Thing is...how about downloading a 300+ MB MKV, that with a filesize like that SHOULD have more than one audio track as well as subtitles if it's only 25 minutes long...and the post doesn't say what language tracks there are and the poster doesn't even appear to be certain the original language track is Japanese, or so I assume by all the ????? next to the language... you waste all that time on what should be a fantastic MKV, and get an overbloated piece of junk, that needs new codecs to watch, etc.
The real problem with MKV is that it is just a CONTAINER. You can have ANY type of video from crappy wmv to h264, mixed with ANY type of audio from the lossiest mp3 28k to AAC !
Now, if there was a true "scene" that worked together, and established standards so that everyone generally knew the formats they were getting, the codecs they needed, etc., and if poor quality was removed from sites as soon as better quality was made available, that would be one thing... but nobody works together to establish any standards. We get mkv's with dual audio in high quality and small filesizes, and then we get bloated crap with single languages. We have MKV's, but some are repackaged garbage with mismatched audio and video formats. Sometimes the framerates are crap, and people wonder why it's so hard to sync up.
Generally I don't complain, because it's free, and for subs the fansub groups work damn hard to put these out! But, if being asked what format I personally prefer, I will always go with XVid, MP4,DIvX, and lately even RMVB as I have seen some very nice quality videos with very small filesizes making downloading painless! The only time I truly hate RMVB is when the audio format is COOK. that is CRAP all the way! Only ONE program has ever allowed me to change formats with that audio, and that is the free SUPER. Problem is, SUPER can run slow.
When there is a true scene and they establish fairly agreed-upon standards for audio and video in MKV's, provide language options, and include the subs giving ME, the VIEWER, the option of either subbed or dubbed,when possible( I understand not everything is dubbed, makes sense), and when people post more uniformly with accurate information on what an MKV contains rather than leaving it to chance, then my tastes may change. But, MKV is NOT a format, it is a CONTAINER... another way to put it, it is a WRAPPER (if you have ever used audio plugins), or like WINE, if you have ever used Linux. It is not a compression FORMAT, it is a compression TOOL... really not unlike say Winrar in a way...or better yet, Monkeysaudio. You put your video in it, and your audio, and squeeze it together, while giving it instructions to play them back at a certain rate, using a certain codec to decode and unscramble it...generally a tool like DirectShow or FFMPEG, which uses codecs to decode different audio formats and video formats at the same time.
MKV isn't really all that spectacular if you understand what it is and how it works. It's just a tool. it's like wrapping a Milky Way bar with an Almond Joy in the same wrapper... just hope you aren't lactose intolerant or allergic to almonds! (or, in the case of your system, that you have the proper codecs!)
