MVI File

What are MVI files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a MVI file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your MVI files.

What is a MVI file?

MVI files have multiple uses, and Motion Pixels Video is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Motion Pixels Video File

A Motion Pixels Video File is a rare, legacy video format created by Sirius Publishing using their proprietary Motion Pixels codec. It holds compressed video designed originally for use in early Windows games and the MovieCD discs of the mid-1990s. The format is best suited to low-cost, low-power computers of that time. It is no longer in active commercial use, but shows up when restoring or examining older CD-based media, games, or archived video content.

Files with the .mvi extension are produced by encoding video using Motion Pixels version 1 (abbreviated MVI1), which uses a custom MVI container format. The encoded video typically uses interframe difference (motion compensation) plus adaptive delta-coding of horizontal scan lines, and may use chroma subsampling to reduce data size. Decoders convert this into standard video displays, often in RGB or YUV color space. Because this format is old, resolution, frame rate, and visual fidelity are modest compared to modern formats, and audio (if present) is stored in simple uncompressed or lightly compressed form.

Internally the format may be identified by FourCC codes "MVI1" for version 1 and "MVI2" for the later codec, though version 1 is most common in .mvi files. The bitstream includes flags signalling features such as color space, whether a frame is intra-frame (keyframe), whether low resolution or cropping is used, maps for special rectangular areas, Huffman-encoded delta data and an initial pixel value. Version 2 adds smoother delta coding and dynamic changes to downsampling per frame.

How to open MVI files

We have identified one MVI opener that is compatible with this specific type of MVI file.

Programs that open Motion Pixels Video files

Last updated: August 10, 2026

All known file formats using extension .MVI

While Motion Pixels Video File is a popular type of MVI-file, we know of 2 different uses of the .MVI file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

MovieCD MVI1 Video

We know that one MVI format is MovieCD MVI1 Video. We have not yet analyzed in detail what these files contain and what they are used for. We're working on it.

We have not yet verified any programs for Windows that work with this specific file format. If you know one, please use the 'Suggest a program' link below. Thanks!

Help us help others

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