Sustainability of Digital Formats
 Planning for Library of Congress Collections

Format Description Categories >> Browse Alphabetical List>> Back

Identification and description

Full name	Cinepak
Description	Bitstream encoding for video; John McGowan states, "Cinepak uses Vector Quantization based image compression and frame differencing." Multiple versions exist, including "SuperMac," "Radius," and "Compression Technologies;" this document does not distinguish between them.
Production phase	May be used as a middle-state (video production) or end-user delivery format.
Relationship to other formats
Used by	AVI_Cinepak, Audio Video Interleaved, Cinepak
Used by	QTV_Cinepak, QuickTime, Cinepak

Local use

LC experience or existing holdings
LC preference

Sustainability factors

Disclosure	Proprietary standard with little or no public documentation
Documentation	None identified as of April 26, 2004.
Adoption	Has been widespread; in 2000, John McGowan wrote that "Cinepak is the most widely used Video for Windows codec."
Licensing and patents	Apparently various providers of encoders license the use of their products.
Transparency	Depends upon algorithms and tools to read; will require sophistication to build tools.
Self-documentation	Not applicable; provided by wrapper formats.
External dependencies	None.
Technical protection considerations	Not applicable; provided by wrapper formats.

Quality and functionality factors

Moving Image
Normal rendering	Not applicable
Clarity (high image resolution)	Moderate, varies according to encoder used.
Functionality beyond normal rendering	Not applicable.

File type signifiers

Tag	Value	Note
Filename extension	Not applicable.
Internet Media Type	Not applicable.
Magic numbers	Not applicable.
Microsoft FOURCC	CVID	Used when this codec is wrapped in Microsoft file formats, e.g., AVI and ASF; see the Microsoft registry.

Notes

General	Some discussion of Cinepak in John McGowan's AVI Overview: Audio and Video Codecs (http://www.jmcgowan.com/avicodecs.html).
History

Format specifications

• See Disclosure under Sustainability factors.

Useful references

URLs

• John McGowan's AVI Overview: Audio and Video Codecs (http://www.jmcgowan.com/avicodecs.html).
• Cinepak (CVID) stream format for AVI and QT (http://multimedia.cx/mirror/cinepak.txt). By Dr. Tim Ferguson, 2001.
• Cinepak codecs (http://www.probo.com/cinepak.htm). From Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinepak
• Microsoft registry (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms867195.aspx). Registry of FOURCC codes and WAVE format indicators, dated 2003. The archived 2001 version of this registry is at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/fourcc.mspx.