264 File Extension

What is the .264 file type?

The .264 filename extension is assigned to video data files that are H.264-ES raw elementary streams (ES). H.264-ES is part of H.264 (MPEG-4 Part 10, or AVC for Advanced Video Coding), a popular patented video compression standard. An ES is a direct product of a coder and can contain only one data track (video, audio or subtitles).

A .264 file is an H.264-encoded ES outside of any multimedia container file, thus having no metadata header, and it is exactly why .264 files are not immediately playable by most players, creating much confusion about this file type. Such .264 files are often created by security video systems as they record only video data as ES files.

An .264 ES file is not meant for direct viewing, it should rather be treated as a raw video track. To be playable, .264 files have to be placed into a container format recognizable by media players. This can be done with several software tools like mp4box etc. A change of the extension to .h264, .avi or .mp4 will give nothing as it will not change the internal format.

Otherwise, .264 files can be played back by proprietary software often bundled with security camera systems.

Software to open or convert 264 files

CyberLink PowerDVD by CyberLink Corp.

 

CyberLink Power Media Player by CyberLink Corp.

 

ALLPlayer V6.X by ALLPlayer Group, Ltd.

 

ALLPlayer V7.X by ALLPlayer Group, Ltd.

 

UltraZip by UltraZip

 

Free File Viewer Pro

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