Download Codec Compatibility Test Files for Players & Pipelines

A curated catalogue of pre-encoded video files for codec and container compatibility testing. Covers H.264 (AVC), H.265 (HEVC), AV1, VP9, and VP8 across MP4 and WebM containers. Each combination ships only where it makes engineering sense — AV1 is not boxed into MOV (Apple never adopted it), VP9 is not boxed into MP4 (technically possible but unsupported by most decoders). The page also runs a live browser self-test so you see what your local player will actually decode before downloading.

How to Use

Glance at the browser self-test chips at the top — they show which codecs your current browser will decode.

Find the codec × container row/column you need in the matrix.

Green dots mark combinations your browser plays "probably"; amber dots are "maybe" (likely yes but not guaranteed); grey dots are "not supported".

Click the Download button on a cell — file streams from the RU VPS directly to your disk.

Test the file in your player, TV, projector, NAS, video editor or video pipeline. Compare results across codecs to find your weakest link.

H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, VP8 in MP4 and WebM — curated catalogue

Your browser supports

Live video.canPlayType probe — refresh in a different browser to compare.

Decode support detected via canPlayType

Codec × Container matrix

Empty cells are combinations that do not exist in practice (no production decoder). Coloured dots reflect your current browser, not the file.

Codec	MP4	WebM	MKV	MOV	TS

Features

Five codecs × two containers = curated combinations covering every mainstream playback scenario Live browser self-test using <video>.canPlayType — see decode support before downloading Container × codec compatibility honestly modelled: empty cells where a combination does not exist in practice All files served from the RU VPS with 30-day immutable cache — fast, no Cloudflare proxy, no NL bandwidth Files derived from Big Buck Bunny test pattern (Blender Foundation, CC-BY) — free to redistribute with attribution

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is H.265 not in WebM?

WebM is defined to carry VP8/VP9/AV1 video and Vorbis/Opus audio. HEVC in WebM is not part of any standard and no production decoder accepts it. The MP4 container handles HEVC cleanly across every player we know of — that is what we ship.

What is the difference between "probably" and "maybe" in browser self-test?

These come from the HTML5

Where do the files come from?

Each file is generated by FFmpeg with the documented codec settings, from a synthetic test pattern source (lavfi). The exact encoding commands live in scripts/generate-test-files.mjs in the Timbrica repo so anyone can reproduce or audit them.

Are the files watermarked or fingerprinted?

No — every file is the same bit-identical content delivered to every visitor. The only personalisation is the Cache-Control: immutable header so your browser caches the file for 30 days. Feel free to host them locally for offline testing, redistribute as test fixtures, or include them in CI pipelines as canonical inputs.

Why no ProRes / MKV / TS / MOV in the matrix?

Phase 1 ships the five most-requested codec combinations. ProRes (Apple MOV-only), MKV (mostly used as a transport for already-listed codecs), MPEG-TS (broadcast), and AV1 in additional containers are queued for Phase 2 once we see traffic data on which combinations the audience actually uses.

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Published 21 May 2026