9:53:00 AM
Digital Tube
AVI – Audio Video Interleave
AVI files are the long running digital video workhorse from the Microsoft stable. The format’s popularity has dipped in recent times but AVI still reigns supreme with the swarms of legacy videos propagating the internet. AVI was replaced by Microsoft’s Windows Media Video (WMV) format and usually offers less compression than comparable video file formats including MOV and MPEG. It also does not allow users to select aspect ratios manually, which can be a rather irritating feature.
Open with: Microsoft Windows Media Player, Apple QuickTime Player and VideoLAN VLC media player.
ASF – Advanced Systems Format
Another offering from Microsoft, the ASF container normally houses files compressed with Microsoft’s WMA (Windows Media Audio) and WMV codec. Just to confuse the matter further, the files are usually given the .wmv or .wma suffix and not the expected .asf. A form of copy protection is offered with this container through Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Open with: VideoLAN VLC media player and Microsoft Windows Media Player.
MOV or QT – QuickTime
The MOV and QT Apple QuickTime Movie file formats both support a wide range of codecs. The .mov format saves video files and the .qt suffix is cross-platform, meaning that it supports both Mac and Windows systems. The two file extensions are commonly saved together.
Open with: Apple QuickTime Player.
AVCHD – Advanced Video Coding, High Definition
The result of a Panasonic and Sony collaboration as a video file format for digital camcorders, AVCHD is commonly used for data compressed with the H.264 codec. It’s a file-based format so it can be played back and stored on a range of storage devices. Supports both standard definition and high definition variants and the latest 2.0 version supports 3D.
Open with: VideoLan VLC Media Player and Apple QuickTime Player.
FLV or SWF – Flash Video
Flash Video has been around for some time and comes in numerous versions. Old Flash videos tend to use the Sorenson codec and new Flash uses H.264. It is a popular container format for streaming videos across the internet but a large drawback is that it is not supported on iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads.
Open with: Web browsers with the Flash plugin installed and the Adobe Flash Player.
MPG – MPEG Video File
This prevalent video file format integrates MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video and audio compression. MPEG-1 is almost exclusively used for VCDs (Video Compact Disks ), which failed to catch on in the US but remain popular in other countries. MPEG-2 (also known as H.262) is used for DVDs and broadcast HDTV.
Open with: Microsoft Windows Media Player and Apple QuickTime Player.
MP4 – MPEG-4 Video File
The MPEG-4 format is used to share files on the web. Video and audio tracks are compressed separately where the video file is compressed with MPEG-4 encoding and audio with AAC compression, which is the same audio compression type used in .AAC files.
Open with: MP4 players and Apple QuickTime Player.
WMV – Windows Media Video
The WMV codec is a popular choice for streaming video or audio – where a small portion of a video or audio file downloads and begins to play while the full download continues behind the scenes. WMV includes support for high definition 720 and 1080 resolutions. Based on the ASF container, files ending in the .wmv suffix are normally stored in the .asf container.
Open with: Web browsers with the Windows Media Player plugin and Microsoft Windows Media Player.
DivX – DivX-encoded Movie
Compresses videos with minimal quality loss while supporting resolutions of up to 1080 HD. This high-quality and high-compress codec is recognised by a handful of DVD players but does not support VCD playback. A good option for making video CDs.
Open with: Apple QuickTime Player with DivX codec, DivX Player, VideoLAN VLC media player, SlowView and The Core Media Player.
H.264
The H.264 codec is a popular standard for high definition digital video. It’s a versatile little codec and works with very high and very low bitrates. For example, it can send low resolution and highly compressed videos across the web and then can easily encode high definition movies at high bitrates to play on a HD television. The H.264 codec is often used with digital video cameras and camcorders and it uses the AVCHD container.
Open with: VideoLan VLC Media Player and Apple QuickTime Player.
AVI files are the long running digital video workhorse from the Microsoft stable. The format’s popularity has dipped in recent times but AVI still reigns supreme with the swarms of legacy videos propagating the internet. AVI was replaced by Microsoft’s Windows Media Video (WMV) format and usually offers less compression than comparable video file formats including MOV and MPEG. It also does not allow users to select aspect ratios manually, which can be a rather irritating feature.
Open with: Microsoft Windows Media Player, Apple QuickTime Player and VideoLAN VLC media player.
Another offering from Microsoft, the ASF container normally houses files compressed with Microsoft’s WMA (Windows Media Audio) and WMV codec. Just to confuse the matter further, the files are usually given the .wmv or .wma suffix and not the expected .asf. A form of copy protection is offered with this container through Digital Rights Management (DRM).
Open with: VideoLAN VLC media player and Microsoft Windows Media Player.
The MOV and QT Apple QuickTime Movie file formats both support a wide range of codecs. The .mov format saves video files and the .qt suffix is cross-platform, meaning that it supports both Mac and Windows systems. The two file extensions are commonly saved together.
Open with: Apple QuickTime Player.
The result of a Panasonic and Sony collaboration as a video file format for digital camcorders, AVCHD is commonly used for data compressed with the H.264 codec. It’s a file-based format so it can be played back and stored on a range of storage devices. Supports both standard definition and high definition variants and the latest 2.0 version supports 3D.
Open with: VideoLan VLC Media Player and Apple QuickTime Player.
Flash Video has been around for some time and comes in numerous versions. Old Flash videos tend to use the Sorenson codec and new Flash uses H.264. It is a popular container format for streaming videos across the internet but a large drawback is that it is not supported on iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads.
Open with: Web browsers with the Flash plugin installed and the Adobe Flash Player.
This prevalent video file format integrates MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video and audio compression. MPEG-1 is almost exclusively used for VCDs (Video Compact Disks ), which failed to catch on in the US but remain popular in other countries. MPEG-2 (also known as H.262) is used for DVDs and broadcast HDTV.
Open with: Microsoft Windows Media Player and Apple QuickTime Player.
The MPEG-4 format is used to share files on the web. Video and audio tracks are compressed separately where the video file is compressed with MPEG-4 encoding and audio with AAC compression, which is the same audio compression type used in .AAC files.
Open with: MP4 players and Apple QuickTime Player.
The WMV codec is a popular choice for streaming video or audio – where a small portion of a video or audio file downloads and begins to play while the full download continues behind the scenes. WMV includes support for high definition 720 and 1080 resolutions. Based on the ASF container, files ending in the .wmv suffix are normally stored in the .asf container.
Open with: Web browsers with the Windows Media Player plugin and Microsoft Windows Media Player.
Compresses videos with minimal quality loss while supporting resolutions of up to 1080 HD. This high-quality and high-compress codec is recognised by a handful of DVD players but does not support VCD playback. A good option for making video CDs.
Open with: Apple QuickTime Player with DivX codec, DivX Player, VideoLAN VLC media player, SlowView and The Core Media Player.
The H.264 codec is a popular standard for high definition digital video. It’s a versatile little codec and works with very high and very low bitrates. For example, it can send low resolution and highly compressed videos across the web and then can easily encode high definition movies at high bitrates to play on a HD television. The H.264 codec is often used with digital video cameras and camcorders and it uses the AVCHD container.
Open with: VideoLan VLC Media Player and Apple QuickTime Player.
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