Reviews for QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component for Windows

Many people are complaining that this does not export their movies, well of course not, it is a decoder not an encoder, this means it can play the format, not convert from or to it. As far as playing the format it does fall slightly short. Sadly there are many versions and data types of MPEG-2 and none of them store the data the same. This is an add on to help quicktime read the data and play it, but it does not support every and all verision of mpeg-2's. There are many other options out there that both encode and decode these files better, they just do not integrate with quicktime as well.
So please before you buy this understand what it is you are buying. If you want to convert your files then buy QuickTime pro, if you want to just watch your files, buy this, though check the support mpeg-2 file versions first.

They told you right here...

Can the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component play back AC3 audio?
No, MPEG-2 files containing AC3 audio cannot be played back with the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component.

I have only recently converted to apple for both PC and iPhone, so I have been given the big sales pitch about effortless software and compatibility. So, this is my first software download, again very easy to pay for and download.

The problem is that is DOESNT WORK! The conversion of mpeg-2 to mpeg-4 involves the loss of sound. So I have 10s of GB of family video from a sony camcorder that I now have to see as silent movies.

Now I am completely up the creak, cant do any of those fantastic things I have been told about imovie, BECAUSE WE DONT LIVE IN A SILENT WORLD.

Very disappointing, SORT IT OUT APPLE.

This add-on works great for playing mpg videos in QuickTime on my PC. The mpg file even syncs automatically to my Apple TV, but the file won't play on Apple TV. I get a warning that the file type is unsupported.

This product has nothing to do with importing sony video onto a mac

"QuickTime 7.6 or later (Pro not required)
A Pentium III processor-based PC 1GHz or faster, with a hardware-accelerated video card
Windows XP Service Pack 2 or Vista
At least 128MB of RAM"

Did you notice the Windows part of that? This is a plug in for handling quicktime streaming in formats both Macs and PC's can use. It has nothing to do with trying to transfer video into an editor. As the FAQ states:

"The component is only a decoder, enabling playback of MPEG-2 content."

Apple does it again.

I bought Final Cut Express because I thought that I was going to make some good editing in no time... problem was that my macbook did not have the "ability" to read my video files, shot with a Sony DCR-SR52. I had to import the video from Imovie, then import those files into Final Cut Express with a wrong Aspect Ratio and then edit it. Now when I saw this Add On I thought why dont I try to buy this and the .mpg files should , like apple says be readable by Quick Time. But nope. and now that I have payed 1650,-(Final Cut Express + Add On) danish kroner im starting to get rather mad, because nothing of what I have bought is working... What a great compatability Apple... was that not what you recently was so proud of when you talked about your new macbooks?

If you have a Sony camcorder, do not buy this Add On unless you are absolutly sure that it is a model that is compatible.

This product does not work properly on my PC. I've posted the error message I receive when trying to play a DVD on the Discussion Forum and it remains unresolved for two weeks now along with a lot of other questions/issues with this product! There is no online support for this product from Apple. You can't even find a way to return it for credit! My recommendation is not to use QT7 as your default media player and go to something else.

I'm delighted Apple are honest & publish the bad reviews with the good -- clearly there are problems with some mpegs, and clearly it is also useful with others (and i can vouch that there are as many mpeg variants as there are programmers who wish to reinvent the wheel everytime they release a new product -- I wish they would research the original standard and leave it be!).

Full marks to Apple for integrity - we can't expect perfection but at least we have this. Why can't we download a trial?

I am very disappointed in Apple. This MPEG-2 Playback component performs poorly. I wanted to convert MPEG-2 files created from my Hauppauge TV tuner into MPEG-4, but QuickTime won't recognize the audio track in the MPEG-2 file (it says there isn't one)!

QuickTime won't even play the MPEG-2 properly. There are all kinds of visual artifacts, as well as a bit of choppiness. The SAME video file plays perfectly in Windows Media Player. Why??? Are Apple's software developers really this incompetent?

Good program and very useful. I give it a A+