A readable reference page for the words you keep running into when learning about audio and video codecs.
Beginner: look up unfamiliar words.
Intermediate: connect terms to real workflows.
Advanced: use it as a quick refresher.
A method or standard used to compress and decompress audio or video data.
A file format that holds one or more media streams, such as MP4, MKV, or WebM.
The amount of data used per second of audio or video, usually measured in kbps or Mbps.
Group of Pictures. A sequence of related frames including keyframes and predictive frames.
The step where precision is reduced to save bits. This is a major source of loss in lossy codecs.
The study of how humans perceive sound, used by codecs to decide what matters most to hearing.
Look up the unfamiliar word first, then follow the related article links for context. Codec terms often make more sense when you see how they affect real files.
Many terms describe different layers of the same media file. A single file can involve a container, codec, bitrate, sample rate, bit depth, metadata, and playback standard.
No. It is more useful to understand the recurring ideas: compression, quality, compatibility, bitrate, containers, and whether data is lost or preserved.
Bitrate, codec, container, lossy, lossless, sample rate, bit depth, compatibility, and transcoding are usually the most practical terms for beginners.