
While you can open .mpg files with the default macOS media player, sometimes you may have trouble playing them. Luckily, there are plenty of options to help you play MPG files on Mac smoothly. You can opt for a third-party video player or convert MPG to another format. In this article, we’ve considered both of these methods to help you choose the right one for your needs.
An MPG file, also known as MPEG, is a video file format standardized by the Moving Picture Experts Group. It stores video and audio along with metadata. Files with the .mpg extension usually include the MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 standards and provide good quality with a relatively high compression ratio. MPG files are commonly used for digital content distributed on the Internet.
Elmedia Player is a robust MPEG player Mac users can get. It can open almost any file or codec, and in many cases it is more compatible than QuickTime. The player supports many audio and video formats such as MPG, AVI, MKV, WMV, FLV, Blu-ray, and more.
With Elmedia Player, you can create and manage playlists and bookmarks, search for and download subtitles, stream to AirPlay 2, DLNA and Chromecast devices, and open external audio tracks for movies. The refined interface offers preview thumbnails on the timeline and the Touch Bar, movable subtitle box and hotkeys for nearly every function. You can’t go wrong with Elmedia Player.
Launch the player and open a file:
Generally, QuickTime is good for .mpg playback. If the file is undamage and uncorrupted, it should open, since MPEG is one of the officially supported formats. However, the issue stems from different codecs. The MPG file is just a container - the media tracks in it may be incompatible with QuickTime. This is why a different player is recommended even if you only want to play standard files like MP4 and MPG.
Overall, QT is a simple built-in player that gets the job done, however, it's better to use a more versatile player like Elmedia. It stands out for its rich feature set, broad format support, and aesthetics. Since QuickTime lacks most of the features compared to other third-party players, you might need to change the default video player. Here is a video tutorial.
Alternatively, click File > Open File… in QuickTime. Then select the file and click “Open”.
Does VLC support MPG? When it comes to playing MPG files, we can't help but mention the VLC media player. It is a free and open-source video player that runs on all popular platforms: macOS, Windows, Android and iOS. The VLC player can open a variety of media files, comes with audio and video filters, and offers subtitle support. However, some users have reported that the app may crash. Playback control is also missing, so you might have to look for a VLC alternative for Mac.
Numerous video/audio converters exist to resolve compatibility problems without having to get a new MPEG player for Mac. Using converters, you can change MPG to another more popular format like MP4 and play the file in your player. Although converting files can be time consuming, this method can still help. There are many solutions available on the market, both online services and downloadable software. Let’s consider the most popular.
Cisdem Video Converter is a powerful tool that allows you to convert videos and audios to over 600 formats. You can easily convert MPG to MP4 and any other video format you want. It offers support for all encoding formats like H.265/HEVC, H.264. Furthermore, Cisdem Video Converter can rip DVD to standard video formats, has basic editing features, and can also download videos from hosting websites, including YouTube, Dailymotion, etc.
After learning how to open MPG file (files) on Mac, we hope you find the best solution. Both of these methods, be it a player or a converter, will let you watch MPG videos on Mac easily. A multifunctional third-party player is the simplest solution in our opinion. Elmedia Player is one of the best and most reliable options. It has exceptional functionality, is compatible with most formats and provides smooth playback.
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