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Format shifting is the conversion of media files into different
file format A file format is a standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary or free. Some file format ...
or
data compression In information theory, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Any particular compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossless compressio ...
( video coding format and
audio coding format An audio coding format (or sometimes audio compression format) is a content representation format for storage or transmission of digital audio (such as in digital television, digital radio and in audio and video files). Examples of audio coding ...
). This may be required to play the media on different devices, for example when converting or
ripping Ripping is extracting all or parts of digital content from a container. Originally, it meant to rip music out of Commodore 64 games. Later, the term was used to extract WAV or MP3 format files from digital audio CDs, but got applied as well to e ...
audio files on CDs into digital formats such as
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
. Other media shifting processes include
time shifting In broadcasting, time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to after the live broadcasting. Typically, this refers to TV programming but it can also refer to radio shows via podcasts. In recent year ...
(also known as place shifting), a process whereby a radio or television broadcast is recorded to disk storage and played back at a different time, and space shifting where media is stored on one device and can be accessed from another place through another device which is normally located at another location.


Archiving and preservation

Format shifting is central to preservation and archiving, particularly for sound recordings and
films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...
. In addition to efforts to preserve works created in deteriorating formats format shifting is also necessary to keep works accessible. As technology develops the technical formats get outdated and the technology necessary for accessing original formats is no longer available. Copyright law of the United Kingdom does not allow libraries and archives to format shift for preservation and archiving purposes. By the time
copyright term The copyright term is the length of time copyright subsists in a work before it passes into the public domain. In most of the world, this length of time is the life of the author plus either 50 or 70 years. Length of copyright Copyright subsists f ...
in a work ends the original work may have disintegrated or deteriorated to such an extent that the cost of preservation increases.


See also

* Media server (Consumer) * Space shifting (also known as place shifting) *
Time shifting In broadcasting, time shifting is the recording of programming to a storage medium to be viewed or listened to after the live broadcasting. Typically, this refers to TV programming but it can also refer to radio shows via podcasts. In recent year ...
*
Copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
*
Private copying A private copying levy (also known as blank media tax or levy) is a government-mandated scheme in which a special tax or levy (additional to any general sales tax) is charged on purchases of recordable media. Such taxes are in place in various ...


References

{{Reflist Copyright law Digital rights Ripping