Matroska

A Matroska file contains files within, such as a video stream, one or more audio streams, one or more subtitle files. Think of how a zip file can contain many files within. Matroska is _not_ a compression archive, but a simple and extremely flexible container that is compatible with XviD, H.264, DivX, RealVideo, AVC and a wide variety of other video compression formats.

Matroska can be used for audio only, or for audio/video. Matroska is usually found as .MKV files (video), .MKA files (audio) and .MKS files (subtitles).

Why Matroska? AVI does not support H.264 video or Vorbis audio properly. A Matroska containing exactly the same data as an AVI will be smaller and faster. The Matroska container has many features, such as support for chapters, and a menu system like a DVD.

Matroska can be used for streaming video and audio files.

For more information see the Matroska Media Container Homepage.