Most of the anime you may get will be in .mkv or .ogm files. And you have probably tried burning these and putting them into your Philips DVP-642. And then I'm sure you've screamed at the player for being so inflexible. Well, now there's hope. The good news is: .mkv and .ogm video files are merely container formats. They hold video, audio, and sometimes subtitle files all in one filetype so that you can easily play the file and get all the goods. The Philips DVP-642 does not support these container formats, so it refuses to play the files. I'm going to show you how to take these .mkv or .ogm files and turn them into .avi files that the DVP-642 can play with no problem. First, you'll need to grab a program called VirtualDubMod. It's a little tool that can help us extract the meat and potatoes from these files. It can be found here: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/video_tools/virtualdubmod.cfm Now, extract that somewhere and let's begin. Open the .ogm or .mkv file of interest with VirtualDubMod. Go to the 'Streams' Menu and click Stream List. Here, it will display all audio and subtitle streams that are part of the file. They are in audio formats here that are not recognizable by your DVP-642. To change that, first you must separate the audio from the video in a process called Demuxing. Highlight the stream(s) you wish to keep and click demux. Chances are, if this is a .mkv or .ogm file, the audio will be vorbis, or .ogg file format. Save the file somewhere, and it shouldn't take too long for VirtualDubMod to extract the audio. When it's done, you should have a .ogg audio file that contains only the sound from the video clip. You'll need another tool here that can convert .ogg files to .mp3. I use a program called Xilisoft OGG MP3 Converter, but I'm sure you can find a better one. Anyways, get something that can convert .ogg to .mp3 and convert the audio file to an .mp3 audio file. You now have audio that is compatible with your DVP-642. The video and subtitle files are the next items of interest. The great thing to know is that the video is usually encoded as a DivX or XviD file, so you do not need to re-encode any video. If you have subtitles for your anime, they can be found through the Stream list in VirtualDubMod. When Demuxing, you should end up with a .srt file. .srt is the most widely-used and accepted subtitle format, and your DVP-642 loves it. Be sure to make the .srt file name the same name as the .avi filename, so that only the extensions of the files are different. Finally, remove or disable all the streams in the video file through the Stream List and add your mp3 audio to it. The .srt file is called a soft-coded sub because it is not hard-grained to the video file, but it rather complements the file based on the time throughout the video. Hard-coding subs makes them permanent and involves encoding the video again. That's all too much work, and it limits your options (for instance if you wanted to keep english audio available). So leave your .srt files alone, as long as they are on the data disc, they are selectable using the remote control. Once the only streams are the .mp3 files you added, then it is time to package the file up, except this time making it an .avi file. Go to File > Save As, and make sure the result has AVI filetype selected. Also, change the encoding to Direct Stream Copy - this means "Do not try to encode my video!", which is what you want. Save the file, and it should be a rather quick process. Now you have a .avi file with a DivX video file and an mp3 audio file together, and your DVP-642 will be happy to play that file for you. Throw the .srt file alongside the .avi file, and then you've got it made. Burn those two files, and when you are navigating the menu of your Philips DVP-642, highlight the srt file and click the Subtitle button the remote. Viola! Anime on your TV!
now this is a very good guide, although none of the information you wrote taught me anything you did open my eyes, "Philips DVP642 DivX-Certified Progressive-Scan DVD Player" is truely the best dvd player ever. thanks for showing me this product!!!
