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Embedded Metadata — Full Container Tags (MKV)

Eight container-level metadata fields written into the same eight-second clip, so a metadata reader can be checked against a file whose expected values are published rather than guessed. Every value is obviously sample data. Matroska stores tags as arbitrary name/value SimpleTags scoped to a target level, so it has no fixed vocabulary and nothing is dropped. The same eight fields as the MP4 in this group: compare the two to see exactly which values survive a cross-container remux and which are quietly lost.

File: MKV · Metadata · 480x270
Use case: Media metadataVideo QA+1· Conversion set

Embedded Metadata — Full Container Tags (MP4)

Eight container-level metadata fields written into the same eight-second clip, so a metadata reader can be checked against a file whose expected values are published rather than guessed. Every value is obviously sample data. MP4 stores these in an iTunes-style `moov/udta/meta/ilst` atom, with fixed four-character keys. Fields outside that vocabulary — `description` here — are written as freeform `----` atoms that many readers skip, so a tag can be present in the file and invisible to the tool you are testing.

File: MP4 · Metadata · 480x270
Use case: Media metadataVideo QA+1· Conversion set

Embedded Metadata — SMPTE Start Timecode (MP4)

A start timecode of 01:00:00:00 — the broadcast convention of beginning programme material at hour one, so that bars, slates and pre-roll can live before it without going negative. FFmpeg writes it as a QuickTime `tmcd` track. The burned-in timecode in the picture deliberately starts at 00:00:00:00 instead. That one-hour disagreement is the whole point: an editor or QC tool that reads the timecode track shows 01:00:00:00 at the first frame, one that reads elapsed time shows zero, and a file where they agree cannot tell you which your tool is doing. Non-drop-frame, since 24 fps has no drop-frame variant.

File: MP4 · Metadata · 8s
Use case: Media metadataVideo QA+1· Conversion set

Embedded Metadata — Stripped (MP4 Control)

The same clip with every scrap of metadata removed — no tags, no creation time, not even the encoder string FFmpeg normally writes. The control for this group and the baseline for a privacy or scrubbing tool: if your stripper leaves anything this file does not have, it is not stripping enough. Getting to genuinely zero takes `-map_metadata -1` **and** `-fflags +bitexact` placed after the input, as an output option. `-map_metadata -1` alone still leaves the `encoder=Lavf…` tag behind, and putting the bitexact flag before `-i` applies it to the demuxer where it does nothing to the output — which is the usual reason a file someone believes they stripped still names the software that made it. What cannot be removed: `major_brand`, `minor_version` and `compatible_brands`. Probing tools list those alongside the tags, but they are fields of the `ftyp` box that define what the file is, not metadata about it.

File: MP4 · Metadata · 8s
Use case: Media metadataVideo QA+1· Conversion set

FLV — Flash Video Clip

The clip as Flash Video (.flv) with H.264 — the legacy web-streaming container. For testing FLV demuxing and conversion to MP4.

File: FLV · Flv · 480x270
Use case: Conversion testing

HLS — Ad Break With Discontinuity Markers

A media playlist with a mid-roll spliced in: EXT-X-CUE-OUT opens the break, EXT-X-DISCONTINUITY marks each boundary, and a fresh EXT-X-MAP re-initialises the decoder on both sides. This is what a packager produces from the SCTE-35 splice_insert fixture in this wave. Discontinuities are where players most often stall, because the timeline and the decoder both have to be reset.

File: M3U8 · Stream
Use case: Streaming manifestsConversion testing+1· Conversion set

HLS — Byte-Range Addressed Single File

Every segment is a byte range of one backing file rather than a separate download, which is how low-overhead VOD packaging avoids thousands of small objects. The /files/stream/ headers expose Content-Range and Accept-Ranges cross-origin precisely so a player can do this from another origin. Tests Range request construction and offset arithmetic.

File: M3U8 · Stream
Use case: Streaming manifestsConversion testing+1· Conversion set

HLS — CMAF Media Playlist

A VOD media playlist in CMAF form: an EXT-X-MAP initialisation segment followed by four fragmented-MP4 segments and an explicit ENDLIST. The final segment is deliberately short, as a real encode's last segment usually is. Tests target-duration handling, init-segment fetching, and correct total-duration arithmetic. A manifest-parsing fixture — the segments themselves ship with the streaming phase.

File: M3U8 · Stream
Use case: Streaming manifestsConversion testing+1· Conversion set

HLS — I-Frame Only Playlist for Trick Play

An I-frame-only playlist: each entry is a byte range covering a single keyframe inside the media file, which is how players render scrub previews and fast-forward without decoding every frame. Declared in a master playlist via EXT-X-I-FRAME-STREAM-INF. Tests that a parser distinguishes these from normal media playlists — playing one as ordinary media produces a stuttering slideshow.

File: M3U8 · Stream
Use case: Streaming manifestsConversion testing+1· Conversion set

HLS — Intentionally Corrupt: Missing #EXTM3U Signature

An intentionally corrupt HLS playlist with the mandatory #EXTM3U signature removed. Everything else is valid. The specification requires the first line to be exactly #EXTM3U and that clients reject anything else, so this separates conforming parsers from lenient ones that sniff for EXT tags instead.

File: M3U8 · Stream Corrupt
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo QA· Conversion set

HLS — Low-Latency Partial Segments

A Low-Latency HLS playlist: half-second EXT-X-PART fragments published ahead of their parent segment, a preload hint for the part still being written, and EXT-X-SERVER-CONTROL advertising blocking playlist reload. There is deliberately no ENDLIST, because this is a live playlist. Tests parsers against the LL-HLS tags, which are frequently unimplemented and must at minimum be ignored safely.

File: M3U8 · Stream
Use case: Streaming manifestsConversion testing+1· Conversion set

HLS — Master Playlist With a Three-Rung Ladder

An HLS master playlist declaring a three-rung bitrate ladder plus a subtitle rendition group, with the CODECS, RESOLUTION and FRAME-RATE attributes a player needs to choose a rung before fetching anything. Served inline with permissive CORS from /files/stream/, so a player on another origin can load it directly. This is a manifest-parsing fixture — it describes the ladder rather than shipping its segments.

File: M3U8 · Stream
Use case: Streaming manifestsConversion testing+1· Conversion set

HLS — Segmented WebVTT Caption Playlist

The subtitle rendition the master playlist references through EXT-X-MEDIA. Captions in HLS are segmented like media — each segment is a small WebVTT file covering its own time window, carrying X-TIMESTAMP-MAP to align with the MPEG-TS clock. Completes the master playlist's declared rendition group so a player can resolve the whole tree.

File: M3U8 · Stream · en
Use case: Streaming manifestsConversion testing+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — CMAF Init Segment (init_0.m4s)

A CMAF initialisation segment: the moov box carrying codec configuration and track metadata, with no media samples. A player must fetch this before any media segment of the same rendition, and switching renditions mid-stream means fetching the new rendition's init first — the step ABR implementations most often get wrong.

File: M4S · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — CMAF Init Segment (init_1.m4s)

A CMAF initialisation segment: the moov box carrying codec configuration and track metadata, with no media samples. A player must fetch this before any media segment of the same rendition, and switching renditions mid-stream means fetching the new rendition's init first — the step ABR implementations most often get wrong.

File: M4S · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — CMAF Init Segment (init_2.m4s)

A CMAF initialisation segment: the moov box carrying codec configuration and track metadata, with no media samples. A player must fetch this before any media segment of the same rendition, and switching renditions mid-stream means fetching the new rendition's init first — the step ABR implementations most often get wrong.

File: M4S · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — Master Playlist (Playable Package)

The entry point to a COMPLETE and genuinely playable HLS package: a 3-rung ladder (320x180 at 300 kbps, 480x270 at 700 kbps, 640x360 at 1400 kbps) with real CMAF segments alongside it in this group. Point hls.js or Safari at this URL and it plays — it is served inline with permissive CORS from /files/stream/, so it works cross-origin without re-hosting. Unlike the hand-authored HLS fixtures elsewhere in the catalog, which are parser tests that reference placeholder segment names on purpose, everything this playlist references actually exists.

File: M3U8 · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — Media Playlist (0)

One rendition of the playable HLS ladder, listing its own CMAF init segment and media segments. Referenced by the master playlist in this group. Generated by ffmpeg's own HLS muxer, so the segment durations, the EXT-X-MAP and the ENDLIST are exactly what a real packager emits rather than what a human thinks one emits.

File: M3U8 · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — Media Playlist (1)

One rendition of the playable HLS ladder, listing its own CMAF init segment and media segments. Referenced by the master playlist in this group. Generated by ffmpeg's own HLS muxer, so the segment durations, the EXT-X-MAP and the ENDLIST are exactly what a real packager emits rather than what a human thinks one emits.

File: M3U8 · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — Media Playlist (2)

One rendition of the playable HLS ladder, listing its own CMAF init segment and media segments. Referenced by the master playlist in this group. Generated by ffmpeg's own HLS muxer, so the segment durations, the EXT-X-MAP and the ENDLIST are exactly what a real packager emits rather than what a human thinks one emits.

File: M3U8 · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — Media Segment (seg-0-000.m4s)

A one-second fragmented-MP4 media segment (moof + mdat) from the playable ladder. It starts on a keyframe, so it decodes independently once the matching init segment has been loaded — which is what makes mid-stream quality switching possible at all.

File: M4S · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — Media Segment (seg-0-001.m4s)

A one-second fragmented-MP4 media segment (moof + mdat) from the playable ladder. It starts on a keyframe, so it decodes independently once the matching init segment has been loaded — which is what makes mid-stream quality switching possible at all.

File: M4S · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — Media Segment (seg-1-000.m4s)

A one-second fragmented-MP4 media segment (moof + mdat) from the playable ladder. It starts on a keyframe, so it decodes independently once the matching init segment has been loaded — which is what makes mid-stream quality switching possible at all.

File: M4S · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

HLS VOD — Media Segment (seg-1-001.m4s)

A one-second fragmented-MP4 media segment (moof + mdat) from the playable ladder. It starts on a keyframe, so it decodes independently once the matching init segment has been loaded — which is what makes mid-stream quality switching possible at all.

File: M4S · Vod Hls
Use case: Streaming manifestsVideo codecs+1· Conversion set

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402 results

Embedded Metadata — Full Container Tags (MKV)

Embedded Metadata — Full Container Tags (MP4)

Embedded Metadata — SMPTE Start Timecode (MP4)

Embedded Metadata — Stripped (MP4 Control)

FLV — Flash Video Clip

HLS — Ad Break With Discontinuity Markers

HLS — Byte-Range Addressed Single File

HLS — CMAF Media Playlist

HLS — I-Frame Only Playlist for Trick Play

HLS — Intentionally Corrupt: Missing #EXTM3U Signature

HLS — Low-Latency Partial Segments

HLS — Master Playlist With a Three-Rung Ladder

HLS — Segmented WebVTT Caption Playlist

HLS VOD — CMAF Init Segment (init_0.m4s)

HLS VOD — CMAF Init Segment (init_1.m4s)

HLS VOD — CMAF Init Segment (init_2.m4s)

HLS VOD — Master Playlist (Playable Package)

HLS VOD — Media Playlist (0)

HLS VOD — Media Playlist (1)

HLS VOD — Media Playlist (2)

HLS VOD — Media Segment (seg-0-000.m4s)

HLS VOD — Media Segment (seg-0-001.m4s)

HLS VOD — Media Segment (seg-1-000.m4s)

HLS VOD — Media Segment (seg-1-001.m4s)

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