What storage formats are used for digital video

The following is a comprehensive list of the storage formats used for digital video:

The storage formats used in encoding are listed below along with their most common uses, all of these formats, are PCM based.

1. CCIR 601. This is a storage format most commonly used for broadcast stations and is a professional grade.
2. MPEG-4. This is probably the storage format most people are familiar with, along with the other MPEGs. MPEG -4 is good for online distribution of large videos and video recorded to flash memory. It is what most videocasts are stored into, and encoded as.
3. MPEG-2. This is another common encoding format. This is used for DVDs and Super-VCDs. So, the digital video files you burn onto DVD should be in this format.
4. MPEG-1. This is another common format for consumer use, and is used for video CDs.
5. H.261, H.263, and H.264 also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, or as AVC are for more serious digital videographers, and are more professional.
6. Theora. This encoding format has been standardized but is still in development. However, it is used for video over the internet, but is not yet as common as MPEG-4.

Okay, now that you know what digital format videos are encoded into for storage for various uses, not let's take a look at the various options for storing these encoded files:

• Tapes: back in the day of analog video, tapes where the thing. You have a wide variety of tapes to choose from. For example:
• For commercial video systems you have the following options: Betacam, BetacamSP, Betacam SX, Betacam IMX, Digital Betacam, or DigiBeta.
• D1, D2, D3, D5, D9 (also known as Digital-S) are all various SMPTE commercial digital video standards.
• DV, MiniDV are the little tapes you find in most of today's videotape-based consumer camcorders. These are not really for digital video, but digital video can be recorded on them. They are designed for high quality and easy editing. These tapes are also great for recording high-definition data (HDV) in MPEG-2 format.
• DVCAM, DVCPRO. These are most often used in professional broadcasting; they are very similar to DV, however, they are more robust, and have better audio handling.
• Digital8. This is common for consumers, it is DV-format data recorded on Hi8-compatible cassettes.
• D-VHS. This is when an MPEG-2 format encoded data is recorded on a tape similar to S-VHS.

Besides tapes you have discs. The following are the various discs you can store your digital video on:

• Video CD (VCD). As mentioned above, this type of storage usually requires MPEG-1 format encoding.
• DVD. This is one of the most common types of storage for digital video, especially for consumers. Most people have a DVD recorder, and can take video, edit it at home, and burn it onto a DVD all in the comfort of their home.
• HD-DVD. This is high definition, and what was said of above DVD is true of HD.
• Blu-ray Disc. This is a newer, emerging storage technology that is said to be far superior to DVD.
• Sony ProDATA. This is a more professional disk storage option.

The various storage formats are done when encoded, and then the files that are encoded are then stored on a tape or disk, or sometimes the internet. Your use determine what storage format you will choose for your digital video. Professional storage formats vary from consumer, so know your uses and pick your formatting for storage accordingly.