The MOV file format is most commonly associated with Apple and the QuickTime video clip. The file format was developed by Apple as was QuickTime Player, it is compatible with both the Microsoft and MacOS platforms. MOV files are capable of storing two or more tracks which can be video, audio, text, graphics or effects. This flexibility makes this file format very popular for music and video editing.
MOV files use a proprietary compression algorithm and each track that is held within the file is made up of an encoded media stream or a reference to a media stream that is located in another file - this allows the embedding of existing media. QuickTime player which was developed and created by Apple allows a user to open and play .MOV files and later version of QuickTime Player, such as QuickTime Pro allows the user to edit and export .MOV files.
Associated programs
Apple QuickTime Player CyberLink PowerDirector Roxio Easy Media Creator
Using Zamzar it is possible to convert MOV files to a variety of other formats:
mov to 3gp (3GPP Multimedia File) mov to 3g2 (3GPP2 Multimedia File) mov to aac (Advanced Audio Coding File) mov to ac3 (AC3 Audio File) mov to avi (Windows video file) mov to flac (Free Lossless Audio Codec) mov to flv (Flash video) mov to gif (Compuserve graphics interchange) mov to ipad (MPEG-4 (H264) Video File) mov to iphone (MPEG-4 (H264) Video File) mov to ipod (MPEG-4 Video File) mov to mp3 (Compressed audio file) mov to mp4 (MPEG-4 Video File) mov to mpg (Moving Picture Experts Group File) mov to ogg (Ogg Vorbis Compressed Audio File) mov to wav (Windows audio file) mov to webm (Multimedia Container Format) mov to wmv (Windows Media Video)
MPG is commonly associated with video and audio compressions MPEG-1 or MPEG-2. This is designed to compress audio and video to formats that can be downloaded. Movies with this extension are of lower sizes and greater quality, but quality differs from original VCR videos. This file format can run on Mac, Windows and other portable devices.
MPEG-1 is a standard for lossy compression of video and audio. It is designed to compress VHS-quality RAW digital video and CD audio down to 1.5 Mbit/s (26:1 and 6:1 compression ratios respectively) without excessive quality loss, making video CDs, digital cable/satellite TV and digital audio broadcasting (DAB) possible. Today, MPEG-1 has become the most widely compatible lossy audio/video format in the world, and is used in a large number of products and technologies. Perhaps the best-known part of the MPEG-1 standard is the MP3 audio format it introduced.
