View source for RMVB

{{Infobox file format
| name                   = RealMedia Variable Bitrate
| icon                   = [[File:Realnetworks logo for rmvb article.gif]]
| extension              = .rmvb
| mime                   = application/vnd.rn-realmedia-vbr
| magic                  = 0x2E524D46 (".RMF")
| owner                  = [[RealNetworks]]
| type                   = [[Container format (digital)|Container format]]
| released               = {{start date and age|2003|df=y}}
| open                   = No
| free                   = No
}}
'''RealMedia Variable Bitrate''' ('''RMVB''') is a [[variable bitrate]] extension of the [[RealMedia]] [[multimedia]] [[digital container format]] developed by [[RealNetworks]].
As opposed to the more common [[RealMedia]] container, which holds [[streaming media]] encoded at a [[constant bitrate]] (CBR), RMVB is typically used for multimedia content stored locally. Files using this format have the file extension ".rmvb".

==Details==
RealMedia uses compression similar to [[H.264/MPEG-4 AVC|MPEG-4 Part 10]] encoders<ref>[http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=RealVideo_4 RealVideo 4 – MultimediaWiki<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> such as [[x264]].

RMVB files are popular for distributing Asian content, especially Chinese television episodes and movies.{{cn|date=November 2015}} For this reason, they have become noticeably present (though not entirely popular, partly due to their incompatibility with other media players) on [[file sharing]] platforms such as [[BitTorrent (protocol)|BitTorrent]], [[EDonkey network|eDonkey]] and [[Gnutella]].{{Fact|date=March 2009}} 

On the [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] platform, the proprietary [[RealPlayer]] SP (RealPlayer 10 and later) and the open-sourced [[Media Player Classic]] support RMVB, using an appropriate [[DirectShow]] filter or [[Real Alternative]].  On [[Linux]] and other [[Unix-like]] platforms, [[MPlayer]], [[xine]], and [[Totem (software)|Totem]] are able to play RMVB files using the open-source, reverse-engineered RMVB implementation in [[FFmpeg]].  The format is also supported for playback by the cross-platform [[VLC media player]].

The [[Magic_number_(programming)#Magic_numbers_in_files|file header]] for the format consists of the four [[bytes]] ".RMF" ([[hexadecimal|hex]] 2E 52 4D 46), the same as the standard [[RealMedia]] format.

==See also==
* [[RealMedia]] 
* [[RealVideo]] codecs 
* [[RealAudio]] codecs
* [[Digital container format]]
* [[Comparison of container formats]]
* [[Comparison of video player software]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=RealMedia RealMedia] File Format

[[Category:Digital container formats]]
[[Category:Filename extensions]]

{{Multimedia-software-stub}}