iFrame is a

digital video Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...

format developed by

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

. It is based on existing industry standards, such as AVC/H.264, AAC and

QuickTime QuickTime (or QuickTime Player) is an extensible multimedia architecture created by Apple, which supports playing, streaming, encoding, and transcoding a variety of digital media formats. The term ''QuickTime'' also refers to the QuickTime Pla ...

, and can be used with compatible Mac and PC applications. The format has been created to simplify

video editing Video editing is the post-production and arrangement of video shots. To showcase excellent video editing to the public, video editors must be reasonable and ensure they have a thorough understanding of film, television, and other sorts of videog ...

. Many non-Apple editing tools do not require conversion of video from source to intermediate format, instead allowing to edit the original videos directly. Traditionally, Apple video editing tools like

Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro (often abbreviated FCP or FCPX) is a professional non-linear video-editing application initially developed by Macromedia, and, since 1998, by Apple as part of its pro apps collection. Final Cut Pro allows users to import, edit, a ...

and

iMovie iMovie is a free video editing software, video editing application made by Apple Inc., Apple for the Mac (computer), Mac, the iPhone, and the iPad. It includes a range of video effects and tools like color correction and image stabilization, b ...

have required conversion of video from its original format into intermediate format such as ProRes 422 or AIC for editing. With iFrame such conversion is no longer needed starting from iMovie '09.

Overview

iFrame video and audio is encoded using

lossy compression In information technology, lossy compression or irreversible compression is the class of data compression methods that uses inexact approximations and partial data discarding to represent the content. These techniques are used to reduce data size ...

. Only intraframe compression is enabled; every frame is a stand-alone

i-frame In the field of video compression, a video frame is compressed using different algorithms with different advantages and disadvantages, centered mainly around amount of data compression. These different algorithms for video frames are called pict ...

. Video is encoded with the AVC/H.264 compression scheme. Audio is encoded with the AAC codec. The compressed audio and video are

multiplexed In telecommunications and computer networking, multiplexing (sometimes contracted to muxing) is a method by which multiple analog or digital signals are combined into one signal over a shared medium. The aim is to share a scarce resource— ...

into a

file. To reduce data rate and hardware requirements, video frame has size of 960 horizontal by 540 vertical pixels with

pixel aspect ratio A pixel aspect ratio (PAR) is a mathematical ratio that describes how the width of a pixel in a digital image compares to the height of that pixel. Most digital imaging systems display an image as a grid of tiny, square pixels. However, som ...

of 1:1, which results in 16:9 display aspect ratio.

Progressive scanning Progressive scanning (alternatively referred to as noninterlaced scanning) is a format of displaying, storing, or transmitting moving images in which all the lines of each frame are drawn in sequence. This is in contrast to interlaced video use ...

at 30 or 25

frames per second A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...

reduces data rate even further, but may result in increased “judder” when compared to the traditional rate of 60 or 50 images per second (fields or complete frames depending on scanning type) used for television broadcast. As of 2013, Apple has not made detailed information about this recording format publicly available.

Relation to other technologies

Frame size of 960 by 540 pixels nicknamed qHD became popular among manufacturers of

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s, including Apple's own

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

Hardware products

* October 2009: Sanyo HD2000A, FH1A dual cameras * April 2010: Sanyo Xacti VPC-SH1 * July 2010: Panasonic HM-TA1 HD pocket camcorder * October 2010: JVC Picsio GC-FM2 pocket camcorder * December 2010: Panasonic SDX1 camcorder * February 2011: Canon PowerShot SX230 HS, PowerShot SX220 HS, IXUS 310 HS (aka PowerShot ELPH 500) * February 2011: Nikon S9100 * March 2011: Panasonic HDC-HS900, HDC-TM900, HDC-SD900, HDC-SD800, HDC-SD90, HDC-TM90 * May 2011: Panasonic HDC-SD40, HDC-SD41, HDC-TM40 * September 2011: Canon PowerShot SX40 HS * November 2011: Canon PowerShot S100 * February 2012: Canon PowerShot G1X, PowerShot SX240 HS, PowerShot SX260 HS; Nikon COOLPIX P510 * January 2012: Panasonic HC-V700; Canon 110 HS * February 2012: Panasonic HC-X900(M) * May 2012: Nikon AW100 * August 2012: Canon SX160 IS * September 2012: Canon Powershot SX50 HS * November 2012: Canon Powershot G15 * January 2013: Nikon Coolpix S9500 * September 2013 Nikon COOLPIX L620 * September 2014: Canon Powershot SX60 HS

Software products

* iMovie * Final Cut Express, Final Cut Pro X

References

External links