Different Formats
Video formats like .AVI, .WMV, .MPEG, .MOV, .RM, .SWF are very popular with users.
AVI was developed my Microsoft and it’s supported by any computer that operates on Windows and by most popular browsers. It’s commonly used on the internet, but it’s not always possible to play AVI videos on a non-windows computer e.g. Apple Macs. It’s probably supported by most popular browsers because AVI files can contain both audio and video data in standard that allows audio with video playback.
Some people say that AVI is outdated, and they favour other formats because AVI increases the file size more than necessary.
Despite its limitations AVI is still popular with file sharing communities, because of its high compatibility with existing video editing and playback software like VirtualDub and WMP.
WMV is a format for several codecs developed by Microsoft. It was originally for internet streaming as a competitor for RealVideo.
With all the other versions of WMP the quality of the format has probably improved quite a bit; with the latest version 11, both in looks and organisation. That is probably part of the reason why the masses would still use WMV.
WMV is the format that’s mostly focused on, the first version of it, was introduced in1999 and was built upon Microsoft’s design of Mpeg-4 part 2. Microsoft kept developing it and it led to more versions of the codec.
WMV has had many complaints from users and the press. Users dislike the digital rights management system which is sometimes attached to WMV files. The loss of the ability to restore licences for WMV files in the WMP 11 wasn’t greatly accepted.
MPEG or .MPG is the most popular format on the internet, its cross-platform and supported by most popular browsers.
.MOV is the extension used for videos stored in QuickTime and it was developed by Apple. It’s a common format on the net, but QuickTime movies cant play on a Windows computer unless an extra component is installed.
.RAM or .rm is the extension of video stored in the RealVideo format. It was introduced by Real Media for internet streaming (online video, internet TV) with low bandwidths because the low bandwidth priory, quality was often reduced.
Shockwave (Flash) videos have the extension .SWF. It was developed by Macromedia, it requires an extra component, but this component comes pre-installed in the latest versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer.
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