File extension
.mov
QuickTime Movie Format
.mov files are QuickTime movies: Apple's multimedia container, organized as a tree of atoms/boxes, that stores video, audio, timed text, and other tracks; its structure became the basis of MP4/ISOBMFF.
Known meanings
Formats and reference material for .mov
Details
Format notes
QuickTime Movie (MOV)
MOV is the multimedia container format of Apple’s QuickTime framework. It stores one or more time-based media tracks — video, audio, timed text/subtitles, timecode, and more — together with the metadata needed to synchronize and present them. MOV is a container: it holds coded media (for example H.264 or ProRes video and AAC or PCM audio) rather than defining a codec itself, and it is a mainstay of professional video production, especially in Apple-centric workflows.
Structurally, a MOV file is a hierarchy of “atoms” (also called boxes), each a
length-prefixed, typed unit. A moov atom holds the movie’s structural metadata
(tracks, sample tables, timing), while mdat atoms hold the actual media samples.
This atom-based design was standardized, with modifications, as the ISO Base Media
File Format, which in turn is the foundation of the MP4 (.mp4) container — so MOV
and MP4 are close relatives that share much of their structure.
Preservation And Security Notes
MOV is a capable container for high-quality and edit-friendly media (for instance with the ProRes codec), but faithful playback depends on the availability of the contained codecs, which should be recorded for preservation; for long-term access, a widely supported codec-and-container combination is preferable. As an atom-based binary format, a parser handling untrusted MOV files should validate atom sizes and sample-table offsets to avoid out-of-bounds reads.
Further Reading
- QuickTime File Format overview:
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/quicktime-file-format