Cover art for .mkv files stored on HDD

[Markgway]

I have an HDD on which I'm storing a few HD movies, but the cover art I believe I have embedded into the video file - using MKVToolNix - doesn't display - and only shows a random thumbnail. The covers display whilst the .mkv files are on my Windows 10 PC. But when the HDD is plugged into my UHD, they're missing. I can't make sense of this. Anyone help?

[chip75]

It will depend on the device, some won't recognize the art. It's not embedded in the file, I think it's in the container itself.

If your PC recognizes the images, then I'd assume it's the player that's the issue. It's hard to find exactly what's supported. You could try a smaller image

[Markgway]

Originally Posted by chip75

It will depend on the device, some won't recognize the art. It's not embedded in the file, I think it's in the container itself.

If your PC recognizes the images, then I'd assume it's the player that's the issue. It's hard to find exactly what's supported. You could try a smaller image

Oh, I thought it was embedded with the file. I guess my Samsung UHD just doesn't support the art as is? I'm not too up on this stuff, only what I've just read in searches. The file sizes were kept under 800 so I doubt it's the size. Bit of a niggle as the thumbnails seem especially ugly on a "50 TV.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Markgway

Oh, I thought it was embedded with the file. I guess my Samsung UHD just doesn't support the art as is? I'm not too up on this stuff, only what I've just read in searches. The file sizes were kept under 800 so I doubt it's the size. Bit of a niggle as the thumbnails seem especially ugly on a "50 TV.

Odd that they're ugly (pixelated?), are they animated? I don't think they're supported with my LG TV either, I think they just animate a few seconds.

MKV is a container itself, subtitles, audio, video, cover art are contained within (that's why it's relatively simple to change things without it taking hours to re-encode).

Not sure there's much more you can do, you could try adding a simple coloured square as the cover to see if it displays and go from there, or you can change the file view to exclude thumbnails.

[Markgway]

Ugly as in you can't really tell what image you're seeing. It's just a random frame from somewhere in the movie and not recognisible without the file name (i.e. pointless).

The drive I have is WD Elements, UHD player Samsung, and TV LG 4K.

It's strange because to me it's such a simple thing you wouldn't think you'd have bother with.

[chip75]

Had a look on my older Samsung TV, it doesn't recognize any of the covers.

[Markgway]

Thanks for checking...

[chip75]

Checked my LG too, just random shots of the video.

[Markgway]

The weird thing is that the random screen shots in the thumbnail are blown out of proportion, so rather than a recognisable image you'll get the blurry corner of someone's head. Of all the problems I thought I may run into using a hard drive this wasn't one of them.