Why am I asked to convert mp4 files when i copy them to my Galaxy S4?

[Mournblade]

I ripped a blu-ray movie into an mp4 file. When I try to copy it to my sd card, i am asked if I want to convert it (says it is recommended). If I say yes, it says it will take 5 hours to convert the file. If I choose to bypass the conversion, the files copies to my sd card in about 15 minutes and the movie plays fine.

So my question is - what is this conversion that is being requested if the file is already in an android-compatible mp4 format?

Thanks in advance for your expert answers.

 

[zkSharks]

I've seen this many times, with many different devices and more than one filetype. It has to do with Windows not recognizing that your Android system is capable of playing back those files. It may have to do with the way that Android handles audio/video playback with software- and hardware-acceleration, or the modular way in which Android handles file associations (i.e. the prompt that essentially asks you "Which app would you like to use to watch video files?"), but I can't say for sure.

In the end, you shouldn't need to convert most popular media filetypes (.jpg, .png, .gif, .mp3, .mp4, etc.), though when creating or converting files you should keep in mind that quality and bitrate levels will influence how smoothly the files can be played on the device.

 

[Mournblade]

Thank you for your answer!

Maybe one day I will be bored enough to put the same movie through this 'conversion' process and see if the movie plays any differently. for now i'm quite pleased as-is.

 

[jimmiri]

MP4 is just a video container, it might have different codec. (video codec and audio codec)
If your device can't play the MP4 files you have, you need to convert the MP4 to other format or MP$ (with another codec combination) with Video Converter Ultimate.

 

[Abelard11]

I search on google and find the specific video and audio formats for Android smartphone for you:

 

[Thabiso Ngcobo]

I once allowed it to convert before transferring a file and now it no longer asks me this question and takes an eternity to send some files. How do I revert back?