We are working with a development company to create a program that records videos and then uploads them to a server. Then, on our website, users should be able to view the videos.
Here's the issue. As far as I understand it, .MP4 is the only video file format that can be played in any browser. However, the other development company claims that they will deliver the videos as .MKV video files and then all we have to do on our website is re-wrap the videos or something so they will be playable. I do not understand how that works, and they were being very condescending when I asked for clarification.
The videos have to be able to be played in any browser, and I would rather not have to use any special plugins to convert the videos before playing them.
Please help me understand what they expect me to do.
MP4 and MKV are file formats or wrappers that hold multiple media streams (typically audio and video). The wrapper (MP4 or MKV) tells you very little about the actual audio or video format.
Common combinations are MP4 with AVC video and AAC audio or MKV with VP9 video and Vorbis audio. But you could also do MKV with AVC and AAC.
Rewrapping MKV (AVC/AAC) into MP4 (AVC/AAC) is pretty straight forward and does not require a transcode.
I'd guess that MP4 with AVC video and AAC audio is likely the best cross platform combination at this time.
But delivering video over the internet to a browser with varying available bandwidth - can be tricky and may required multiple different quality levels of the same content.