Video File Extensions explained
Posted on January 30, 2009
Filed Under Computers, Useful Stuff | Leave a Comment
So you see .AVI, .WMV, .FLV file’s extensions and do you really know what they mean? Here is a description of the most common extensions:
.AVI – Audio/Video Interleave: This is the most common type of file for PC and can include almost all audio and video formats. The most common are DiVX and Xvid for video and MP3 and WAV for audio.
.MKV – Matroska (Matroska Video) - This type of open code file is being used very often mainly because, on the contrary of others, this file format supports multiple channels of audio and subtitles in only one file
.MPEG2 – Moving Picture Experts Group 2 – This is one of the most used type of files. It is the codification used in every DVD disks and also by station that broadcast with digital signal.
.TS – Transport Stream – This type of file is part of the standard MPEG2 and is used in TV station broadcasts.
.DIVX – This format was created by DiVX Inc., the company that created the original DiVX format also known as MP4 or MPEG 4. This was the first format to offer a good relation between compression and image quality.
.MOV – Standard video file from Macintosh, that can be read by Quicktime from Apple.
.WMV – Windows Media Video – This format was created by Microsoft to replace the .AVI that offers more capabilities, for instance compression capabilities as well as high definition signal us.
.H264 – This is the format adopted for the broadcast of high definition signal and also for Blu-ray. It preserves the image quality and at the same time a very good compression rate.
.VOB – Video Object – These files are present in every DVD Video disks. Inside them there are the Mpeg2 video, the audio and subtitles.
.FLV – Flash Video – Coded files to be used in web pages that use Adobe Flash technology. The most famous application of this files is You Tube and all the other sites that offer video in the Internet.
I’ll post about the audio file extensions soon.
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