Playhead: Media Inspector

Know whether a media file is ready before it reaches a player, client, or upload. Playhead is an offline media-checking workspace for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It does not stop at listing technical fields. It finds actionable playback and delivery problems, shows the evidence, and explains what to fix. RUN A MEDIA CHECK Open a video, audio file, or photo to get a clear ready, needs-attention, or playback-risk result. Playhead checks file integrity, device playback, track coverage, HDR signaling, delivery concerns, and private photo metadata. Each finding includes a practical next step. TRY IT WITHOUT YOUR OWN FILES Run the built-in Sample Audit to inspect two safe fixtures: one ready for delivery and one with deliberate problems. It is a quick way to understand what Playhead checks and what its recommendations look like. COMPARE DELIVERABLES BY MEANING Compare two versions and see the changes that matter first. Playhead explains when an audio or subtitle track was added or removed, HDR changed, compatibility improved, quality warnings changed, or size and bitrate moved significantly. The complete field-by-field difference remains available below. SEE TIMELINE EVIDENCE Video, audio, subtitle, and chapter tracks share one clock. Scrub the real timeline, inspect the exact frame under the playhead, find track gaps, and spot alternate audio or subtitle tracks that end too early. UNDERSTAND HDR AND PLAYBACK Playhead translates HDR10, Dolby Vision, and mastering metadata into readable terms. It evaluates the file's exact codec configuration with the capabilities available on the current device. On Mac, it can also report display and frame-pacing considerations. TECHNICAL DEPTH WHEN YOU NEED IT Search every original field, copy any value, or export JSON, XML, EBUCore, CSV, Markdown, and plain text. Inspect from Finder and Quick Look on Mac, or open shared files in place on iPhone and iPad. PHOTOS, TOO Inspect supported photos for camera, lens, shutter, aperture, ISO, copyright, caption, and location metadata. Playhead warns when a photo may reveal where it was taken. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account, analytics, telemetry, or network requests. Your files stay on your device. One purchase covers Mac, iPhone, and iPad.