QuickTime, the default player on Mac, is an excellent application for watching videos, but it doesn't support a wide range of formats. Perian is an app that increases the number of formats QuickTime is able to play. After you install Perian, QuickTime can play popular formats like AVI, FLV, MKV, MPEG, and DIVX, for example. The AVI format increases the audio formats it can process: AAC, AC3 Audio, H.264, MPEG4, and VBR MP3. Perian also enables QuickTime's recognition of subtitles in SSA and SRT formats.
Perian and Quicktime on the Mac. I have only good things to say about Perian, so if that would tend to bore you, stop reading!The whole process was soooo easy,in Firefox I put in 'player for avi in macs. Went to the Perian option. Read up on the blurb.liked it and went on to Download.
Here is a quick tutorial on how to install Perian video decoder on OSX. This is a plugin that you install through Mac OSX utility. This will expand the video codecs and formats you can play via.
Perian is a free, open-source QuickTime component for the Mac. It allows you to play video formats that are not natively supported by the Mac on QuickTime and any other player that uses QuickTime, such as iTunes or Front Row.
The current version of Perian can work with QuickTime 7.66 but does not work with QuickTime 10 or above. So if you are using Mac OS X Mountain Lion/Mavericks and upgraded to QuickTime 10 or above, Perian will no longer work for you. And there is no Perian for Windows version from beginning to end. Want to find a Perian.
FAQ: QuickTime Not Working with Perian
1. Cannot open Perian on Mac
Q: I've tried to download Perian from different sources but none of them can be opened because of unidentified developer. On you Mac, go to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General > Allow apps downloaded from… and set your preference, try to open Perian again to see if it works. For any users who can't open Perian for QuickTime, we suggest checking if the components are compatible with the version of QuickTime and macOS.
2. QuickTime with Perian won't open AVI files
Q: QuickTime refuses to play AVI files in QuickTime 7. Any straightforward solution for this problem? It's common that QuickTime won't play AVI files even you have Perian installed on your computer. AVI is a container format introduced by Microsoft, which can contain different types of video and audio codecs unsupported by Perian. You have three ways to solve the error of QuickTime with Perian not playing AVI files:
Try other QuickTime Player alternative, for instance, VLC Media Player, 5KPlayer, MPlayerX etc. Convert AVI to MOV, the best video format for QuickTime. Install other AVI codec packs to help QuickTime play AVI media files.
3. QuickTime doesn't play MKV with Perian installed
Persian Application For Mac
Q: MKV video files won't play in QuickTime with plugin Perian. I downloaded some MKV files but they couldn't open via QuickTime with plugin Perian installed on Mac. I thought QuickTime would work with MKV videos. MKV is a container format like MP4 and AVI. The reasons why QuickTime is not playing MKV are similar to that of QT not playing AVI files. To play MKV on Mac, try other MKV players for Mac or change MKV to MOV with H.264 codec that is widely accepted.