HT204382 Quicktime 10.1 says I need a codec, yet Quicktime 10.2 plays it

Question

I have * .mpg files that Quicktime version 10.1 (501.29) [OSX 10.7.5 (Lion) on my mac-mini] complains it can't open the file "because a required codec isn't available" (It would be helpful if quicktime reported what media format/code it THINKS the .mpg file is, but….)
If I use "MPlayer OSX Extended" (Lion), it plays the file, but it doesn't allow me to access all features, such as closed captioning… Inspector tells me the file format is "TS", that is all.  This has been a barely acceptable work around for about a year now.
If I use "VLC" (Lion) to try to play the file, after a long time it displays a frame and then stops. If I view  VLC:Window --> Media info - -> Codec Details: Stream 0 reports: Codec: Mpeg 1/2 Video (mpgv), Resolution: 704x480, Frame Rate: 59.940060, Decode Format: Planar 4:2:0 YUV; There are 7 more streams, 3 are audio, 4 are closed captioning.
However, if I use Quicktime 10.2 (603.6); OSX 10.8.2 (Mountain Lion) on my macbook air, it plays the file! (but it  does one video track and just one audio track)  Quicktime:Window -> Show Movie Inspector reports Format: MPEG-2 Video, 704x480 (640x480), and 3 audio tracks, FPS: 29.97
I have tried to figure out containers and codecs for some time now and my head spins. If QT 10.2 plays the file but QT 10.1 (the latest version for Lion) doesn't, is it a defect?
The file is actually a recording of a stream broadcast coming from a HDHomeRun tuner, essentially the raw TV broadcast stream of a 480i digital signal.
I am posting this hoping to help those that are having trouble with Quicktime. Nothing that I have seen in the Apple documentation informs me Quicktime 10.2 on Mountain Lion supports more codecs than 10.1 on Lion.
I have seen a lot of posters having problems with Quicktime and Lion; While I can't guarantee updating to Mountain Lion and Quicktime 10.2 will help with your problem, it may be worth a try. Since VLC can't play the files, I may file a bug report with them. Should I file a bug report with Apple? How?

Answer 1

I don't know if Quicktime's requirements are the same as iMovie (since that uses Quicktime), but one thing in your post stood out:
On your 10.1 version, you post that it reports a 60 fps (frames per second) rate.
On your 10.2 version, you post that it reports a 30 fps rate.
iMovie cannot handle 60 fps. As I said, I don't know if Quicktime is similar, but you might want to check out that angle.