*UPDATE* - As pointed out by @bighap83, it's now showing officially supported on Z10 spec page.
When the BlackBerry PlayBook initially launched there was a good many folks wondering about video Playback support. As it stands, the BlackBerry PlayBook can play a lot of video formats out of the box but there is a lack of AC3 audio support. The AC3 audio codec is often used in MKV and AVI files so, that meant PlayBook users had to convert the audio before watching their videos. If you're a new BlackBerry Z10 owner, that process is no longer a problem as AC3 audio is up and working on BlackBerry 10 but, it does seem as though it's not 'officially' supported.
After some testing of video files, we've been able to confirm there is indeed support for AC3 audio within BlackBerry 10, MKV and AVI video files encoded using that as their audio source. Now, keep in mind there is a lot of files out there depending on where you get them from that come in many formats so alas, there is always the chance you'll come across some that just simply won't. That said though, in our testing 8 out of 10 files worked just fine, which is a good ratio.
Learn more about supported video/audio formats on BlackBerry 10
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ThaMunsta Feb 1, 2013 at 4:16 pm
Awesome! I hope this soon comes to the PlayBook :)
tprime Feb 1, 2013 at 4:18 pm
Kalem soft video player seems to play ac3 fine on playbook. Not a free app but it gets the job done.
pysik Feb 1, 2013 at 5:22 pm
+1 to this, Kalemsoft video player has played everything I've thrown at it on my Playbook and supports DLNA
tekware Feb 1, 2013 at 10:22 pm
Agreed. Have been using it since last summer with very good results. I also use WatchMore which actually converts videos ON the playbook either on the fly (while "streaming" the resulting output to itself for same time playback) or saves the re-encoded video on your PlayBook. With those two programs there is nothing I haven't been able to play.
mrjeff Feb 1, 2013 at 4:26 pm
Nice! hope the blackberry 10 update will come to the playbook soon
DenisDikanov Feb 1, 2013 at 5:42 pm
Why is UNOFICIALLY??
https://developer.blackberry.com/devzone/develop/supported_media/bb10_me...
Audio codec support
AC-3 stereo 5.1
Container format(s): MKA
AC3 in official specification))
Drenis Feb 1, 2013 at 5:44 pm
Holy sh!t it supports flac... WOW!!!!! Finally someone stepped up and gave us flac support!!
I am VERY impressed with the amount of both audio and video capabilities of BB10. I finally have a replacement for my Zune HD...
mpatchez Feb 2, 2013 at 4:01 pm
I thought BlackBerry has supported flac for a while now. I'm sure my curve does
Thiesi Feb 1, 2013 at 6:10 pm
What about MPEG TS files? That's far more important than (just) AC3 audio support as without TS support all recorded TV programs will have to be transcoded (like on the PB if you don't own KalemSoft Media Player).
z_scorpio_z Feb 1, 2013 at 8:51 pm
it is on the official specs page
http://bit.ly/11gAMLu
and on this page as well?
http://bit.ly/U4W2PO
why is it considered unofficial
muker1515 Feb 1, 2013 at 10:30 pm
what about DRM?
primusd Feb 1, 2013 at 11:03 pm
Very happy to see the native flac support (as QNX already supported - never made sense the PB didn't)... that said +10^10 for Kalemsoft... fundamentally changed my PB experience!
nick903 Feb 1, 2013 at 11:13 pm
Does Z10 support RMVB file as well?
Iamanonymous62 Feb 2, 2013 at 2:04 am
Alas, AC-3 is officially supported, but alas, unofficially Bla1ze is not too bright!
mansurbakare Feb 2, 2013 at 8:07 am
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD, SIGN THIS PETITION ====> http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bring-bb10-to-us-customers-sooner/
playbookdrew Feb 3, 2013 at 2:03 am
BB10 also plays FLAC audio natively :)