ISO Standards Catalogue
ISO
Most binary file formats on the web (JPEG, PDF, MP4) are ISO/IEC standards — browse by ICS or search by number.
What It Is
International Organization for Standardization — publishes JPEG, PDF (32000), MP4/ISOBMFF, ZIP, HEIF, and thousands of cross-industry standards. Often developed with IEC as ISO/IEC JTC 1.
Taxonomy
ICS 3-level hierarchy · TC/SC committees · ISO number
Top-Level Categories
Master Catalog
Sub-Indexes & Guides
Joint ISO/IEC technical committee (JTC 1) publishes many of the binary file formats the web depends on: JPEG, PDF, MP4/ISOBMFF, ZIP (ISO/IEC 21320), and office document containers. Specs are often available via national body mirrors; some are freely readable online.
View all bodies →Curated specs from ISO
JPEG dominates photo storage and delivery. EXIF metadata (GPS, camera, orientation) lives in APP1 markers — relevant for privacy, image processing, and upload pipelines.
PDF is the standard for invoices, reports, contracts, and printable documents. Object/stream structure, encryption, and embedded content matter for parsing, redaction, and security review.
ZIP is everywhere — downloads, backups, Java JARs, Office Open XML. Central-directory-at-end structure, path traversal (`../../`), and zip bombs are critical security concerns.
MP4 is the dominant video container on the web and in MSE players. Box hierarchy, codec vs container distinction, and fragmenting (fMP4 for HLS/DASH) are essential for media engineering.
TIFF is the archival/print industry standard — scanned documents, GIS, medical imaging, and DNG raw photos. IFD tag model is a classic variable-header design.
iPhone photos default to HEIC — upload pipelines, image conversion services, and CDN transcoding need to handle this container. AVIF shares the same HEIF structure with AV1 instead of HEVC.
MP3 remains the most universally recognized audio format. ID3 tags (metadata envelope) prepended/appended to the frame stream are a classic header-envelope pattern.
AAC is the default audio codec for YouTube, Apple ecosystems, and most HLS/DASH streams. Distinguish ADTS-framed AAC from AAC inside MP4 boxes.
+3 more in specs browser