If you've been involved with video production for some years, you would have heard of MPEG video.

MPEG-1 was one of the earliest digital video formats but it has its limitations.

It supports only two channel audio compression and can’t accommodate videos with high resolution.

MPEG-2 was created to address the shortcoming and offered high quality video. It ruled supreme in the days when DVDs were popular but not for long.

Both the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats are also known as MPG because they typically carry the .mpg extension.

Since MPEG-1 video files are seldom used these days, video files encoded with the MPEG-2 codec will be referred to as MPG in this article.

 

MPG VS MP4

MPG promises quality and easy playback over software media players.

However, in these days of online video however, MPG doesn’t cut it because of its high bitrate and file size.

So, if you have some MPG video files lying around from the DVD days, you could do well to convert them to MP4.

You may be wondering why you need to convert MPG to MP4 and not to other formats. 

MPG to MP4: MP4 Benefits

Let's look at the benefits of MP4 which had made it a popularly accepted universal video format these days.

MP4 also known as MPEG-4 Part 14 or MPEG-4 AVC ( Advanced Video Coding ) is a versatile multimedia container format which supports the storage of video, audio, image and text (subtitles) files.

MP4 is usually the video format of choice because of its compatibility across a wide range of platforms.

So, it's not surprising to see MP4 used in media broadcasts and the tiniest of mobile devices.

The main attraction of MP4 is good video quality and smaller files.

When compressed with H-264, it takes up only about half the storage space taken up by MPG without any noticeable loss of quality.

It's for this reason that MP4 has become the preferred format for video streaming, suitable even for low bandwidth connections.

Millions of videos are being shared over social networks like Facebook and Twitter, not to mention messaging apps like WhatsApp and WeChat.

The preferred format is MP4 as most smartphones and tablets shoot video in MP4 as the default format. MP4 is also well-supported by HDTVs.

Now that we’ve learned the benefits of converting MPEG-2 to MP4, let’s proceed to convert MPG to MP4.

If you’ve a small MPG file to convert the first route you would want to take is a free video converter.

Free video converters come in two forms - online video converters and software video converters.

Let’s look at the free online video converter options to explore how to convert MPG to MP4.

 

Convert MPG to MP4: Free Online Video Converter

Online Video Converter is quite easy to operate.

Upload your file, choose your output format, customize your settings and hit start to begin the conversion process.

Once conversion is complete, you could download the converted file.

 

MPG to MP4 Converter: Video Online Convert

This is a plain-looking site which not only offers video conversion online but also document, archive, eBook and image conversion online, among others.

Landing on the site, make sure you're on the Video converter panel on the left sidebar.

Your next step would be to upload your MPG file by clicking on the Choose File button.

There's also an option to choose your MPG file from Dropbox or Google Drive.

Once your MPG file is uploaded, you may use the Optional Settings section to change, among others, video bitrate, audio codec, and even frame rate for your output video.

If you're just doing a normal format conversion just go ahead and hit the Convert File button. Conversion will start and your output file will be downloaded when it's finished.

Generally, online video converters work fine if you've a small file size to be converted. With bigger file sizes you'll need an Internet connection with a faster upload speed.

 

Convert MPG to MP4: Freemake

If you don’t mind installing software into your computer for a minor job of converting MPG to MP4, you could do well to look at Freemake.

Using Freemake is a simple process as with any basic video converter.

On launching the application, import your MPG file by selecting the Video tab or drag and drop your file into the program interface.

Next choose your output format. In this case it will be MP4.

Once you're satisfied with your setting, click Convert and conversion will take place.

 

Convert MPG to MP4 with the Most Powerful Video Converter

If you’re looking for a versatile video converter that could take care of most of your video conversion needs, you should opt for DVDFab Video Converter

A fully functional DVDFab  Video  Converter is available for a free trial of 30 days with no obligation to purchase.

The program supports the input most of the mainstream AV formats and converts them to other popular formats error-free and handles, any file size.

Using DVDFab Video Converter to convert MPG to MP4 is simple and straightforward.

On launching DVDFab, click on the + button in the middle of the interface to load your MPG file. Alternatively you may click the + Add under the DVDFab logo.

Once the MPG file is loaded, you may proceed to choose the output MP4 format.

Before proceeding with conversion you may want to preview your video by clicking on the Play button.

Customize your output MP4 file further by choosing Advance Settings.

You may also make minor edits to your clip by clicking on the video editor icon.

If you want customized settings, head to the Advanced Settings section as shown below.

Also don’t forget to choose the location of the folder where the converted video will be stored. Look for it at the bottom of the interface.

When you’re done, hit the green Start button at the bottom of the interface.

The conversion process begins. Once it’s completed, located your file in the selected download folder and play it back to see if you file was converted without any issues.

Now that you know how easy it is to convert MPG to MP4, go ahead and download DVDFab Video Converter and give it a try today.

You’ll be converting MPG to MP4 quickly and easily and will not have to worry about how to convert MPG to MP4 again.