Comparison of container formats
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This table compares features of container formats. Note that DirectShow filters allow playing on any DirectShow-based player, including Windows Media Player. To see which multimedia players support which container format, look at comparison of media players.
| Standard owner | Support for B-frames | Variable bit rate audio | Variable frame rate | Chapters | Subtitles | Video formats supported | Audio formats supported
| |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3GP | 3GPP | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ffffdd;" |3GPP Timed Text | style="background: #ffffdd;" |MPEG-4, H.263 and H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | style="background: #ffffdd;" |AMR-NB/WB, AMR-WB+ and (HE)-AAC
| |
| Advanced Systems Format | Microsoft | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Almost anything through VFW or DMO, H.264/AVC is problematic | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Almost anything through ACM or DMO, Vorbis is problematic
|
| AVI | Microsoft | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Yes, but only through hacks | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Almost anything through VFW, H.264/AVC is problematic due to the limited b-frame support | ACM, Vorbis is problematic
| ||||
| DivX Media Format | DivX | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ffffdd;" | DivX video encoded to meet DivX Profiles | style="background: #ffffdd;" | mp3, PCM, AC-3
|
| Matroska | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | Anything, including embedded fonts | style="background: #ddffdd" | Anything | style="background: #ddffdd" | Anything
| |
| MCF | BSD-style license for specs, GNU for tools | style="background: #ddffdd" | Anything | style="background: #ddffdd" | Anything
| |||||
| MPEG-2 PS (Program Stream) | MPEG | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Only in VOB files on DVDs | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Only in VOB files on DVDs | style="background: #ffffdd;" | MPEG-1, MPEG-2 | style="background: #ffffdd;" | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (mp3), AC-3, LPCM, DTS
| |
| MPEG-2 TS (Transport Stream) | MPEG | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | |
Northern Ontario | style="background: #ffffdd;" | possible via ETSI EN 300 743 | style="background: #ffffdd;" | MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | style="background: #ffffdd;" | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (mp3), AC-3, LPCM, DTS, AAC
|
| MOV | Apple | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | Anything through QuickTime codec manager | style="background: #ddffdd" | Anything through Sound Manager or CoreAudio
|
| MP4 | MPEG | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ffffdd;" | In userdata atom (started by Nero Digital) can't interact with the sceneDescription, or via segmentDescriptor | style="background: #ffffdd;" | ttxt, VobSubs with privat objectTypeIndication not usable with the sceneDescription (started by Nero), BIFS | style="background: #ffffdd;" | MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC | style="background: #ffffdd;" | MPEG-1 Layers I, II, III (MP3), MPEG-2/4 (HE)-AAC, Vorbis (with privat objectTypeIndication), Apple Lossless
|
| OGG/OGM | Xiph.org | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | |
Northern Ontario | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Ogg Writ, SRT and MicroDVD with [OGMtools]. | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Theora, almost anything through VFW, H.264/AVC doesn't work | style="background: #ffffdd;" | Vorbis, almost anything through ACM
|
| RMVB | RealNetworks | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ffffdd;" | RealVideo 8, 9, 10 | style="background: #ffffdd;" | (HE)-AAC, Cook Codec, Vorbis, RealAudio Lossless
| |||
| VOB | MPEG | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ddffdd" | | style="background: #ffffdd;" | VobSub | style="background: #ffffdd;" | MPEG-2 Part 2 | style="background: #ffffdd;" | AC-3, Linear PCM, DTS, MPEG-2 Part 3, MPEG-1 Layer II |
| Standard owner | Support for B-frames | Variable bit rate audio | Variable frame rate | Chapters | Subtitles | Video formats supported | Audio formats supported
|
Notes
- Note 1: B-frames are not natively supported so bitstream processing or "packing" is needed.
- Note 2: 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.
- Note 3: 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.
- Note 4: Although ffmpeg has introduced a solution to put Vorbis audio into AVI files, this "extension" is not compatible to 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.
- Note 5: The Matroska specs are put into the public domain, which means they are patent free and owned by everybody. The relevant, valid format specification is always the one found on [matroska.org], the official homepage. Note: even if the matroska specs are free, the code of the software tools for matroska files can, nevertheless, be proprietary or follow a specific license (BSD, GPL, LGPL, QPL, etc.), depending on the intentions of the programmer or the company behind them.
- Note 6: AVI, depends on codec, may support external subtitle script. This does not count as hack, since XviD and DivX has built-in external subtitle-acception script. RealMedia 10+ also included update to support the subtitle script, similar to one used in AVI.
See also
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