recognizing MP4 vs MKV

[Leach]

how can i know if a video is MP4 or MKV.
here is the info i have :

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom
File size : 1.20 GiB
Duration : 2h 32mn
Overall bit rate : 1 127 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2010-12-19 03:53:38
Tagged date : UTC 2010-12-19 03:53:38

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.0
Format settings, CABAC : No
Format settings, ReFrames : 1 frame
Codec ID : avc1
Codec ID/Info : Advanced Video Coding
Duration : 2h 31mn
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 1 000 Kbps
Maximum bit rate : 2 000 Kbps
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 396 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 fps
Standard : NTSC
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.117
Stream size : 1.06 GiB (88%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2010-12-19 03:53:38
Tagged date : UTC 2010-12-19 03:53:38
Color primaries : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M
Transfer characteristics : BT.601-6 525, BT.601-6 625, BT.1358 525, BT.1358 625, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M
Matrix coefficients : BT.601-6 525, BT.1358 525, BT.1700 NTSC, SMPTE 170M

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Format profile : LC
Codec ID : 40
Duration : 2h 32mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 127 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Channel positions : Front: L R
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 139 MiB (11%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2010-12-19 03:53:38
Tagged date : UTC 2010-12-19 03:53:38
thx

[guns1inger]

Both are just containers. You tell the difference either by looking at the file extension (you may have to enable the option "Show file extensions for known file types" under Folder Options to see this), or by opening the file in MediaInfo and looking at the Tree or Text view.

The details you have posted could belong to either.

[Leach]

the file was originally "labeled" avi
i changed it to mp4 but now im wondering if its an MKV.

just saw that details included work for both containers.

i suppose knowing which type it is doesn't really matter.

ty for your help

[guns1inger]

Some players may care. It could well have been an AVI. If you want to be sure it is an MP4 or MKV, load the AVI version into AVI Demux, keep video and audio set to copy, change the extension to MP4 or MKV, and save a new file. Then you know it will have been repackaged correctly.

[Leach]

well i used gspot to make sure it wasnt avi, but that was with version 2.1

this is what i get from gspot 2.70a
isom: MP4 Base Media v1 [IS0 14496-12:2003]
- mp41: MP4 v1 [ISO 14496-1:ch13]
Recommended Display Size: 720 x 396
Created: 2010 Dec 20 05:53:38
Modified: 2010 Dec 20 05:53:38

im going to leave the file @ mp4.

ty gunslinger

edit: i use MPC HC and vlc 0.86 for playing videos

[guns1inger]

G-Spot hasn't been updated in quite some time, and it's support for H264 isn't great because of this. MediaInfo is regularly updated and is the better option now for codec identification

[Leach]

lazy option never works

i guess ill AVI demux as you originally suggested

[Gavino]

Both are just containers.
...
The details you have posted could belong to either.

Sure, MP4 and MKV are both just containers, but the MediaInfo report shows the container format is MP4:

General
Format : MPEG-4
Format profile : Base Media
Codec ID : isom

This is confirmed by the later GSpot report:

this is what i get from gspot 2.70a
isom: MP4 Base Media v1 [IS0 14496-12:2003]
- mp41: MP4 v1 [ISO 14496-1:ch13]

[Leach]

Format : MPEG-4

that is what made me change from avi to mp4.

then a bit of googling made me think it could be MKV and the fact that i was never able to figure out what isom was didn't help either.

[jagabo]

MediaInfo shows "Format: Matroska" for MKV files, "Format: MPEG-4" for MP4 files, "Format: AVI" for AVI files.