MediaItem

MediaItem is a data structure used in media management systems to represent a single media resource. It encapsulates identification, metadata, and technical properties of the object, regardless of whether the resource is an image, an audio file, a video, or another media type. A MediaItem typically includes a unique identifier, a human-readable title, and a type or format field such as image/jpeg, audio/mpeg, or video/mp4. Additional attributes commonly tracked are duration for audiovisual items, file size, and, when applicable, dimensions (width and height), resolution, and playback characteristics like bitrate and frame rate.

Metadata associated with a MediaItem may cover creation and modification dates, creator or author, description, licensing or rights information, source URL or repository, and tags or keywords. MediaItems often participate in collections or groupings such as albums, playlists, folders, or catalogs, and may relate to other items (for example, a video trailer linked to a feature film) or to higher-level assets (a series or project).

In information systems, a MediaItem may be stored as a record in a database or as a reference to a binary asset stored on disk or in a content delivery network. Operations commonly supported include search, retrieval, streaming or playback, thumbnail generation, and metadata editing. Standards and practices for metadata may draw on general frameworks such as Dublin Core or on domain-specific schemas.

See also: Digital asset management, Metadata, Media library, Content management system.