Files and Storage Formats - A Practical Guide to Video and Audio Compression - page 278

0 EOF

File access
position
pointer

Figure 16-1 Sequential file format.

Examples of early formats for use on desktop systems were the Cinepak and Indeo
formats. MPEG-1 was developed at around the same time and QuickTime was launched
with a structured video container that was primitive at the time but offered some useful
capabilities.
Modern video file structures are designed for nonlinear access and modification.
Inserting new content into a movie file is quick, easy, and economical in terms of CPU and
disk-space requirements because the file structures are highly organized.

Movie Atom

Header Track

Media

Header

Video Audio

Chunk
Chunk
Chunk
Chunk

Chunk
Chunk
Chunk
Chunk

Sample
Sample
Sample
Sample

Sample
Sample
Sample
Sample

Figure 16-2 Atomic file structure.

Ligos Indeo: http://www.ligos.com
Cinepak: http://www.cinepak.com