Sample MPEG Files — Download MPEG-2 Test Videos (.mpg / .mpeg)
MPEG-2 Program Stream · .mpeg, .mpg · MIME type video/mpeg
Download a sample MPEG file — an MPEG-2 program stream with MPEG-1 Layer II audio, the format of DVDs, digital broadcast archives and many early digital cameras. It is the oldest mainstream video format still in circulation and a useful check for tools that only handle modern MP4-family containers.
MPEG-2 files are large for their quality by today's standards; our 720p clip needs roughly twice the bitrate of the equivalent H.264 file to look similar.
Download sample MPEG files
| File | Details | Size | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
sample-video-480x270-1mb.mpeg | 480 × 270 · 10 s · 30 fps · MPEG2VIDEO · MP2 audio · 857 kbps | 1.1 MB | |
sample-video-1280x720-2mb.mpeg | 1280 × 720 · 10 s · 30 fps · MPEG2VIDEO · MP2 audio · 1616 kbps | 2.0 MB |
Use these files from the command line or CI
Every URL is stable and CORS-open. Pin the SHA-256 in your test and you will know the moment a fixture changes.
# Download one file curl -O https://pnb-website-bucket.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/samples/videos/mpeg/sample-video-480x270-1mb.mpeg # Verify it (SHA-256 is listed for every file above) shasum -a 256 sample-video-480x270-1mb.mpeg # Machine-readable index of every sample file curl https://pnb-website-bucket.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/samples/index.json | jq '.files[] | select(.format=="mpeg")'
MPEG format at a glance
| Full name | MPEG-2 Program Stream |
|---|---|
| Extensions | .mpeg, .mpg |
| MIME type | video/mpeg |
| Standard | ISO/IEC 13818 (1995) |
| Codecs here | MPEG-2 video + MP2 audio |
| Used by | DVD-Video, DVB/ATSC broadcast, camcorders |
| Magic bytes | 00 00 01 BA (pack header) |
What people test with sample MPEG files
- DVD and broadcast archive migration
- Transcoder input coverage for MPEG-1/2 program streams
Frequently asked questions
.mpg or .mpeg — which extension is correct?
Both refer to the same MPEG program stream; .mpg is the DOS-era three-letter form. Validate by content (the 00 00 01 BA pack header), not by extension.
Are these MPEG files safe to download?
Yes. Every file is generated by our own open script from scratch — nothing is scraped or user-uploaded — and contains no scripts, macros or executables. The SHA-256 of each file is published on this page so you can verify what you received.
Can I use the sample MPEG files commercially?
Yes. They are free for any purpose, including commercial products, test suites, demos and redistribution, with no attribution required. There is nothing to license and no one to ask.
Can I hotlink these files or use them in CI?
Yes. Every link is a stable direct URL over HTTPS with Access-Control-Allow-Origin: * and long cache headers, so curl, wget, fetch() and test runners can pull them directly. A JSON index of every file is linked from each page (see the command-line section).
Related sample files
Testing a file pipeline? We build them.
Uploads, conversions, previews, document processing and media workflows are the kind of production systems Pine & Birch designs and runs for clients — which is why we needed these files in the first place.
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