How to Convert MPEG to H.264 at the Fastest Speed
H.264 is the next-generation video compression technology in the MPEG-4 standard, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10. H.264 can match the best possible MPEG-2 quality at up to half the data rate. H.264 also delivers excellent video quality across the entire bandwidth spectrum - from 3G to Full HD and everything in between (from 40 Kbps to upwards of 10 Mbps). Because of this efficiency, H.264, an ISO standard, stands to be the likely successor to MPEG-2 in the professional media industry. That's why many users convert MPEG to H.264 codec. Here we will walk you through how to convert MPEG to H.264.
Table of Contents
Part 1. Convert MPEG to H.264 with Winxvideo AI
Winxvideo AI is made for the purpose of converting MPEG to H.264, with support for various types of video audio formats such as HEVC, VP9, AV1, MKV, FLV, MOV. With great video quality output and fast conversion speed(GPU acceleration), Winxvideo AI is a handy program for all your transcoding needs. Unlike FFmpeg with complicated command lines, WinX MPEG to H.264 converter is intuitive and easy to get started with.
For Windows and Mac only. If you are a mobile user, please click here.
[Tutorial] How to Convert MPEG to H.264 with WinX?
Step 1. Free download the MPEG to H.264 converter on your computer and install it following its instructions. Run the video converter on your computer, on the main interface will pop up. Click "Video Converter" and "+ Video" button to load your MPEG video you'd like to convert to H.264. Batch conversion is supported well.
Step 2. Choose output format. On the Output Profile window, select General Video > MP4 Video. The MP4 Video is encoded with H.264 codec. Click the OK button to save the codec format.
Step 3. Click the "Browse" button and choose the destination of converted folder.
Step 4. After you process all the steps above and right click the "RUN" button to begin your MPEG to H.264 conversion.
Part 2. How to Transcode MPEG to H.264 with FFmpeg
FFmpeg is an open source command-line tool that can be used to transcode videos, including MPEG to H.264. It's available on many different platforms, Windows, macOS, Linux, etc. You can select the H.264 codec by using the -c flag. If you set auto_convert to 1, it will perform automatic conversions. The auto-convert is applying to h264_mp4toannexb bitstream filter to H.264 streams in MP4 format. If you know what command-line is required for converting MPEG to H.264 using FFmpeg, you get all things right.
Command Lines for Converting MPEG to H.264 in FFmpeg
FFmpeg can be downloaded from its official website. To convert MPEG to H.264, use the following command:
ffmpeg -i yourvideoname.mp4 -c:v libx264 outputfilename.mp4
You can also change the video codec and audio format at the same time.
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v libxh264 -c:a libvorbis output.mp4
The container format can remain unchanged if you only need to convert the codec format from MPEG to H.264 with FFmpeg. The output of the command can vary depending on the FFmpeg version you are using.
Part 3. FAQs about Converting MPEG to H.264
1. Which is better, MPEG or H.264?
HD MPEG-2 content at 1920 x 1080 traditionally runs at 12-20 Mbps, while H.264 can deliver 1920 x 1080 content at 7-8 Mbps at the same or better quality. H.264 provides DVD quality at about half the data rate of MPEG-2. That means H.264 is much more efficient than MPEG encoding. H.264 compression shows better quality, smaller file size, and more fluent playback.
If you want to know more about the differences between MPEG and H.264, please refer to H.264 vs MPEG in File Size, Quality, Encoding Time.
2. MPEG to H.264 with FFmpeg, failed.
I have a *.mp4 video file encoded with MPEG4 video codec) and I am trying to convert MPEG4 to a H264 video codec format using ffmpeg on Linux using command line: ffmpeg -i input .mp4 output.h264, but I get an error saying - Unsupported codec for output stream #0.0. Then when i try the following command: ffmpeg -i input .mp4 -formats h264 output.h264, it still does not work.
It seems that the user installed libx264 and configured with ffmpeg to convert videos to h264. Try the command -vcodec libx264 to see whether it works. It's also worth noting that you must compile libx264 first, then get and compile ffmpeg with libx264 enabled.
3. Free Online MPEG to H.264 Converter?
Top rated free online MPEG to MP4 converter to recommend: ConvertFiles and AnyCon. All you need to do is to open the MPEG to H.264 converter page, upload your video file, wait for the processing, and download the converted H.264 video file to your device. ConvertFiles allows you to upload 250MB for free. AnyCon website contains ads everywhere and limits the MPEG file size to 100MB for free users.
