Video Metadata Viewer

What Video Metadata Viewer helps you do

Inspect what is actually inside a video file: the container, duration, video and audio codecs, resolution, frame rate, bitrate, rotation, HDR flag and descriptive tags. It answers the questions that a file extension cannot, such as why a clip will not play on a TV or which codec a recording really uses. The viewer is read-only and never uploads the file.

The file is parsed in your browser. No video data or metadata is transmitted to Haivix, and closing the tab clears the selection.

How it works

A demuxer reads the container and exposes its tracks without decoding every frame. By default the viewer samples the first packets of each track, which keeps inspection fast but makes bitrate and frame rate approximate for variable-bitrate or variable-frame-rate files. Full scan reads the whole file for exact statistics. The codec string follows the standard identifier format used by browsers and streaming tools, so it can be pasted directly into a compatibility note or a delivery spec.

How to use Video Metadata Viewer

1. Load the video you want to inspect.
2. Read the container, duration and overall bitrate.
3. Check the video track for codec, resolution, rotation and HDR.
4. Check the audio tracks for codec, channels, sample rate and language.
5. Enable Full scan when you need exact bitrate or frame rate figures.
6. Copy the details into a ticket or a compatibility note.

When to use it

• Find out why a file plays in one app but not on a TV.
• Check whether a recording is HDR before editing it.
• Confirm the real resolution and frame rate of a clip.
• Read track languages before adding subtitles or dubbing.
• Capture codec details for a bug report or a delivery spec.

When not to use it

• Do not use it to edit or remove metadata; the viewer is read-only.
• Do not rely on sampled bitrate for a strict delivery check; run a full scan.
• Do not treat a missing tag as proof that the file has no metadata, since some containers store it in an unusual place.

Example

A phone clip plays on the phone but shows a black screen on a television. The viewer reports HEVC video in an MP4 container with a rotation flag. The television supports the container but not that codec, which explains the failure before any conversion is attempted.

What you can do with Video Metadata Viewer

• Show container, MIME type and duration.
• List video codec, profile, resolution and rotation.
• Report frame rate and average bitrate, sampled or exact.
• List audio codecs, channels, sample rate and language.
• Read descriptive tags such as title, artist or creation time.
• Flag HDR and indicate whether the browser can decode the tracks.
• Copy individual values into a delivery sheet.

Example workflow

Inspect before converting. If the source is already H.264/AAC in MP4, a remux will preserve quality; if it is HEVC or AV1, the target device may need a re-encode instead.

Inspect before reporting a playback bug. The codec string and container are the two facts a support team needs first, and they are much more useful than the file extension.

Record the codec string before an edit so a later export can be compared with the original. It is the fastest way to prove that a remux did not change the source.

What to know before you start

• Sampled mode approximates bitrate and frame rate for variable-rate files.
• Unknown or proprietary codecs may show only container-level details.
• The viewer does not decode the whole file unless Full scan is enabled.
• Metadata stored in external sidecar files is not part of the video and will not appear.
• Editing tags is out of scope.

Common mistakes

• Judging a file by its extension instead of its codec.
• Reading sampled bitrate as an exact average.
• Assuming a rotation flag will be honoured by every player.
• Forgetting that audio tracks can have their own language and codec.
• Checking only the video track when the audio is the part that fails to play.

Troubleshooting

If some fields are blank, the container may use a codec the demuxer does not recognise. The container and duration usually still resolve, which is enough to plan a conversion.

If the frame rate looks unusual, the source may be variable-frame-rate. Run a full scan for a more representative number.

If the browser cannot decode the file, the viewer can still read the header in many cases. Use that information to choose a conversion target that the destination device supports.

If the reported duration differs from what a player shows, the container may include an edit list that trims the start or end. The header duration and the played duration can legitimately disagree.

Related standards and documentation

• RFC 6381 defines codec strings such as avc1.640028 and mp4a.40.2.
• ISO/IEC 14496-12 describes the MP4 box structure that stores these tracks.