File extension

.mpeg

ISO/IEC 13818-1 MPEG-2 Systems

.mpeg/.mpg files are MPEG program streams: audio and video coded with the MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 standards and multiplexed together, the format behind Video CD, DVD-Video, and digital broadcast.

Known meanings

Formats and reference material for .mpeg

ISO/IEC 13818-1 MPEG-2 Systems

ISO/IEC 13818-1 MPEG-2 Systems

  • video-animation
  • ISO/IEC
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ISO/IEC 13818-2 MPEG-2 Video

ISO/IEC 13818-2 MPEG-2 Video

  • video-animation
  • ISO/IEC
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ISO/IEC 13818-3 MPEG-2 Audio

ISO/IEC 13818-3 MPEG-2 Audio

  • video-animation
  • ISO/IEC
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MPEG-2 Technical Frequently Asked Questions list

MPEG-2 Technical Frequently Asked Questions list

  • video-animation
  • Chad Fogg
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Moving Picture Experts Group

Moving Picture Experts Group

  • video-animation
  • Historical
Open link

MPEG-4 Audio Reference Software (C code)

MPEG-4 Audio Reference Software (C code)

  • video-animation
  • Various Authors
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MPEG A Multimedia Application Format Overview and Requirements (v.2)

MPEG A Multimedia Application Format Overview and Requirements (v.2)

  • video-animation
  • Wo Chang
  • Historical
Open link

MPEG Video Header (Partial Information)

MPEG Video Header (Partial Information)

  • video-animation
  • Wilson Woo
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MPEG 21 Overview v.5

MPEG 21 Overview v.5

  • video-animation
  • Historical
Open link

MPEG 7 Overview

MPEG 7 Overview

  • video-animation
  • Historical
Open link

ISO/IEC 11172(MPEG-1)/13818(MPEG-2) MPEG Bit Stream Quick Reference

ISO/IEC 11172(MPEG-1)/13818(MPEG-2) MPEG Bit Stream Quick Reference

  • video-animation
  • Shan Weber
  • Historical
Missing file

MPEG 4 Overview

MPEG 4 Overview

  • video-animation
  • Historical
Open link

MPEG.ORG site

MPEG.ORG site

  • video-animation
Open link

ISO/IEC 13818 MPEG 2 Format (9 parts)

ISO/IEC 13818 MPEG 2 Format (9 parts)

  • video-animation
  • Historical
Open link

ISO/IEC 11172 MPEG 1 Format (5 parts)

ISO/IEC 11172 MPEG 1 Format (5 parts)

  • video-animation
  • Historical
Open link

Overview of the MPEG-4 Standard

Overview of the MPEG-4 Standard

  • video-animation
  • Rob Koenen
  • Historical
Open link

Details

Format notes

MPEG (MPEG-1 / MPEG-2)

MPEG refers to the family of audio-video standards from the Moving Picture Experts Group. A .mpeg or .mpg file most commonly holds MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 compressed video together with MPEG audio, multiplexed into a single stream. These standards made digital video practical at consumer bitrates and underpin a generation of technology: MPEG-1 powered Video CD and the MP3 audio format (MPEG-1 Audio Layer III), while MPEG-2 powers DVD-Video and much of digital television.

MPEG defines both the coding of the elementary video and audio streams and how they are combined. The Program Stream, used for storage such as DVDs, multiplexes audio and video for relatively error-free media, while the Transport Stream is designed for broadcast and streaming where errors are expected. Video compression relies on motion-compensated prediction between frames (I-, P-, and B-frames) plus block-based transform coding, achieving large size reductions at the cost of being lossy.

Status And Preservation Notes

MPEG-1/2 remain widely playable and important for legacy media, though newer codecs (H.264, HEVC, AV1) are far more efficient for new content. Because the video is lossy, a preservation master should be the highest-quality source available; record the specific standard, profile, and stream type (program vs transport). The common media type is video/mpeg.

Security Notes

As a byte-stream format parsed with start codes and length fields, MPEG demuxers and decoders should validate stream structure from untrusted files, since malformed packets and headers are a known source of decoder vulnerabilities.

Further Reading

  • MPEG standards overview: https://www.mpeg.org/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_Picture_Experts_Group