Information
| Name and file extension, if different | Proprietor/Developer | License | Support for B-frames | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3GP | 3GPP | ? | Yes | 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 3G2 | 3GPP2 | ? | Yes | 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Advanced Systems Format (.asf, .wma, .wmv) | Microsoft | Proprietary, patent encumbered | No | 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 |
| AVI | Microsoft | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes, via third party modifications | Yes, via third party modifications | Almost anything through VFW; H.264/AVC is problematic due to the limited B-frame support | Almost anything through ACM; Vorbis is problematic | Yes through RIFF chunks | No | Yes | No | ? | No | Yes |
| DivX Media Format (.divx) | DivX, Inc. | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | MPEG-4 Part 2 video encoded to meet DivX profiles | MP3, PCM, AC-3 | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
| EVO | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| F4V (Flash Video) | Adobe Systems | Patent encumbered | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | MP3, AAC, HE-AAC | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| FLV (Flash Video) | Adobe Systems | Patent encumbered | Yes | ? | Yes | No | No | Sorenson, VP6, Screen Video, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | MP3, Nellymoser, ADPCM, Linear PCM, AAC, Speex | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Matroska (.mkv, .mk3d, .mka, .mks) | CoreCodec, Inc. | Freely licensed | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Virtually anything | Virtually anything | Yes | under development by CoreCodec | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MCF | Community | BSD-style license for specs, GNU for tools | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Not fully specified | Not fully specified | Yes | Possible | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No |
| MP4 | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | 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 | MPEG-2/4 (HE)-AAC, MPEG-1/2 Layers I, II, III (MP3), AC-3, Apple Lossless, ALS, SLS, Vorbis(with private objectTypeIndication), others | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| MPEG Video File (.mpg, .mpeg) | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | MPEG-1, MPEG-2 | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (mp3), other formats only in private streams: LPCM | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
| MPEG program stream PS (.ps) | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | 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, VC-1, H.264 | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (mp3), other formats only in private streams: AAC, AC-3, LPCM, DTS | No | Only in private streams — used in VOB files on DVDs | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
| MPEG transport stream TS (.ts) | MPEG | Patent encumbered | Yes | 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 | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (mp3), AAC, other formats in private streams: AC-3, LPCM, DTS | No | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
| 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 |
| MXF | SMPTE | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Virtually anything | Virtually anything | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | No |
| Ogg | Xiph.org | Patent-free, Free software implementations available | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Ogg Writ, Ogg Kate | Theora, Dirac, OggUVS, MNG and others, and almost anything else via VFW | Vorbis, FLAC, Speex, Opus, OggPCM, and almost anything else via ACM | CMML, Ogg Skeleton, Vorbis comment | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
| QuickTime (.mov, .qt) | Apple | Proprietary | Yes | 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 |
| RMVB | RealNetworks | Proprietary | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | RealVideo 8, 9, 10 | (HE)-AAC, Cook Codec, Vorbis, RealAudio Lossless | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| VOB+IFO | DVD Forum | Proprietary | Yes | 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 |
| WebM | WebM Project | perpetual license grant to patents | Yes, but unused | Yes | Yes | No | No, but support for embedding WebVTT is under consideration | VP8 | Vorbis | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietor/Developer | License | Support for B-frames | 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 |
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of Container Formats
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