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What video container should I use? (piefed.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/techsupport@lemmy.world
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Edit: I encode to/with(?) the codec h246. This question is about containers/filename extensions.

I am digitizing old video mediums, such as VHS, VHS-C and Mini DV. A few colleagues have asked me to do it for them, which is awesome and feels great. Now, for personal use, I encode save video with the .mkv container out of habit. I have no idea why that is bad or good. However, the question is, which container should I use to ensure maximum compatibility with my colleagues' phones, computers, possibly TVs? Is, for instance, .mpeg the way to go?

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[–] 2 points 1 month ago* (2 children)

Edit: I didn't read properly... You're doing this for other people. Maybe you should go with the conservative option, then.

(I mean if their devices already support it, there's no harm in forgoing compatibility and just go with a more modern encoding format like HEVC or better AV1. It's not like the next laptop or TV will be unable to play it... But H264 is certainly a safe bet. That's supported everywhere.)

Also second the point about the container. It doesn't really matter, just go with mkv. In the unlikely case it doesn't work, you can always take the video an put it in a different container. That kind of conversion is fast and without loss.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    Thanks! For some reason on Linux, I can (in some cases) "simply" rename the file with a different extension name. Would that be sufficient to do on the recipient's device, or would I need to process it more "properly" with ffmpeg (which I am using, by the way)?

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    You definitely want to do it properly with something like ffmpeg. Just renaming it leaves you with a misnamed mkv file. (Or whatever is inside.) Linux is clever enough to figure that out, because in the good old days, file extensions weren't all that important. But yeah, some other device might not. And even some Linux software might not get that. Also you won't really change anything, a name is just a name.

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