Both MKV and M4V are usual video formats that you’ll surely encounter and meet along the way. Yes, it could be hard to choose which one to use between the two, MKV vs M4V, as they have their own advantages over the other. Knowing what a video format can offer actually helps to decide and save your time especially if there is an urgent need to rip videos or choose a format to use for some work or school projects.
MKV and M4V might be usual video formats that are readily available for anyone’s use but getting to know further details about them would really be significant and beneficial in so many ways. If you are curious about these two formats, you are lucky since this “MKV vs M4V” is the main topic in this article.
Let’s start discussing important details and information about these video file formats.
Contents Guide Part 1. MKV vs M4V: OverviewPart 2. MKV vs M4V: The DifferencesPart 3. How to Convert M4V Files to MKV Format?Part 4. Summary
In this part of the post, we’ll be dealing more with the overview of the two video formats to be discussed in this post, MKV vs M4V. We will be starting with MKV.
MKV is a short-term for Matroska Multimedia Container. This video format is an open container extended from MCF or known as well as Multimedia Container Format and from Extensible Binary Meta Language or EBML.
This video format got its name from the Russian traditional stacking dolls. This format has the ability to contain more information and additional codecs. In fact, you can even include audio, pictures, or subtitles in an MKV file. This has been one of the most popular video formats since its introduction to the public last 2014. This video format is so popular and is used in storing media content for TV shows and movies.
Now that we know some vital information about MKV, we’ll now head onto the details that we have for the M4V file format.
The M4V video format was created and developed by Apple Inc. This is the format that is being used by the iTunes app and is accompanied by Apple’s FairPlay protection. This is quite similar to the MP4 format. It also has the ability to store media content such as audio, photos, and more apart from being able to hold video clips. Since files in this format are protected by the mentioned Apple’s FairPlay protection encryption, you cannot have the files saved on any device you have or stream them unless you are using an authorized gadget such as Apple devices (iPhones, iPads, and others) or the QuickTime Player.
Upon reading the above details, do you think you now know well about MKV vs M4V? Well, we are sure the above isn’t enough. And so, we have highlighted the differences between the two in the second part of this article. Continue reading and check them out.
In this section, we will be dealing more with the differences between these two video formats, MKV vs M4V, the main topic of this article.
Comparing and contrasting them would be so helpful in identifying which really is a much better format to use for your video files. Here is a deep analysis between MKV vs M4V in terms of compatibility, size, and quality, and video and audio coding formats.
We’ll start with compatibility first.
When talking about compatibility, you should know by now that the MKV format is a much flexible format to use compared to M4V. Because M4V files have this DRM protection, they are not that compatible on almost all devices and cannot be played on all platforms as you wish.
If you are too bothered about the sizes of the files you want to save on your device, you must know that MKV files are bigger in size compared to the M4V ones. This is due to the additional information it can contain. But it doesn’t mean that the MKV format is better when it comes to quality. They are both containers and so, it will depend on the codecs you’ll use. If you are to use low-quality audio, the file will look worse then. You have to know that apart from this, there are other factors that might affect the quality of the file including the frame rate, the bit rate, the video codec, resolution, and more. The quality of the file overall will depend on the combination of these factors and many others.
If we are to talk about the video and audio coding, the MKV format can handle VP3 (Vorbis), H.264 & H.265, and MPEG-2 & MP4G-4. It can also contain audio in FLAC format, MP3, Vorbis, and AAC. On the other hand, an M4V file container can only handle MP4G-4 AVC or H.264. It does have the ability to store audios in AAC, AC3, and MP3 but not FLAC format.
Now, if you are checking out this MKV vs M4V article because you are on the look for a better format when it comes to video editing, it should be easy to make a decision then. You should know that processing unprotected M4V files is easier than having to process the MKV files. There are popular apps that support the usage and importing of M4V but not MKV. This could be because the MKV format is still in its stage of development. So, with these notes, it is just proper to say that if you have the need for video editing, choosing M4V would be a better option.
If we will be discussing more video viewing, all users are surely too keen when it comes to the quality of the video files. Of course, we always want to stream and play those files with guaranteed high-quality features – with noticeable details and even sharp colors. As mentioned, the quality of the video files depends on a combination of several factors. There is not much difference if you’ll choose M4V or MKV as they are both media and file containers.
Viewing of the videos in this format is notable as well since M4V files are protected by Apple’s FairPlay protection. And so, the view would be limited only on devices that are authorized to play such files unlike on MKV files (flexible and can be played on almost all devices and gadgets).
Now, upon reading much about these differences and overview between the two video file formats, MKV vs M4V, and you wish to convert or transform your M4V files (since these are protected files) to MKV, there is an easy way to do that. Of course, with the help of the right professional application. And, that would then be the main discussion as you head onto the next part of this article.
As stated, surely, many would want to have the DRM protection of their M4V files removed so as to promote more flexibility (in case they find using M4V too bothersome due to the encryption it has). Apart from this, some might also want to have the video files converted to MKV format (if they find using this format better). But how will someone do it?
That is simple to answer. To have M4V files changed to another format like MKV, there is a need to have a reliable and good app with you. And, what we recommend is using the DumpMedia Video Converter.
There are a lot of professional software applications that can do the conversion right away. But choosing which to use is the challenge and the question here. So we are here to share more about this DumpMedia Video Converter. This can make your M4V files converted to MKV right away.
The DumpMedia Video Converter is a powerful video converter. It can handle both video and audio conversion. Apart from this, it even lets you edit the files as you wish. It has customization features that let you enhance the quality of the video file that you have, add subtitles, rotate or flip clips, and more.
The DumpMedia Video Converter supports lots of output formats and can do its job 6x faster than the usual converters available on any website. For instance, you can convert M4V files to MP3. In order to use this converter, you have to accomplish a list of things required prior to installation. And, to know more details about this, we recommend you visit DumpMedia’s website.
Upon learning more details about MKV vs M4V, can you now decide which video format to use? The good thing here is that we have taught you more about promoting flexibility. Regardless of which file format you use, there is always a way to have them transformed to a format you wish to have. That will happen through the help of apps like DumpMedia Video Converter. If you tried using it before, we’d love to read feedback in the comment section below.
