Conclusion

This article provides a detailed description of media storage container formats, classified according to computer file formats or recording formats on physical optical or magnetic media, as well as according to the type(s) of media encapsulated.

Each of the sixty or so detailed media file formats has been described in a "card" specifying its origin, specifications, content and uses.

Recording formats are presented in summary tables.

The development and use of "modern" multimedia container formats (e.g. MOV QuickTime, then MP4) has enabled greater flexibility and universality in the encapsulation of different formats from different media genres. This characteristic is to be found in the "mega-format-containers" described in the following article