HT201290: If QuickTime Player can't open an audio or video file

Learn about If QuickTime Player can't open an audio or video file
mrshammer516

Q: What can I download (codecs?) to play my .mpg on my mac?

I have old video's on thumb drives with a .mpg extension. Quick Time player is saying it can't play them and is saying it needs a codec. Can anyone tell me what codec or "thing" to download to make them play??? Thanks very much.

iMac, iOS 5.1

Posted on Jan 23, 2015 2:45 PM

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Q: What can I download (codecs?) to play my .mpg on my mac?

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  • by Jon Walker,

    Jon Walker Jon Walker Jan 24, 2015 11:17 AM in response to mrshammer516
    Level 6 (18,613 points)
    Jan 24, 2015 11:17 AM in response to mrshammer516

    I have old video's on thumb drives with a .mpg extension. Quick Time player is saying it can't play them and is saying it needs a codec. Can anyone tell me what codec or "thing" to download to make them play???

    MPG files normally contain "muxed" MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 video along with MPEG-1 layer 3, AC3, or LPCM audio. Different combinations may not be compatible with QT X or QT 7 players for different reasons. At this point you have two primary options—a) find out what codec is needed or b) try playing the files in a different media player (like VLC) that contains its own built-in codec support.

     

    An app like MediaInfo can usually tell you what codecs were used to create the files. These are the same codecs needed for playback. In the case of the QT X player, you cannot use third-party codecs for playback but, if added, may allow the app to pass the data to the conversion structure embed to transcode your content to QT/QL compatible files. On the other hand, QT 7 can access third-party codecs for playback if available for installation. Player apps, codecs, and containers can be significant here since various versions of QT are programmed to play different combinations of data and containers so this may or may not be a satisfactory "fix" for you.

     

    The other option would be to leave the files in their current form and use a free third-party player to play these files. VLC is probably the most common such player, but you could also try ones like MPlayerX or NicePlayer to see which might best serve your needs or feature preferences.

     

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