MPEG-2 is a compression standard that is used to publish digital video. MPEG-2 videos are circulated in the MPG format, a multimedia container that is designed to support multiple streams of media in one file. The video track in an MPEG-2 video is digitized with a specific codec. A codec is a digitization scheme that is required to encrypt and read data. In order to open an MPEG-2 video, you will need to open the file in a media player application. Microsoft Windows Media Player is a native to the Windows software suite, and Apple QuickTime is included in the MacOSX line of applications. But before an MPEG-2 video can be loaded in these programs, you will need to install their respective plug-ins and components to activate support for the file's codec.
Instructions
Windows Media Player
1. Download and install an MPEG-2 decoder for Windows Media Player. Select a plug-in from the Microsoft website, and choose an option that is compatible with the version of the Windows operating system that you are using.
2. Launch Windows Media Player. Go to the "File" tab, and select "Open..."
3. Browse for the MPEG-2 video in the file selection window. Select the item, and click "Open." The media will be loaded into the application.
4. Stream the MPEG-2 video with the commands on the control bar. The playback buttons include play/pause, fast-forward, rewind and stop. Click the "View Full-Screen" button to expand dimensions of the MPEG-2 video. Control the volume level with the speaker slide bar.
5. Close Windows Media Player when you are done streaming the MPEG-2 video. Go to "File," and select "Exit."
QuickTime
6. Download and install the QuickTime MPEG-2 Component. Purchase the plug-in directly from the Apple website.
7. Launch QuickTime.
8. Go to the "File" tab, and select "Open File..."
9. Browse for the MPEG-2 video in the file selection window. Select the item, and click "Open." The media will be loaded into the application.
10. Stream the MPEG-2 video with the commands on the control bar. The playback buttons include play/pause, fast-forward, rewind, skip ahead and skip back. Control the volume level with the speaker slide bar.
11. Close QuickTime when you are done streaming the MPEG-2 video. Go to "File," and select "Exit."
