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Microsoft Surface RT Supported Video/Audio Formats and Video PlayBack Tips

PavtubeVideo

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Learn what video formats can Microsoft Surface RT play and add videos files (including DVD, Blu-ray, and various formats of 1080p/720p HD videos) to Surface RT for movie enjoyment freely.

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As Microsoft Surface RT hit the market, it has been of great concern. Unlike its competitors, Microsoft has largely stayed out of the hardware business. They have the Xbox and a line of input devices, but coming up with the Surface RT was a big step for them. And the Surface RT is a genuinely different computing experience, one that can be enjoyable in the right circumstances. For its users, aside from do business, having entertainment on Surface RT is also a nice choice. There are a pile of movies on its Xbox video store. And you would be eager to know what video formats can Microsoft Surface RT play?

Here we list the Microsoft Surface RT supported file types according to my multiple-testing result.

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From the formats table, you can know Surface RT can play MP4, MOV, M4V, etc formats well, but frustratingly, the other files like MKV, VOB, MPG, TiVo, FLV, etc are not compatible with Surface RT. So, how to add videos to Microsoft Surface RT for smooth playback?

We searched the solutions to the problem. Some users offer the responses that Surface RT can play some video formats out of the box, and if you do download PressPlay Video from the store then you can play more, but limitation always exists there. Some movies files like MKV still cannot be supported. If your movie isn't already in one of the Surface RT supported formats or it's still on a DVD or a Blu-ray, you may have to encode/re-encode it first. Here's how:

Free Download and install the App: Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate

It's an all-in-one app right for you. If you are a Mac user, you can use its equivalent Mac version - iMedia Converter Mac to achieve your goal smoothly. Overall, The program can help you compress 1080p Blu-ray to Surface RT, rip DVD movie to Microsoft Surface tablet and convert HD videos to Surface RT, including MKV, AVI, MPG, VOB, TiVo and more, everything can be transferred to Surface RT optimized formats at ease.

Guide: How to Sync/Transfer movies to Surface RT - DVD, Blu-ray, 1080p/720p HD videos

The quick start guide below uses the video converter Ultimate Windows(Windows 8 included) screenshots. The way to convert video files to Kindle Fire HD on Mac (Lion and Mountain Lion included) is almost the same. Just make sure you get the right version according to your computer operating system.

1. Add Video files to the program

Once run the Ulitmate Video Converter software, you can click "Add Video" to load video files like MTS/M2TS, MKV, VOB, MOV, TOD, TiVo, etc or click on "BD/DVD disc" icon to load movie from DVD and Blu-ray source(Disc, folder, ISO).

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2. Select output format

Click "Format" bar to and select MP4 from the format list (MP4 is highly compatible with Surface tablet). You can easily get the optimized videos for Surface RT under Windows > Microsoft Surface Windows RT H.264 Video (*.mp4). The output videos could fit on Surface RT or Pro perfectly. If you like, you can click "Settings" to change the video encoder, resolution, frame rate, etc. as you wish.

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3. Set output quality (Optional)

If you like, you can click "Settings" to change the video encoder, resolution, frame rate, etc. as you wish. For watching videos on the Windows RT based Surface tablet, 720p with 1500 or 2000kbps is just all right. According to my experience, the file size and video quality is based more on bitrate than resolution which means bitrate higher results in big file size, and lower visible quality loss, and vice versa.

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4. Start converting video files to Surface RT

After above steps, just go back to the main interface and click "Convert" button to begin converting DVD, Blu-ray and various formats of 1080p video files to Surface RT MP4 videos. When the ripping task is completed, you can click "Open" to find the ripped videos. Bingo! Now just transfer the converted video files to your Surface RT Tablet and enjoy the movies!

If you have no idea about Surface file transfer, you can check out the post The Ways Transferring Files to Your Surface to learn more. If you have any problem when enjoying videos on Surface tablet, just check out Microsoft Surface RT Column to learn more.
 
How to play DVD movies on Surface RT and Surface Pro windows 8 tablet?

Summary: Here is a useful tutorial which will tells you the easy way to get your movies off of your DVD discs and onto your Microsoft Surface RT/Pro tablet for playback smoothly.

There are 2 editions of Microsoft Surface has been announced, the Surface RT and the Surface Pro. If you are still using a netbook/laptop and hesitating to get a tablet, this is the time and I totally recommend you to purchase a Microsoft tablet because this is an efficient and compact device. You can get the comfort and portability of a tablet, and still don't lose the high performance of a laptop. If you have many DVD collections, why don't you copy the DVDs to Surface RT/Pro? Maybe you just plan to do this, Please read the following article carefully.

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Surface RT/Pro isn't able to read DVD discs even DVD rips, what we need to do is, ripping and converting DVD movies to Surface RT/Pro supported video formats. Here is a step-by-step guide:

Step 1. Launch Pavtube DVD Ripper, which is the best DVD to Surface converter ( Mac version) on your computer, and then load your DVD movies into it.

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Step 2. Choose the special preset for Surface RT/Pro.

Just follow "Windows > Microsoft Surface Windows RT H.264 Video (*.mp4)" which is the best video format for Surface RT/Pro playback. Also will give you full screen effect.

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By clicking on "Settings", you will get the detailed information of the profile. Meanwhile, you are allowed to make some adjustments by yourself to get your wanted video quality. Or just keep the default.

Step 3. Start the conversion by clicking on "Convert" button on the interface of this DVD Surface Converter.

After the above process, you could use a USB cable to transfer the converted DVD movies to Surface RT/Pro. Now, you can watch DVD films on Surface RT/Pro as you like. Hope this article really helps.

Here's a guide showing Synchronizing Media Contents to Your Microsoft Surface.

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