Architectures System extensions, plug-ins, and APIs that allow the system to display digital video. The actual file description in which files are stored. A format is only part of an architecture. The QuickTime architecture, for example, has a QuickTime file format associated with it. This is the algorithm that handles the compression and decompression of the digital video.
Every architecture has certain codecs built-in.
Some codecs are common to many architectures. Multimedia Architectures 1. QuicktTime Apple Computer. Supports multiple codecs. Uses only proprietary codecs.