.mpg files
.mpg file
MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 Video
The original MPEG video file, from Video CDs, DVDs and old digital cameras.
What opens a .mpg file
- Windows
- VLC, Media Player (built in), MPC-HC
- macOS
- VLC, QuickTime Player (built in), IINA
- Linux
- VLC, mpv, Videos / Totem (built in)
What a .mpg file is
MPG (also written .mpeg) holds an MPEG program stream, the format behind Video CD and DVD video. The compression is decades behind H.264, so files are large for their quality, but every player still reads them. VLC opens one directly; converting to MP4 will usually shrink the file dramatically at the same visual quality.
Converting it
A .mpg file is commonly converted to .mp4, .mkv, .avi or .mov. It is a binary format, so a text editor will show unreadable characters rather than its contents.
Details
- Extension
- .mpg
- Full name
- MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 Video
- Category
- Video
- MIME type
- video/mpeg
- Created by
- ISO/IEC (MPEG)
- Format
- Binary
Common questions
- How do I open a .mpg file?
- On Windows use VLC; on macOS use VLC; on Linux use VLC. The original MPEG video file, from Video CDs, DVDs and old digital cameras.
- What is a .mpg file?
- MPEG-1 / MPEG-2 Video. MPG (also written .mpeg) holds an MPEG program stream, the format behind Video CD and DVD video. The compression is decades behind H.264, so files are large for their quality, but every player still reads them.
- Can I convert a .mpg file?
- Yes. It is usually converted to .mp4, .mkv, .avi or .mov, either by exporting from one of the programs listed above or with a format converter.
Related pages
- .mp4 — MPEG-4 Part 14 Video The default video container for phones, cameras, streaming and everything else.
- .mov — QuickTime Movie Apple's video container — what an iPhone records and what Final Cut works in.
- .mkv — Matroska Video An open container that holds any codec plus multiple audio tracks and subtitles.
- .avi — Audio Video Interleave Microsoft's 1992 video container, still common in old archives and camcorder foo
- .srt — SubRip Subtitle The plain-text subtitle format almost every player understands.
- .webm — WebM Video A royalty-free video container built for the web, based on Matroska.
- .ts — MPEG Transport Stream The broadcast and streaming video segment format — also, confusingly, the TypeSc
- .wmv — Windows Media Video Microsoft's legacy video format from the Windows XP era.
- .m4v — iTunes Video Apple's MP4 variant, used for films and TV episodes bought from iTunes.
- .vtt — WebVTT Caption The W3C caption format HTML5 video uses, essentially SRT with a header and styli
- .swf — Shockwave Flash Movie A Flash animation or game — the plugin that ran these was killed off at the end
- .mts — AVCHD Video The clip format written by Sony, Panasonic and Canon camcorders.
Sources
- Media Types Registry — IANA
- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place