---
title: principalMediaCharacteristics
framework: avfoundation
role: symbol
role_heading: Instance Property
path: avfoundation/avplayermediaselectioncriteria/principalmediacharacteristics
---

# principalMediaCharacteristics

An array of media characteristics that are essential to select when choosing media with a particular characteristic.

## Declaration

```swift
var principalMediaCharacteristics: [AVMediaCharacteristic]? { get }
```

## Discussion

Discussion If no option matches the principal media characteristics, the system chooses the default option in the group as the best match. When making automatic selections, a player item treats principal media characteristics as criteria that supersede language preferences and preferred media characteristics. important: Use principal media characteristics with caution. It’s typical to support accessibility features using a combination of language preferences and preferred characteristics, and not using principal media characteristics.

## See Also

### Retrieving selection criteria settings

- [preferredLanguages](avfoundation/avplayermediaselectioncriteria/preferredlanguages.md)
- [preferredMediaCharacteristics](avfoundation/avplayermediaselectioncriteria/preferredmediacharacteristics.md)