Video File Formats Explained
Video File Formats
Why they are and how they differ in video quality??
We will explore details related to it!!
- What is exactly a video file format?
- What is a video codec?
- What is a container in video formats?
- Commonly used video file formats
- Q&A
1) What is exactly a video file format?
- A video file format is a type of file format that stores the video data on a computer system or any device. And a video stored in lossy compression because it reduces the size of the original file.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwwJnqPVAFrOyRmuZmk3tvrVAfNJSAdQbBcBmceiMh94ua75QDz2OluhC9G-5R9f5SbKN5VgeSqT6Pq7-VXXwq5tP4ha1WQOQnU4lgu4E-PoUgdTALUtXhxHQIJ9MBiHLRxaTQbwWLYa2f/s640/vff.jpg)
Video File Formats
2) What is a video codec?
- Simply a word codec means "Coder-decoder". A video codec is worked as an electronic circuit or software that compressed & decompresses the digital video. And compressed video files having some standard specifications.
3) What is a container in video formats?
- A word container means that it has contained something but what? we don't know! In this case, the container contains video, audio, and metadata. The information given in pieces and video makes together to playback. Each video file has a container.
4) Commonly used video file formats
- Let's look at some commonly used video file formats.
i) AVI
- It stands for audio video interleave. It has introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Windows software. This file saved in multimedia container format which has audio & video files. Microsoft replaces AVI with WMV video file format in the mid-2000s. This format supports different codecs that's why it is flexible and makes a balance between quality ad size. This type is mostly used for personal use like storing movies, & etc... not for the web. Avi is a subformat of Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF).
Extension: .avi
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb3Aya5UK4jQwqTCjwfRoKj7w8oaVXJzyGjT4wYdB6e4u6fXd5RGU47UstDU5a4EPMGi7yEsK5HIIrNrpCa86Bs86BFX1LLL3_pWx0XXKdkOOwEoYjAcWdJN6zGhRaZIsXwDrFCRcukZ2F/s320/avi.png)
.avi file
ii) MKV
- It stands for Matroska Video. It has derived from Matryoshka the Russian word(which refers to a specific type of doll which opens to expose another doll & it's so on), MKV is more popular in this era! The Matroska is a multimedia file format that can hold unlimited numbers of video, audio, picture or subtitle in one file. It is a totally free and open source. It offers more features compared to others. It gives the best output throughout any system.
Extension: .mkv(video), .mk3d(stereoscopic video), .mka(audio), .mks(subtitle)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjNK7wTK3iQrRRWJv7DX_9a0cU5LZXmyBEbvgCloF44Z8FnMi3GU7q_indDo8-aQPlAJ7TY6EGoUb184sJcIiBoLWBlJJ2Gv0sRas2LsoGNNz8HhnyvkpHPZlCcxW6Sb7OdwzD6yRbiSkb/s400/mkv1.jpg)
.mkv file
iii) FLV & SWF(Flash Formats)
- FLV stands for Flash video & SWF stands for Shockwave Flash. FLV is developed by Adobe & SWF is developed by FutureWave software but now, it is taken by Macromedia and adobe system. Now days flash videos have been around forever.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlD-Q8oNhD-TMJpBPneAw42dEM_9Ny6cFfvl4Bhsgw1ZaTiufbCraHKaAn0E5DLZJqepKWOKbjHhWmxh4nC0sS9y4PWxnbUi4eUqvfMF47k9pk6a6b1H_GyS2N01waByMZJzBbOYv4ywQe/s400/.flash.jpg)
.flv & .swf
Flash, uses two types of files to deliver video, a player file, and a video file. The video file, and FLV mp4 or f4v is played back by the player, an SWF file, with the flash web browser plugin. You can cerebrate of the SWF as the player you typically optically discern embedded on web pages, while the FLV, mp4, or f4v is the genuine video file that is loaded and plays. Flash format is very fashionable for streaming a video on any platform like youtube, google, etc...
Extension: .flv, .f4v, .f4p, .f4a, .f4b(FLV), .swf(SWF)
5) Q&A
i) How to choose which is the best video file format?
- If you are ongoing with streaming purpose then you must try with FLV, MOV, etc... formats. And, I Recommended FLV because it gives us higher quality & it takes less size.
- If you are ongoing with websites then I will suggest you to must use your browser supported formats or MP4, AVI formats.
- If you are ongoing with personal use like watching movies and etc then I will suggest you to must use MKV, WMV formats.
ii) Which video formats are used in Blu-rays?
- In blu-rays, the videos usually come in 16:9 widescreen with resolutions of 1280x720p. Which means it will be in HD or Full HD. The formats are used to encoding a video in blu-rays are H.262/MPEG-2 part2, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.
iii) What we can do if a video file is not supported?
- If you can not access your video file on your device then change it's format then check it! You can check on the internet there are many tools available.
**If you interested to know more about audio file formats then check out this link: Types Of Audio File Formats
That's it guys hope you like it. Don't forget to comment!!!👇
- A video file format is a type of file format that stores the video data on a computer system or any device. And a video stored in lossy compression because it reduces the size of the original file.
![]() |
Video File Formats |
2) What is a video codec?
- Simply a word codec means "Coder-decoder". A video codec is worked as an electronic circuit or software that compressed & decompresses the digital video. And compressed video files having some standard specifications.
3) What is a container in video formats?
- A word container means that it has contained something but what? we don't know! In this case, the container contains video, audio, and metadata. The information given in pieces and video makes together to playback. Each video file has a container.
4) Commonly used video file formats
- Let's look at some commonly used video file formats.
i) AVI
- It stands for audio video interleave. It has introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Windows software. This file saved in multimedia container format which has audio & video files. Microsoft replaces AVI with WMV video file format in the mid-2000s. This format supports different codecs that's why it is flexible and makes a balance between quality ad size. This type is mostly used for personal use like storing movies, & etc... not for the web. Avi is a subformat of Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF).
Extension: .avi
![]() |
.avi file |
ii) MKV
- It stands for Matroska Video. It has derived from Matryoshka the Russian word(which refers to a specific type of doll which opens to expose another doll & it's so on), MKV is more popular in this era! The Matroska is a multimedia file format that can hold unlimited numbers of video, audio, picture or subtitle in one file. It is a totally free and open source. It offers more features compared to others. It gives the best output throughout any system.
Extension: .mkv(video), .mk3d(stereoscopic video), .mka(audio), .mks(subtitle)
![]() |
.mkv file |
iii) FLV & SWF(Flash Formats)
- FLV stands for Flash video & SWF stands for Shockwave Flash. FLV is developed by Adobe & SWF is developed by FutureWave software but now, it is taken by Macromedia and adobe system. Now days flash videos have been around forever.
![]() |
.flv & .swf |
Flash, uses two types of files to deliver video, a player file, and a video file. The video file, and FLV mp4 or f4v is played back by the player, an SWF file, with the flash web browser plugin. You can cerebrate of the SWF as the player you typically optically discern embedded on web pages, while the FLV, mp4, or f4v is the genuine video file that is loaded and plays. Flash format is very fashionable for streaming a video on any platform like youtube, google, etc...
Extension: .flv, .f4v, .f4p, .f4a, .f4b(FLV), .swf(SWF)
5) Q&A
i) How to choose which is the best video file format?
- If you are ongoing with streaming purpose then you must try with FLV, MOV, etc... formats. And, I Recommended FLV because it gives us higher quality & it takes less size.
- If you are ongoing with websites then I will suggest you to must use your browser supported formats or MP4, AVI formats.
- If you are ongoing with personal use like watching movies and etc then I will suggest you to must use MKV, WMV formats.
ii) Which video formats are used in Blu-rays?
- In blu-rays, the videos usually come in 16:9 widescreen with resolutions of 1280x720p. Which means it will be in HD or Full HD. The formats are used to encoding a video in blu-rays are H.262/MPEG-2 part2, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.
iii) What we can do if a video file is not supported?
- If you can not access your video file on your device then change it's format then check it! You can check on the internet there are many tools available.
**If you interested to know more about audio file formats then check out this link: Types Of Audio File Formats
That's it guys hope you like it. Don't forget to comment!!!👇
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