Ever because the first sensible individuals discovered methods to digitize video on a pc, there’s been an ongoing effort to make video take up much less area whereas nonetheless providing nice picture high quality. There are various completely different approaches to this, which is why now we have so many video codecs. Whereas you do not have to know completely all of them, there are just a few key sorts which are price being conscious of.
Why Video File Codecs Matter
Each video format has some distinctive historical past as to why it exists and works the best way it does. Some had been designed for house media reminiscent of DVD and Blu-ray, others had been made to be used in software program like video video games, or for transmission over the web.
If you recognize one thing about video codecs, you may you should definitely decide probably the most appropriate one for movies that you just create or convert. Likewise, whenever you encounter a video file that has some type of drawback, figuring out its format may also help you troubleshoot playback points.
Understanding Codecs and Containers
A video file format is made up of two key elements: containers and codecs.
Containers are mainly simply file codecs that comprise different recordsdata. So a video container can have the video, audio, subtitles, and anything related to the media all sewn up in a single file.
A codec, alternatively, is an algorithm used to course of audio and video in order that it takes up much less area, whereas making an attempt to maintain as a lot high quality as doable.
An MP4 file is a container, however two MP4 recordsdata may not be utilizing the identical codec, reminiscent of H.254 or H.265.
With that out of the best way, let’s take a look at these widespread file codecs.
MP4: The Versatile Commonplace
MPEG-4 Half 14 (MP4) is without doubt one of the most widely-used file codecs. MP4s provide mixture of file measurement and high quality as a result of it helps environment friendly video and audio codecs. MP4s are extremely appropriate, and most units that may play video recordsdata can play MP4 recordsdata.
MOV: Optimized for Apple Ecosystems
MOV files are related to Apple computer systems and the Apple Quicktime participant specifically. MOV recordsdata are derived from the identical base customary as MP4 recordsdata, which is why it is typically doable to rename a MOV file to MP4 and have it work simply fantastic. Nonetheless, MOV recordsdata can comprise DRM or different Apple-specific additions which are exterior the MP4 specs and would not work on most MP4 gamers.
AVI: The Legacy Format
Launched by Microsoft in 1992 AVI or Audio Video Interleave was the primary ever sort of video I noticed on a pc. It was an AVI file of the first ever film in (if I recall accurately) Microsoft Encarta ’97.
AVI is never if ever used lately, since it is not a really environment friendly format for video, so any AVI recordsdata you encounter are more likely to be fairly outdated, and really chunky-looking.
MKV: The Versatile Possibility
Matroska Video (MKV) is an open supply format that is nice for backups of media like DVDs as a result of it helps a number of audio tracks, subtitles, and even a number of video streams. Whereas it is fairly a bit extra appropriate lately, many embedded video gamers will not work with MKV in any respect.
Home windows Media Video is one other format you hardly run throughout lately, and for probably the most half solely Home windows apps like Home windows Media Participant or Web Explorer labored with these recordsdata. It is one of many early examples of a video format designed for internet streaming. A minimum of the primary WMV codec was meant for this as competitors to RealVideo.
FLV: Flash Video’s Former Glory
FLV or Flash Video was at one level the preferred strategy to put shifting photos on the internet. It spawned a whole era of creators, and is accountable for lots of contemporary web tradition. The know-how itself, nevertheless, pale away as soon as Adobe dropped help for its Flash Participant software program. This was most likely the precise transfer since FLV had a number of points, together with potential safety issues. The function that FLV recordsdata used to play on the internet has now largely been overtaken by HTML5.
WebM: Internet-Pleasant Format
WebM is an open-source format designed particularly for delivering video on web sites. It is free and open, so it attracts no royalty charges, and any trendy browser can play WebM recordsdata with no further downloads or extensions.
Annoyingly, nevertheless, exterior of internet browsers, mainly nothing helps WebM, so you will all the time have to make use of a video conversion program to transform it to one thing like MP4 format earlier than you should utilize the recordsdata elsewhere.
That covers many of the necessary video file sorts, however there are, after all, many extra, however now you are armed with data of the overwhelming majority of recordsdata you will encounter.
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