Sustainability of Digital Formats
 Planning for Library of Congress Collections

Format Description Categories >> Browse Alphabetical List>> Back

Identification and description

Full name	AVI File Format with V210 Video Encoding
Description	AVI file format wrapping V210 uncompressed video essence, typically multiplexed with soundtrack audio.
Production phase	Generally employed in post-production or editing (middle phase) and in limited modes of dissemination (final phase).
Relationship to other formats
Subtype of	AVI, Audio Video Interleaved
Contains	V210, V210 Video Picture Encoding
May contain	Audio essences of various types, not discussed at this time.

Local use

LC experience or existing holdings	No extensive experience.
LC preference	None. For preservation reformatting, the Library of Congress' Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation has chosen MXF_OP1a_JP2_LL (lossless JPEG 2000 wrapped in MXF operational pattern 1a).

Sustainability factors

Disclosure	See AVI and V210.
Documentation	See AVI and V210.
Adoption	Widely adopted.
Licensing and patents	None.
Transparency	Relatively transparent; requires tools to write and read.
Self-documentation	See AVI.
External dependencies	None.
Technical protection considerations	None.

Quality and functionality factors

Moving Image
Normal rendering	Supported
Clarity (high image resolution)	See V210.
Functionality beyond normal rendering	See AVI.

File type signifiers

Tag	Value	Note
Filename extension	See note.	See AVI.
Internet Media Type	See note.	See AVI.
Magic numbers	See note.	See AVI.
Microsoft FOURCC	V210

Notes

General

Derived from a Microsoft developers page: "The AVISTREAMHEADER structure contains information about one stream in an AVI file." It contains an fccType element ("vids" in this case, for video) followed by a fccHandler element that "contains a FOURCC that identifies a specific data handler. . . . For audio and video streams, this specifies the codec for decoding the stream." This compiler has seen this string in an AVI file: LISTt strlstrh8 vidsV210. Comments welcome.

History

Format specifications

• See Disclosure under Sustainability factors.

Useful references

URLs

• AVISTREAMHEADER structure (Windows) (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd318183%28v=vs.85%29.aspx). Includes description cited in Notes above.