---
title: AVAssetReaderOutput
framework: avfoundation
role: symbol
role_heading: Class
path: avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput
---

# AVAssetReaderOutput

An abstract class that defines the interface to read media samples from an asset reader.

## Declaration

```swift
class AVAssetReaderOutput
```

## Mentioned in

Tagging media with video color information

## Overview

Overview You add concrete output instances, such as AVAssetReaderTrackOutput or AVAssetReaderVideoCompositionOutput, to an asset reader to perform specific tasks. important: If you don’t require modifying sample data in-place, set the value of the alwaysCopiesSampleData property to false to prevent the output from making unnecessary copies.

## Topics

### Configuring reading

- [alwaysCopiesSampleData](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/alwayscopiessampledata.md)
- [supportsRandomAccess](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/supportsrandomaccess.md)
- [reset(forReadingTimeRanges:)](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/reset(forreadingtimeranges:).md)
- [markConfigurationAsFinal()](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/markconfigurationasfinal().md)

### Copying sample buffers

- [copyNextSampleBuffer()](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/copynextsamplebuffer().md)
- [AVAssetReaderOutput.Provider](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/provider.md)
- [AVAssetReaderOutput.RandomAccessController](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/randomaccesscontroller.md)
- [AVAssetReaderOutput.SupportedPayload](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/supportedpayload.md)

### Inspecting the media type

- [mediaType](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutput/mediatype.md)

## Relationships

### Inherits From

- [NSObject](objectivec/nsobject-swift.class.md)

### Inherited By

- [AVAssetReaderAudioMixOutput](avfoundation/avassetreaderaudiomixoutput.md)
- [AVAssetReaderSampleReferenceOutput](avfoundation/avassetreadersamplereferenceoutput.md)
- [AVAssetReaderTrackOutput](avfoundation/avassetreadertrackoutput.md)
- [AVAssetReaderVideoCompositionOutput](avfoundation/avassetreadervideocompositionoutput.md)

### Conforms To

- [CVarArg](swift/cvararg.md)
- [CustomDebugStringConvertible](swift/customdebugstringconvertible.md)
- [CustomStringConvertible](swift/customstringconvertible.md)
- [Equatable](swift/equatable.md)
- [Hashable](swift/hashable.md)
- [NSObjectProtocol](objectivec/nsobjectprotocol.md)

## See Also

### Media reading

- [Reading multiview 3D video files](avfoundation/reading-multiview-3d-video-files.md)
- [AVAssetReader](avfoundation/avassetreader.md)
- [AVAssetReaderTrackOutput](avfoundation/avassetreadertrackoutput.md)
- [AVAssetReaderAudioMixOutput](avfoundation/avassetreaderaudiomixoutput.md)
- [AVAssetReaderVideoCompositionOutput](avfoundation/avassetreadervideocompositionoutput.md)
- [AVAssetReaderSampleReferenceOutput](avfoundation/avassetreadersamplereferenceoutput.md)
- [AVAssetReaderOutputMetadataAdaptor](avfoundation/avassetreaderoutputmetadataadaptor.md)