MyMediaTools

Convert MOV to TS — Free Online Tool

Convert MOV files to MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) format, re-encoding video with H.264 and audio with AAC — making your QuickTime footage compatible with broadcast pipelines, HLS streaming workflows, and DVR systems that require a transport stream container.

FFmpeg Command

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How It Works

MOV is Apple's QuickTime container, often used in professional editing with codecs like H.264, H.265, or even ProRes. TS (MPEG-2 Transport Stream) is a fundamentally different container architecture designed for reliable transmission over lossy channels — it uses fixed-size packets so playback can recover even if data is dropped mid-stream. Because TS has strict codec expectations and no support for QuickTime-specific metadata structures, this conversion re-encodes the video stream using libx264 (H.264) and the audio using AAC, both of which are natively supported in transport streams. Unlike a simple remux, this is a full transcode, meaning the video and audio are decoded and re-compressed. Chapter markers and transparency data from the MOV file will not carry over, as TS supports neither feature.

What Each Flag Does

Flag What it does
ffmpeg Invokes the FFmpeg program, the open-source multimedia processing engine that handles the decoding, re-encoding, and container remuxing for this MOV-to-TS conversion.
-i input.mov Specifies the input file — in this case, a QuickTime MOV file. FFmpeg reads the container and detects all streams (video, audio, metadata) present in the MOV before processing begins.
-c:v libx264 Re-encodes the video stream using the libx264 H.264 encoder, which produces video natively compatible with the MPEG-2 Transport Stream container and is required for HLS-compatible TS output.
-c:a aac Re-encodes the audio stream using AAC, the standard audio codec for transport streams used in HLS and modern broadcast delivery — replacing whatever audio codec was in the source MOV (which might have been PCM, FLAC, or others).
-crf 23 Sets the Constant Rate Factor for H.264 video quality at the default value of 23, which balances visual quality and file size well for most MOV source material. Lower this value (e.g., 18) if your source was high-quality ProRes or H.265 footage.
-b:a 128k Sets the AAC audio bitrate to 128 kbps, which is transparent quality for most speech and music content in broadcast and streaming contexts. Increase to 192k or 256k if your MOV source had high-fidelity or multi-channel audio.
output.ts Specifies the output filename with the .ts extension, which tells FFmpeg to wrap the re-encoded H.264 video and AAC audio into an MPEG-2 Transport Stream container suitable for broadcast ingest or HLS delivery.

Common Use Cases

  • Preparing edited QuickTime footage for ingest into a broadcast playout system or linear TV channel that requires MPEG-2 Transport Stream input
  • Segmenting MOV recordings into TS files as part of an HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) packaging workflow for video-on-demand delivery
  • Converting MOV files captured on a DSLR or mirrorless camera for playback on set-top boxes, DVRs, or digital signage hardware that only accepts TS
  • Archiving conference or event recordings from Final Cut Pro (which exports MOV) into a broadcast-safe TS format for long-term storage alongside other broadcast assets
  • Pre-processing MOV interview footage before delivering to a broadcast partner whose ingest system expects transport stream-wrapped H.264 content
  • Generating a TS file from a MOV master to test HLS compatibility or validate stream behavior before deploying a live streaming pipeline

Frequently Asked Questions

No. Chapter markers are a QuickTime-specific metadata feature supported by the MOV container, but the MPEG-2 Transport Stream format has no equivalent mechanism for storing chapter data. After conversion, all chapter information will be lost. If you need to preserve chapter navigation, you should export to a format like MKV or MP4 instead, both of which support chapter metadata.
Yes, there is a small quality cost. Even if your MOV already contains H.264 video, this tool re-encodes the video stream rather than copying it, because the TS container requires specific stream formatting. The default CRF value of 23 produces visually good quality at reasonable file sizes — most viewers won't notice a difference from the original. If your source MOV used a high-quality codec like ProRes or H.265, you may want to lower the CRF value (e.g., 18) to preserve more detail during re-encoding.
TS files are typically slightly larger than equivalent MOV files because the transport stream format adds overhead through its fixed 188-byte packet structure, which includes error-correction and synchronization data designed for broadcast transmission. Additionally, if your original MOV used a more efficient codec like H.265 or ProRes (at high bitrate), re-encoding to H.264 at CRF 23 may produce a noticeably different file size compared to the source.
Yes, TS is the traditional segment format used in HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) as defined by Apple's original specification. TS files containing H.264 video and AAC audio — exactly what this tool produces — are the most widely supported HLS segment type across CDNs, players, and devices. While newer HLS implementations also support fMP4 segments, TS-based HLS remains the safest choice for broad compatibility.
To change video quality, modify the -crf value: lower numbers like 18 give higher quality and larger files, while higher numbers like 28 reduce quality and file size. The valid range for libx264 is 0 (lossless) to 51 (worst quality). To change audio bitrate, replace 128k in -b:a 128k with a value like 192k or 256k for better audio fidelity. For example: ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -crf 18 -b:a 192k output.ts
Yes. On Linux or macOS, you can run a shell loop: for f in *.mov; do ffmpeg -i "$f" -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -crf 23 -b:a 128k "${f%.mov}.ts"; done. On Windows Command Prompt, use: for %f in (*.mov) do ffmpeg -i "%f" -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -crf 23 -b:a 128k "%~nf.ts". This applies the same encoding settings to every MOV file in the current directory and outputs a corresponding TS file for each.

Technical Notes

The MPEG-2 Transport Stream format was originally designed for environments where data loss is expected — broadcast satellite, cable, and over-the-air transmission — so it wraps streams in 188-byte packets with built-in synchronization and error resilience. This architecture makes TS ideal for live streaming and HLS segmentation, but it means the container carries more structural overhead than MOV. Notably, TS does not support QuickTime-specific features such as transparency (alpha channels), chapter markers, or the -movflags +faststart trick used by MOV/MP4 for progressive web playback. Audio codec compatibility is broader in TS than many expect — AC3 (Dolby Digital) is natively supported, which is common in broadcast, though this tool defaults to AAC for maximum streaming compatibility. If your source MOV contains multiple audio tracks, they can be preserved in the TS output since TS supports multiple audio streams, but you would need to add explicit stream mapping flags to the FFmpeg command (e.g., -map 0) to include all tracks. Subtitle streams from MOV can technically be carried in TS, though the subtitle format may need to be converted since QuickTime text tracks differ from broadcast-standard DVB or SCTE subtitles.

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