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MKV and OGM File Formats
Containers
MKV and OGM are two container formats - Matroska and Ogg Media respectively. That is, they are computer files that contain various types of multimedia data, in particular video, audio and subtitle tracks. A container might contain one video track and multiple audio and subtitle tracks of a variety of languages. They can also contain chapter-information, and meta-data (tags). Quicktime MOV and AVI are other examples of container files.
Codecs
The individual audio/video tracks within a container file are compressed by means of standardized audio/video codecs. Mp3 is and example of an audio codec. Mpeg-2 is the video codec used in DVD's, typically put in VOB container files. You will find a wide variety of codecs used in MKV and OGM tracks. MoKgVm2DVD will show you these tracks and hint at the codecs used.
Viewing MKV and OGM Files
If you want to watch these videos on your computer, then you don't need MKVtools or any other video converter. Just download either VLC Media Player or MplayerOSX . Both applications can play MKV and OGM files as is.
Unfortunately, these container files are not playable on devices like iPods, Apple TV or on current DivX certified DVD players. MKVtools attempts to adress these shortcomings. You may also find this application useful if you intend to view these videos on other devices. By first converting to either an AVI file or and MP4 file, or by extracting the individual tracks, you should be able to process the file with a greater variety of video tools.