This article is taken from Explaining Computers youtube video. (Credit to Explaining Computers)

Digital video is combination of codecs and containers.

Codec : Coder-decorder algorithm used to encode the video.

A video codec is a software or hardware that compresses and decompresses digital video to make it easier to store, distribute, and transmit

Containers: Is wrappers that stores video streams and related contents

A container is a format specification, that combines all these streams into a single file format. It defines how to put all these data together, how to attach metadata (e.g. author, description, etc), how to synchronize these streams, and sometimes a container even contains indexes to aid seeking.

Common containers: MOV, MP4, MKV, WebM, WAV (audio only)

Comman Codecs	Comman Containers
H.264/AVC	MP4
H.265/HEVC	AVI
H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2	MOV
M-JPEG	MXF
ProRes	3DP & 3G2
_	MTS, M2TS & TS

Intraframe vs Interframe compression

Intraframe compression (also called spatial compression) reduces the size of each individual frame independently by reducing redundant information within the frame, similar to how JPEG compression works for still images. This compression technique reduces file size while maintaining high image quality.

Interframe compression (also called temporal compression) reduces file size across multiple frames by creating a starting point and then only saving the changes in subsequent frames. By using this compression technique, only the changes between frames are saved resulting in drastically reduced file sizes. (Read More)

# Common Intraframe Codecs

M-JPEG, ProRes, DNxHD and DNxHR.

M-JPEG = ‘motion-jpeg’ and stores each frame or field as a jpeg image.

ProRes is a family of intraframe codecs created by Apple, which is widely used in professional acquisition and production.

# Common Intraframe Codecs

M-JPEG, ProRes, DNxHD and DNxHR.

M-JPEG = ‘motion-jpeg’ and stores each frame or field as a jpeg image.

ProRes is a family of intraframe codecs created by Apple, which is widely used in professional acquisition and production.

For example, the codecs ProRes 422 Proxy have data rate at 1080p 29.97 fps will have file size of 45 Mb/s (0.3 GB/minute) and on the other hand ProRes 4444 XQ - 495 Mb/s (3.7 GB/minute)

# DNxHD and DNxHD

DNxHD = digital nonlinear extensible high definition, and is a family of intraframe codecs created by Avid.

DNxHD is a higher resolution version, supporting 4K video and above.

Data rates and file sizes can get very large indeed.

# H.264 / AVC - advanced video coding

• Defined by Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) in Part 10 of the MPEG-4 standard.
• Mostly, H.264 is an interframe codec that produces relatively small video files.
• But there is an intraframe implementation, usually described as I-frame H.264.

# H.265 / HEVC - high efficiency video coding

• Defined by MPEG in Part 2 of MPEG-H.
• Produces interframe video with the same quality as interframe H.264, but with roughly half the data rate and file size.
• H.265 = HEVC = ‘high efficiency video coding’.
• Defined by MPEG in Part 2 of MPEG-H.
• Produces interframe video with the same quality as interframe H.264, but with roughly half the data rate and file size.
• But requires more processing than H.264.

# H.262 / MPEG -2

• H.262 defined by MPEG in Part 2 of their MPEG-2 standard
• Not as efficient as H.264 or H.265, so produces much larger video files.
• Still widely used for SD digital television broadcasts and DVDs.

# Common Containers • MP4, AVI and MOV.
• MP4 defined by MPEG in MPEG-4 Part 14.
• AVI developed by Microsoft and stands for ‘audio video interleave’.
• MOV created by Apple and is short for ‘movie’.

Thank You!!!