Due to the frequent interaction between various digital media, people can obtain all kinds of digital video formats on different occasions. Among the case, some of you may have encountered the TS file extension. Especially when you are trying to copy some of the digital content from an HDTV broadcast, you can get access to this kind of extension files. It is quite common to play the TS files on your HDTV broadcast device. However, once the TS files have been posted on the Internet, then it will not be such an easy thing to open such a digital TS file on your computer. In this article, we are going to have further discussion on this issue. According to the following parts, you can come to know how to play TS files on your computer with several easy steps.

Part 1: Introducing TS File Format

Why is it different to play TS files on your computer from other digital video formats? What is TS file extension? General speaking, TS is a video format that is used for storing video on DVDs. TS stands for Transport Stream. By using this kind of format, you can be easily allowed to store audio and data information. Furthermore, TS files are primarily applied for MPEG-2 part 1 systems which are mainly used to compress video data. Everyone knows more or less about the MPEG-2 format through their contact with DVD. The MPEG-2 format of DVD programs, to be exact, is MPEG-2-PS, whose full name is Program Stream, while the full name of TS is Transport Stream. MPEG-2-PS is mainly used to store files with a fixed duration, such as DVD movies, while MPEG-TS file is mainly used for real-time transmission of programs, such as real-time broadcast television programs.

The main features of TS format are as follows:

1. In daily life, DVD stands for ordinary clear version, BD stands for HD waterless version, HD stands for HD version, and TS stands for preemptive non-clear version.

2. TS format often defines program specific information (PSI), which is used to describe the composition structure of the transmission stream. PSI plays an extremely important role in MPEG-2 system, especially in multiplexing PAT table and PMT table.

3. TS table can give the specific composition of a program and its corresponding relationship with video, audio and PID.

4. PAT table in TS shows how many programs there are in a MPEG code stream and the corresponding relationship between it and the PID of PMT table.

Introducing-TS-File-Format

Part 2: Top 3 TS File Players on Your Computer

In order to provide users with the best TS files viewing experiences, you have to prepare a powerful TS file player for your further references. How to tell a media player is good enough to play TS files? One of the most common things is that this player can load and play TS files without any buffering problems and any codec errors. It can play the TS files smoothly. Among various TS files, I have sorted out the best 5 TS files players for you.

No. 1 Leawo Blu-ray Player

As a totally free media player in recent years, Leawo Blu-ray Player has been introduced for many times. This is an all-inclusive media player that can be able to play Blu-ray, DVD, 4K videos, CDs and more than 180 types of digital media formats, of course including TS, MOV, FLV, AVI, WMV, AAC and so on. No matter which video formats you are dealing with, this player can easily offer you the best viewing experience with 100% original quality retained. You don't also need to worry about on how to play the DVDs or Blu-rays with the region codes, this player can decrypt this region protection with ease and you can freely play the discs from all regions. Its simple and slim player interface can be another aspect that can attract your attention. What you only need to do is to drag the videos or import discs you prefer to the program, and then you can enjoy the content right away.

Leawo Blu-ray Player

No. 2 VLC

As another powerful media player for computer users, VLC is also able to support TS files. This is also a free media player for both Windows and Mac users. It also supports all kinds of digital formats. As an open-source player, VLC has been used by many primary users or advanced users to test the availability of various digital formats. Furthermore, you can also stream online video from the Internet. But while processing the TS files, some users have reflected that sometimes it is a bit lower to load the TS files with VLC, and the VLC stuttering technical issues may appear at times.

VLC

No. 3 Media Player Lite

Media Player Lite is another piece of the best free TS player software for Windows. This player can open and play TS files in a fast speed. Also, Media Player Lite is able to support various formats, such as OGG, AIF, WMA, WAV as well as the image formats JPG, GIF, PNG, DivX and Flash Video etc. This player is designed to play TS files won Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 without the need of TS codec. This player is free and open source based on the Media Player Classic – Home Theatre. If you would like to take a try on other video players aside from Leawo and VLC, then this minimalistic and lightweight TS player can be your good options.

Media Player Lite

Part 3: Open And Play TS Files via Leawo Blu-ray Player

Since you have determined to take a try on Leawo Blu-ray Player, do you know the detailed steps on how to play video TS files on PC? Actually the steps on how to play TS files on Windows is quite simple, if you are not sure about the steps, then you can refer to the following details.

Step 1. Download Leawo Blu-ray Player and install it on your computer.

    Free Blu-ray Player

    – Region-free Blu-ray player software to play Blu-ray disc and DVD disc for free, regardless of disc protection and region restriction.
    – Play 4K FLV videos, 4K MKV videos, 4K MP4 videos, etc. without quality loss.
    – Play 1080P videos, 720P videos with lossless quality.

Step 2. Locate the TS file and import TS file to the Leawo Blu-ray Player. You can click "Open File" on the main interface of the program to load the TS file you would like to play. Or simply, you can just drag the TS file to this program and then the player can play the TS video then.

Leawo-bluray-player-add-video

Step 3. Set more player parameters. In order to obtain the customized watching experience, you can have more player settings. You only need to click on the drop-down menu panel on the top right which includes Playback, File Associations, Audio Output, DVD Blu-ray etc. Furthermore, you can have edit on the subtitles, skin or other general settings.

leawo Blu-ray Player

Part 4: Comparison between VLC and Leawo Blu-ray Player

Just as mentioned above, Both VLC and Leawo Blu-ray Player can be your good options to solve the problem on how to play TS files on Windows. But there are some differences lying between VLC and Leawo Blu-ray Player. Next, a general comparison between both of them in playing TS files will be listed here.

1. Simple to be used. During the playing process of TS files, Leawo Blu-ray Player is much simpler and smoother. VLC is also easy to be handled for many primary users, but some stuttering issues happen while playing.

2. Additional media support. Asides from playing TS files, Leawo Blu-ray Player can outweigh VLC in the aspect that Leawo Blu-ray Player can easily decrypt the discs with region codes while VLC fails to play the commercial disc with code protection.

3. 4K compatibility. VLC player can be a basic media player to meet users' basic playback requirements but VLC is not able to play 4K videos. While Leawo Blu-ray Player is perfectly compatible with 4K videos with the superior quality provided which has been regarded as the best 4K DVD player in the past years.

4. Customized features. Many VLC users noted that the skins and the interface of the VLC are quite limited in the customization. No advanced personal settings can be done to it. But for Blu-ray Player, you are free to choose the skins and backgrounds from the local library.

Comparison

Part 5: Conclusion

In the digital era, you can get easy access to all kinds of digital video formats, especially over the Internet. Therefore, it is quite necessary to obtain a powerful and comprehensive media player that can be able to offer the playback solutions to all kinds of digital videos. The TS files are now quite commonly seen once the HDTV content has been released to the Internet. By referring to the above article, you will not be puzzled by the issue on how to play TS files on PS any more. You can also find your additional ways to play the TS files successfully with the help of VLC and Leawo Blu-ray Players.