What are the differences between the various video formats? [closed]

"Codecs (Xvid, x264 etc.) encode video and/or audio to achieve smaller filesizes. Containers (MP4, MKV etc.) hold video and audio streams in the file. Every digital content is encoded somehow. DVD- and BD-video (and such media formats) use their dedicated codec standards (dedicated by companies which developed them).

Codecs and containers are constantly improved and developed. Codecs get faster and more efficient, while new/improved containers get more features (such as support for multiple audio channels or subtitles which were previously not available).

New codecs and containers spawn rapidly, some are here to stay for a relatevely long time, some are to be forgotten.

If you are deciding to encode video I recommend checking this out:

Video compression /
Video codec / Open source codecs

Remember, different devices support different things. It is a whole mess!"