MPEG-4 Part 14
MPEG-4 Part 14 or MP4 is a digital multimedia container format most commonly used to store video and audio, but it can also be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images. Like most modern container formats, it allows streaming over the Internet. The only official filename extension for MPEG-4 Part 14 files is .mp4. MPEG-4 Part 14 is a standard specified as a part of MPEG-4.
Portable media players are sometimes advertised as "MP4 Players", although some are simply MP3 Players that also play AMV video or some other video format, and do not necessarily play the MPEG-4 Part 14 format.
History
MPEG-4 Part 14 is an instance of the more general ISO/IEC 14496-12:2004 which is directly based upon the QuickTime File Format. MPEG-4 Part 14 is essentially identical to the QuickTime file format, but formally specifies support for Initial Object Descriptors and other MPEG features. MPEG-4 Part 14 revises and completely replaces Clause 13 of ISO/IEC 14496-1, in which the file format for MPEG-4 content was previously specified.The MPEG-4 file format specification was based on the QuickTime format which was published in 2001. The MPEG-4 file format, version 1 was published in 2001 as ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001, which is a revision of the MPEG-4 Part 1: Systems specification published in 1999. In 2003, the first version of the MP4 file format was revised and replaced by MPEG-4 Part 14: MP4 file format, commonly named as MPEG-4 file format version 2. The MP4 file format was generalized into the ISO Base Media File format ISO/IEC 14496-12:2004, which defines a general structure for time-based media files. It in turn is used as the basis for other file formats in the family.
| Version | Release date | Standard | Description |
| MP4 file format version 1 | 2001 | ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001 | MPEG-4 Part 1, First edition |
| MP4 file format version 2 | 2003 | ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003 | MPEG-4 Part 14, Second edition |
The MP4 file format defined some extensions over the ISO Base Media File Format to support MPEG-4 visual/audio codecs and various MPEG-4 Systems features such as object descriptors and scene descriptions. Some of these extensions are also used by other formats based on ISO base media file format. A list of all registered extensions for ISO Base Media File Format is published on the official registration authority website. The registration authority for code-points in "MP4 Family" files is Apple Inc. and it is named in Annex D in MPEG-4 Part 12. Codec designers should register the codes they invent, but the registration is not mandatory and some invented and used code-points are not registered. When someone is creating a new specification derived from the ISO Base Media File Format, all the existing specifications should be used both as examples and a source of definitions and technology. If an existing specification already covers how a particular media type is stored in the file format, that definition should be used and a new one should not be invented.
Filename extensions
While the only official filename extension defined by the standard is, various filename extensions are commonly used to indicate intended content:- MPEG-4 files with audio and video generally use the standard extension.
- Audio-only MPEG-4 files generally have a extension. This is especially true of unprotected content.
- * MPEG-4 files with audio streams encrypted by FairPlay Digital Rights Management as were sold through the iTunes Store use the extension. iTunes Plus tracks, that the iTunes Store currently sells, are unencrypted and use accordingly.
- * Audiobook and podcast files, which also contain metadata including chapter markers, images, and hyperlinks, can use the extension, but more commonly use the extension. An audio file cannot "bookmark", whereas extension files can.
- *The Apple iPhone uses MPEG-4 audio for its ringtones but uses the extension rather than the extension.
- Raw MPEG-4 Visual bitstreams are named but this extension is also sometimes used for video in MP4 container format.
- Mobile phones use 3GP, an implementation of MPEG-4 Part 12, similar to MP4. It uses and extensions. These files also store non-MPEG-4 data. In practice, most low end phones and feature phones record in this format, as most other mobile phones and smartphones record MP4 files using the.mp4 file extension, and some high end phones can record in.raw.
Data streams
- Video: MPEG-H Part 2, MPEG-4 Part 10 and MPEG-4 Part 2
- Audio: Advanced Audio Coding
- Subtitles: MPEG-4 Timed Text.
Metadata