Olga Weis Sep 1, 2021

How to Open MPEG File on Mac?

There are several ways to play MPG on Mac, each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Most likely, you’ll need a third-party video player that supports more codecs than the default macOS player, QuickTime. Better compatibility is not the only upside of this solution - an advanced video player for macOS has better HD playback, opens more codecs and formats, such as MP4, and has better features overall.

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Elmedia: universal video player

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MPEG Player for Mac - Elmedia Player

How to play MPG file on Mac? Elmedia Player can open almost any file or codec, and in many cases it is more compatible than QuickTime. It’s a great video player overall - you can create and manage playlists and bookmarks, search for and download subtitles, stream to AirPlay 2, DLNA devices and Chromecast, 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.

How to Play MPEG on Mac

1. Download and install Elmedia Player.

2. Open the player.

3. You can open a file in two ways:

Drag the .mpg from your Finder to the player window.
Go to File - Open, find and select your file.

The MPEG will open and start playing (autoplay can be disabled in the Preferences).

QuickTime - Default Way to Play MPG on Mac

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. Nonetheless, QT is a great player that will do the job most of the time.

Conversion: an Alternative to Switching Players

Numerous video/audio converters exist to resolve compatibility problems without having to get a new MPEG player for Mac. If you want to convert an MPEG for QuickTime compatibility, we suggest that you choose a standard MP4 setting. To avoid losing quality, make sure that the resolution and bitrate settings for conversion (if they can be set) are the same as the original file.

How to Convert an MPEG File

Go to cloudconvert.com.
Click "Select File" and navigate to your file.
Open the "Convert to…" menu and select MP4.
Press "Convert".

5. Click "Download" once the conversion is done.

The file should now be compatible with QuickTime.

MPG vs MPEG - Main Differences

In everyday speech, MPG and MPEG are interchangeable. But on a technical level, they are two different concepts. MPG is a file extension, whereas MPEG is the name of a standard which describes the extension (and many other aspects of .mpg, .mp3, .mp4 files). It would have been more convenient to name the format after the standard, but at the time file extensions had a three-letter limit.

As for the difference between MPG and MP4 - the latter is a newer format that uses newer codecs and has higher overall compatibility. MP4 is almost always preferable to MPG.

FAQ

How do I play MPG files on Windows?

There are many player apps that can open MPEG codecs. Choose from the best MPEG players to get a superior experience, whether it’s .mpg, .mkv, or .mov.

Can VLC play MPG files?

VLC can, indeed, play .mpg files. It also has many codecs, so it will probably play .mpg even if it’s encoded in a non-standard way.

Elmedia: universal video player

Requirements: macOS 10.12+ , 89.21MB of free space
Version 8.12(3287) (8 Jan, 2023) Release notes
Category: Video

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Subbaraju. 2015-12-28T05:35:54

thanks a lot madam anna brooks