Comparison of video container formats
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These tables compare features of multimedia container formats, most often used for storing or streaming digital video or digital audio content. To see which multimedia players support which container format, look at comparison of media players.
Format | Filename extension | Owner or creator | Initial release | License |
VBR audio | VFR | Hardware players | Streaming |
Metadata |
Chapters |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Matroska | .mkv, .mk3d |
CoreCodec |
2002-12 | Freely licensed |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
MPEG-4 Part 14 (MP4) | .mp4, .m4v |
MPEG | 2001-10 | Patent encumbered |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not standard |
QuickTime File Format (QTFF) | .mov, .qt | Apple Inc. | 1991-12 | Proprietary |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Advanced Systems Format (ASF) | .asf, .wmv |
Microsoft | 1996-09 | Royalties on codecs |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Yes | Yes |
Audio Video Interleave (AVI) | .avi | Microsoft | 1992-11 | Proprietary |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes | No | Yes | Needs alterations |
Material Exchange Format (MXF) | .mxf | SMPTE | 2004-09 | Patent-free |
Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Yes | No |
MPEG program stream (PS) | .m2p, .ps |
MPEG | 1993-08 | Patent-free |
Yes | Yes |
Yes | No | No | No |
MPEG transport stream (TS) | .ts, .tsv |
MPEG | 1995-07 | Patent-free |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
BDAV MPEG-2 transport stream (M2TS) | .m2ts, .mts | BDA | 2004-08 | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | Yes | With DVB |
Needs multiple files |
Needs multiple files |
Video Object (VOB) | .vob | DVD Forum | 1996-11 | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Needs multiple files |
Enhanced VOB (EVO) | .evo | DVD Forum | 2006-03 | Patent encumbered |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Needs multiple files |
3GPP (3GP) | .3gp | 3GPP | 2003-04 | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Yes | No |
3GPP2 (3G2) | .3g2 | 3GPP2 | 2004-01 | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Flash Video (F4V) | .f4v |
Adobe Inc. | 2007-12 | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Flash Video (FLV) | .flv | Adobe Inc. | 2003-09 | Proprietary |
Yes |
Yes | Yes | With RTMP | Yes | Yes |
Ogg | .ogv, .ogx |
Xiph.Org | 2003-05 | Open source |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Yes |
As Vorbis comments |
WebM | .webm | 2010-05 | Royalty-free |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Yes | |
RealMedia Variable Bitrate (RMVB) | .rmvb | RealNetworks | 2003 | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
No |
DivX Media Format (DMF) | .divx | DivX, Inc. | 2005-06 | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Support level legend: Full Indirect, lossless Partial Depends on setup None
- Also
.mka
for content that is primarily audio or.mks
for subtitles only.[3] - Matroska is designed to store VBR and VFR content.[6]
- Matroska can be streamed over HTTP and RTP/RTSP, through it is not meant to be streamed over RTP, as the two have duplicate features.[11]
- License required from manufacturers or developers of codecs, but no license fees for the distribution of content.[18]
- ACM cannot handle VBR audio streams in AVI files. Thus, software using ACM to read audio from AVI files will not be able to handle VBR audio streams correctly, even though such files are compliant to the AVI file specification. This is a limitation of the ACM, not of the AVI file format.
- Although AVI is not designed for variable framerates, it is possible to use them without creating a non-standard file by using 0-byte chunks for skipped frames. However, it requires the framerate to be set to the least common multiple of all framerates used, and produces slight overhead compared to true VFR.
- MPEG-2 Part 1 specification,[23] p. 64, sec. 2.6.3.
- Blu-ray adopts a specific file structure. Simple title metadata are stored in the
/BMDV/index.bdmv
file. - Blu-ray adopts a specific file structure. Chapters require a companion
.mpls
file in the/BDMV/PLAYLIST/
directory. - VOB adopts a specific file structure to encode DVD content. Chapters and menus require a companion
.ifo
file. - Chapters stored as Vorbis comments[37] are well supported by common tools such as FFmpeg and VLC.
Some features are only supported by a few containers:
- Attachments (additional files, such as fonts for subtitles) are only supported in Matroska,[41] MP4 and QTFF. M2TS supports attachments as multiple files in a specific file structure: fonts for subtitles are in
.otf
files in the/BDMV/AUXDATA/
directory. - Interactive menus are only supported in MP4, QTFF, M2TS, EVO and DMF. VOB supports interactive menus as multiple files in a specific file structure for encoding DVD content, requiring a companion
.ifo
file. Matroska has been planning to support interactive menus as part of a draft specfication since 2004.[42] - Digital 3D is only supported at the container format level in Matroska,[41] MXF[43] and WebM (some stereo modes).[39] M2TS supports Digital 3D as multiple files in a specific file structure for encoding stereoscopic video: MVC stereoscopic data is in
.ssif
files in the/BDMV/STREAM/SSIF/
directory and require a respective base.m2ts
file. Digital 3D in QTFF and ASF is possible, but not standard. MP4 only supports Digital 3D at the video format level.[44]
Some common multimedia file formats are not completely distinct container formats. Some are containers for specific audio and video coding formats, such as WebM, a subset of Matroska. Some are combinations of common container formats and audio and video coding profiles, such as AVCHD and DivX formats. Although sometimes compared to DivX products, Xvid is neither a container format nor a video format, it is a software library that encodes video using specific coding profiles of the common MPEG-4 ASP video format. Those types of restrictions are intended to simplify the construction of multimedia recorders and players.