Link Between Media Basics and Machine Learning Tasks
Gaining a high-level understanding of video and image formats serves as an initial stride in connecting the fundamentals of multimedia with machine learning applications. This understanding is essential for tasks such as video and image analysis, face recognition, activity tracking, and efficient content filtering for explicit or suggestive material in videos. It lays the groundwork for navigating the complexities of media formats and their practical applications in the realm of advanced machine learning.
Video Formats (MPEG-4, MOV, WMV,…)
These are container formats. Think of them as a box that can hold different kinds of video and audio content.
MPEG-4 is a widely used standard for video compression. MOV is a format developed by Apple commonly used for storing video files.
Other container formats that you may come across are:
| AVI | Audio Video Interleave, developed by Microsoft |
| WMV | Windows Media Video, Another Microsoft creation |
| FLV | Flash Video, developed by Adobe |
| MKV | Matroska, Open Standard |
| WebM | An open and royalty-free format primarily designed for web use |
| QuickTime | developed by Apple that uses the .mov extension |
These examples highlight just a few container formats, but there are many more in existence.
Codec Formats
H.264
This is a video compression standard. Compression is like squeezing a large file into a smaller one without losing too much quality.
H.264 is a popular codec that helps in compressing video files while maintaining good quality. It’s commonly used in formats like MP4.
There are several other codec formats used for video compression. Here are a few notable ones:
| H.265 | known for its good compression efficiency without significant loss of quality |
| VP9 | an open and royalty-free video compression standard developed by Google |
| MJPEG | Motion JPEG, compresses each video frame separately |
| AV1 | an open, royalty-free video codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media |
Resolution Formats
VGA, QVGA, SVGA, XGA
These refer to the resolution of the video, which is the number of pixels in the width and height of the video.
- VGA (Video Graphics Array): It’s a resolution of 640×480 pixels.
- QVGA (Quarter VGA): It’s a lower resolution, typically 320×240 pixels.
- SVGA (Super Video Graphics Array): 800×600 pixels.
- XGA (Extended Graphics Array): 1024×768 pixels.
Here are some other common resolution formats:
| HD (High Definition) | 720p – 1280×720 pixels (used for HD TV) 1080p – 1920×1080 pixels. full HD resolution used in Blu-Ray and TV |
| QHD (Quad HD) | 2K – 2560×1440 pixels. Used in computer monitors |
| Ultra HD or 4k | 2160p – 3840x2160p – used in UHD TV |
| 8K | 4320p – 7680x4320p |
Summary
Now, how these concepts work together:
When you have a video, you put it in a box (container format), use a method to compress it (codec), and decide how big the video should be (resolution).
For example, you might have an MP4 video (container) using H.264 compression (codec) with a resolution of 640×480 (VGA). Each of these elements plays a role in determining the quality and characteristics of the video you’re watching or creating.
Among container, codec, and resolution formats, the container format corresponds to a file. A container format, such as MP4, MKV, or AVI, is a file that contains both the audio and video streams, along with other metadata. It serves as a wrapper for various types of multimedia content. The container format holds together the compressed video and audio data, as well as information about how the data should be played, synchronized, and decoded.