| A | B |
|---|
| AU (Audio) | File created by Sun Microsystems and used on computers running the UNIX operating system. |
| MP3 (Mpeg -1 Audio Layer 3) | Very compressed file that is popular for music stored on portable players and on the Internet because it can reproduce near-CD quality audio in small file sizes. |
| MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) | File format for creating music instruments and/or playing music using synthesizers and sound cards. |
| WAV (Waveform) | File format developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft as the native format for Windows sound files. Produces high-quality sound but has large file sizes because it is uncompressed. |
| WMA (Windows Media Audio) | Proprietary file format developed by Microsoft originally to compete with the .MP3 format. Produces high-quality sounds but is more compressed than .WAV files. |
| AVI (Audio Video Interleave) | Windows format. Plays in Windows Media Player. Very good quality, even at smaller resolutions. Large file size - not recommended for delivering video over the Internet. Popular format for videos stored on a computer. |
| MOV (Movie) | Apple format. Plays in the QuickTime Player. Very good quality. Popular format for videos downloaded from the Internet. |
| MPEG (Moving Pictures Expert Group) | The standard for compression and storage of audio and motion video for use on the World Wide Web. Creates video with small file sizes. Popular format for videos downloaded from the Internet. Its biggest advantage is that it will play in many different media players. |
| RM (Real Media) | Plays in the RealPlayer player. Typically contains a movie clip. Popular format for streaming video viewed over the Internet. |
| WMV (Windows Media Video) | Proprietary video format developed by Microsoft. Plays in Windows Media Player. Popular format for streaming video viewed over the Internet. |
| FLV (Flash Video) | New file format widely used on the Internet. Plays in Adobe Flash Player. Very small size. Popular format for streaming video viewed over the Internet. |
