MKV File Format: File Format Chart
The following table contains technical and descriptive information about the four most common moving image file formats for preservation. Current standards were assessed by examining Library of Congress File Formats and their use; blogs and forums dedicated to explaining file formats from the community; file format documentation; and other University's preservation policies. Please see the Resources page for links to the resources consulted in creating this chart.
Moving Image Preservation File Formats Comparison
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AVI |
MPEG-4 |
MOV |
MKV |
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GENERAL INFO |
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Name |
Audio Video Interleave |
MPEG-4 Part 14 |
QuickTime File Format |
Matroska Multimedia Container |
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File Container |
AVI |
MPEG-4 Part 12 |
QuickTime |
Matroska |
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File Extension |
.avi |
.mp4 |
.mov, .qt |
.mkv |
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Developer |
Microsoft and IBM |
Moving Pictures Experts Group |
Apple, Inc. |
CoreCodec, Inc. |
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Standards |
None |
ISO/IEC 14496-2:2004 |
ISO/IEC 14496-2:2004, as an extension of MPEG-4 |
None |
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS |
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Disclosure |
Proprietary |
Non-proprietary |
Proprietary |
Non-proprietary |
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Documentation |
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Adoption |
Widely adopted |
Widely adopted |
Widely adopted |
Modestly adopted |
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Impact of patents |
None known to LoC |
Licensed by MPEG LA LLC and Via Licensing Corporation |
Licensed by Apple and limited to Apple software and other technology. |
Open standards for all. Source code licensed under GNU L-GPL. Free parsing and playback libraries under BSD license for adoption. |
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Transparency |
File wrapper is transparent; encoded video bitstreams "require tools and documentation to decode"
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Depends on encoding, but all encoding depend on "algorithms and tools to read and require sophistication to build tools" |
"relatively transparent," all codecs have documentation |
Depends on encoding, but all encoding depend on "algorithms and tools to read and require sipistication to build tools"
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Self-documentation |
Technical info provided in header chunks; descriptive in RIFF chunks |
Object and scene descriptions required |
Technical metadata is in the header for the atoms and in locations in the file |
Technical and descriptive metadata in the wrapper |
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External Dependencies |
None |
Surround sound requires multiple loudspeakers |
None |
Need a DirectShow parser filter for Windows machines. Other non-DirectShow players do not need the parser. |
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Technical protection mechanisms |
None |
Standardized Intellectual Propterty Management and Protection (IPMP) interface |
May require users to enter a media key; files cannot be played on more that three platforms; limited by Apple software |
Encryption is supported |
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OTHER TECHNICAL INFO |
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Popular Codec |
DiVx/XviD |
H.264 |
Apple ProRes 422 (LT) |
FF Video Codec 1 |
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Video coding formats |
Almost anything through Video for Windows (VFW)
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H.264, MPEG-4 Part 2, MPEG-2, MPEG-1
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MPEG-2, MPEG-4 Part 2, H.264, H.263, H.261, Apple ProRes, Apple Pixlet, Cinepak, Component VIdeo, DV, DVC Pro 50, Graphics, Motion JPEG, Photo JPEG, QUickTime Animation, Sorenson VIdeo 2, Sorenson Video 3 |
Any
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Audio coding formats |
Almost anything through Audio Compression Manager (ACM); Vorbis is problematic |
ACC, MP3
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ACC, HE-AAC, Apple Lossless, MP3, AMR, Narrowband, etc.
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Any |
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Audio formats supported |
MP3, WMA, AAC, AC-3, DTS, PCM, LPCM
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MP3, WMA, Opus, AAC, AC-3, DTS, LPCM, ALAC, DTS-HD |
MP3, WMA, Vorbis, AAC, PCM, LPCM, FLAC, ALAC
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MP3, WMA, Vorbis, Opus, AAC, AC-3, DTS, PCM, LPCM, FLAC, ALAC, MLP/Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD
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| Video formats supported
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MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (A)SP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, VC-1/WMV, Real Video, THeora, Microsoft MPEG4 V2, VP8
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MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (A)SP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.265/HEVC, VC-1/WMV, Real Video, Theora, Microsoft MPEG4 V2, VP8, VP9, MVC |
MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (A)SP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.265/HEVC, VC-1/WMV, Theora |
MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (A)SP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, H.265/HEVC, VC-1/WMV, Real Video, Theora, Microsoft MPEG4 V2, VP8, VP9, MVC |
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Compression |
Lossless |
Lossy |
Lossy |
Both -- Lossless with FFV1 encoding |
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Timecode |
Competing approaches |
Depends on the software |
Supports multiple timecodes, located in the tmcd atom |
Located in the "headers for blocks, blockgroups, and clusters" |
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3D Objects |
Not known |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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Captions/subtitles |
Yes, via third party mods |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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Can contains both audio and video data |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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Capable of running on PC and MAC OS |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
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Metadata
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Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP)
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Various: Object Content Information (OCI), MPEG07 data ( a separate standardized structure for discovery) |
Technical metadata is in the header for the atoms and in locations in the file. |
Various: Technical and descriptive metadata in the wrapper. Descriptive metadata can be embedded in the tagging section. |
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Other noted limitations |
1. No stardardized way to encode aspect ratio; 2. No standardized was to include a time code; 3. Not intended to "contain video using compression technique that requires access to furutre video frame data -- issues with playback software; 4. Cannot contain some types of variable bitrate such as MP3 below 32kHz; 5. 5MD per hour of video; 6. No metadata for "scan type"
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Still evolving |
"QuickTime permits users to make as many timecode tracks as they wish, but experts report that this can inhibit interoperability and some tracks may not be properly read. "
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1. Still evolving; 2. More complicated than AVI; 3. Reputation tainted by online origin |