Timeline of Audio-Visual Codecs since 1991

A codec is short for "Coding-Decoding" a digital data stream, and has been used as a computer word since the 1970s. Can also be thought of as "Compressing-Decompressing" from a speed perspective, as streaming gets smarter.

Year Codec Who by Container file extension Comments

1991 Quicktime Apple .mov
also .qt Launched by Apple
1992 Video for Windows Microsoft .avi
also .mp4 Launched by Microsoft as AVI using audio-video interleave
1993 MPEG-1 MPEG .mpg, .mpeg Launched by the Moving Pictures Expert Group
1993 MPEG-1
Audio Layer III MPEG .mp3
1996 MPEG-2 MPEG .mpg, .mpeg, .m2v Standard for DVDs and early digital television
e.g. via TiVo which launched its first Digital Video Recorder in the US in 1999. Launched in Australia by Seven Network from 2008 to 2017
1997 Adobe Flash Adobe .flv Graphics and Animation editor known as Macromedia Flash, and a Player known as Macromedia Flash Player
No longer supported after 2020
1999 MPEG-4 MPEG .mp4 Standard for Blu-Ray discs released in 2006
1999 WMV based on MPEG-4 Part 2 Microsoft .wmv Launched by Microsoft as part of Windows. Renamed Media Player Legacy with the new Media Player launch in 2022
2003 H.264
AVC MPEG-4 Part 10 MPEG .mp4 Popular with Blu-Ray, HD TV, Netflix and Youtube (Google) streaming, with Netflix (market leader) in the US launched on Roku devices in 2007, Australia in 2015
2012 VP9 Google .webm Youtube, also popular with Netflix streaming
2013 H.265
HEVC MPEG-H Part 2 MPEG .mp4 Upgraded version of H.264

Year	Codec	Who by	Container file extension	Comments
1991	Quicktime	Apple	.mov also .qt	Launched by Apple
1992	Video for Windows	Microsoft	.avi also .mp4	Launched by Microsoft as AVI using audio-video interleave
1993	MPEG-1	MPEG	.mpg, .mpeg	Launched by the Moving Pictures Expert Group
1993	MPEG-1 Audio Layer III	MPEG	.mp3
1996	MPEG-2	MPEG	.mpg, .mpeg, .m2v	Standard for DVDs and early digital television e.g. via TiVo which launched its first Digital Video Recorder in the US in 1999. Launched in Australia by Seven Network from 2008 to 2017
1997	Adobe Flash	Adobe	.flv	Graphics and Animation editor known as Macromedia Flash, and a Player known as Macromedia Flash Player No longer supported after 2020
1999	MPEG-4	MPEG	.mp4	Standard for Blu-Ray discs released in 2006
1999	WMV based on MPEG-4 Part 2	Microsoft	.wmv	Launched by Microsoft as part of Windows. Renamed Media Player Legacy with the new Media Player launch in 2022
2003	H.264 AVC MPEG-4 Part 10	MPEG	.mp4	Popular with Blu-Ray, HD TV, Netflix and Youtube (Google) streaming, with Netflix (market leader) in the US launched on Roku devices in 2007, Australia in 2015
2012	VP9	Google	.webm	Youtube, also popular with Netflix streaming
2013	H.265 HEVC MPEG-H Part 2	MPEG	.mp4	Upgraded version of H.264

In June 2020, MPEG "was closed" with its working groups becoming part of SC29 in Japan. Ultra HD (Ultra High Definition Television i.e. 4K and 8K) was initially proposed by NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories in Tokyo. It was later defined and approved by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), note, 4K and 8K can use multiple file extensions.

Windows Media Player, now Media Player, comes standard with Windows 10 and 11. Another popular player on PCs is VLC Media Player which downloads Codecs as necessary.

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