Answers.Body: <p>MPEG-4 is not a container specification. It's a suite of specifications. Parts 12 and 14 define containers (MP4). Part 2 defines a video codec, whose encoder implementations are DivX and Xvid. Part 10 defines another video codec AVC a.k.a. H.264.</p>
  
  <p>You can get a list of codecs, which can theoretically be present in a MP4 at <a href="http://mp4ra.org/codecs.html" rel="noreferrer">http://mp4ra.org/codecs.html</a></p>
  
  <p>Whether a given muxer/software offers the feature to include a codec in MP4, or whether a given player accepts a codec in a MP4, depends on the software developer. Generally, MPEG-4 Part 2 should be accepted but players can be finicky about the codec tag and may only play the video if they recognize the tag.</p>
  
  <p>HEVC can be muxed in a MP4 and there's no dedicated or new container for it.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2022-11-09T22:17:31.537Z
Answers.Text: For anyone wondering, HEVC stands for H.265
Answers.UserDisplayName: Heberto Mayorquin
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Answers.CreationDate: 2018-01-24T14:12:37.247Z
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Body: <p>To my understanding, there is the container format (MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVI) and the codecs (Theora, VP8, H264, XVid, DivX).</p>
  
  <p>For what I understand, the container format and the codecs are independent and it seems that it would theoretically be possible to have a MP4 which contains some video encoded with DivX. </p>
  
  <p><strong>Would it work?</strong> I mean, would standard video players be able to play it?</p>
  
  <p>Also, I don't understand why H.264 (a codec) is defined in the MPEG-4 (a container) specification.</p>
  
  <p>As H.265/HVEC is to replace H.264, will there be a new container format? Or will there be some MP4 files containing some videos encoded in H.265?</p>
  
Tags: <codec><file-formats>
Title: Understanding containers and codecs
UserDisplayName: Arnaud Denoyelle
ThreadText: # Understanding containers and codecs
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-24)
  
  To my understanding, there is the container format (MP4, MOV, 3GP, AVI) and the codecs (Theora, VP8, H264, XVid, DivX).
  
  For what I understand, the container format and the codecs are independent and it seems that it would theoretically be possible to have a MP4 which contains some video encoded with DivX.
  
  **Would it work?** I mean, would standard video players be able to play it?
  
  Also, I don't understand why H.264 (a codec) is defined in the MPEG-4 (a container) specification.
  
  As H.265/HVEC is to replace H.264, will there be a new container format? Or will there be some MP4 files containing some videos encoded in H.265?
  
  **Tags:** codec, file-formats
  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2018-01-24. Score: 6 | Accepted answer
  
  MPEG-4 is not a container specification. It's a suite of specifications. Parts 12 and 14 define containers (MP4). Part 2 defines a video codec, whose encoder implementations are DivX and Xvid. Part 10 defines another video codec AVC a.k.a. H.264.
  
  You can get a list of codecs, which can theoretically be present in a MP4 at <http://mp4ra.org/codecs.html>
  
  Whether a given muxer/software offers the feature to include a codec in MP4, or whether a given player accepts a codec in a MP4, depends on the software developer. Generally, MPEG-4 Part 2 should be accepted but players can be finicky about the codec tag and may only play the video if they recognize the tag.
  
  HEVC can be muxed in a MP4 and there's no dedicated or new container for it.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: For anyone wondering, HEVC stands for H.265  
  
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