<p>DVD makes use of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG_program_stream" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Program Stream(PS)</a> container whereas Terrestrial Stream(TS) uses for unpredictable transmission.</p>
<p>PS mostly uses MPEG-2 codec whereas the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4_Part_14" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MP4</a> uses better video encoding scheme likes 264, 265 or MPEG-4.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-12T02:38:07.170Z
2020-09-12T02:38:07.170Z
xer-rex
<p>Apologies if this isn't the right community for this question, but I'm wondering why TS files are used for DVDs and not a more widely used format like MP4s or something</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-12T09:29:04.360Z
Short, overly simplistic answer: because the hardware needed to decode mpeg4 would have been too expensive for consumer set-top players at the time the DVD format was released. Moore's law means that processing power is significantly cheaper than it was in the late 90s.
stib
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-13T13:39:54.570Z
@stib I don't think this answer fits at all. TS and MP4 are both container formats, not codecs. Processing power should be more or less irrelevant as these formats only define how to structure the data to deal with the video and audio tracks.
Matt
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-13T14:06:43.253Z
MP4 wasn't invented at the time where DVD format was specified. The format M2TS, which is used for Blu-Rays, can be seen as a successor to TS. Therefore it might be more appropriate to ask why do Blu-Rays use M2TS and not MP4?
Matt
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-13T21:58:50.220Z
@Matt That would be a good question, although I have no experience with Blu-Rays so I wouldn't have known that to be the case
0x777C
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-13T23:43:53.360Z
@Matt, wrong mp4 is both a container and codec: MPEG-4 part 10 is the video codec, MPEG-4 part 3 is the audio codec, MPEG-14 is the container. But that's beside the point, mp4 in common parlance  ("short, overly simplistic") *means* h.264/mp4. Although the format hadn't been specified, the theoretical basis for it was well established, it was just impractical to implement in consumer devices at the time.
stib
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-14T05:12:32.183Z
But mp4 is equals MPEG-14, so since MPEG-14 = container this implies mp4 = container and NOT mp4 = both container and codec. If the general public confuses things or combines mp4 with h264 that's another thing. But yeah, I agree, it was probably just impractical to implement as you say.
Matt
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-13T05:51:48.337Z
DVD-Video does use TS files.
Rusty Core
<dvd>
Why do DVDs use TS files?
0x777C
# Why do DVDs use TS files?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-09-11)

Apologies if this isn't the right community for this question, but I'm wondering why TS files are used for DVDs and not a more widely used format like MP4s or something

**Tags:** dvd

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Short, overly simplistic answer: because the hardware needed to decode mpeg4 would have been too expensive for consumer set-top players at the time the DVD format was released. Moore's law means that processing power is significantly cheaper than it was in the late 90s.  
> **username_2**: @username_1 I don't think this answer fits at all. TS and MP4 are both container formats, not codecs. Processing power should be more or less irrelevant as these formats only define how to structure the data to deal with the video and audio tracks.  
> **username_2**: MP4 wasn't invented at the time where DVD format was specified. The format M2TS, which is used for Blu-Rays, can be seen as a successor to TS. Therefore it might be more appropriate to ask why do Blu-Rays use M2TS and not MP4?  
> **username_0**: @username_2 That would be a good question, although I have no experience with Blu-Rays so I wouldn't have known that to be the case  
> **username_1**: @username_2, wrong mp4 is both a container and codec: MPEG-4 part 10 is the video codec, MPEG-4 part 3 is the audio codec, MPEG-14 is the container. But that's beside the point, mp4 in common parlance  ("short, overly simplistic") *means* h.264/mp4. Although the format hadn't been specified, the theoretical basis for it was well established, it was just impractical to implement in consumer devices at the time.  
> **username_2**: But mp4 is equals MPEG-14, so since MPEG-14 = container this implies mp4 = container and NOT mp4 = both container and codec. If the general public confuses things or combines mp4 with h264 that's another thing. But yeah, I agree, it was probably just impractical to implement as you say.  
> **username_3**: DVD-Video does use TS files.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-09-12. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

DVD makes use of the [Program Stream(PS)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG_program_stream) container whereas Terrestrial Stream(TS) uses for unpredictable transmission.

PS mostly uses MPEG-2 codec whereas the [MP4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPEG-4_Part_14) uses better video encoding scheme likes 264, 265 or MPEG-4.


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