Material Exchange Format

Summary

Name

Material Exchange Format

Version

Operational Pattern OP-ATOM

Identifiers

• MIME: application/mxf
• PUID: fmt/791

Description

MXF is a media container format which supports a number of different streams of coded "essence", encoded with any of a variety of codecs, together with a metadata wrapper which describes the material contained within the MXF file. MXF allows for different degrees of complexity within the wrapper, which are standardised and defined as Operational Patterns, and this may be a consideration for an institution considering preserving the format, hence the separation of these Operational Patterns into separate PUIDs. Operational Pattern “OP-Atom” is intended to satisfy the demands of applications where there is a requirement for exchange of material and associated metadata together in a single file with an open and standardized format, yet also a demand for a simple, predictable, layout with minimum scope for variation. OP-Atom is specifically intended for applications where each Essence Track is held separately.

File extensions

mxf

Source

Digital Preservation Department / The National Archives

Internal signatures

Changelog

• Updated in V98

  Release date

  27 October 2021

  Material Exchange Format (Operational Pattern OP-ATOM): Signature updated to include either or byte (01|02). Signature developed and samples provided by State Library of South Australia.

• Added in V83

  Release date

  17 December 2015

  Material Exchange Format Operational Pattern OP-ATOM: Full entry added. MXF now has multiple PRONOM entries.