MOV is Apple’s QuickTime File Format (QTFF) container. It stores media and edit lists as separate atoms, enabling non‑linear jumps and reference movies that point to external assets. Although often associated with ProRes, it can wrap anything from PCM to HEVC. QuickTime debuted in 1991, pioneering desktop video at 160×120 pixels. The MOV container layered edit metadata timecode, clean aperture on top of raw tracks, influencing the later MP4 standard. Today .mov persists in DSLR and cinema cameras because the atom structure maps neatly to industry workflows.