As opposed to the more common RealMedia container, which holds streaming media encoded at a constant bitrate (CBR), RMVB is typically used for multimedia content stored locally.

RMVB files are popular for distributing Asian content, especially Chinese television episodes and movies.

[citation needed] For this reason, they have become noticeably present (though not entirely popular, partly due to their incompatibility with other media players) on file sharing platforms such as BitTorrent, eDonkey and Gnutella.

[citation needed] On the Windows platform, the proprietary RealPlayer SP (RealPlayer 10 and later) and the open-sourced Media Player Classic support RMVB, using an appropriate DirectShow filter or Real Alternative.

The format is also supported for playback by the cross-platform VLC media player.