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Comparison of container formatsThis table compares features of container formats (video file formats). To see which multimedia players support which container format, look at comparison of media players. Information|
| 3GP | 3GPP | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | 3GPP Timed Text | H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AMR-WB+, AAC, HE-AAC and HE-AAC v2 | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
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| 3G2 | 3GPP2 | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | 3GPP Timed Text | H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2 and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | AMR-NB, AMR-WB, AAC, HE-AAC, EVRC, EVRC-B, EVRC-WB, 13K (QCELP), SMV or VMR-WB | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
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| Advanced Systems Format (.asf, .wma, .wmv) | Microsoft | Proprietary, patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Almost anything through VFW or DMO; H.264/AVC is problematic | Almost anything through ACM or DMO; Vorbis is problematic | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
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| AVI | Microsoft | ? | Yes[2] | Yes[3] | Yes, via third party modifications | Yes, via third party modifications | Almost anything through VFW | Almost anything through ACM; Vorbis is problematic [4] | Yes through RIFF chunks | No | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes |
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| DivX Media Format (.divx) | DivX, Inc. | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | MPEG-4 Part 2 video encoded to meet DivX profiles | MP3, PCM, AC-3 | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
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| EVO | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | MPEG-2 Part 2, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, VC-1 | AC-3, E-AC-3, Dolby TrueHD, Linear PCM, DTS, DTS-HD, MPEG-2 Part 3 | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
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| F4V (Flash Video) | Adobe Systems | Patent encumbered | ? | Yes | ? | ? | H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | MP3, AAC, HE-AAC[5] | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
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| FLV (Flash Video) | Adobe Systems | Patent encumbered | ? | Yes | No | No | Sorenson, VP6, Screen Video, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC[6][7] | MP3, Nellymoser, ADPCM, Linear PCM, AAC,[8] Speex[9] | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
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| Matroska (.mkv, .mk3d, .mka, .mks) | CoreCodec, Inc.[10] | Freely licensed[11] | Yes[12] | Yes[12] | Yes[13] | Yes[14] | Virtually anything | Virtually anything | Yes[15] | under development by CoreCodec | Yes[17] | Yes[18] | Yes[19] | Yes[19] | Yes[20] |
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| MCF | Community | BSD-style license for specs, GNU for tools | Yes | Yes | Yes[21] | Yes[21] | Not fully specified | Not fully specified | Yes | Possible | Yes[23] | Yes[21] | ? | ? | No |
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| MP4 | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | 1) In specially formatted text track (QuickTime); 2) In userdata atom (started by Nero Digital) can't interact with the sceneDescription, or via segmentDescriptor | ttxt, VobSubs with private objectTypeIndication not usable with the sceneDescription (started by Nero), BIFS | MPEG-2 Part 2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.263, VC-1, Dirac, others[24] | MPEG-2/4 (HE)-AAC, MPEG-1/2 Layers I, II, III (MP3), AC-3, Apple Lossless, ALS, SLS, Vorbis(with private objectTypeIndication), others[24] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
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| MPEG Video File (.mpg, .mpeg) | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | No | No | MPEG-1, MPEG-2[25] | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (mp3), other formats only in private streams: LPCM[26] | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
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| MPEG program stream PS (.m2p, .ps) | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | ? | Only in private streams — used in VOB files on DVDs | Only in private streams — used in VOB files on DVDs | MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2,[25] VC-1, H.264[27] | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (mp3), other formats only in private streams: AAC, AC-3, LPCM, DTS[26] | No | Only in private streams — used in VOB files on DVDs | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
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| MPEG transport stream TS (.ts) | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | No | possible via ETSI EN 300 743 | MPEG-1, MPEG-2 Part 2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264, other formats in private streams: VC-1, Dirac[28] | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (mp3), AAC, other formats in private streams: AC-3, LPCM, DTS[28] | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
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| BDAV MPEG-2 transport stream (.m2ts) | Blu-ray Disc Association | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | MPEG-2 Part 2, H.264, VC-1 | AC-3, DTS, LPCM, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS HD, Dolby Lossless | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes[29] |
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| MXF | SMPTE | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Virtually anything | Virtually anything | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
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| Ogg | Xiph.org | Patent-free, Free software implementations available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Ogg Writ, Ogg Kate | Theora, Dirac, OggUVS, MNG and others,[30][31] and almost anything else via VFW | Vorbis, FLAC, Speex, Opus, OggPCM,[30][31] and almost anything else via ACM | CMML, Ogg Skeleton, Vorbis comment[32] | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
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| QuickTime (.mov, .qt) | Apple | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Limited to what is available to the QuickTime codec manager | Limited to what is available to Sound Manager or CoreAudio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
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| RMVB | RealNetworks | Proprietary | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | RealVideo 8, 9, 10 | (HE)-AAC, Cook Codec, Vorbis, RealAudio Lossless | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
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| VOB+IFO | DVD Forum | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | MPEG-2 Part 2, MPEG-1 Part 2 | AC-3, Linear PCM, DTS, MPEG-2 Part 3, MPEG-1 Layer II | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
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| WebM | WebM Project | perpetual license grant to patents | Yes | Yes | No | No, but support for embedding WebVTT is under consideration[33] | VP8[34] | Vorbis | No | No | Yes[35] | No | No | Yes | Yes[36] |
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| Proprietor/Developer | License | Variable bit rate audio | Variable frame rate | Chapters | Captions (Subtitles) | Video formats supported | Audio formats supported | Metadata/Tags supported | Menu Support (like DVD) | Streaming Support | Attachment Support | 3D Support (codec) | 3D Support at container level | Supported by hardware players |
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Formats supported Audio formats supported Video formats supported Caption (Subtitle) formats supported See also Notes and references- ^ The ability to hold additional files such as fonts for subtitles etc.
- ^ 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 framerate to be set to Least common multiple of all framerates used, and produces slight overhead compared to true VFR.
- ^ Although FFmpeg has introduced a solution to put Vorbis audio into AVI files, this "extension" is not compatible with existing Vorbis decoders for DirectShow and ACM. Putting Vorbis in an AVI container is very problematic. The way Nandub stored Vorbis audio streams in AVI files occasionally caused desychronisation when seeking.
- ^ Adobe Systems Incorporated (November 2008). Video File Format Specification, Version 10 (PDF). Adobe Systems Incorporated. p. 33. Retrieved 2009-08-03. [dead link]
- ^ H.264/MPEG-4 AVC support is available in Adobe Flash Player 9 Update 3 (version 9.0.115.0 from December 2007) press release
- ^ H.264/MPEG-4 AVC What just happened to video on the web? [1]
- ^ AAC support is available in Adobe Flash Player 9 Update 3 (version 9.0.115.0 from December 2007) press release
- ^ Adobe Systems Incorporated (November 2008). Video File Format Specification, Version 10 (PDF). Adobe Systems Incorporated. p. 6. Retrieved 2009-08-03. [dead link]
- ^ Although CoreCodec holds the copyrights and trademarks for the Matroska specification, the specifications are open to everybody. The source code of the libraries developed by the Matroska team is licensed under the LGPL and BSD licenses.
- ^ Anyone can use it or modify it for their own needs without paying any license or patents. http://www.matroska.org/info/legal/index.html
- ^ a b Matroska is designed to store VBR and VFR content. http://www.matroska.org/technical/guides/faq/index.html
- ^ Matroska supports simple chapters and nested chapters. http://www.matroska.org/technical/specs/chapters/index.html
- ^ Matroska subtitle specification. http://www.matroska.org/technical/specs/subtitles/index.html
- ^ The tagging system of Matroska http://www.matroska.org/technical/specs/tagging/index.html
- ^ For Matroska, there are two different kinds of stream: file access and live streaming. http://www.matroska.org/technical/streaming/index.html
- ^ Matroska can store any type of file. http://www.matroska.org/technical/specs/index.html#Attachment
- ^ a b Matroska 3D Specification
- ^ Companies producing Matroska-supporting hardware include Asus (ASUS Digital Media Player), OPPO Digital (Oppodigital.com OPPO BDP-83 Blue-ray Disc Player), Panasonic (Gizmodo.com, Samsung's 2009 HDTV Lineup Leaked), and LG (Asia.cnet.com How to select the right LG HDTV)
- ^ a b c MCF Specifications
- ^ Streaming for MCF
- ^ a b mp4ra.org — MP4 Registration authority. "Registered types — Codecs, MPEG-4 Registration authority". Retrieved 2009-07-28.
- ^ a b ISO (2000-12-01) ISO/IEC 13818-1 : 2000, Second edition Retrieved on 2009-07-25
- ^ a b DVD Resources for Open Source Development, DVD — MPEG differences, Retrieved on 2009-07-28
- ^ Kalva, Jae-Beom Lee, Hari (2008). The VC-1 and H.264 video compression standards for broadband video services (1 ed.). New York: Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-71042-6.
- ^ a b SMPTE Registration Authority, LLC — registration authority for MPEG-2 format identifiers Retrieved on 2009-07-06
- ^ M2ts#Software_support
- ^ a b "MIME Types and File Extensions". XiphWiki. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
- ^ a b "RFC 5334 — Ogg Media Types". IETF. 2008-09. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
- ^ "Ogg Metadata". Xiph Wiki. 2005-12-20. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
- ^ Specification for embedding WebVTT in a WebM container is in the works.
- ^ WebM limits support to VP8 and vorbis.
- ^ WebM is focused on addressing the unique needs of serving video on the web.
- ^ Rockchip demonstrated full WebM hardware playback.
- ^ Older types of RealAudio (including ATRAC3)use constant bitrate compression, and therefore are fully compatible with the ancient ACM interface. Newest type of RealAudio is actually AAC, which never has been a problem to the DirectShow-based decoders.
- ^ There is a value in the stream headers, called dwSampleSize, which is 0 in order to trigger VBR stream seeking. This is officially documented in the MSDN and not a hack, bug or whatever. The way MP3-VBR and AAC are stored in AVI are specified and completely compliant with the AVI file specification.
- ^ The Matroska developers were awaiting the release of Musepack 8.x, as this version would completely change the bitstream, however Musepack 8 still is unsuitable for any sanely designed container.
- ^ According to "ETSI TS 102 366 v1.2.1 - Digital Audio Compression (AC-3, Enhanced AC-3) Standard, Annex F"
- ^ Through an updated x264/ffdshow filter it is possible to view H.264 in an AVI file.
- ^ Stereo 3D in Matroska can be handled with codecs like MVC.
- ^ As specified by SMPTE Recommended Practices 2025–2007, "VC-1 Bitstream Storage in the ISO Base Media File Format."
- ^ http://unicorn.us.com/jacosub/jscripts.html
- ^ https://www.bunkus.org/videotools/mkvtoolnix/doc/mkvmerge.html#mkvmerge.subtitles
- ^ http://service.real.com/help/library/guides/realtext/realtext.htm
- ^ The requirement for muxing VobSub into matroska is v7 subtitles.
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