MOV is a container, not a RAW video format. A .mov file can contain RAW footage—such as Apple ProRes RAW—or video encoded with another codec. To identify a particular clip, check its video codec or format metadata; the filename extension cannot tell you.
What MOV and RAW mean
MOV is the container
Apple identifies mov as the QuickTime movie file type, commonly using the .mov or .qt extension. A container is the file structure that can organize video, audio, and other tracks and their descriptive information. Apple describes QuickTime as a format for storing and exchanging digital media between devices, applications, and operating systems. Apple Developer Documentation: QuickTime File Format and AVFileType.mov
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The codec determines how video is encoded
The container does not, by itself, specify how the video samples are encoded. That depends on the codec or encoding recorded in the file’s video sample description. Apple’s documentation explains that video sample data varies according to the compression scheme used. Apple Developer Documentation: Video sample data
A MOV can contain RAW video
Apple lists MOV as a container format and Apple ProRes RAW as a separate supported video format in Motion. The Library of Congress also documents QuickTime files that wrap Apple ProRes RAW bitstreams. So a MOV may contain RAW-coded video, but MOV and RAW are not interchangeable terms. ProRes and ProRes RAW are not synonyms; check the file’s exact encoding. Apple Support: Supported media formats in Motion and Library of Congress: QuickTime Video, Apple ProRes RAW Codec Family
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How to check whether your MOV file is RAW
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Open the clip’s properties in a media-information utility or inspect it in your editing application.
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Find the video codec or format field. Do not rely on the file name or its
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Look for an explicitly named RAW format, such as Apple ProRes RAW. A generic label like “ProRes” is not enough to establish that the clip is ProRes RAW.
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If you plan to edit or play the clip, check support for that exact codec in your application’s current version and operating system. Apple’s Motion format list is version-specific, so its support information should be matched to the installed version.
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QuickTime’s internal structure also helps explain why the extension is not decisive: a movie atom (moov) contains descriptive metadata and references to media samples, while the sample data itself need not be stored inside that atom. Apple Developer Documentation: Movie atoms and Apple Developer Documentation: Atoms
What the file extension can—and cannot—tell you
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It can indicate: that the file uses the QuickTime movie file type associated with MOV.
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It cannot establish: whether the video is RAW, which codec it uses, or whether a particular player or editor supports it.
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The reliable check: inspect the video codec or format metadata for the specific file.
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