Media types and formats for image, audio, and video content

At a fundamental level, you can specify the type of a media file using a simple MIME type, such as video/mp4 or audio/mpeg. However, many media types—especially those that support video tracks—can benefit from the ability to more precisely describe the format of the data within them. For instance, just describing a video in an MPEG-4 file with the MIME type video/mp4 doesn't say anything about what format the actual media within takes.

The WebRTC API makes it possible to construct websites and apps that let users communicate in real time, using audio and/or video as well as optional data and other information. To communicate, the two devices need to be able to agree upon a mutually-understood codec for each track so they can successfully communicate and present the shared media. This guide reviews the codecs that browsers are required to implement as well as other codecs that some or all browsers support for WebRTC.

HTML audio and video elements allow media presentation without the need for the user to install extensions or other software. This guide covers server configuration that may be necessary to correctly serve Ogg media files. This information may also be useful if you encounter other media types your server isn't already configured to recognize.

Representing audio in digital form involves a number of steps and processes, with multiple formats available both for the raw audio and the encoded or compressed audio which is actually used on the web. This guide is an overview examining how audio is represented digitally, and how codecs are used to encode and decode audio for use on the web.

In this article, we explore important concepts that are useful to understand in order to fully grasp how to work with video on the web.

One of the realities of working with audio and video presentation and manipulation on the web is that there are a number of media formats available, of varying degrees of popularity and with a variety of capabilities. The availability of choices is good for the user, in that they can choose the format that suits their needs best. There is a drawback, however: because there are so many to choose from, with so many different kinds of licenses and design principles involved, each web browser developer is left to its own devices when deciding which media file types and codecs to support.

In this guide, we'll cover the image file types generally supported by web browsers, and provide insights that will help you select the most appropriate formats to use for your site's imagery.

The format of audio and video media files is defined in two parts (three if a file has both audio and video in it, of course): the audio and/or video codecs used and the media container format (or file type) used. In this guide, we'll look at the container formats used most commonly on the web, covering basics about their specifications as well as their benefits, limitations, and ideal use cases.

Even modest quality, high-fidelity stereo sound can use a substantial amount of disk space. For web developers, an even bigger concern is the network bandwidth needed in order to transfer audio, whether for streaming or to download it for use during gameplay. The processing of audio data to encode and decode it is handled by an audio codec (COder/DECoder). In this article, we look at audio codecs used on the web to compress and decompress audio, what their capabilities and use cases are, and offer guidance when choosing audio codecs to use for your content.

This guide introduces the video codecs you're most likely to encounter or consider using on the web, summaries of their capabilities and any compatibility and utility concerns, and advice to help you choose the right codec for your project's video.