OGV file format (.ogv)
Ogg Theora, a fully patent-free video format.
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What is an OGV file?
In short: An OGV file (.ogv) is a video file in the OGV format. OGV pairs Theora video with Vorbis audio inside an Ogg container, all of it patent-free by design. It can be converted to MP4, MOV or GIF for free in a web browser with iHateFiles, without uploading it.
Part of the Xiph.Org Foundation's open media project, with Theora video finalised in 2004.
OGV pairs Theora video with Vorbis audio inside an Ogg container, all of it patent-free by design. It was the open answer to H.264 before VP8 and AV1 existed, and it still appears in Wikipedia and free software archives.
What OGV is good at
- Entirely free of patents and licensing
- Plays in Firefox and Chrome without plugins
- Common in open content archives
Where OGV falls short
- Theora compresses noticeably worse than H.264
- Superseded by VP9 and AV1
- Little support outside browsers and VLC
When to use OGV
Convert OGV to MP4 or WEBM. It survives for licensing reasons rather than technical ones.
How to open a OGV file
Firefox, Chrome and VLC.
| Windows | VLC or Firefox. |
|---|---|
| macOS | VLC or Firefox. |
| Linux | Native on most distributions — Theora is a fully open codec. |
| Phone | VLC. |
| In a browser | Firefox and Chrome play Ogg Theora. Safari does not. |
The thing that usually goes wrong
At the same file size Theora looks clearly worse than H.264, so re-encoding an old OGV will not recover detail that was never captured.
Questions
What is a OGV file?
Ogg Theora, a fully patent-free video format. Files use the .ogv extension.
How do I open a OGV file?
Most video software opens OGV directly. If yours does not, convert it here to something more common. It takes a few seconds and nothing is uploaded.
Can I convert OGV for free?
Yes. Every conversion here is free and unlimited, because your own device does the work rather than a server we have to pay for.
Is OGV lossless?
That depends on the codec inside the container rather than the container itself. Everything written here is re-encoded, so expect one generation of loss.