---
title: "What is a media store?"
description: "A media store holds the bytes for images, video, audio, and documents. The catalog stores a typed pointer, not the bytes themselves."
url: "https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-media-store"
updated: "2026-09-29"
vertical: "Storage"
doc: "https://docs.pixeltable.com/overview/quick-start"
---

# What is a media store?

A media store holds the bytes for images, video, audio, and documents. The catalog stores a typed pointer, not the bytes themselves.

Updated: 2026-09-29


## On this page

- [How it works](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-media-store#how-it-works)
- [What it is not](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-media-store#what-it-is-not)
- [Comparison](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-media-store#comparison)
- [Where Pixeltable fits](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-media-store#where-pixeltable-fits)
- [Questions](https://pixeltable.com/learn/what-is-a-media-store#questions)

## How it works {#how-it-works}


- Inserting media writes bytes to the store.
- The column records where they are.
- Repeated reads can use a local cache of those bytes.

## What it is not {#what-it-is-not}

It is not a public object store or a CDN, and it is not a database page that stuffs large files into the row.

## media store: this, and the thing it is confused with {#comparison}

|  | This | Not this |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Holds | Media bytes | The catalog of tables |
| Addressed by | A typed column | A URL you pass around |
| Not | A CDN | The system of record for rows |

## Where Pixeltable fits {#where-pixeltable-fits}

Pixeltable’s media store is where those bytes live for a local catalog or a hosted database. The column type is what makes them frames or pages.

## Questions {#questions}

### How does media store work? {#faq-1}

Inserting media writes bytes to the store. The column records where they are. Repeated reads can use a local cache of those bytes.

### What is media store often confused with? {#faq-2}

It is not a public object store or a CDN, and it is not a database page that stuffs large files into the row.

## In the blog

- [Understanding Pixeltable Storage: The Four-Layer Architecture That Powers Multimodal AI](https://pixeltable.com/blog/understanding-pixeltable-storage-architecture)
- [VideoRAG: Where Pixeltable Stores Frames and Indexes](https://pixeltable.com/blog/videorag-where-pixeltable-stores-indexes)
- [S3 Files, Hugging Face Buckets, and the Storage Problem Pixeltable Already Solved](https://pixeltable.com/blog/s3-files-huggingface-buckets-pixeltable-storage)
- [The Triforce of AI Infrastructure: Why Storage, Orchestration, and Retrieval Must Be One System](https://pixeltable.com/blog/triforce-storage-orchestration-retrieval)

## Related

- [Documentation](https://docs.pixeltable.com/overview/quick-start)
- [Understanding Pixeltable Storage: The Four-Layer Architecture That Powers Multimodal AI](https://pixeltable.com/blog/understanding-pixeltable-storage-architecture)
- [VideoRAG: Where Pixeltable Stores Frames and Indexes](https://pixeltable.com/blog/videorag-where-pixeltable-stores-indexes)
- [S3 Files, Hugging Face Buckets, and the Storage Problem Pixeltable Already Solved](https://pixeltable.com/blog/s3-files-huggingface-buckets-pixeltable-storage)
- [Pixeltable vs Supabase](https://pixeltable.com/compare/pixeltable-vs-supabase)