TS Converter

How to Convert TS to Any Format

1. Upload Your TS File: Drag and drop your .ts file or click "Add Files". This converter accepts MPEG Transport Stream files — the kind a PVR, IPTV box, or HLS download produces. Batch is supported: drop in several recordings and each converts in parallel.
2. Pick an Output Format and Quality Preset: Choose the target container from the Video File Extension dropdown — MP4, MKV, MOV, WebM, AVI, M2TS, MPEG, and 25+ more — or extract the audio to MP3. The default Quality Preset is "Very High (Recommended)"; switch the File Compression mode to Specific file size to cap output at an exact MB target, Constant Bitrate for predictable sizes, Variable Bitrate for smaller files at equal quality, or Constant Quality (CRF) to tune by perceptual quality.
3. Resize, Trim, or Change Codec (Optional): Under Video resolution, keep original, pick a Preset Resolution (2160p / 1440p / 1080p / 720p / 480p), or enter a custom Width × Height. Under Trim, choose Time Range to drop the dead air a recorder leaves at the start. Advanced users can set the Video Codec (H.264, H.265, MPEG-2, MPEG-4) and Audio Codec (AAC, MP3, AC3, Opus).
4. Convert and Download: Click Convert. Files are uploaded over an encrypted connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours — no sign-up, no watermark, never shared.

Popular TS Conversions

• TS to MP4 — the universal target; re-encodes recordings into a wrapper that plays everywhere
• TS to MKV — keeps multiple audio tracks and subtitles from a broadcast capture
• TS to MOV — for Final Cut Pro and Apple-device editing
• TS to WebM — smaller, royalty-free files for the open web
• TS to AVI — legacy Windows editors and players
• TS to MP3 — pull just the audio out of a recorded stream

Why Convert a TS File?

TS stands for MPEG Transport Stream, standardized as ISO/IEC 13818-1 (MPEG-2 Part 1, Systems, also published as ITU-T Rec. H.222.0) and first released on 10 July 1995. It was designed for one job: carrying audio and video reliably across channels where data can be lost or corrupted — digital TV broadcast (DVB and ATSC), satellite, IPTV, and live streaming. To survive a noisy channel it breaks the stream into fixed 188-byte packets, a size originally chosen for compatibility with ATM telecom networks. That packetized, error-tolerant design is brilliant for transmission and exactly why a .ts file lands on your drive in the first place — but it's a poor fit for everyday playback, editing, and sharing.

You typically end up with .ts files from a few sources: a TV tuner card or PVR that records broadcast, an IPTV or set-top box capture, or an HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) download, where the video arrives as a string of small .ts segments referenced by a playlist. Converting solves the real problems those files create:

• Playback and device support — Some players (and most phones and smart-TV apps) won't open a raw .ts. VLC plays them, but the moment you want the file in Photos, on an iPad, or embedded on the web, you need MP4. The streams inside are usually H.264 already, so TS to MP4 keeps that same H.264 video family and re-encodes it into a container every device recognizes.
• Joining HLS segments — An HLS download is dozens or hundreds of tiny numbered .ts chunks. Drop them in together and the converter stitches them into one continuous MP4 or MKV instead of leaving you with fragments.
• Editing — Long-GOP transport-stream timing confuses some non-linear editors and causes audio drift. Re-wrapping to MP4 or MOV gives editors clean, seekable media.
• Smaller files and sharing — Broadcast TS is often heavy MPEG-2. Re-encoding to H.264 (or H.265) in an MP4 can cut the size substantially with no visible quality loss, bringing a captured show under a messaging or email attachment cap.
• Trimming recorder padding — PVR captures frequently include a few seconds of the previous or next program at each end. Convert with Trim set to a Time Range to clip that off in the same pass.

TS Compared to Common Conversion Targets

Choosing a Codec When You Re-encode

xconvert always re-encodes when it converts a .ts — there is no stream-copy pass-through — so the codec you land on decides the output's size and where it plays. A broadcast capture is often heavy MPEG-2, and moving it to a modern codec is where most of the size savings come from. For TS output the codec dropdown offers H.264, H.265, MPEG-2, and MPEG-4; VP9 and AV1 become available when the target is WebM, MP4, or MKV.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a .ts file and why won't it play on my phone?

A .ts file is an MPEG Transport Stream — a container built for broadcast and streaming, not for storage on a device. It carries the same kind of H.264 or MPEG-2 video you'd find elsewhere, but it wraps the data in 188-byte error-tolerant packets meant to survive a TV broadcast or a flaky network. Most phone galleries, the Photos app, and smart-TV players simply don't register .ts as a video file, even though VLC opens it fine. Converting to MP4 re-encodes those streams into a container every device recognizes.

Does converting TS to MP4 re-encode the video, and will it lose quality?

xconvert always re-encodes — there is no bit-for-bit stream copy — but that does not mean visible quality loss. When your .ts already holds H.264 (true of most modern IPTV and HLS captures) and you convert to MP4 without changing the codec, the H.264 + AAC codec family is kept and the default Very High preset encodes at the visually-lossless tier, so the result is indistinguishable from the source in normal viewing. A larger change happens only when the source is older MPEG-2 broadcast video re-encoded to H.264, or when you deliberately change the codec, resolution, or quality preset. In our testing, a 5-minute 1080p H.264 transport stream converted to MP4 at the default preset kept the same H.264 video family and looked identical to the source in side-by-side frame checks.

How do I join HLS .ts segments into one video?

HLS downloads arrive as many small numbered .ts files (segment0.ts, segment1.ts, and so on) that a playlist normally ties together. Upload all the segments in order and convert to MP4 or MKV — the converter joins them into one continuous file instead of leaving you with fragments. If the segments came from different renditions (different resolutions or bitrates), keep only one rendition's set, since mixing resolutions in a single output causes glitches.

Should I convert TS to MP4 or MKV?

Pick MP4 if the goal is broad playback and sharing — phones, browsers, TVs, and editors all speak it. Pick MKV (Matroska) if your broadcast capture carries several audio languages or subtitle tracks you want to keep, since MKV holds an unlimited number of tracks in one file while MP4 is happiest with one video and one or two audio streams. MKV is great for a Plex or Jellyfin library but isn't supported natively by Safari, Roku, or most smart-TV browsers, so it's a download-and-play target rather than a web-embed one. See TS to MKV for that route.

Will I lose quality or audio tracks converting from TS?

Quality only takes a visible hit when the codec actually changes or you lower the resolution or preset; keeping the same codec family — for example H.264 into MP4 or MOV — at the default Very High preset stays visually indistinguishable from the source, even though the streams are re-encoded rather than copied bit-for-bit. Audio is the bigger thing to watch: a broadcast .ts can hold multiple tracks (for example a main language and a described-audio track) plus AC-3 surround. MP4 keeps one or two audio streams cleanly, so if you need every track preserved, choose MKV instead, which carries them all.

Why does my TS recording have extra seconds at the start or end?

PVRs and tuner boxes usually start recording a little before the scheduled time and stop a little after, so the capture bookends your show with a few seconds of the adjacent program or channel padding. There's nothing wrong with the file — it's just recorder behavior. Set the Trim control to a Time Range and enter a start offset and duration to clip those ends off during conversion, so you don't need a separate editing step.

What's the difference between a .ts and a .m2ts file?

Both are transport-stream containers, but they come from different worlds. A plain .ts is a raw MPEG-2 Transport Stream — what DVB/ATSC broadcast, IPTV boxes, and HLS segments produce — and it usually carries MPEG-2 or H.264 with MP2, AC-3, or AAC audio. A .m2ts (often .mts straight off the camera) is the AVCHD/Blu-ray flavor of the same transport-stream idea, introduced by Sony and Panasonic in 2006 for camcorders and Blu-ray discs; it wraps H.264 with AC-3 or LPCM audio and tags each packet with an extra timestamp, making its packets 192 bytes rather than the plain 188. xconvert treats them as separate inputs — use TS to M2TS if you specifically need the camcorder/Blu-ray variant, or M2TS to MP4 if you already have the camcorder file and want a universal one instead.

Are my files private when I convert them here?

Yes. Files are uploaded over an encrypted (TLS) connection, processed on our servers, and deleted automatically after a few hours. There's no sign-up, no watermark on the output, and files are never shared or made public. Because conversion runs server-side, the practical limit on a big broadcast capture is upload time and your connection speed, not your device — multi-gigabyte recordings are routine.