This arrangement is used for compressing sound files in order to store or transfer them over the net. On the other hand, the MP4 format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This arrangement is usually utilized to store multimedia files and permit their streaming online.
These two formats are used to compress information, so that they occupy less storage space. In contrast to the popular belief, the media players that are advertised as MP4 players, are incompatible with the MPEG-4 Part-14 (.mp4) format. Only a few players like iPad and iPhone really support this format.
MP3 Vs MP4
The simple difference between the two formats MP3 & MP4 is that the MP3 format handles only audio, as well as the MP4 format, handles audio, video, text, and graphics. Here are a few more differences between these two formats:
| MP3 | MP4 |
| Encoding format using lossy’ compression technique | Multimedia container used for storage |
| Introduced in 1999 | Introduced in 2003 |
| Extension of MP2 | Extension of Apple’s Quicktime Technology |
| Developed by CCETT, Fraunhofer Society, Philips & IRT | Developed by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) |
| File extension .mp3 | File extension .mp4 |
| Also known as MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 Format | Also known as MPEG-4 Part 14 Format |
| Only audio files can be compressed and stored | Audio, video, text and picture files can be stored |
| ISO Standards are ISO/IEC 11172-3, ISO/IEC 13818-3 | ISO Standard is ISO/IEC 14496-14 |
| Compatible with most music players | Compatible with few players including iPad and iPhone |
| Uses lossy compression algorithm | Uses AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) and AVC (Advanced Video Coding) technology |
What is MP3?
MP3 is an acronym for MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 format. Audio files are kept in a computer or even a CD at an electronic form. The MP3 format lowers the file size to 1/10th of the true size. It is a digital audio codec, which means that it compresses and decompresses digital sound, and is based on the method of perpetual coding.
It employs the perpetual sound shaping algorithm that uses the hearing characteristics of your ear. These characteristics include the ability of the human ear to listen to the louder noises when two sounds are played concurrently. Also, the human ear can’t hear some sounds. Using this basic advice, on the grounds of the psychoacoustics model, the algorithm for MP3 format was designed. Negative sounds are removed from the music for compressing files to the arrangement. Altogether, it uses the lossy compression technique for music.
This arrangement provides you an option for the number of data that is eliminated for compressing the audio file. The number of bits encoded by the codec provides the bit rate of that particular file. The larger the bit rate, the greater is the sound quality. As the bit rate of the document increases, the space necessary to store the file also increases. This is because the amount of data that is encoded additionally reduces.
What is MP4?
MP4 is a acronym for MPEG-4 Part-14 (Moving Picture Experts Group). It’s a container used to store digital music and digital video, together with subtitles and graphics. MP4 uses AVC engineering, i.e. innovative video programming. Video files have a great deal of space. By converting them into an MP4 format, unnecessary info that is not familiar to the viewer, is deleted. Therefore, the dimensions of the document reduces. MP4 uses the compression methods which are more complicated than those of the MP3 format.
The MP4 format lets us watch DVD quality videos on the World Wide Web even at a speed less than 1 Mbps. These files are streamed on the Internet and can be downloaded as well as stored on a hard drive. The standard file extension is .mp4, but the sound file expansion is .mp4a, and that to get a video document is .mp4v.
With both of the file formats available on the Internet for free, there are increasing cases of piracy. Also, as a result of elimination of undesirable data from video and audio files, their quality may degrade. All in all, these formats have altered the rules of this sport, so far as digital audio and video documents are concerned.
