Convert TS to MKV Online
Convert digital TV recordings and DVR MPEG-TS files to the Matroska MKV container.
.ts, .mts · up to 100 MB
What you can do
TS to MKV: the standard for TV recordings
No quality loss
Pure remux: MPEG-2 and H.264 from TS are copied bit-for-bit into MKV without re-encoding.
DVB subtitles
DVB subtitle tracks from the TS are transferred as selectable tracks in the MKV.
Plex and Kodi ready
MKV is the native format for TV libraries in Plex, Kodi, and Jellyfin.
100% private
Conversion runs in your browser with FFmpeg.wasm. Your recordings never leave your device.
How it works
Three steps, no hassle
Upload your TS file
Drag or select your .ts, .m2ts, or .mts file. DVR recordings, IPTV captures, Blu-ray rips. No signup.
Remux to MKV
MPEG-2 or H.264 video and AC3/AAC audio streams transfer to MKV. No re-encoding, no quality loss.
Download your MKV
MKV file ready for Plex, Kodi, Jellyfin, or any player. The standard for TV recording collections.
FAQ
Got questions?
MPEG-TS (MPEG Transport Stream, ISO/IEC 13818-1) is the container format used for digital video broadcast over satellite, cable, and terrestrial television (DVB-T, DVB-S, ATSC, ISDB). Defined in the MPEG-2 standard of 1994, it uses fixed 188-byte packets with parity checksums and per-stream PID identifiers to allow error recovery during live broadcast. DVR recorders capture the MPEG-TS stream directly from the tuner without modification, resulting in .ts files that preserve the original broadcast structure.
No. TS to MKV conversion is a remux: video streams (MPEG-2 or H.264) and audio (AC3, AAC, MP2) are copied without decoding or re-encoding into Matroska. Quality is bit-for-bit identical to the original TS file. Only the container changes: TS has 188-byte packet overhead with sync data and PCR (Program Clock Reference) that are unnecessary in a local file, while MKV is optimized for local storage.
MKV is the format of choice for TV rips for several reasons: it supports multiple audio tracks (e.g., original version + dubbed), multiple selectable subtitle tracks (SRT, SSA/ASS, VobSub, PGS), chapters, and rich metadata. MKVToolNix, the reference tool for MKV manipulation (developed by Moritz Bunkus since 2003, currently at version 80+), is the standard workflow for processing TV recordings before adding to a Plex or Kodi library.
TS files from DVB broadcasts can contain DVB bitmap subtitles or teletext. These can be extracted and converted to MKV-compatible formats: DVB bitmap subtitles convert to VobSub or PGS to maintain the graphic format, or can be OCR'd to SRT if text is required. During the TS to MKV remux, DVB subtitles are transferred as separate subtitle tracks in the MKV, maintaining their selectability in Plex, Kodi, and VLC.
M2TS (Blu-ray MPEG-2 Transport Stream) is a MPEG-TS variant with 192-byte packets instead of the standard 188, with 4 additional 27 MHz timestamp bytes at the start of each packet. M2TS is used on Blu-ray discs and AVCHD. Converting M2TS to MKV follows the same process as TS, with FFmpeg stripping the 4 timestamp bytes from each packet during reading. H.264 or VC-1 streams from M2TS are encapsulated in MKV without re-encoding.
MKVToolNix is a suite of command-line and GUI tools for creating, manipulating, and verifying MKV files, developed by Moritz Bunkus since 2003 under GPL. Its main tools are mkvmerge (create MKV from multiple sources), mkvextract (extract streams), mkvinfo (container information), and mkvpropedit (edit properties without remux). MKVToolNix is the standard workflow in TV recording communities for processing TS files before archiving: used to remux TS to MKV, add external SRT or SSA subtitles, remove redundant audio tracks, and adjust metadata.
Convert TS to MKV: from broadcast stream to the definitive archive
MPEG Transport Stream (MPEG-TS, ISO/IEC 13818-1, Part 1 of the 1994 MPEG-2 standard) is the transmission container underlying all modern digital television: DVB-T/T2 (digital terrestrial television in Europe, Latin America, and Asia), DVB-S/S2 (satellite), DVB-C (cable), ATSC (the American standard, used in the US, Canada, Mexico, and South Korea), and ISDB (the Japanese and Brazilian standard). The defining technical characteristic of MPEG-TS is its design for lossy channels: each packet is exactly 188 bytes, starting with sync byte 0x47, followed by a 13-bit PID identifying which stream the packet belongs to, and an optional adaptation field that can contain the PCR (Program Clock Reference) for clock synchronization. This fixed-packet structure allows receivers to resynchronize after packet loss — essential for radio frequency transmission but completely unnecessary in a locally stored file. Consumer DVRs (TiVo, DVR-capable set-top boxes, Enigma2-based satellite recorders like VU+, Dreambox, or Zgemma) save the received MPEG-TS directly without processing, generating .ts files that are literally the captured broadcast stream.
Converting TS to MKV is the standard process in TV recording communities, automated by tools like Tdarr, HandBrake with MKV preset, and the MKVToolNix workflow that has been the de facto standard since the early 2010s. MKV offers several advantages over TS for long-term storage: the Matroska container eliminates TS packet overhead (the sync byte and 4-byte header per 188 bytes of payload), reducing file size by 2–5% without re-encoding. MKV supports multiple selectable audio tracks — critical for TV recordings that include original audio plus a dubbed track — and multiple subtitle tracks in rich formats: SRT, SSA/ASS with styles and positioning, VobSub (image subtitles), and PGS (the Blu-ray subtitle format). Plex Media Server, Kodi, and Jellyfin use MKV as their reference format for TV libraries, with native direct play support, metadata management (TheTVDB, TheMovieDB), and thumbnails.
Convertir.ai executes the TS to MKV conversion in the browser using FFmpeg.wasm. For TS files with MPEG-2 or H.264 video and AC3, AAC, or MP2 audio, the operation is a pure remux: FFmpeg reads TS packets identifying video and audio PIDs from the PMT (Program Map Table), reassembles the PES (Packetized Elementary Streams) stripping the 188-byte packet structure, and encapsulates the resulting streams directly in Matroska EBML elements (Cluster/SimpleBlock for video and audio data, TrackEntry for each track's metadata). For Blu-ray M2TS files, FFmpeg additionally strips the 4 arrival timestamp bytes from each 192-byte packet before remuxing. DVB bitmap subtitle tracks are transferred as VobSub tracks in the MKV when possible. The complete process for a 2 GB recorded episode typically takes 10–20 seconds in a modern browser, with no quantity limits and without uploading your recordings to any server.