VOB, MPG and M2TS video thumbnails in Windows Explorer

SageThumbs 2K decodes MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video itself, so DVD files (.vob) and VideoCD-era .mpg files show a real frame in File Explorer, and so do MPEG-2 .ts, .m2ts and .mts recordings that Windows declines.

What you see

Windows cannot open MPEG-1 system streams or bare .m1v and .m2v streams on any edition. SageThumbs draws them.
DVD .vob files and MPEG-2 recordings otherwise need Microsoft's MPEG-2 Video Extension. SageThumbs draws them whenever Windows declines, so that extension is optional for most files.
With the extension installed, Windows draws those frames a little faster.

Limits

Interlaced recordings that store each frame as two half-pictures are left to Windows, which needs the MPEG-2 Video Extension for them.
In OneDrive and other synced folders, files stored on the PC get thumbnails as anywhere else. Online-only files are left to the cloud app, since nothing is downloaded just to draw a thumbnail.

More you can do

Press Space to open a recording in Quick preview. Playback uses Windows' own codecs, and the title bar says when one is missing.

Extensions this covers

.vob .mpg .mpeg .m1v .m2v .mpv .mp2v .m2p .ts .m2ts .mts

See every format SageThumbs 2K supports or browse all format guides.

Get SageThumbs 2K

Install it with winget:

winget install LunarWerxs.SageThumbs2K

Or download the installer from GitHub and run it.

Download the installer

Windows 11 and 10, 64-bit, on x64 and Arm. The same page has a portable zip that needs no installing.

Free for personal use

Home, hobby and other non-commercial use is free: every format and every tool. A company, a shop or anyone doing paid work needs a business licence for each PC.

A business licence is US$49 per PC once, with 12 months of updates, or US$2.99 per PC a month. See business licence pricing

Thumbnails not showing?

Windows caches thumbnails, and a file it failed on once stays failed. In SageThumbs, Settings ▸ Advanced ▸ Rebuild thumbnail cache clears the cache and restarts Explorer.
Make sure File Explorer's "Always show icons, never thumbnails" option is off, and that the format is ticked in SageThumbs Settings ▸ File types.
Run st2k doctor in a terminal. It only reads, checks the whole chain, and prints a fix under anything that is wrong.