Comparison of common video formats – which is the best?
Verica Rosic, October 4, 2022· Explainer Video
What video formats are there? And which is the best video format? Mov, MP4, MPEG, AVI and Co. – we present common video formats, explain the respective advantages and disadvantages and show which video format makes sense when. Whether it’s an explanatory video or an image film, an e-learning video or a testimonial film. With these differences in content, the format is not important at first. But as soon as it comes to publishing and distributing the videos, the format becomes more important.
Content
Video formats explained: Container & Codec
Before we go into the different video formats, we must first explain what container and codec mean. For a video format, a distinction is always made between the container and the codec.
Container
In principle, a container is nothing more than a kind of wrapper for the digital video and audio tracks. It contains metadata about the video, such as resolution or frame rate, but also about the audio track, language or the bit rate at which the video is available.
Codec
The codec is the actual heart of a video. It compresses and decompresses (encodes and decodes) the video – with varying degrees of quality depending on the codec. There are two types of codecs: lossy and lossless.
Lossy codecs compress the video by losing details of the video. If a video is heavily compressed, the result is poor picture quality.
Lossless codecs, on the other hand, compress the video without losing details – so the quality of the original is fully preserved. However, lossless codecs are usually very resource-intensive and the video becomes very large as a result.
What are the video formats?
The following is a comparison of the most common video formats.
Quicktime / MOV (*.mov)
The MOV format is a container format from Apple. It is often used in combination with the H.264 codec and can store videos in very high quality – however, it is not as widely used as other formats and therefore cannot be played by all devices and programmes. MOV files are primarily used for editing and are used for video editing programmes.
Pros:
Can store videos in very high quality.
Cons:
Not as widely used as other formats and therefore cannot be played by all devices and programmes.
MPEG-1 (*.mpg)
This standard is often used for video cassettes and CDs. The video has a lower resolution and a lower frame rate than other MPEG standards.
Pros:
Can be played on many different devices.
Cons:
Lower resolution and lower frame rate than other MPEG standards, obsolete.
MPEG-2
This standard was developed to store HD videos and is often used for DVDs and TV broadcasts.
Pros:
Can be played on many different devices.
Cons:
Low compression, large file size.
MPEG-4 (also H.264 or AVC)
This standard was developed to compress low-bandwidth videos without much loss of quality. Therefore, it is often used for video streaming and online videos.
Pros:
High compression and high quality, standard on the web.
Cons:
Intensive computing power during rendering.
AVI (*.avi)
The AVI format is a video format developed by Microsoft. It is a very common format and can be played by almost all devices and programmes. However, the compression technique of the AVI format is not very efficient, which means that the files are often very large.
Pros:
Very common format that can be played by almost all devices and programmes
Cons:
Bulky, inflexible.
WMV (*.wmv)
The WMV format is a video format developed by Microsoft. It is a common format, but not all devices and programmes can play it.
Pros:
Very widespread format, good quality.
Cons:
Cannot be played by all devices and programmes.
FLV (*.flv)
The FLV format is a video format developed by Adobe. It is primarily designed for internet use, as the picture and sound quality often suffers due to compression.
Pros:
High compression, playable on mobile devices.
Cons:
Poor picture and sound quality.
3GP (*.3gp)
The FLV format is a video format developed by Adobe. It was developed for use on smartphones and tablets and is intended to consume as little data volume as possible.
Pros:
High compression, playable on mobile devices.
Cons:
Poor picture and sound quality.
MKV (*.mkv)
The MKV format is a container format that is often used for HD videos. The format is named after the Russian matryoshka dolls that can be stacked inside each other to save space. It allows different codecs and additional information. This flexibility can become a problem during playback.
Pros:
Good video quality, high compression, high flexibility.
Cons:
Playback restrictions possible depending on the end device.
HTML5 / WebM (*.webm)
The WebM format is a free, open video format developed by Google. It is based on Matroska and was developed specifically for use with the HTML5 website standard. It can be played by all common web browsers and offers good compression with high quality.
Pros:
High compression, good video quality, optimised for the web.
OGG (*.ogg)
The Ogg format is a free, open video format developed by the Xiph.org Foundation. It can be played by most browsers and offers good compression with high quality.
Pros:
Wide distribution, high quality.
Cons:
Safari browsers and older Internet Explorer only partially support the format.
VOB (*.vob)
The VOB format is a video format that is often used for DVDs. It can be played by many DVD players and programmes, but it is not as widely used as other formats.
Pros:
Can be played by many DVD players and programmes, low compression.
Cons:
Not suitable for web use.
What’s the best video format?
The best video format depends on your needs. If you are creating a video for a website, you need a format that can be played by all common web browsers. If you are creating a video for a DVD, other formats are more suitable.
In most cases, an MPEG format is the best video format because it offers good compression and can be played by all common devices and programmes.
Social Media
MPEG-4 is generally suitable for social media, due to its high acceptance. Facebook recommends MPEG-4 or MOV format, but also allows many others. Largely the same applies to Instagram, except for IGTV, where only MP4 videos are permitted. Youtube shows the permitted formats in this list, Vimeo here.
Website
For websites, it is important that the format is supported by every browser, so MPEG-4 is a good choice. WebM is also optimised for embedding in websites and is suitable thanks to its small file size and fast loading times. However, it cannot be displayed by older browsers.
Frequently asked questions about video formats
What is the most common video format for all devices?
MPEG-4 (also H.264 or AVC) is the most commonly used video file format. This file format, preferred by Apple, can also be played on most other devices. MP4 offers lower resolution than some other formats, but is well suited for videos published on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
What is a small video format?
MPEG-4 are very small files with very good resolution. They can be compressed very strongly and without any noticeable loss of quality. In practice, MPEG-4 makes somewhat higher demands on computer performance. The heavily compressed videos must first be unpacked before they can be played.
Which video format has the best quality
MOV stores video, audio and effects in high quality. However, these files are often quite large. WMV files also offer good video quality and large file sizes like MOV. But: Not only the format, also how much compression is used and with what quality is rendered has an influence on the quality.
Which video format for the internet?
The WebM format is best suited for the Internet. It was specially developed for use with the HTML5 website standard. WebM can be played by all common web browsers and offers good compression with high quality.