| name | mediainfo |
| description | Use ffprobe to inspect image/video assets and understand their visual properties. Useful when doing frontend work involving media files. |
Media Info
When you encounter or are asked about an image or video asset (dimensions, format, aspect ratio, color space, etc.), use ffprobe to inspect it before making assumptions.
Usage
ffprobe -hide_banner <file_path>
This gives a concise summary including:
- Dimensions (width x height) — critical for sizing, aspect ratios, responsive layouts
- Pixel format — whether the image has alpha (e.g.,
rgba vs rgb)
- Codec/format — PNG, JPEG, WebP, AVIF, etc.
- Duration/frame rate — for video or animated assets (GIF, APNG, WebM)
When to Use
- Before writing CSS/HTML that references an image asset (know the actual dimensions)
- When a user asks about an asset's properties
- When choosing
width/height, aspect-ratio, or object-fit values
- When deciding if an image needs a transparency-capable format
- When debugging layout shifts caused by incorrect intrinsic sizes
Example
$ ffprobe -hide_banner hero.png
Input #0, png_pipe, from 'hero.png':
Duration: N/A, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: png, rgba(pc), 1920x1080, 25 fps, 25 tbr, 25 tbn
From this you know: 1920x1080, has alpha channel (rgba), PNG format — so you can confidently set aspect-ratio: 16/9 and know transparency is available.
