MKV vs. MP4: Which One Should You Choose?

We compared the two most popular video formats; MKV vs. MP4. Here is everything you need to know before choosing your video format.

If you are involved with video production, you must have had to choose between MKV vs. MP4: which one should you choose? There is no absolute answer, and it really depends on your use case. Both formats have advantages and disadvantages. You can easily convert an MKV video into MP4 format and vice versa. However, you may have to trade-off between features like video quality, licensing, storage space, convertibility, audio codecs, and compatibility while choosing your video format.

What are MP4 and MKV video formats?

Both MP4 and MKV are container formats created by different software developers. Both formats can hold various types of metadata like video, audio, still image, and subtitles. The main difference is in using different compression algorithms and codecs, which can decide the file size and video quality. Codecs help to encode the video data stored inside the container while playing the video. Here are some key technical differences between MP4 and MKV.

	MP4	MKV
Full Name	MPEG Part 14	Matroska Multimedia Container
Developed by	Moving Picture Experts Group	Steve Lhomme
Launch Year	2003	2002
Licencing	MPEG LA LLC	Open Source under GNU L-GPL.
Extension	.mp4	.mkv
Popular Video Codecs	MPEG-H Part 2 (H.265/HEVC), MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264/AVC) and MPEG-4 Part 2	Any format
Popular Video Codecs	AAC, ALS, SLS, MP3, AC-3, DTS, LPCM, DTS-HD, WMA, MP2, MP1, CELP, HVXC (speech), TwinVQ, Text To Speech Interface (TTSI), SAOL, Apple Lossless, Free Lossless Audio Codec, and Opus (added in 2018)	MP3, WMA, Vorbis, Opus, AAC, AC-3, DTS, PCM, LPCM, FLAC, ALAC, MLP/Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD
Popular Subtitle Codecs	3GPP Timed Text, MPEG-4 Timed Text	Structured Subtitle Format, DKS, JACOSub, SAMI, AQTitle, RealText, MicroDVD, ML2/VPlayer, Chaoji VCD, PowerDivX, MPEG-4 Timed Text, Phoenix Subtitle, ML2, SubRip, Universal Subtitle, VOBSub
Digital Rights Management	Videos can be encrypted with different DRM protocols for copyright protection	General Encryption

 

Which Video Format is Better; MKV or MP4?

MP4 and MKV have similar video quality and size since they are both video containers. The only difference is in the video compression technology and the codec used to play the video. Both video formats developed under different circumstances; while MP4 was commercially developed, MKV remained open source and compatible with any codec, making it an excellent choice for special video projects. On the other hand, the standardized codecs of MP4 have helped software developers accept it easily. Hence, MP4 videos are compatible across all kinds of devices. We break down the MKV vs. MP4 comparison into six popular video metrics-

Video Quality

Video quality does not depend on the container files. Video quality is affected by the underlying resolution, frame rate, bit rate, bit depth, and bit control mode. The type of codec used for encoding also affects the video quality. MKV and MP4 are both compatible with the H.265/HEVC video format that can play the highest video quality, i.e., 8k UHD resolution.

Supported Audio/Video Codec Formats

MKV is universal and supports all available video, audio, image, and subtitle codecs. MKV wins the audio battle as it can support FLAC, an audio coding format that can be compressed without losing audio quality. MP4 is evolving, including lossless audio format and Opus in 2018. However, MP4 still doesn't support many formats like SSA/ASA subtitle format, which allows multiple subtitles to be stored in the file metadata. Notably, MP4 files can store 3D graphics and pdf.

File Size

The size of a video file depends on the bitrate, resolution, and duration. Both MKV and MP4 are container files that have the same size. However, MKV files are usually bigger than MP4 because of advanced codecs (that can support multiple audio/subtitle tracks) and different compression technology.

Streaming

The MP4 format supports both MPEG-DASH and Apple's low latency HLS streaming protocols, making it the most popular web video format. The progressive download features of MP4 formats ensure continuous playback regardless of internet speed. MKV videos are difficult to stream due to high latency and the lack of compatible web media players.

Compatibility

MP4 has become the new industry standard in video formatting and is compatible with all devices and video editing software. MP4's standardization has helped it to go mainstream. MKV, designed to replace AVI, lacks widespread compatibility among portable devices and certain media players. Lack of compatibility makes MKV format unfeasible for creating videos for streaming on web browsers.

Convertibility

You can easily convert any MP4 file into MKV format. However, converting MKV into MP4 format may be a bit tricky if there are non-compatible codecs. You may need to re-encode the metadata, which can cause some amount of data loss.

Advantages of MKV Video Format over MP4 are-

• MKV can be used to store high-quality videos with special audio effects.
• It can store multiple subtitles and audio tracks in one video. It may be helpful for foreign films.
• Being an open-source video format, video creators don't have to seek a license during the commercial distribution of their video.

Advantages of MP4 Video Format over MKV are-

• It allows better compression of the H.265/HEVC codec, making it possible to store high-quality videos in less space.
• MP4 video formats are more likely to be compatible with media players in smartphones/iPhones/pads.
• It can be useful for viewing videos on mobile devices as it is compatible with all web browsers.
• Useful for creating youtube videos and social media content as it can be easily shared, downloaded, and played on mobile devices

MKV vs. MP4: Short Q&As

MKV vs. MP4: Which is better quality?

Both MKV and MP4 videos have the same quality. Video quality is affected by the underlying resolution, frame rate, bit rate, bit depth, and bit control mode.

MKV vs. MP4: Which video format is best for Youtube videos?

MP4 is the best choice for uploading videos on media platforms like Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter since they are small in size and can easily be streamed, shared, and downloaded.

MKV vs. MP4: Which video format is better for video editing?

MKV is better than MP4 for video editing since it supports a wide range of codecs that can preserve the original audio and video quality. MKV is free and doesn't require licensing. You can also merge different digital streams together in a single MKV file, making it a great video format for storing Blu-ray movies.