Definition: multimedia container

A digital file format that holds audio, video and subtitles. Containers support a variety of audio and video compression methods and are not tied to one particular audio or video codec. AVI was the first Windows container format, and Matroska/MKV is a popular open-source container. MPEG-4, QuickTime and RealMedia are also A/V containers. See codec examples.

   Multimedia Container Examples

   Microsoft    AVI

   Apple        QuickTime

   Streaming    RealMedia

   Open Source  Matroska

   MPEG-4       MP4