb: H.264 plus AC3 is the combination that survives contact with hardware. AAC will play fine on a computer and is smaller, which is why it is the default, but it is not part of the mandatory BDAV audio set and it is the single most common reason a converted file plays with picture but no sound on a TV.

Common Errors and How to Fix Them

• "My Blu-ray player ignores the file" — A loose .m2ts is not an authored disc. Many set-top players only read M2TS from a proper BDMV structure or a burned disc. Check whether your device reads standalone transport streams at all before assuming the conversion failed.
• "Picture plays, no sound on the TV" — The hardware cannot decode AAC inside a transport stream. Re-convert with "Audio Codec" set to AC3.
• "My subtitles and chapters vanished" — Matroska's soft subtitle tracks, chapter markers and extra audio tracks are not carried into the output. Burn subtitles into the picture beforehand, or keep the .srt alongside the video.
• "The file is bigger than the MKV was" — Transport-stream packet overhead plus a re-encode that may run at a higher bitrate than the source. Use "Specific file size" or "Constant Bitrate" to cap it.
• "Horizontal comb lines on movement" — Your source is interlaced (typical of 1080i broadcast and older camcorder footage) and there is no deinterlacing stage here, so the interlacing is preserved in the encode. Deinterlace in a desktop tool before uploading.
• "HDR footage looks flat" — There is no tone-mapping stage; HDR gets a plain colour conversion, which reads washed out on a standard-range display. Convert from an SDR version instead.

When This Doesn't Work

If your goal is simply to play the video — on a phone, a smart TV app, a browser — M2TS is the wrong target and MKV to MP4 will serve you better, with wider support and smaller files. If you need a bootable disc image with menus and playlists, you need authoring software; this page produces the stream that software ingests, not the volume it builds. If the target is a camcorder-style workflow that wants the 8.3 spelling, use MKV to MTS — but note that the .mts output is written as plain 188-byte transport packets rather than the 192-byte BDAV framing you get here, so choose the extension that matches what the receiving tool expects. Encrypted or DRM-protected sources cannot be converted at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a real BDAV M2TS, or just a renamed transport stream?

It is really BDAV-framed. The file is written with 192-byte packets — the standard 188-byte MPEG-2 transport packet prefixed by a 4-byte header carrying a copy-permission indicator and a 27 MHz arrival timestamp — which is exactly the layout Blu-ray uses and what distinguishes .m2ts from a plain .ts. If you open the file in a stream analyser, it will report the BDAV packet size rather than the broadcast one.

Why won't my Blu-ray player or PS3 play the converted file?

Because a stream is not a disc. Authored Blu-ray and AVCHD playback depends on a BDMV folder structure with a STREAM directory, clip-information files and playlists that tell the player what to do; a single file carries none of that. Some devices read standalone .m2ts from USB and some flatly refuse. If you need real disc playback, run the file through authoring software that builds the folder structure.

Which audio codec should I choose?

AC3 if hardware is involved, AAC if it is not. The BDAV and AVCHD specifications treat Dolby Digital (AC-3), DTS and linear PCM as the audio formats players must handle, and AVCHD camcorder audio in particular is AC-3 or LPCM. AAC is our default because it is compact and every software player decodes it, but it sits outside that mandatory set — so a TV or set-top box may show picture with silence until you switch to AC3.

Is M2TS the same as MTS?

They are the same format family — the difference is naming and, here, framing. AVCHD equipment writes to the memory card using legacy 8.3 filenames, which produces .MTS; Blu-ray and computer imports use long filenames, which produces .m2ts. On this site, the .m2ts output is BDAV-framed at 192 bytes per packet, while MKV to MTS writes plain 188-byte transport packets. Pick based on what the receiving software expects, not just on the extension it displays.

Will my MKV's subtitles, chapters and extra audio tracks come across?

No. A Matroska file can hold many audio tracks, many soft subtitle tracks, chapter markers and rich metadata; the output here is one video stream plus one audio stream. If a specific language track matters, select it before converting. If the subtitles matter, burn them into the picture in a desktop tool first, or keep the subtitle file separately alongside the video.

Does M2TS handle 1080p and 4K?

The container itself is built for high definition and 1080p is comfortably within scope. 4K is real too — Ultra HD Blu-ray stores 3840×2160 HEVC video in the same BDAV container at data rates well above standard Blu-ray — but that depends on your device decoding HEVC at that resolution, and H.264 at 4K is not part of the classic Blu-ray video set. Standalone 4K .m2ts playback is entirely a question of what your target hardware supports.

Will converting MKV to M2TS lose quality?

Some, yes — this is always a re-encode, never a lossless rewrap, so the video is decoded and compressed again. Keeping "Quality Preset" at "Very High (Recommended)" and leaving the resolution on "Keep original" limits the loss to a single generation. Dropping to a low preset or a small "Specific file size" target is where softening becomes visible, particularly on grain and fast motion.

Can I fix interlacing or convert HDR while I'm at it?

No — neither is available here. There is no deinterlacing filter in the pipeline, so 1080i source material keeps its combing baked into the encoded frames, and there is no HDR tone-mapping stage, so high-dynamic-range footage is colour-converted plainly and may look washed out. Both are best handled in a desktop tool before you upload.

How are my files handled after conversion?

Your MKV is uploaded over an encrypted connection, transcoded on our servers, and the files are deleted automatically a few hours afterwards — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared or made public. Transport-stream conversions of feature-length video are large jobs, so the practical constraint is upload size and time; trimming the source first with the video cutter shortens both.