Matroska
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| Filename extension | .mkv .mk3d .mka .mks |
|---|---|
| Internet media type | video/x-matroska audio/x-matroska |
| Developed by | www |
| Type of format | Container format |
| Container for | Multimedia |
| Open format? | Yes |
| Website | www |
The Matroska Multimedia Container is an open standard, free container format, a file format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks in one file. It is intended to serve as a universal format for storing common multimedia content, like movies or TV shows. Matroska is similar in concept to other containers like AVI, MP4, or Advanced Systems Format (ASF), but is entirely open in specification, with implementations consisting mostly of open source software. Matroska file extensions are .MKV for video (with subtitles and audio), .MK3D for stereoscopic video, .MKA for audio-only files, and .MKS for subtitles only.
"Matroska" is derived from Matryoshka (Russian: матрёшка [mɐˈtrʲɵʂkə]), which refers to the hollow, wooden, "Russian doll", or Matryoshka doll, that opens to expose another doll that in turn opens to expose another doll, and so on. The logo uses "Matroška", with the caron over the "s", as the letter š represents the "sh" sound (as in "Matryoshka") in the Slavic languages in which it is used.
The project was announced on 6 December 2002 as a fork of the Multimedia Container Format (MCF), after disagreements between MCF lead developer Lasse Kärkkäinen and soon-to-be Matroska founder Steve Lhomme about the use of the Extensible Binary Meta Language (EBML) instead of a binary format. This coincided with a 6-month coding break by the MCF's lead developer for his military service, during which most of the community quickly migrated to the new project.
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