MP4 versus MKV

[theinv]

Sorry if this has been discussed before.

Can anyone tell me what are the main differences between the MP4 and MKV container? Which one is better and why would people choose one over the other?


Thanks!

[SealTooGreat]

The main reason I would choose MKV over MP4 is because of native AC3 support along with h264 stream. Otherwise I wouldn't use MKV. MKV is the most versatile container, but fact is it's not an industrial standard (as MP4 is) and that means additional steps (remuxing, demuxing, reencoding) if you want more than storage purpose (like editing, stand alone compatibility etc.), in another word - headaches :)

[chipzoller]

This should be in the "New and alternative a/v containers" forum.

[MetalheadGautham]

This should be in the "New and alternative a/v containers" forum.

seconded

@theinv:

MP4

mp4 is an industrial standard container, based on the MPEG standards. It finds wide use these days, mainly due to its popularity as a container for H.264 and He-AAC, one of the best combos out there. It has the same status as mp3 today, with people refering to portable video players as MP4 players, like how they once refered portable audio players as MP3 players. If you want a format that suports some high end codecs and is suported in several hardwares, it is going to be MP4.

Popular uses:

iPod Video, mobile phones(3gp, a modified mp4), etc etc etc(signifies that I know less than what actually exists:rolleyes:)


MKV

MKV is the most versatile container around today, and it supports every single audio/video format. But it is not yet common, because it doesn't follow the default MPEG standard. It is free and opensource, hence anyone can use it. It is quite new, hence not many programs exist to create media that exploit all its features like dvd style menus, chapters, sub chapters, multiple tracks, multiple formats, internal subtitles, etc.. I recomend you use this only if you don't want to use it in a standalone player. It can easily be de-muxed, to another container, contarary to popular beliefs. Files muxed with this produce smaller size than flvs, avis, etc due to the structure of the container.

Popular uses:

ac3/vorbis/he-aac/wma/ra/mp3/flac + H.264/DivX/XviD/rv/theora(you get the idea don't you: the combo of your favourite codecs;))

reducing size of video files(usually avi, flv, DAT, etc)

[bh0k441]

MKV

It is quite new, hence not many programs exist to create media that exploit all its features like dvd style menus, chapters, sub chapters, multiple tracks, multiple formats, internal subtitles, etc..


MKV sure is everything, but it sure ain't new

[Dark Shikari]

MKV sure is everything, but it sure ain't new
The standard was only frozen within the past few years, so that's pretty new.

[bond]

theinv

:search:

this has been often discussed already