Standard Encoder formats and codecs
Warning
Azure Media Services will be retired June 30th, 2024. For more information, see the AMS Retirement Guide.
This article contains a list of the most common import and export file formats that you can use with the StandardEncoderPreset.
Input container/file formats
| File formats (file extensions) | Supported |
|---|---|
| FLV (with H.264 and AAC codecs) (.flv) | Yes |
| MXF (.mxf) | Yes |
| GXF (.gxf) | Yes |
| MPEG2-PS, MPEG2-TS, 3GP (.ts, .ps, .3gp, .3gpp, .mpg) | Yes |
| Windows Media Video (WMV)/ASF (.wmv, .asf) | Yes |
| AVI (Uncompressed 8bit/10bit) (.avi) | Yes |
| MP4 (.mp4, .m4a, .m4v)/ISMV (.isma, .ismv) | Yes |
| Microsoft Digital Video Recording(DVR-MS) (.dvr-ms) | Yes |
| Matroska/WebM (.mkv) | Yes |
| WAVE/WAV (.wav) | Yes |
| QuickTime (.mov) | Yes |
Audio formats in input containers
Standard Encoder supports carrying the following audio formats in input containers:
- MXF, GXF, and QuickTime files, which have audio tracks with interleaved stereo or 5.1 samples
or
- MXF, GXF, and QuickTime files where the audio is carried as separate PCM tracks but the channel mapping (to stereo or 5.1) can be deduced from the file metadata
Input video codecs
| Input video codecs | Supported |
|---|---|
| AVC 8-bit/10-bit, up to 4:2:2, including AVCIntra | 8 bit 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 |
| Sony XAVC / XAVC S (in MXF container) | Yes |
| Avid DNxHD (in MXF container) | Yes |
| DVCPro/DVCProHD (in MXF container) | Yes |
| Digital video (DV) (in AVI files) | Yes |
| JPEG 2000 | Yes |
| MPEG-2 (up to 422 Profile and High Level; including variants such as Sony XDCAM, Sony XDCAM HD, Sony XDCAM IMX, CableLabs®, and D10) | Up to 422 Profile |
| MPEG-1 | Yes |
| VC-1/WMV9 | Yes |
| Canopus HQ/HQX | No |
| MPEG-4 Part 2 | Yes |
| Theora | Yes |
| YUV420 uncompressed, or mezzanine | Yes |
| Apple ProRes 422 | Yes |
| Apple ProRes 422 LT | Yes |
| Apple ProRes 422 HQ | Yes |
| Apple ProRes Proxy | Yes |
| Apple ProRes 4444 | Yes |
| Apple ProRes 4444 XQ | Yes |
| HEVC/H.265 | Main Profile |
Input audio codecs
| Input Audio Codecs | Supported |
|---|---|
| AAC (AAC-LC, AAC-HE, and AAC-HEv2; up to 5.1) | Yes |
| MPEG Layer 2 | Yes |
| MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3) | Yes |
| Windows Media Audio | Yes |
| WAV/PCM | Yes |
| FLAC | Yes |
| Opus | Yes |
| Vorbis | Yes |
| AMR (adaptive multi-rate) | Yes |
| AES (SMPTE 331M and 302M, AES3-2003) | No |
| Dolby® E | No |
| Dolby® Digital (AC3) | No |
| Dolby® Digital Plus (E-AC3) | No |
Output formats and codecs
The following table lists the codecs and file formats that are supported for export.
| File Format | Video Codec | Audio Codec |
|---|---|---|
| MP4 (including multi-bitrate MP4 containers) |
H.264 (High, Main, and Baseline Profiles), HEVC (H.265) 8-bit | AAC-LC, HE-AAC v1, HE-AAC v2 |
| MPEG2-TS | H.264 (High, Main, and Baseline Profiles) | AAC-LC, HE-AAC v1, HE-AAC v2 |
Captioning and subtitles
The following table lists the types of captions supported by Media Services.
| Standard | Notes |
|---|---|
| WebVTT | WebVTT is the W3C standard for displaying timed text for the HTML5 text track element. This is the standard that Media Services uses for live transcription during live events which is provided by Azure Cognitive Services. You can also use this standard to easily add captions and subtitles to be consumed by a player client such as Azure Media Player. |
| TTML inside .ismt (Smooth Streaming text tracks) | Media Services dynamic packaging enables your clients to stream content in any of the following formats: DASH, HLS, or Smooth Streaming. However, if you ingest fragmented MP4 (Smooth Streaming) with captions inside .ismt (Smooth Streaming text tracks), you can deliver the stream to only Smooth Streaming clients. |
| CEA-708 and EIA-608 (708/608) | CEA-708 and EIA-608 are closed-captioning standards for the United States and Canada. Currently, captioning is supported only if carried in the encoded input stream. You need to use a live media encoder that can insert 608 or 708 captions in the encoded stream that's sent to Media Services. Media Services delivers the content with inserted captions to your viewers. |
Ad insertion
The following table lists the ad insertion formats supported by Media Services.
| Standard | Notes |
|---|---|
| SCTE-35 | SCTE-35 is a digital signaling system that's used to cue advertising insertion. Downstream receivers use the signal to splice advertising into the stream for the allotted time. SCTE-35 must be sent as a sparse track in the input stream. Currently, the only supported input stream format that carries ad signals is fragmented MP4 (Smooth Streaming). The only supported output format is also Smooth Streaming. |
Encoding samples
See the extensive list of Encoding Samples.
Get help and support
You can contact Media Services with questions or follow our updates by one of the following methods:
- Q & A
- Stack Overflow. Tag questions with
azure-media-services. - @MSFTAzureMedia or use @AzureSupport to request support.
- Open a support ticket through the Azure portal.