Why are there so many video formats!? And how do you even begin to choose the best video format for what you want to do?
For content creators, the world of video formats can be pretty confusing. Certain video formats seem to require more storage space than others for the same video quality. And others aren’t supported by major online platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. That video you just spent countless hours on failed to upload on Instagram, because it wasn’t in MP4. What the frick?!
Fortunately, as a drag-and-drop video editing platform, at VEED, we’re pretty knowledgeable in video formats and the black magic behind them! By the end of this blog post, you will learn:
- 4 things to consider when choosing the best video format
- Codecs, containers and compressing your videos using VEED
- The most popular video formats out there and how they’re used
Let’s go! ?
To Determine The Best Video Format, You First Must Learn About Codecs
Before we get into video formats, you need to understand the basics behind codecs, the stuff that makes videos work.
A portmanteau of coder-decoder, a codec is a program that encodes and decodes data. You can have different types of codecs, including those for data (e.g. PKZIP), still images (JPEG, GIF, PNG), audio (MP3, DTS, AAC), and video (H. 264, MPEG-4).
Essentially, think of codecs as the data and visual elements that combine into a video file!
A codec interprets your video file and determines how the video will be shown. It is also responsible for how this video file gets compressed or decompressed.
Video formats and their codecs also have different compression capabilities. Some can have really high-definition (HD) videos, but turn ugly and pixelated once compressed.
Others, like MP4, provide well-compressed high-quality videos that work perfectly for online platforms, but less well for feature films destined on the big screen.
Compression is also the main reason why that YouTube video you screen-recorded to repurpose and share on Instagram ends up at a worse quality than if you had the original file despite both of them having similar file sizes.
Video containers and compressing your files
A container is a bunch of codecs bundled together to create beautiful (or ugly) videos, and video containers are synonymous with video formats. In layman terms, video containers are represented as filename extensions, like .mp4, .avi and .flv. That’s it! Easy, right?
Containers can mix and match different codecs. For example, a content creator might opt for a lesser-quality audio codec to make the video file smaller, while retaining the resolution! Some codecs will also only work for certain video formats.
If you’re a casual content creator who uses a phone or a basic camera to film your videos, your only compression worry will probably be regarding file size limits on online platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. More on this later.
In this case, use VEED to compress your video files the (super) easy way:
4 Tips When Choosing The Best Video Format
You’ve learned about codecs and video containers, and how they both interact with each other to create a video format. The hard part’s done!
Now, before we get into the nitty-gritty of ranking video formats, let’s look at the factors to consider when choosing the best one for you!
1. File size limit on online platforms
Many online platforms put a limit on video sizes. Here are some of them:
- Instagram Feed and Story - Under 50MB recommended (Instagram doesn’t put a hard limit on this)
- IGTV - 650MB for videos below 10 minutes. 3.6GB for videos that are between 10-60 minutes.
- TikTok videos - 287.6 MB for iOS or 72 MB for Android.
- TikTok ads - 500 MB
- LinkedIn native videos - 5GB
- LinkedIn video ads - 200 MB
- Facebook videos (including for ads and cover) - 4GB
- Facebook Messenger - 25 MB
- Twitter - 1 GB
- Youtube - 128 GB
If you’re uploading videos on these platforms, these limits are something to keep in mind. It can get mind-numbingly frustrating when your video file ends up being too large to upload after hours of editing it. Uploading rage is a real thing.
2. File size and upload time
Some video formats take up lots of storage space to retain quality, so they might not be ideal if you want to save them on your computer.
In another way, the best video file formats for you might be the one that you can download or upload fast. This also corresponds with file size.
Bigger files take longer to download or upload, and vice-versa. This point is particularly important for those who need to constantly churn out and upload videos online.
A word of advice: most of the time, you should choose a video file formats that compresses well but still remains HD.
If you are catering to a wide audience of casual viewers, they most likely watch the content because you produce it and don’t see the change in quality beyond HD.
3. Device or platform compatibility
This is a no-brainer. Whenever you save under a certain video format, you want to make sure that this format is supported across relevant platforms and devices.
For example, QuickTime Player doesn’t support .mkv videos, but VLC media player does!
On the other hand, .mp4 is supported by nearly every digital device and platform currently on the market.
4. Container capabilities
Some video formats can include multiple audio tracks, subtitles and even animated fonts. Others are more bare-bones but require little storage space. Different video formats also have varying compression capabilities.
Some formats are better than others at compressing video files and minimizing quality loss. Finally, programs might accept a certain video format, but not the codec within the format. Don’t panic if a video doesn’t play on VLC, because it might just be a codec problem.
What Is The Best Video Format For You? Here Are Some Options.
Are you creating online videos to gain a following? Are you uploading for offline use? How do you plan on distributing your video?
Your answers may lead to different video formats to suit your purpose, but here are some of the best video formats out there that are widely used.
1. For online video creation, MP4 is your best bet.
I’m going out on a limb and say that MP4 is currently the best video format for online content creators. Why? Because most digital platforms and devices use and support MP4.
Undoubtedly, MP4 is one of the most practical video formats out there for impatient content creators (like me) who want to upload their video fast for everyone to see. MP4 is also preferred by virtually every social platform out there.
If you’re creating video content to post on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube or even TikTok, simply use MP4 to avoid complications. With VEED, you can easily upload videos in MP4.
Worried about video quality? The MP4 makes use of HD codecs, so that your video looks good and professional. It also has one of the best compression capabilities in the market. This means impressive HD videos for half the file size compared to other video formats.
This video format’s relatively small file size also helps it upload faster than other formats. This is especially useful if you have slow internet speeds.
2. For a versatile, non-proprietary format, choose MKV (Matroshka)
With a name taken from the Russian matryoshka dolls, this video format is quite popular, because it’s free and open source. It also supports almost every codec available out there and offers more features and better HD videos than MP4.
The caveats? MKV and some of its less common codecs are not as widely supported as MP4 is. And large video-sharing platforms like YouTube prefer MP4 over MKV.
MKV videos also normally require larger file sizes than MP4 ones, so it can take you a longer time to upload MKV videos for online use.
3. AVCHD is for people who want to record high-quality videos using digital camcorders.
A collaborative effort between Panasonic and Sony, AVCHD (Advanced Video Coding High Definition) is specifically designed for recording high-definition videos and compressing them to tiny sizes.
As such, this video container is available across many high-end digital camcorders.
There are standard and high-definition variants and the latest AVCHD version (2.0) even supports 3D video.
But, again, like MKV, it’s not as widely supported as the MP4 format. It also does not offer 4K resolution.
But, still, if you are a die-hard fan of these two brands, then this might be the best video format for recording your videos.
4. Send video files through email using WMV (Windows Media Video)
A successor to AVI, Microsoft designed WMV specifically for streaming applications, although other formats, such as the WMV screen and WMV image, have been released for other specialized content forms.
A distinct advantage of WMV is that it requires little storage space compared to other video formats and Microsoft even boasts a 2x compression ratio compared to MP4.
This format enjoys compatibility with the Windows Media Player. As such, WMV is the best video format for Blu-rays and DVDs. But due to its proprietary nature, it doesn’t work on Apple- or Linux-based media players.
5. If you’re an Apple user, MOV and Quicktime are for you
Designed by Apple the MOV and Quicktime video formats are best for feature-length films and other multimedia video files. You can save different audio language tracks and subtitles.
MOV and QT formats are particularly versatile and compatible with a whole range of codecs. QuickTime Player was specifically designed to play MOV and Quicktime videos.
While these two formats can offer high-quality videos, their compression capabilities aren’t as good as the MP4 format. But it’s important to note that MP4 was developed on (and improved upon) the standards created by MOV and Quicktime.
6.The old AVI is good for high-quality uncompressed videos
Created by Microsoft in 1992, AVI was a huge player in the video container industry. Today, AVI legacy videos are still a common occurrence online. In the mid-2000s, this format was phased out, in place of the WMV.
Its age shows when compared to more recent video formats. For one, AVI files often require a lot of storage. The AVI format also has less powerful compression capabilities than the ones just mentioned.
You also can’t select aspect ratios manually, which can be extremely frustrating to some.
7. FLV (Flash Video) is for the nostalgia
Ah, the mythic FLV. Flash formats have long been the best video format for embedded online videos and streaming, including those on platforms like YouTube, Hulu and even Google Video.
I remember when this format was so widely popular! Until 2015, whenever you had Safari on Macbook, you couldn’t watch videos on YouTube because the browser didn’t support FLV videos. Yes, the FLV format didn’t readily function on Mac and iOS devices, unless there was a workaround!
Late Apple founder Steve Jobs claimed several reasons for not supporting flash formats, such as the FLV not being an open platform and having some security issues. But the biggest one was that this format didn’t work well with touchscreens.
In the second half of the 2010s, flash formats became much less common, as streaming platforms embraced HTML5 standards. After 2020, Adobe will no longer support the FLV format.
8. SWF (Shockwave Flash) is a blast to the past
SWF is a type of FLV and is used as a Flash animation file. This used to be the dominant format for displaying animated vector graphics. If you’re a millennial who grew up playing Flash games like NeoPets and AdventureQuest, you'll be intimately familiar with this video format.
Have You Chosen The Best Video Format For You?
Yay! You’ve reached the end of this blog post! By now, you should have a working knowledge of codecs, containers and the criteria for choosing the best video format for your use! We’ve also given you a rundown of the most popular video formats out there.
To directly answer your question, as an online content creator, the best video format for me is the one that’s supported by many different streaming platforms. Today, I love the MP4 format for its versatility, compression capabilities, and wide platform support.
After downloading my edited MP4 video from VEED, I want to upload this video without issues on video formatting, and the MP4 format helps me achieve this. After all, delays in my content calendar are not just a slight inconvenience. It can hinder marketing growth.
