What is a AVI file?
Classic Windows video format with broad compatibility
The .AVI file (also known as an Audio Video Interleave file) is a very popular video format with both audio and video usually stored in an uncompressed format. The AVI video file was first developed by Microsoft in 1992 and for a long time was the standard video format for Windows machines. AVI files are a multimedia container format that stores audio and video using a variety of codecs; popular codecs with high compression ratios were DivX and XviD.
AVI files can be compressed, but typically they use less compression and are larger than many other popular video formats like MOV and MPEG. AVI files can be created without any compression and results in a “lossless AVI file.” These lossless AVI files have really large filesizes (can range between 2-3GB per minute of video). However, a lossless AVI file will not lose quality overtime and allows for playback without requiring any codecs to be installed on the user’s computer.
Common uses for AVI files
- Video editing projects
- Archive footage
- Windows video playback
- Legacy video content
- Windows video cameras
- Screen recording software
- Video editing exports
- Archive collections
Who works with AVI files?
Digitization services, broadcast librarians, and media archivists frequently handle AVI when restoring tape-era footage, and security teams often receive AVI exports from CCTV and DVR systems. It also persists in research labs and industrial settings where older capture hardware and analysis software still write AVI by default.
AVI vs MP4: which should you use?
AVI is a RIFF-based container Microsoft introduced in 1992, while MP4 (MPEG-4 Part 14) is a newer international standard designed around efficient codecs like H.264 video and AAC audio. AVI files are typically larger because they favor older or lighter compression, and the format has weaker support for streaming, chapters, and subtitle tracks than MP4. AVI makes sense for legacy Windows workflows and preserving existing archival footage, while MP4 is the better choice for sharing, web playback, and mobile devices.
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