Comparison of video container formats

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.

Containers related by derivation

In many ways, derived containers are similar to those on which they are based, sometimes extending them, sometimes limiting their capabilities.

• QTFF
  • ISO BMFF
    • MP4
    • 3GPP, 3GPP2
    • F4V

• MPEG-PS
  • MPEG-TS
    • M2TS
  • VOB
    • EVOB

• MCF
  • Matroska
    • WebM

• RIFF
  • AVI
    • DMF

• RM
  • RMVB

General information about video container formats

Format	Filename extension	Owner or creator	Initial release	License[lower-alpha 1]	VBR audio	VFR	Hardware players	Streaming[upper-alpha 1]	Metadata[upper-alpha 2]	Chapters
Matroska	.mkv, .mk3d[upper-alpha 3]	CoreCodec[upper-alpha 4]	2002-12	Freely licensed[upper-alpha 5]	Yes[upper-alpha 6]	Yes[upper-alpha 6]	Yes[upper-alpha 7]	Yes[upper-alpha 8]	Yes[12]	Yes[13]
MPEG-4 Part 14 (MP4)	.mp4, .m4v[upper-alpha 9]	MPEG	2001-10	Patent encumbered[14]	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not standard[upper-alpha 10]
QuickTime File Format (QTFF)	.mov, .qt	Apple Inc.	1991-12	Proprietary