What is MOV format and the advantages of MOV format

What is MOV format?
MOV video file is common multimedia format for storing and playing back movie with sound, uses a proprietary compression algorithm developed by Apple Computer, This flexible format isn't limited to Macintosh operating systems. It's also commonly used in Windows systems, and other types of computing platforms. The format specifies a multimedia container file that contains one or more tracks, each of which stores a particular type of data: audio, video, effects, or text (e.g. for subtitles).

MOV video file functions as a multimedia container file that contains one or more tracks, each of which stores a particular type of data: audio, video, effects, or text (e.g. for subtitles). Each track either contains a digitally-encoded media stream (using a specific codec) or a data reference to the media stream located in another file. Tracks are maintained in a hierarchal data structure consisting of objects called atoms. An atom can be a parent to other atoms or it can contain media or edit data, but it cannot do both.

Advantages:

MOV file container sets itself apart with its simple design, its easy editing, its popularity and its ability to mesh with other media.

When using the QuickTime platform, MOV files can support multichannel audio while MP4 files can only be played in stereo.

Compare with .avi, .mov has better support for interleaving extra audio/video/subtitle tracks, has more file types and are more compatable in pro use --QT is still king (queen) along with a few other types (MAC OR PC) and AVI, Divx would be not.

In case you have problems with playing your MOV files, try to convert them to more common video formats.