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Matroska File Format with MPEG-4, Advanced Video Coding (Part 10) (H.264)

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Format Description Properties Explanation of format description terms

Identification and description Explanation of format description terms

Full name Matroska File Format with MPEG-4, Advanced Video Coding (Part 10) (H.264)
Description Matroska file containing video essence encoded as MPEG-4_AVC Advanced Video Coding (Part 10) (H.264).

Supported encodings are declared via the unique Codec ID in the Matroska Codec Mappings. For H.264 files, the information is the following:

  • Codec ID: V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
  • Codec Name: AVC/H.264
  • Description: Individual pictures (which could be a frame, a field, or 2 fields having the same timestamp) of AVC/H.264 stored as described in ISO 14496-15.
  • The Private Data contains a AVCDecoderConfigurationRecord structure, as defined in ISO.14496-15. For legacy reasons, because Block Addition Mappings are preferred, the AVCDecoderConfigurationRecord structure MAY be followed by an extension block beginning with a 4-byte extension block size field in big-endian byte order which is the size of the extension block minus 4 (excluding the size of the extension block size field) and a 4-byte field corresponding to a BlockAddIDType of “mvcC” followed by a content corresponding to the content of BlockAddIDExtraData for mvcC.
Production phase Generally a final-state (end-user delivery) format.
Relationship to other formats
    Subtype of Matroska, Matroska Multimedia Container
    Contains MPEG-4_AVC, MPEG-4, Advanced Video Coding (Part 10) (H.264)
    May contain Sound essences and other elements, not described at this time.

Local use Explanation of format description terms

LC experience or existing holdings None
LC preference  

Sustainability factors Explanation of format description terms

Disclosure Both Matroska and MPEG-4 are openly documented. See Matroska and MPEG-4_AVC for more information.
    Documentation

The "source" of the Matroska specification is an XML file hosted on Matroska.org's GitHub repository (although that table has not been updated since 2018). This table is also used to generate the semantic data used in libmatroska and libmatroska2.

Specification information is published concurrently in two locations: The Matroska website and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) Matroska Media Container Format Specifications datatracker. Since 2018, the in-process specification for version 4 of the Matroska Media Container Format has been published as a sequence of Internet Drafts, available at Matroska Media Container Format Specifications datatracker. An early version of the specification dated January 11, 2009 authored by Alexander Noé is available on the Matroska site but it is not clear which versions are covered in this document.

For H.264, the specification is is ISO/IEC 14496-10:2003. Information technology -- Coding of audio-visual objects -- Part 10: Advanced Video Coding. See MPEG-4_AVC for more information.

Adoption A format popular among independent and low-budget filmmakers for online dissemination of their finished works. Adoption in heritage repositories is not known to the authors of this website. Comments Welcome
    Licensing and patents See Matroska and MPEG-4_AVC
Transparency See Matroska and MPEG-4_AVC
Self-documentation See Matroska and MPEG-4_AVC
External dependencies See Matroska and MPEG-4_AVC
Technical protection considerations See Matroska and MPEG-4_AVC

Quality and functionality factors Explanation of format description terms


File type signifiers and format identifiers Explanation of format description terms

Tag Value Note
Filename extension See related format.  See Matroska
Other V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Codec ID value defined in Matroska specification
Pronom PUID See note.  See Matroska.
Wikidata Title ID See note.  See Matroska.

Notes Explanation of format description terms

General  
History  

Format specifications Explanation of format description terms


Useful references

URLs


Last Updated: 04/04/2022