Convert MOV to MPEG — Free Online Tool
Convert MOV files to MPEG format using MPEG-2 video and MP2 audio codecs — the standard encoding used in broadcast television and DVD-compatible video. This tool runs entirely in your browser with no file uploads required, making it ideal for converting Apple QuickTime footage to the legacy MPEG format required by older players, broadcast systems, and DVD authoring software.
to
FFmpeg Command
Copy this command to run the same conversion locally with FFmpeg on your desktop. Download FFmpeg
Drop your MOV file here
or click to browse
Free — no uploads, no signups. Your files never leave your browser.
Settings
Note: Browser-based encoding uses approximate quality targets. For precise CRF compression, copy the FFmpeg command above and run it on your desktop.
Estimated output:
Conversion Complete!
DownloadHow It Works
Unlike a simple container remux, converting MOV to MPEG requires full re-encoding of both the video and audio streams. The video stream — which in a MOV file might be H.264, H.265, or even ProRes — is decoded and re-encoded using the MPEG-2 video codec (mpeg2video), the compression standard underpinning DVD and broadcast TV. The audio stream is similarly transcoded from its source format (commonly AAC in modern MOV files) into MP2 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer II), the audio standard paired with MPEG-2 video in broadcast and DVD contexts. Because MPEG-2 is a lossy, older generation codec compared to H.264 or H.265, expect larger file sizes at equivalent visual quality. MOV-specific features like multiple audio tracks, chapter markers, transparency, and subtitle tracks are not carried over, as the MPEG container format does not support them.
What Each Flag Does
| Flag | What it does |
|---|---|
ffmpeg
|
Invokes the FFmpeg program — the open-source multimedia processing engine that powers this conversion. In the browser, this runs via FFmpeg.wasm, a WebAssembly port of the same tool. |
-i input.mov
|
Specifies the input file — your QuickTime MOV file. FFmpeg will probe this file to detect its container structure and the codecs used for its video and audio streams before beginning the conversion. |
-c:v mpeg2video
|
Re-encodes the video stream using the MPEG-2 video codec, the compression standard used in DVD video and broadcast television. This is a full transcode — the source video (which may be H.264, H.265, or another MOV-compatible codec) is decoded and then re-encoded as MPEG-2. |
-c:a mp2
|
Transcodes the audio to MP2 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer II), the audio format standardized for use alongside MPEG-2 video in broadcast and DVD systems. The source MOV audio (typically AAC) is fully decoded and re-encoded into MP2. |
-q:v 2
|
Sets the MPEG-2 video quality using the fixed quantizer scale, where 1 is the highest possible quality and 31 is the lowest. A value of 2 targets near-maximum quality output at the cost of a larger file size — appropriate when source quality preservation is the priority. |
-b:a 192k
|
Sets the MP2 audio bitrate to 192 kilobits per second, which is the standard bitrate for broadcast-quality MPEG-2 audio and meets the specification commonly required by DVD authoring and playout systems. |
output.mpeg
|
Specifies the output filename and container. The .mpeg extension instructs FFmpeg to write an MPEG program stream, the standard file wrapper for MPEG-2 video and MP2 audio used in broadcast delivery and legacy playback systems. |
Common Use Cases
- Preparing Apple QuickTime footage for import into legacy DVD authoring software such as DVD Studio Pro or older versions of Encore that require MPEG-2 elementary or program streams
- Converting MOV recordings from iPhones or macOS screen capture tools into a format compatible with older broadcast playout systems and linear TV workflows that require MPEG-2
- Archiving or delivering video to institutions or clients whose playback infrastructure — such as older media servers or set-top boxes — only supports MPEG-1 or MPEG-2
- Obtaining the exact FFmpeg command to batch-convert large libraries of MOV files to MPEG-2 on a desktop machine when files exceed the 1GB browser processing limit
- Converting training or presentation videos shot on Apple devices to MPEG format for playback on older projectors, kiosk systems, or corporate AV equipment that predates H.264 support
- Testing MPEG-2 output from QuickTime source material for compatibility with broadcast QC tools or legacy non-linear editing systems that accept only MPEG program streams
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — this conversion involves a full re-encode from your MOV source into MPEG-2 video, which is a generationally older codec than the H.264 or H.265 typically found in modern MOV files. MPEG-2 is less efficient, meaning it requires more data (larger file size) to achieve the same perceptual quality. Using the default quality setting of -q:v 2 (the highest quality end of the MPEG-2 scale) minimizes quality loss, but some degradation compared to the source is unavoidable since both encode stages are lossy.
MPEG-2 is a significantly less efficient codec than H.264 or H.265, which are commonly used inside MOV containers. To represent the same visual information, MPEG-2 requires substantially more data. At the default -q:v 2 setting (highest quality), you can expect the output MPEG file to be noticeably larger than a comparable H.264-encoded MOV — sometimes two to four times larger depending on the content. If file size is a concern, you can increase the -q:v value (toward 5 or 6) to reduce bitrate at the cost of some quality.
No. The MPEG container format does not support chapter markers, multiple audio tracks, or subtitle streams. Your MOV file may contain any or all of these features, but they will be silently dropped during conversion. Only the primary video stream and a single audio track are carried into the MPEG output. If preserving these features matters for your workflow, consider an alternative output format like MKV or MP4.
The MPEG-2 video and MP2 audio produced by this conversion use the correct codecs for DVD compatibility, but DVD players require video encoded to specific parameters — including constrained resolution (720x480 for NTSC, 720x576 for PAL), a specific bitrate range, and a compliant program stream structure. The FFmpeg command as shown does not enforce these DVD constraints, so while the codec is correct, additional flags for resolution, bitrate caps, and stream type may be needed before the file is accepted by DVD authoring software.
To adjust video quality, change the -q:v value: 1 is the highest quality (largest file), and 31 is the lowest quality (smallest file). The default of 2 is near-maximum quality for MPEG-2. To adjust audio quality, change the -b:a value — options include 64k, 96k, 128k, 192k (default), 224k, 256k, or 320k. For broadcast or DVD use, 192k or 224k MP2 audio is standard. For example: ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v mpeg2video -c:a mp2 -q:v 4 -b:a 224k output.mpeg would produce a slightly smaller file with broadcast-standard audio.
Yes — on Linux or macOS you can use a shell loop to process multiple files: for f in *.mov; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v mpeg2video -c:a mp2 -q:v 2 -b:a 192k "${f%.mov}.mpeg"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.mov) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:v mpeg2video -c:a mp2 -q:v 2 -b:a 192k "%~nf.mpeg". This is especially useful when you have files larger than 1GB that cannot be processed in the browser.
Technical Notes
The MPEG container (.mpeg / .mpg) is one of the oldest standardized video formats, and converting to it from MOV involves meaningful tradeoffs. The default output uses mpeg2video at -q:v 2, which corresponds to a variable bitrate targeting high quality — MPEG-2's quality scale runs from 1 (best) to 31 (worst), unlike CRF-based codecs. The audio is encoded as MP2 at 192k, the standard bitrate for broadcast MPEG-2 audio; note that MP2 is distinct from MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III) and is specifically optimized for the MPEG-2 system layer. A critical limitation is that the MPEG program stream format does not support modern container features: transparency (alpha channel) present in MOV/PNG or MOV/MJPEG sources is lost entirely, chapter markers are discarded, and only a single audio track can be carried. If your MOV source uses a professional codec like Apple ProRes or DNxHR, the re-encode will involve decoding from a high-quality intermediate format, which helps preserve detail during the MPEG-2 transcode. There are no special muxer flags required for MPEG output (unlike MOV's -movflags +faststart for web streaming), as the MPEG program stream format handles its own interleaving. For broadcast or DVD mastering, additional constraints on resolution, GOP structure (-g flag), and bitrate caps (-maxrate, -bufsize) would typically be applied beyond this basic conversion command.