Compared to other popular formats, Matroska is an open source project of a French non-profit organization.

An unlimited number of tracks of audio, video, subtitle data etc. can be packed in a Matroska file. Different types of data are stored in different sections. One of the sections serves as an attachment in which any type of file can be stored. It is also possible save any type codec in this section. 

Because Matroska supports many different codecs and all types of codecs (audio, video,...) and the code is publicly accessible and can therefore be changed and further developed as required, Matroska is well suited for long-term archiving.

The files usually have the extension .mkv

It is possible to convert an AVI file into a Matroska file without loss or to burn a Matroska file onto a Blue-Ray without loss. The prerequisite for lossless burning as Blue-Ray is that the device on which you want to play the file uses the m2ts format. Then the MKV container does not have to be converted.

While the most common digital cameras such as Canon, Nikon, etc. tend to use Quick Time Media Format, there are mobile phone models (e.g. HTC) that automatically create videos in .mkv format or offer such an option.

Advantages:

- Possibility of subtitles, chapters etc.

- Support for many different codecs

- Variable bitrade coding (VBR) and variable frame rate video encoding (VFR) possible

- Open Source, which means the code is changeable by everyone

- Lower overhead (compared to AVI)

Disadvantages:

- Less hardware support