What is difference between an MP3 vs MP4 Player?

[Glitzy Nana]

My gs is 12 and wants an MP3 or MP4. Does anyone know what is the difference?

[neile457]

one has a 3 at the end, the other a 4.

 

Really, I have no idea.

[kboyts]

mp3 is audio, mp4 is video

[Glitzy Nana]

Thanks!

[Ferg1221]

mp4 is audio and video.

[kselzer]

i learned something new today

[bommai]

mp4 is audio and video.

MPEG stands for Motion Picture Expert Group. It is a licensing/standardization committee for Audio Video compression systems.

 

MP3 (the popular music format) is actually MPEG1-Layer3. It specifies the audio compression mechanism that is part of the MPEG1 A/V format. It is quiet old. BTW, MPEG1 is the format used in video CDs (VCD). While VCD is not popular in the US, it is quite popular in China/India since it does not have any DRM and you can use a regular CD to make a copy. Quality is pretty poor though (<= VHS).

 

MPEG2 is the format used in satellite TV, DVDs, ATSC, and is also part of HD-DVD and Bluray Spec. MPEG2 is primarily the video format. It is more efficient than MPEG1 and it requires more processing power to decode. Several years ago, a separate hardware chip was required to decode DVDs in computers, however, a modern computer can decode MPEG2 (at least standard definition) in software itself. Broadcast High Definition TV uses MPEG2 also. At 1920x1080 i resolution, MPEG2 needs about 19Mbps bandwidth for good quality video.

 

MPEG3 was worked on but never saw light of day.

 

MPEG4 - Apples Quicktime file format was used as a basis for MPEG4. So, while Apples format was involved, MPEG4 is not an Apple format. MPEG4 includes various companies. The first video format that came out of MPEG4 was MPEG4-Layer2. This was ok, but not great.

 

Later on they came out with MPEG4-Layer10. This is also called as H.264 or AVC. This format is great and is part of HD-DVD and Bluray codec.

 

There are a variety of audio formats for MPEG4, one of them is AAC (advanced audio codec). While AAC is used by Apple for their iTunes Music downloads, it is not an apple format. AT&T and Dolby Labs were involved in creating AAC. AAC music could theoretically be called as MP4 music also even though that is not a popular term.

 

Various video players support MP4 (probably layer 2), DiVX, XVid, etc. DiVX, XVid are all non-standard versions of MPEG4. Even Microsoft's own VC-1 (WMV9) is based on MPEG4, but they took the development inhouse instead of keeping it an open standard - typical microsoft.

 

 

I hope this gives people some background!!