AVI is a video format

Myth

AVI is a video format.

Reality

FALSE.

Explanations

Containers and codecs :

AVI is not a video format but a container.

We must distinguish two things:

• The codec, which is the format of digital video or audio, ie following bytes that represents the video or the soundtrack.
• The container that will contain one or more audio and / or video, whose role is to organize these flows within a file (stream splitting, interleaving, additional information (duration, title tracks, subtitles ...)).

There are container. As AVI (which is actually a container from Microsoft RIFF, like WAV). MOV (Apple). OGG (open source), etc..
There are many containers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_format

These containers may contain one or more video and / or audio encoded using various codecs: DivX, MP3, Vorbis, H.264, Sorenson, Theora ...
There are many codecs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Video_codecs

Tests:

However, it is true that some containers usually contain some types of flows.

For example, the. MOV generally flows encoded with codecs from Apple (QuickTime, Sorenson ...).
Similarly, the files usually contain OGG Vorbis stream (audio) and Theora (video), but not an obligation.

For example, you can create an AVI file containing H.264 video and Vorbis audio track, or a file. Containing a stream OGG DivX and MP3 track.

• If you use VLC, you can simply type CTRL + I while playing a video stream to see it's contents, and their nature.
• You can also use Gspot, a small software, that will display the codecs being used by the video.
  • Download link: http://en.kioskea.net/telecharger/telecharger-285-gspot