MKV & OGM .. and now TS files?

The .TS (dot-T-S) file extension refers to a Video Transport Stream File (or in-short yet another codec file compression/packaging format) that is reported as being in common use with HDTV downloads.

If you are unable to play a TS file package with your Media Player Classic, you might need to download a new codec package – such as....

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/HDTV_Pump_Filter.htm (untested)

For more information, see here -

http://www.fileinfo.net/extension/ts

http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/archive/how_to_play_ts_files.cfm

http://www.moviecodec.com/topics/926p1.html

Edited on 07/29/2008 07:44 PM.

It's not a new compression format, it's merely a different packaging idea (just like MKV and OGM); the video data are MPEG2 just like on commercial Video DVDs. See the Wikipedia Page for MPEG transport stream for technical details.

So the software required to read this container is a new splitter to separate (and synchronize) the different streams within the container so that they can then be interpreted by already existing codecs. The splitter we're using for handling MKV containers is the DirectShow splitter, and this HDTV pump filter is an additional filter for this splitter software.

See also the HDTVtoMPEG2 converter tool mentioned on this page. As the video content of *.ts is MPEG2, this converter has only to extract the MPEG2 data and to package them into a *.mpg file (no recompression required) which might then be watched as usual, including the method of burning it onto a CD/DVD and watching it on a standalone DVD player.

Edited on 07/29/2008 08:12 PM.