How to find out what codec is being used in a video
One way of doing this is by using VLC. Open the file in question, right click on it in the playlist and you'll see something like this:
I'm on OS X but the idea is the same.
Another way is to open a terminal, navigate to the directory containing the file and do:
file foo.avi
This doesn't provide a great deal of information but it is a start.
Another command line option with less "harsh" information:
ffprobe -show_streams "file.mp4"
Even with better output, it's still hard to a regular guy understand. If you need samples of several file formats to test it:
Video Format Examples
You can get information about Audio/Video Codecs and additional information by installing mediainfo
. Both GUI (Graphical User Interface) and command-line utilities are available. Use these commands to install:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install mediainfo
If you want to install GUI,
sudo apt-get install mediainfo-gui
for reference visit mediainfo