Different Types of Video Formats

In today’s world, video is vital – but not all videos are created equal. There are various video file formats to choose between. Each of the video file types comes with its own pros and cons, which we’ll discuss in this article.

Video formats represent different ways of storing the data that makes up videos. One way of visualizing these formats is as containers. Different containers hold data in different ways. Some are better for certain situations, while others may be more appropriate in different situations. At the end of the day, the data being stored – that is, the visual and possibly audio data of the video being stored – is the same.

Video file formats exist because that data can be extensive and complicated. That is, video files can quickly become very large. This makes them hard and expensive to store and share. To solve this problem, developers created codecs, which are programs that encode the video data to make it easier to store and share. Different codecs turn the data into different types of video files. Video file name extensions are used to identify what codec has been used to encode a particular video file.

There are many different types of video files. However, only a few are popular enough to be considered standard. Many types are simply not common enough for most people to encounter them, so they are often not included in comparisons or lists.

The most common video file format, MP4 is part of the MPEG family. While it doesn’t offer quite as high resolution as some other members of the MPEG group, its quality is good for the relatively small file size it creates. That balance of specs means that MP4 is the current digital standard across the web, and is also common for TV use. If you want to upload video content online, whether it be to YouTube, Instagram, or some other site, MP4 is probably your best bet.

Apple’s unique file format, developed specifically for the QuickTime app. If you compare MOV files to MP4 files, you’ll likely notice an obvious difference. Not the file extension, but the size – MOV files are often quite large. This means they are usually avoided when sharing videos or uploading them to the web, as the large file sizes make for slow and expensive transfers and uploads. However, the large size also means that MOV files can maintain extremely high quality. Therefore, video editors often work in MOV so they can edit with high-quality footage. Of course, once you’re done editing, you might have to convert the MOV file into something more compressed, like MP4, but that’s the price of editing with high-quality footage! Fortunately, conversion tools like Movavi Video Converter make this switch easy.

An older video file format developed in the 1990s. One unique feature about AVI files is the audio quality. As the name perhaps implies, AVI files are known for preserving excellent audio. This makes them great for editing or watching videos where the audio is really important — such as with music videos. You can even get lossless AVI files, which are usually the highest quality possible. If you’re planning on displaying your video on TV, or a site like Vimeo, AVI might be a good bet. However, the sheer size – potentially multiple gigabytes for a single minute of video – might make things difficult for those uploading or sharing their videos to the internet.

Actually a family of video files, all created for devices running Windows. The family is comprised of multiple different codecs, and each codec results in a slightly different end product. In general, WMV files are known for having small files. That inevitably means some loss in quality, but often the reduction in file size is worth the minimal quality reduction. If you work on Windows, WMV may be a great choice. However, WMV is not the most common file format for sharing videos online, because it is often incompatible with devices running Apple, Linux, or other operating devices.

Developed by Adobe to be used with Adobe^® Flash^® Player. FLV files used to be the most popular type of video file format. However, that all came to an end in 2020, when Adobe officially discontinued Flash^® Player. Without Flash^® Player, FLV files usually couldn’t be run. In their place was an error message. As you can imagine, that forced many people to switch to other file formats, like MP4, which are still widely supported. Dedicated fans can still use FLV files with third-party video players, but otherwise this file format is unfortunately not really used anymore.

Relatively new file format developed by Google for use on the web. It was released in 2019, a year before Flash^® Player was discontinued. Google created WebM with the internet in mind. The idea was to make a video file format that was as small as possible, while still maintaining acceptable quality. The small file size means that WebM videos load quickly. This makes them excellent for any videos that might be watched online. People with weak internet connections particularly benefit from the small file sizes of WebM videos. The only problem is that WebM is still not widely supported. Certain browsers, like Safari, do not support the format, although you can download third-party plugins that overcome this issue.

Developed for use in camcorders by Sony and Panasonic. Videos with this file format are extremely high-quality. However, the tradeoff is a larger file size. That means that MP4 is generally more popular today.

MKV is a free and open-source format. The draw of MKV is how powerful it is. It can support many different types of codecs. However, it itself is not widely supported. If you know that you’ll be playing your videos on a media player that supports MKV, such as VLC, then you can go ahead and use it. Otherwise, it might be best to stick with one of the more widely supported file formats.

One of the early offerings in the MPEG group of video codecs, which includes famous names like MPEG-4 (MP4). MPEG-2 is usually used for burning movies to DVDs.

• Codec. A codec is the program that compresses a video or audio file.
• Bitrate. Measure of the rate of information processed, often measured in megabits per second (mgps). Essentially a measure of video quality, where a higher bitrate means better quality.
• Container. Stores every part of a video. Includes the picture itself, audio, metadata, subtitles, and possibly more.
• Frame rate. The number of individual pictures (frames) displayed per second. A lower frame rate usually results in a less smooth video. The most common frame rate is 24 (frames per second). However, 25 FPS, 30 FPS, 48 FPS, and 60 FPS are also common.  
• Resolution. Measure of the number of pixels in a single video frame or image. More pixels generally means a sharper video, in which more details can be identified. Conversely, a lower resolution generally results in videos that are blurry, pixelated, or otherwise less defined. Videos are usually considered high-quality if they have a resolution of at least 720p (pixels). Common high-definition resolutions include 1080p, 2K, and 4K.
• Aspect ratio. Describes the ratio between the width and the height of a video. For example, a video that is 400 pixels wide with an aspect ratio of 4:3 would be 300 pixels tall. The most common aspect ratios are 4:3 and 16:9.
• Lossless compression. A type of compression that results in no information being lost. This usually means total conservation of video quality, although the tradeoff is often higher file sizes.
• Lossy compression. Also known as irreversible compression, because some information is lost during the compression process. The resulting compressed file is an approximation of the original. The more compressed a file is, the less accurate that approximation will become. In video, this results in a lower quality and possibly artifacts. Despite all this, lossy compression is commonly used because it often reduces video file sizes considerably. When done correctly, or sparingly, the discarded information is not noticeable by the end user.

There’s no single perfect video file format. When choosing which one to work with, consider your specific needs, such as storage space and the device or devices you’ll be using to process and watch the video. Fortunately, tools like Movavi Video Converter make it easy to switch from one format to another, should the need arise.