Convert MP4 to TS (MPEG-TS) Online
Convert MP4 video to MPEG Transport Stream for HLS streaming, broadcast, and IPTV, free, in your browser.
.mp4 · up to 100 MB
What it's for
MP4 to TS: HLS, IPTV and broadcast preparation
H.264+AAC stream copy
If the MP4 has H.264 and AAC, direct conversion to TS without re-encoding. No quality loss.
188-byte packets
TS with standard 188-byte-per-packet structure, compatible with HLS segmenters, IPTV servers and DVB modulators.
OBS Studio and IPTV
Direct source for OBS Media Source, TVHeadend, VLC-IPTV and Emby/Jellyfin with broadcast plugins.
No servers, 100% private
Your MP4 video is processed locally with FFmpeg.wasm. No uploads, no registration, no limits.
How it works
Three steps, no hassle
Upload your MP4 file
Drag or select the .mp4. Videos for streaming, IPTV, OBS Studio or broadcast preparation. Up to 500 MB.
TS conversion in the browser
FFmpeg.wasm packages the H.264 video and AAC audio from the MP4 into 188-byte MPEG-TS packets. No server uploads.
Download the TS file ready for broadcast
Transport stream ready for HLS segmentation, OBS ingest, IPTV with VLC, or DVB-T modulation with lab hardware.
FAQ
Got questions?
Converting MP4 to TS has several professional and semi-professional use cases: (1) HLS segmentation preparation: HLS segmenters such as ffmpeg -f hls, Apple's mediafilesegmenter, and streaming CDNs (AWS MediaConvert, Cloudflare Stream) accept TS as input more efficiently than MP4 because the 188-byte packet structure facilitates random access and synchronisation. (2) OBS Studio streaming: OBS can ingest TS files in its media playback mode for loopback streams or as local video sources with lower latency than MP4. (3) Home IPTV: IPTV servers such as TVHeadend, Tvmosaic and Emby/Jellyfin with IPTV plugins prefer or require TS for stream retransmission. (4) Broadcast lab: lab DVB-T modulators (such as those from Dektec or Enensys) require TS as input for modulation and transmission testing.
The fundamental difference is the container architecture. MP4 (ISO Base Media File Format, ISO/IEC 14496-12) uses an 'atom' or 'box' structure with an index table (moov atom) at the beginning of the file that describes the position of each frame. This structure is ideal for local playback and progressive download, but unsuitable for real-time streaming because it requires knowing the complete file to build the index. MPEG-TS uses a structure of 188-byte packets each with a stream identifier (PID) and continuity counter, allowing incremental transmission and reception without knowing the end of the stream. This is why all terrestrial, satellite and cable broadcast standards use MPEG-TS as their transport layer.
No, if the MP4 contains H.264 (AVC) video and AAC audio. In that case, FFmpeg uses stream copy (-c copy): it extracts the streams without decoding or re-encoding and packages them in the new TS container. The process is instantaneous (limited only by disk read/write), with no quality loss, preserving exactly the same video and audio streams as the original MP4. If the MP4 contains H.265/HEVC, VP9, AV1 or other codecs not natively supported in standard TS, re-encoding to H.264 may be needed, but for 95% of modern MP4s (produced by smartphones, screen recorders, editing tools) stream copy is sufficient.
Yes. In OBS Studio, you can add the .ts as a 'Media Source' type source in the scene. OBS accepts TS files with H.264+AAC without issues. For loop streaming (continuous playback of a video in a stream), TS has an advantage over MP4 because OBS can seek more efficiently in TS for the loop without the MP4 moov atom overhead. For ingest to streaming platforms (Twitch, YouTube Live, Facebook Live), OBS always transmits the output in TS encapsulated in RTMP or SRT, so the source file format (.ts or .mp4) does not affect the output stream.
The standard HLS workflow with TS input is: (1) Convert the original MP4 to TS with Convertir.ai (stream copy, no loss). (2) Segment the TS into 2-10 second chunks with FFmpeg: ffmpeg -i input.ts -c copy -map 0 -f segment -segment_time 6 -segment_list playlist.m3u8 segment_%03d.ts. (3) Upload the .ts segments and .m3u8 playlist to a CDN or web server. The .m3u8 playlist references the TS segments so HLS players (AVFoundation on iOS, hls.js on web, ExoPlayer on Android) can request and play the segments adaptively. This is exactly the workflow Apple documented at WWDC 2009 when it introduced HLS as the streaming standard for iPhone.
Yes, though it's a highly specialised use case. Lab DVB-T modulators from Dektec (DTA-107, DTA-115), Enensys, and some high-end SDRs (ADALM-PLUTO with gr-dvbt software) accept MPEG-TS as input for UHF band modulation. The TS produced by Convertir.ai's MP4→TS conversion has the 188-byte packet structure compatible with these modulators, though for professional broadcast transmission you also need to insert PSI/SI tables (PAT, PMT, SDT, NIT) that identify the service and streams. FFmpeg can insert these tables with the -mpegts_service_id, -metadata service_name, and -mpegts_original_network_id options, but this exceeds the scope of the web tool and requires desktop FFmpeg.
Convert MP4 to TS: HLS preparation, IPTV, OBS Studio and DVB broadcast
MPEG Transport Stream is the universal transport layer of digital broadcast, the data structure that makes digital terrestrial TV (DVB-T/T2), satellite (DVB-S/S2), cable (DVB-C) and internet (HLS, DASH over TS) work robustly over channels with packet loss, variable latency and interruptions. ISO/IEC 13818-1 defines the TS as a sequence of exactly 188-byte packets, each with a sync byte (0x47), a 13-bit stream identifier (PID), a 4-bit continuity counter, and up to 184 bytes of payload data. This fixed-size structure allows multiplexing multiple streams (video, audio, data, subtitles, service information) into a single transport stream, and enables error detection and correction in RF transmission with Forward Error Correction (FEC). Converting MP4 to TS is the encapsulation operation that prepares content for any pipeline requiring TS as input: HLS segmenters, IPTV servers, broadcast encoders, and DVB modulators.
The technical architecture of MP4-to-TS conversion is elegant in its simplicity when the codecs are compatible. MP4 with H.264/AVC and AAC-LC is the most common case: FFmpeg extracts the H.264 Annex B stream (the bytestream representation of H.264 with 0x000001 start codes between NAL units) from the MP4 container, multiplexes it into TS packets with an assigned video PID, and does the same with the AAC stream with a different audio PID. The PAT (Program Association Table, PID 0x0000) and PMT (Program Map Table) are generated automatically to describe the programme composition. The result is a TS with a single programme (SPTS, Single Program Transport Stream) with H.264 video and AAC audio, the most widely compatible combination with software players (VLC, ffplay, hls.js), IPTV hardware, and CDN platforms. This process is a pure stream copy when the codecs are already H.264+AAC: instantaneous, without quality degradation, and with minimal container overhead (TS packets are slightly less efficient than MP4 for storage, but superior for transmission).
Convertir.ai executes MP4-to-MPEG-TS conversion entirely in the browser via FFmpeg.wasm, using stream copy for MP4 with H.264+AAC (the most common case) and re-encoding only when necessary. The output TS uses the standard 188-byte-per-packet structure, includes correctly formed PAT and PMT tables, and is compatible with the complete set of broadcast ecosystem tools: VLC (playback and IPTV retransmission), desktop FFmpeg (HLS segmentation, transcoding, multiplexing), OBS Studio (media source), TVHeadend (IPTV server), Emby and Jellyfin (with IPTV plugins), and lab DVB modulation hardware. For streaming projects, the MP4-to-TS conversion is the first step before HLS segmentation for CDN publication, or before ingest into a broadcast encoder for live retransmission. No servers, no registration, no watermarks, no usage limits.