Supported File Types

.mp4 – MPEG-4 Part 14
Very common, standardized by ISO. Supports H.264/AVC video and AAC audio. Widely supported across platforms. Able to be double clicked in the user interface and previewed with audio and video.
.mov – Apple QuickTime Movie
Developed by Apple; container format similar to MP4 but often used in professional workflows. Still standard, especially on macOS.

.m2v – MPEG-2 Video Only
Standard MPEG-2 video stream with no audio. Common in DVD authoring. No longer common for distribution but was standard.
.m2ts – MPEG-2 Transport Stream (Blu-ray)
Standard for Blu-ray Discs and AVCHD. Common in camcorders. Extension of .ts with more metadata.
.ts – MPEG-2 Transport Stream
Standard for broadcasting (ATSC/DVB). Used in IPTV and streaming apps. Still common.
.mts – AVCHD MPEG Transport Stream
Variant of .m2ts, used by Sony/Panasonic AVCHD camcorders. Based on MPEG-2 TS.
.mxf – Material eXchange Format
SMPTE-standardized container used in professional video environments. Supports multiple codecs. Still widely used in broadcast.
.avi – Audio Video Interleave
Microsoft’s legacy container format. Not as efficient as newer formats but still supported.
.mpeg / .mpg2 / .mpg – MPEG-1 or MPEG-2
These extensions often refer to MPEG-2 video with audio. .mpg2 is non-standard but commonly used informally to mean MPEG-2. .mpg and .mpeg are interchangeable.

.wmv – Windows Media Video
Proprietary Microsoft format. Not widely used today but was popular on Windows.
.wma – Windows Media Audio
Microsoft's proprietary audio format. Often used inside .wmv or standalone.
.flv – Flash Video
Used to be standard for streaming (YouTube before ~2010). Outdated and largely deprecated.
.ra / .ram – RealAudio / RealMedia
RealPlayer’s proprietary formats from the late '90s. Obsolete today.
.fli / .flc – Autodesk Animator Formats
Early animation formats used in MS-DOS and early Windows. Obsolete.

Apple ProRes – High-quality editing codec
Used in professional editing environments. Not a file extension, but a codec usually wrapped in .mov. Usually too resource-heavy for basic playout.

.gif – Graphics Interchange Format
Widely supported. Supports animation and transparency. Still standard for lightweight animations.
.webp – Modern web image format from Google
Supports animation, transparency, and lossy/lossless compression. Increasingly common and efficient.
.png – Portable Network Graphics
Lossless, supports transparency. Standard for web and graphics use.
.jpg / .jpeg – Joint Photographic Experts Group
Widely used lossy format. Universally supported.

.heif – High-Efficiency Image Format
Used by iPhones. Based on HEVC/H.265. Modern and compact.
.avif – AV1 Image File Format
Even more efficient than WebP. Newer, but increasingly adopted.
.tif / .tiff – Tagged Image File Format
Common in professional printing and archival. Lossless or lossy.
.targa / .tga – Truevision TGA
Used in early graphics systems and games. Still supported in some pro apps.
.pcx – ZSoft Paintbrush
Obsolete bitmap format from DOS era.
.bmp – Windows Bitmap
Basic uncompressed image format. Still works but inefficient.
.icn / .ico – Windows Icon
Used for small graphics like icons. Still in use.
.ani – Windows Animated Cursor
Animated icon format used for cursors in Windows

PDF – Document format, not image format
Requires rendering; not suited for image playout.
Most other formats – Likely includes vector formats (SVG, EPS), RAW camera formats (CR2, NEF), etc.

CASTUS supports a wide range of video and image formats for playout, with a preference for common, efficient standards like .mp4 and .png, while still accommodating many legacy and professional formats—though some outdated or resource-heavy types are unsupported.