I was just wondering what format everyone uses to watch movies on your Macs. Everyone in my dorm is totally stoked on the Divx and Xvid formats but I couldn't seem to get them to run on my girlfriends iBook. Also I was wondering what formats offer the best compression/playback quality? I plan on buying the next revision of PowerBook and using it to rip DVDs and such so I was just wondering what software I will need. Thanks for all the help. - MacRumors
Movist is a simple and best video player Mac, it supports QuickTime and FFmpeg and also supports subtitles. It is pretty excellent for those that need to encode and decode QuickTime and FFmpeg formats. You can do some general and advanced settings for better and convenient video playback. Naturally, MOV is the standard and best video format for Mac. It is known to have the best video quality of all three streaming formats listed here. MP4 (A digital multimedia format most commonly used to store video and audio, subtitles and still images.) MP4 (MPEG 4) is actually a standard that Apple really pushed with Quicktime 6.
Watching movies, video clips, TV shows, etc are nothing extraordinary for Mac users, whether they are using MacBook Air, iMac or Mac Mini. But embarrassment comes if your video clips are incompatible with Mac computer. So what video formats do Macs play? Longing for the best video format for Mac? For those who want to know the best video format readable on Macs, this article may well suit you.
Mac Supported Media Formats
For best results, we recommend setting frame rate at 24 and video dimensions at 80%, which should significantly reduce the file size without a noticeable difference to the naked eye. PRO VERSION Upgrade to the Pro version of Compress Videos to remove ads, and compress more than one video at a time. All in all, 4K Video Downloader for Mac is a good video downloading solution and it does what is promises without any complications. When you finish reading this article, you will have clear thought about how to download YouTube videos on a Mac computer.
Until now there are about 100 media types are supported by Mac OS X, covering a range of video, audio, image and streaming formats. The following table specifically lists some common video and audio formats supported by Mac.
Supported Formats | |
---|---|
Mac compatible Audio file and data formats | AAC, AIFF, WAVE, uLaw, AC3, MPEG-3, MPEG-4 (.mp4, .m4a), .snd, .au, .caf, Adaptive multi-rate (.amr) |
Video file formats Supported by Macs | AVI, AVR, DV, M-JPEG, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, AAC, OpenDML, 3GPP, 3GPP2, AMC, H.264, HEVC, iTunes (.m4v), QuickTime (.mov, .qt) |
Note: If your files are not in the Mac best video audio formats list, you can resort to a professional video converter for Mac to convert the video to Macbook Air/Pro friendly MP4, MOV, H264, HEVC formats first.
What is the Best Video Format for macOS?
The video and audio formats listed above are fair-weather fan of Mac computer. The net result of this is that it's not just about whether the Mac can play the format or not, it's whether there is any Mac software to support the codec within the file too. In other words, only when the supported video comes with specific codec that Mac supports can your OS X play the file smoothly. The following will list the best video format Mac supports and codecs you will need for a successful playback on your Mac (MacBook/MBP/iMac).
- MOV (A filename extension for the QuickTime multimedia file format)
MOV video file uses a proprietary compression algorithm developed by Apple Computer. Mac still remains supreme with the .mov and .mpeg file types. Naturally, MOV is the standard and best video format for Mac. It is known to have the best video quality of all three streaming formats listed here.
- MP4(A digital multimedia format most commonly used to store video and audio, subtitles and still images.)
MP4 (MPEG 4) is actually a standard that Apple really pushed with Quicktime 6. So, accordingly, you can use .mp4 format just fine on a Mac. Attention shall be paid it's possible that what's going on is that they use the MPEG4 architecture but they're using a weird codec. Between the native QT7 codecs, the Perian ones, and Flip4Mac, you are mostly covered. But MP4 files encoded with MPEG-4 video or H.264 (preferred) video are also considered as one of the best video formats compatible with Mac OS.
- M4V (A video container format developed by Apple and is very similar to the MP4 format.)
Generally, Apple uses M4V encode video files, such as TV episodes, movies, and music videos, in its iTunes Store. The copyright of M4V files may be protected by using Apple's FairPlay DRM copy protection.
Tips: To Unlock protection protection from iTunes M4V videos, you can check the well-known video converter for Mac for help.
How to Convert Unfriendly Videos to Mac Best Video Formats with Ease?
Your overwhelming video files are not all created in the best Mac video formats like MOV, MP4 and M4V, then video conversion process from the Mac unsupported videos to the video format that Mac can best recognize seems to be of top priority. Consequently, you will need a professional Mac video converter for help. Don't worry, the world's No.1 fast video converter for Mac is ready for help. It is built in 370+ video and audio codes, thus you can convert any video to the best video formats for your Mac, be it MOV, MP4 or M4V. Thus enjoying the movies, TV shows, online YouTube videos, recorded HD videos, etc on your Macs like MacBook Air, MacBook, MBP, iMac Pro, iMac, Mac Mini, etc can be a cherry pie.
On top of successfully converting 4K HD or SD video to Mac supported video format MP4 MOV etc., this all-inclusive mac video file converter can also aid you to download and convert online video from YouTube, Facebook, Dailymotion, Myspace, Vimeo, Vevo, Instagram, Metacafe and another 1000 video music sharing sites. So if you wanna play YouTube FLV video, Facebook MKV video or Vimeo WebM video on your Macs, you are needless to look around to seek help from others, just this video converter monster can handle all of tough tasks.
And need to remind you that if you still have the demand to compress MP4 video file to smaller file size so as to better storing on your Macs with space saving and no quality loss, just leave this job to this Mac video converter program.
Related Articles
With the release of macOS Catalina, iTunes — the go-to Mac video player for most people — is gone. Instead, Apple has broken it up into a few separate apps: Music, Podcasts, and TV, the latter being responsible for all the video content now.
If you’ve already tried using the new Apple TV app, you might have noticed that it works and feels different. No that iTunes was a great player, but it might seem that Apple TV is somehow worse. In any case, you’d be much better off looking for a worthy replacement. So what’s the best iTunes alternative for Mac? Let’s find out.
What’s The Best Multimedia Player For Mac?
Good news is there are lots of apps fighting for the title of the “best media player for Mac.” There are ones that excel at not consuming lots of CPU, or supporting Blu-ray Disc, or streaming content right from the internet, etc. So the choice is there. But the issue is: How do you choose the perfect Mac video player for you?
The danger of downloading just anything online and trying it out is in the proliferation of pirated software that often contains malware, which could damage your Mac. So don’t do that. Instead, download one of the trusted options reviewed below.
Starter: QuickTime Player for Mac
If you’ve only used iTunes before and are searching for the best iTunes alternative for Mac, you might be surprised that there is another viable option already pre-installed on your machine — QuickTime Player.
QuickTime Player is probably the oldest video player for Mac out there, first released in 1991. Still, it does all the basics fairly well, playing videos, music, and even images. All the most popular video formats, such as MOV, MP4, MPEG, are supported. But if you find yourself frequently downloading videos from the web, you might need to get an AVI player for Mac, a format which QuickTime Player doesn’t support at this time.
Another annoyance with QuickTime Player is the difficulty of including external subtitles or audio — which is important for lovers of foreign cinema and language learners. All in all, if you rarely watch videos on Mac, QuickTime is not the worst option. But there are surely better ones out there.
Enthusiast: VLC AVI player for Mac
Perhaps the most common suggestion after you’re ready to graduate from the likes of iTunes and QuickTime Player is VLC.
VLC (stands for VideoLAN Client) is not only a good AVI player for Mac but is also generally known for being able to play a wide variety of video formats: so an MKV player for Mac and MP4 player for Mac all in one.
While an external audio support is not there, VLC boasts robust subtitle integration that’s able to change text size, text color, background opacity, and much more.
Overall, VLC is a decent option for everyday video watching (it’s also a non-profit organization), with all the basics covered, but not too many outstanding pro-level features.
Eclectic: DivX video player for Mac
Best Video Player For Mac Download
A more specialized option among many is the DivX Mac video player, which beautifully handles all DivX files but also includes codecs to support other formats and act as a FLV player for Macs too.
DivX video player for Mac offers some advanced options as well, such as the ability to smoothly scroll to your favorite scenes with Chapter Points, switch between soundtracks, create playlists, and play videos in up to 4K quality. In addition, your DivX player download comes with a video converter and a media server to cast your videos to external TV screens.
If you buy the pro DivX video player for Mac (it costs around $20), you can get the ability to play the AC3 surround sound and stream videos directly from the cloud using either your Dropbox or Google Drive storage — all of which are great features, but the cost seems a bit steep for a Mac video player considering all the other alternatives out there.
Note: Unfortunately, the team behind the DivX player hasn’t yet issued an update for macOS Catalina, and as the player uses 32-bit architecture, Catalina users won’t be able to launch it.
Downloader: Elmedia Player for Mac
Too often people who need to download YouTube videos to their Macs resort to simply googling to find a way to do so. This is generally inefficient and could potentially even be unsafe, since most software advertising the ability to download something is the prime candidate for infecting your Mac with malware.
So meet Elmedia Player! Considered by many as the best media player for Mac, Elmedia supports video downloading and streaming natively. Here’s how it works:
- When you open the app, click on the download icon at the top
- In the search field, either enter your video’s URL or click on YouTube, Vimeo, or Dailymotion links to browse for it manually
- With the video selected, choose the quality from the dropdown below and then click Download — the video will automatically be added to your playlist
Downloading is a breeze with Elmedia Player. Next time you’re about to get on a long flight, simply download a whole queue of interesting content and enjoy it on the plane offline.
But Elmedia is not just a simple downloader — it’s a well-rounded Mac video player. The app supports virtually any video format and, using accelerated decoding, is able to smooth out otherwise choppy HD videos. In addition, one of Elmedia’s secret features is the ability to extract audio tracks and save them as MP3s — get those YouTube singles to your Mac in no time!
Prosumer: Movist Pro video player for Mac
Finally, since you’ve already paid a lot of money for your gorgeous retina Mac screen, it would be a waste not to use it to its maximum potential. And when you want things to work at the highest level when it comes to choosing the best video player for Mac, you can’t go wrong with Movist Pro.
Movist Pro puts all the possible control over your viewing experience right in your hands. It lets you choose from a few decoders, easily switch between light and dark modes, and control your subtitles (with an option to add more than one subtitle track at once).
In terms of other interesting features, Movist Pro automatically adjusts the colors on your non-HDR monitor to match an HDR video. The app also supports web-browser streaming (using an extension), so you can watch online videos with all the comfort and custom settings of Movist Pro. Unbeatable!
So what’s the best multimedia player for Mac? Depends on your needs and the kind of videos you tend to watch the most. While QuickTime Player and VLC cover the basics pretty well, DivX allows you to watch specific video formats. Elmedia Player and Movist Pro in the meantime are the best at giving you precise controls as well as streaming and downloading videos for watching offline.
One last point. With videos, you never know what kind of format might come your way, and quite often your preferred Mac video player won’t be able to play it. For times like these you need Permute.
Permute is the most capable converter currently on the market that’s incredibly easy to use as well. Just drop your video onto its pane, choose the format you want to convert to, and click the play icon. Done!
Best of all, Elmedia Player, Movist Pro, and Permute are all available to you absolutely free for seven days with a trial of Setapp, a platform with over 150 essential Mac apps to improve your Mac interactions in no time. And why not start with video?
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Best Video Editor On Mac
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