Top 10 common video file formats for 2024
Updated On - March 5, 2024
Videos are the most vital part of every sector in the growing digital era. They are used to promote business products, services, ideas, visions, and more. A video is a form of moving images holding audio and subtitles and involves two primary components- codecs and containers.
Codecs are responsible for maintaining the quality of video by the process of compression and decompression. Some commonly used codecs are H.264, HEVC, DivX, etc. However, containers hold all the components of a video, including audio, subtitles, codec, and more. Each container corresponds to a specific codec to create a unique video format. The name of the video format is usually the same as the container name. Therefore, you need to know them to find the best one for you in 2024. Let’s delve into the major video formats in detail.
Top 10 video formats in 2024:
Video file format decides how easily you can manage your videos. If you choose the wrong one, then you may face issues with compatibility, file size, or video quality. So, select accordingly by going through the following file formats.
MP4 is the most popular and standard video format ever. Every mobile, computer, and other device can play MP4 video files. They can be easily uploaded on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Its unique algorithm provides the facility to recognize and eliminate redundant files.
| Pros | Cons |
| The format is compatible with every latest device, like Windows, iOS, XBOX, and DVD players. | Requires a lot of computing power. |
| Efficient compression produces smaller file sizes than others without compromising the quality. | Videos get easily corrupted while editing. |
| It is an excellent choice for every online video and streaming platform. | Playback issues with some devices. |
| It offers you the facility to attach metadata to your files. | File information might be lost in each compression. |
MOV is also known as QuickTime player, developed by Apple. It offers the same facility as the same as MP4, but it resolves the major drawback of MP4 files. MOV files are easier to edit with most video editing software and support HD-quality videos in smaller sizes. Additionally, it has the power to accelerate your videos to extreme quality.
| Pros | Cons |
| It is a high-definition video format. | Whenever you compress the MOV video format, it can cause data loss. |
| MOV format videos are easy to edit. | It’s mainly developed for Apple users, so most of the time, it asks permission for a QuickTime player to accept this file type. |
| They are web-friendly, even in smaller sizes. | It is only used for editing. |
WMV stands for Windows Media Video. It gives you the best quality in smaller sizes.WMV video file format is used for online streaming and sharing video content through HD DVD or Blu-ray Discs.
| Pros | Cons |
| This format is best for sharing videos widely through email. | After compression, you can lose image quality. |
| Also used for short animations on different video platforms. | It is not familiar to many video players. |
| It’s a good choice for businesses because they keep many videos on their devices. | Not compatible with another Operating system. |
| It is playable on Google Drive. | Uses Digital rights management system. |
Web Media File (WEBM)is a free or open-source video file format developed by Google. It is an alternate source that can be used in HTML5 video and HTML5 audio elements. It is most used for web videos and is even the first preference for digital marketers.
| Pros | Cons |
| It supports top-most browsers like Google Chrome, Opera Mini, Microsoft Edge, and Mozilla Firefox. | It requires HTML, so it’s not familiar to mobile devices. |
| It’s easy to compress or decompress in high quality. | Media players cannot play this file. |
| Playable in the background of a website. | Limited hardware support. |
| It needs a website to play; it takes less time to load. | Codecs are not compatible. |
AVI (Audio Video Interleave) video format is one of the oldest formats that rule in 2024 and is known for its high-quality output. Microsoft developed the format in the response of MOV format in 1995. It takes less time to compress than other video formats.
| Pros | Cons |
| This format is compatible with Windows and other operating systems. | AVI is the oldest version and not for sharing and streaming. |
| It delivers high-quality audio and video. | It cannot hold any subtitles. |
An FLV is a Flash Video mainly developed for Adobe Flash player. It delivers high-quality video and audio over the internet using Adobe Flash Player. It even does not require high-speed internet to play video and audio.
Note: Adobe Flash Professional is now called Adobe Animate.
| Pros | Cons |
| FLV format videos are highly recommended for gamers. | Google crawler will not be able to recognize FLV format. |
| In small sizes, it provides extreme quality. | It’s not built for iOS, so Apple users cannot use it. |
| It’s easy to use and add animations according to your choices. | After converting to any other format, its quality gets reduced. |
| It’s compatible with specific computers like MAC, Linux, etc. | It can be used to deliver malware or viruses, compromising device security. |
MKV (Matroska Video) is an open-source multimedia container that keeps multiple audio, video, image, and subtitles in a single file. It is popular to be used for websites, video hosting, and online streaming. It also gives technical support for the video file format.
MKV video files are easily playable in a VLC media player. It’s a technical media player that can also repair corrupt MKV video files quickly.
| Pros | Cons |
| No data loss while compressing the MKV files. | File sizes are very large, occupying more space on your devices. |
| It is very efficient in online streaming and downloading. | It is more complicated to compress compared to other formats. |
| It supports multiple Codecs within one file. | Limited metadata support. |
| It also provides the best video and audio quality. | Some video editing software does not support MKV files. |
An MTS is an Advanced Video Coding High Definition (AVCHD) format used for Sony and Panasonic HD cameras. It uses MPEG-4/H.264 video codec for compression and supports 720p to 1080 HD video resolutions. Also, it is an MPEG transport stream format.
| Pros | Cons |
| With MTS format videos, you can create HD projects. | MTS format is hard to edit and develop. |
| It’s mainly used for Sony hardware and captures movies and series. | It is not suitable for some programs. |
| It also supports 3D and gives you an authentic look. | Occasionally, there are delays between audio and sound. |
MPEG is a Moving Pictures Experts Group-4 codec developed for video and audio encoding. Developers designed MPEG-4 to deliver DVD-quality video (MPEG-2) of lower quality and smaller sizes. MP4, MPEG, and MPEG-4 will likely store audio, video, still images, subtitles, and other data.
| Pros | Cons |
| Some video players use only MPEG-4 video format. | After editing video quality gets very low. |
| Best for video streaming, distribution, and downloading. | Not compatible with every device. |
| File sizes are small, so it takes less space in your device. | No native methods for processing media. |
AVCHD stands for Advanced Video Coding High Definition. Also, it is a highly developed format for high-dimension videos. In AVCHD format, video Dolby digital or PCY system audio exists. Developers adopted MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 video codec format to compress the video.
| Pros | Cons |
| H.264 / Mped-4 format technology compresses file and gives HD quality without losing data. | It’s specially developed for Panasonic and Sony cameras. |
| It can store multiple photos, audio, video, subtitles, menus, and slideshow in a single file. | All media players do not support it. |
| The newest version of AVCHD also supports 3D videos. | Difficult to save in one file. |
Conclusion
Videos are the most organic way to gain the trust of your audience. So, in this article, we have discussed various video file formats that you can use in 2024. But, if it gets corrupt, manual solutions are not enough to fix it. Therefore, it is advisable to use a professional Recoveryfix video repair tool, which is promising in removing corruption from scratch. It provides the facility to repair corrupt or inaccessible video files of every format, including MP4, MOV, MTS, WEBM, ASF, WMV, M4V, M4A, AVI, AVCHD, FLV, 3G2, 3GP, F4V, etc. It even repairs videos from any camera model.
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