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| Filename extension | .mkv .mk3d .mka .mks |
|---|---|
| Internet media type | video/matroska video/matroska-3d audio/matroska[1] application/octet-stream (for .mks) |
| Initial release | 6 December 2002; 22 years ago (2002-12-06) |
| Latest release | |
| Type of format | Container format |
| Container for | Multimedia |
| Extended from | MCF,EBML |
| Standard | RFC 9559 |
| Open format? | Yes |
| Free format? | Yes[3] |
| Website | matroska |
Matroska (styledMatroška) is a project to create acontainer format that can hold an unlimited number of video, audio, picture, or subtitle tracks in one file.[4] TheMatroska Multimedia Container is similar in concept to other containers likeAVI,MP4, orAdvanced Systems Format (ASF), but is anopen standard.
Matroska file extensions are.mkv for video (which may includesubtitles or audio),.mk3d forstereoscopic video,.mka for audio-only files (which may include subtitles), and.mks for subtitles only.[5]
The project was announced on 6 December 2002[6] as afork of theMultimedia Container Format (MCF), after disagreements between MCF lead developer Lasse Kärkkäinen and soon-to-be Matroska founder Steve Lhomme about the use of theExtensible Binary Meta Language (EBML) instead of a binary format.[7] 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.[citation needed]
In 2010, it was announced that theWebM audio/video format would be based on aprofile of the Matroska container format together withVP8 video andVorbis audio.[8]
On 31 October 2014,Microsoft confirmed thatWindows 10 would supportHEVC and Matroskaout of the box, according to a statement from Gabriel Aul, the leader of MicrosoftOperating Systems Group's Data and Fundamentals Team.[9][10] Windows 10 Technical Preview Build 9860 added platform level support for HEVC and Matroska.[11][12]
"Matroska" is derived frommatryoshka (Russian:матрёшка[mɐˈtrʲɵʂkə]), the Russian word for thehollow wooden dolls which open to expose another smaller doll, that in turn opens to expose another doll, and so on. The logo writes it as "Matroška"; the letterš, an "s" with acaron over it, represents the "sh" sound (/ʂ/) in various languages.[13]
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(September 2021) |
The use ofEBML allows extension for future format changes. The Matroska team has expressed some of their long-term goals onDoom9.org andHydrogenaudio forums. Thus, the following are "goals", not necessarily existing features, of Matroska:[14]
Matroska is supported by a non-profit organization (association loi 1901) in France,[17] and the specifications are open to everyone. It is aroyalty-freeopen standard that is free to use, and its technical specifications are available for private and commercial use. The Matroska development team licenses its libraries under theLGPL, with parsing and playback libraries available underBSD licenses.[14]
Software supporting Matroska include allffmpeg/libav-based ones,[18] including, notably,mplayer,mpv,VLC,Foobar2000,Media Player Classic-HC,BS.player,Google Chrome,Mozilla Firefox,Blender,Kdenlive,Handbrake,MKVToolNix as well asYouTube (which uses WebM extensively),[19] andOBS Studio.[20]
Outside of ffmpeg,Windows 10 supports Matroska natively as well.[21] Earlier versions relied on codec packs (likeK-Lite Codec Pack orCombined Community Codec Pack) to integrate ffmpeg (viaffdshow) and other additions into Windows' nativeDirectShow.
ApplemacOS's discontinued nativeQuickTime notably lacked support.
