Video formats Yonto Player plays

Yonto Player plays MKV, MP4, AVI, WMV, RMVB and TS files and Blu-ray and DVD disc images, and on Android it decodes DTS, TrueHD and Dolby sound itself when your device cannot, all in the free app: no format is behind Pro. It carries two players, your device’s own and a second one it picks for you file by file, so fewer files are left out, and a Jellyfin, Plex or Emby server converts a file this device cannot play (below).

Yonto Player plays the file as it is stored, so what matters for the rest is what the players on your device can read.

Files it lists

A folder, USB drive, WebDAV or SMB source lists files ending in mp4, mkv, avi, mov, wmv, flv, ts, m2ts, mpg, mpeg, webm, m4v, rmvb, 3gp or iso. A Jellyfin, Plex or Emby server lists whatever it has. A title’s page says what its copy is after the title’s facts, such as 4K and Dolby Vision: a server says it of the file, and your own files say it in their names (2160p, HDR10, DV).

Two players

Your device’s own player comes first. H.264 and H.265 video in MP4, WebM or TS, and in MKV on Android, plays in it, with 4K, HDR and Dolby Vision where your device decodes them.
A second player takes the rest. On Android it plays AVI, WMV, RMVB, VOB and VC-1 video, and any other file the first player cannot read or whose picture it cannot decode, such as 10-bit H.264 (Hi10P) on a device without a decoder for it, Dolby Vision profile 5 on a device that cannot show it (below), or a film whose sound no decoder here reads. The iPhone, iPad and Mac apps, which are not out yet, give it MKV and FLV too, all but a Dolby Vision profile 5 MKV, which the app repackages as it plays so the device’s own player shows it right. A Blu-ray or DVD disc image (an iso file) plays in it on every device too: the disc’s main film, without its menus. A disc still under its copy protection (AACS or BD+ on a Blu-ray, CSS on a DVD) does not play, nor does a DVD that weaves several cuts or camera angles of its film together (Play Blu-ray and DVD ISO files on Android TV). It is picked for you, per file, or for every file it plays with Always use the second player in Player settings.

The second player can also shrink into picture-in-picture where your device supports it, and its files can be cast, with the picture converted when the receiver cannot play it (Cast to a Chromecast, an AirPlay screen or a DLNA TV).

A media server converts the rest

For a Jellyfin, Plex or Emby source, Yonto Player tells the server what this device plays in hardware: its video formats with the largest picture and bit depth each takes, its sound formats, and the HDR formats the screen shows. A file beyond that, such as 4K or 8K on a 1080p box, HDR on a screen without it, or a container like AVI, and MKV on an iPhone, iPad or Mac, is converted by the server while you watch. On Jellyfin, HDR is tone-mapped only when the server’s own tone mapping is on (Enable tone mapping); with it off, HDR is still converted, its colours left as they are. Emby and Plex are the same, but tone-map only with Emby Premiere or Plex Pass; without it, an HDR file the screen cannot show plays as stored unless it needs converting anyway, such as 4K on a 1080p box, and then its colours are left as they are. A converted video carries only the file’s default audio track, and its subtitles are never burned in; a Plex conversion offers only the subtitle files beside the video, not the ones inside it. Turn off Let the server convert videos in the source’s editor to always play the file as stored. Your own files play the file as stored, and a download the file as its source served it.

Sound

On Android, Yonto Player decodes AC3 (Dolby Digital), E-AC-3 (Dolby Digital Plus), DTS, DTS-HD tracks included, Dolby TrueHD, FLAC, Vorbis, Opus, ALAC and WMA itself when your device has no decoder for them, so these films do not play silent (DTS, TrueHD and Dolby audio on Android TV).
AAC, MP3, Opus and FLAC play in the device’s own player.
A film with several audio tracks lets you switch while it plays, but not yet in the device’s own player on iPhone, iPad or Mac.

Subtitles

Subtitles inside the file are under Subtitles in the player.
On Android, a subtitle file beside a video with the video’s name (Movie.srt or Movie.en.srt beside Movie.mkv) is offered too: SRT, WebVTT, ASS and SSA, on an SMB share, a WebDAV server or a folder on a phone or tablet.
On Android, the subtitle files a Plex, Jellyfin or Emby server keeps beside a video are offered under Subtitles as well, and one the server marks as default comes up switched on.
On Android, subtitles are drawn white with a black outline and no box, sized by the caption size set in the system; if captions are turned on in the system’s accessibility settings, their style is used instead.

What it does not do

It does not convert a file itself. A video neither player can decode, and no server converts, shows “This device couldn’t play this video.” under “Playback failed”, and the answer is another version of the title, if there is one.
A TV’s own storage and USB drive list only videos, so their subtitle files are not picked up yet.
4K HDR and Dolby Vision depend on your device, not on Yonto Player.
A Dolby Vision profile 5 file has no ordinary HDR picture under it. On Android it plays in the device’s own player, which shows it right where the device decodes Dolby Vision; where it does not, Yonto Player applies the file’s Dolby Vision data itself and shows the picture in SDR, even on an HDR screen. A device whose graphics chip cannot do that, or that has no decoder for 10-bit H.265, plays it in the second player with its colours off, and the player says so under the title. On an iPhone, iPad or Mac it plays in the device’s own player, which shows it right, as long as its sound is AAC, AC-3 or E-AC-3; its picture subtitles (PGS) are not offered there.

Video format support has what works with each format, casting, picture-in-picture, downloads, subtitles, HDR and sound, in one table. Sources has the same list in one place beside each source type. Yonto Player provides no content. Dolby, DTS, Jellyfin, Plex and Emby are trademarks of their owners, and Yonto Player is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.