AVC (file format)

File Format
Name	AVC (file format)
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Video AVC (file format)
Extension(s)	.mp4
LoCFDD	fdd000158

For the AVC video compression standard, see H.264.

The AVC file format (Advanced Video Coding) is the video file format defined in Part 15 of the MPEG-4 standard. It uses ISO Base Media File Format (MPEG-4 Part 12), and AVC compression (H.264, MPEG-4 Part 10). It is also known by names similar to MPEG-4 File Format with AVC.

It can be considered to be a companion format to MP4, or a kind of MP4, or an extension of MP4, etc.

Identification

The format is based on ISO Base Media File Format. One of the brands is (usually?) "avc1".

MPEG-4 files exist which use H.264 compression, but not the "avc1" brand. It's not clear what format such files should be considered to be in.

Specifications

• ISO/IEC 14496-15:2010 (not free to download)
  • ISO/IEC 14496-15:2010/Amd 1:2011
  • ISO/IEC 14496-15:2010/Cor 1:2011
  • ISO/IEC 14496-15:2010/Cor 2:2012

Sample files

• MP4 Files, "H. 264 Content" section
• http://samples.libav.org/V-codecs/h264/mp4_h264/
• http://samples.libav.org/V-codecs/AVC1/