Issues playing 4K HEVC on Samsung Smart TV
“Hi there, I downloaded a 4K HEVC .mkv video onto my computer. When I tried to play it on my Samsung Smart TV I got an error that the file is not supported. I can play MKV movies with H.264 codec well. Is there any workaround to go through this? Thanks for any help.”
Can’t play 4K HEVC video on Samsung TV via USB drive
“I have a Samsung TV purchased in 2014. I try to play 4K footage taken with my DJI Phantom 4 Pro on it via USB drive, but it doesn’t support the 4K MOV video encoded with HEVC codec from my camera drone, and an error message pops up saying “not supported file format”. Any fix on this?”
Failed to watch 4K HEVC videos on your Samsung Smart TV? Depending on your TV models, source video types and much more, 4K HEVC playback on a Samsung TV may have different performances. If you are experiencing troubles playing 4K H.265 files on a Samsung Smart TV, you may wish to read this article. It explains workarounds to get Samsung Smart TV playing 4K HEVC media beautifully.
There are a number of users reporting problems playing 4K HEVC files on their Samsung TVs. This is a common codec issue caused by the new HEVC (H.265) compression method. The HEVC/H.265 codec offers the next generation video compression features needed to meet consumer’s immediate and rapidly growing demand for 4K Ultra High Definition (“4K UHD”) video delivered seamlessly to screens ranging from the largest monitors to the smallest smart phones. Most high end Samsung Smart TV models can play HEVC directly, however other models don’t. You should check if your Samsung TV model supports HEVC in the manual.
Also, you can connect your Samsung TV to the internet. Maybe there is a software or firmware update solving this problem. Keep in mind that a software or firmware update can only modify the internal software, it can’t add or change the physical hardware in the decoder chip itself. If the issue persists, it probably because your Samsung TV model doesn’t include support for HEVC (H.265). If that’s the case, you will need to convert HEVC videos to a compatible format first. This requires a third party converter. Here’s a quick guide explaining how to convert 4K H.265 to H.264 for Samsung Smart TV playback.
Part 1: How to encode HEVC x265 video for direct playing on Samsung Smart TVs on Windows?
To transcode HEVC/H.265 video files to H.264 MP4 for playing on a Samsung Smart TV on a Windows PC, follow these steps:
Step 1: Import HEVC video files
Launch U2USoft Total Video Converter for Windows and click “Add File” to load HEVC H.265 files that you want to convert into this program.
Download HEVC/H.265 Video Converter for Windows:
Step 2: Click “Profile” to select H.264 MP4 as output format
To convert HEVC media to 1080p H.264 MP4 for playing on your Samsung Smart TV via USB drive, simply select “HD Video” > “HD H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video (*.mp4)” as target format.
If your source HEVC files come with 4K quality and your Samsung Smart TV supports 4K video in H.264 encoded MP4 format, then you can choose “4K Video” > “4K H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video (*.mp4)” as target format. To choose 4K H.264 MP4 as output format, please make sure your Samsung Smart TV supports 4K H.264 MP4 first. If not, 1080p H.264 MP4 would be a recommended option.
Tips:
If necessary, you can click “Settings” button to modify video and audio parameters like encoder, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, aspect ratio, sample rate, and audio channels. You can also “Enable 3D Settings” to add 3D effect to your source media.
Step 3: Click “Convert” to start HEVC to Samsung Smart TV conversion on Windows.
As soon as the conversion is complete, click “Open Folder” to get the generated H.264 MP4 files for viewing on your Samsung Smart TV fluently.
Part 2: How to convert HEVC H.265 video for direct playing on Samsung Smart TVs on Mac?
To re-encode HEVC/H.265 to H.264 MP4 for playing on Samsung Smart TV on macOS, follow these steps:
Download HEVC/H.265 Converter for Mac:
Step 1: Import HEVC video files
Start up U2USoft Video Converter for Mac and click “Add File” to load HEVC H.265 files that you want to convert into this program.
Step 2: Click “Profile” to select H.264 MP4 as output format
To convert HEVC H.265 files to 1080p H.264 MP4 for playing on your Samsung Smart TV through USB drive, simply choose “HD Video” > “HD H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video (*.mp4)” as target format.
If you want to convert 4K H.265 to 4K H.264 .mp4 for your Samsung Smart TV, you can choose “4K Video” > “4K H.264/MPEG-4 AVC Video (*.mp4)” as target format. To select 4K H.264 MP4 as output format, first of all, please make sure your Samsung Smart TV supports 4K H.264 MP4 playback. If not, we would recommend choosing 1080p H.264 MP4 as target format.
Tips:
If necessary, you can click “Settings” button to modify video and audio parameters like encoder, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, aspect ratio, sample rate, and audio channels. You can also “Enable 3D Settings” to add 3D effect to your source media.
Step 3: Click “Convert” to start HEVC to Samsung Smart TV conversion on macOS.
As soon as the conversion is complete, click “Open Folder” to get the exported H.264 MP4 files and add them to your Samsung Smart TV for playback through your USB drive with very good performance.
Quite a simple workflow. No extra transcoding is required while playing them on your Samsung Smart TV. Hope this will shed you some lights on your incompatibility issues while playing HEVC movies on your Samsung Smart TV.