What is MP4 or MPEG4

MP4 is the latest standard for moving pictures and sound designed to ensure the best picture is displayed and sound produced in a digital format which takes as little space and as minimal processing requirements possible. It has moved on from the earlier MPEG specifications (MP3 for example) to encompass new uses of technology and advances made by this.

MP4 is the same as MPEG4 and is effectively an abbreviation of MPEG4.

MP4 is an ISO/IEC standard developed by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), this is a committee that oversees the development of these standards to help multiple suppliers make standards based equipment.

They also managed the development of the existing standards known as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. These standards are used universally in interactive video on CD-ROM, DVD and Digital Television.

MP4 is the result of international effort involving hundreds of researchers and engineers from all over the world.

MP4, with formal its ISO/IEC designation 'ISO/IEC 14496', was finalized in October 1998 and became an International Standard in the first months of 1999. The fully backward compatible extensions under the title of MPEG-4 Version 2 were frozen at the end of 1999, to acquire the formal International Standard Status early in 2000. Several extensions were added since and work on some specific items are still in progress.

MMP4 builds on the proven success in three fields:

  • Digital television;
  • Interactive graphics applications (synthetic content);
  • InInteractive multimedia (World Wide Web, distribution of and access to content)

MP4 provides the standardized technological elements enabling the integration of the production, distribution and content access models of the three fields.

MMore information about MP4 can be found at MPEG’s home page :  This web page contains links to a wealth of information about MPEG, including lots about MP4, many publicly available documents, several lists of ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ and links to other MP4 web pages. The standard can be bought from ISO, send mail to sales@iso.ch. Notably, the complete software for MPEG-4 version 1 can be bought on a CD ROM, for 56 Swiss Francs. It can also be downloaded for free from ISO’s website:: - look under publicly available standards and then for “14496-5”. This software is free of copyright restrictions when used for implementing MPEG-4 compliant technology. This does not mean that the software is free of patents.

More information is available from the MPEG-4 Industry Forum, M4IF .

The main areas in the MPEG-4 standard are:

Video.

 Defines video decoding for rendering and playback. To date, MPEG-4 has specified four different versions for video compression, defining capabilities grouped into 19 distinct "profile" groupings with various "level" degrees in each.

Audio.

Defines audio decoding for rendering and playback. MPEG-4 defines several audio codecs, including MPEG-4 AAC, multiple speech codecs, and synthetic audio.

File format.

Defines the file "container" and how information is organized at the byte level in stored files. The MPEG-4 (MP4) file container is based on but not compatible with Apple QuickTime.

Profiles and levels.

Specifies sets of capabilities and defines data representation format, video resolution, and content delivery data rates among other things. The specifications also define interoperability among vendor products.

Transport protocols.

Defines how content is delivered over networks. MPEG-4 and other standards initiatives define a variety of networking protocols.

Digital rights management.

The MPEG-4 initiative does not have DRM defined today but it does have "hooks" to proprietary DRM systems.

Other areas.

The MPEG-4 specification also defines other areas such as object-based video coding, hybrid coding of synthetic and natural content, face animation parameters, synthetic audio, Binary Format for Scenes (BIFS), and other such features.

MPEG-4 is an ISO/IEC standard developed by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), the committee that also developed the Emmy Award winning standards known as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. These standards made interactive video on CD-ROM and Digital Television possible. MPEG-4 is the result of another international effort involving hundreds of researchers and engineers from all over the world. MPEG-4, whose formal ISO/IEC designation is ISO/IEC 14496, was finalized in October 1998 and became an International Standard in the first months of 1999. The fully backward compatible extensions under the title of MPEG-4 Version 2 were frozen at the end of 1999, to acquire the formal International Standard Status early in 2000. Some work, on extensions in specific domains, is still in progress.

MPEG-4 builds on the proven success of three fields:

  • Digital television;
  • Interactive graphics applications (synthetic content);
  • Interactive multimedia (World Wide Web, distribution of and access to content)

MPEG-4 provides the standardized technological elements enabling the integration of the production, distribution and content access paradigms of the three fields.

More information about MPEG-4 can be found at MPEG’s home page (case sensitive) . This web page contains links to a wealth of information about MPEG, including much about MPEG-4, several lists of Frequently Asked Questions and links to other MPEG-4 web pages.

For all parties involved, MPEG seeks to avoid a multitude of proprietary, non-interworking formats and players.

MPEG-4 achieves these goals by providing standardized ways to:

1. represent units of aural, visual or audiovisual content, called “media objects”. These media objects can be of natural or synthetic origin; this means they could be recorded with a camera or microphone, or generated by a computer;

2. describe the composition of these objects to create compound media objects that form audiovisual scenes;

3. multiplex and synchronize the data associated with media objects, so that they can be transported over network channels providing a QoS appropriate for the nature of the specific media objects; and

4. interact with the audiovisual scene generated at the receiver’s end.

Formats Supported

The following formats and bitrates will be supported by MPEG-4 Version 1:

  •  bitrates: typically between 5 kbit/s and 10 Mbit/s
  • Formats: progressive as well as interlaced video
  • Resolutions: typically from sub-QCIF to beyond HDTV

Face Animation 

The ‘Face Animation’ part of the standard allow sending parameters that calibrate and animate synthetic faces. These models themselves are not standardized by MPEG-4, only the parameters are.

Body animation

Avatars and the like, we are currently collecting further information on these items and will include the details soon.

MPEG 4 Versions

The versions of MPEG are designed in such a way that they resemble an onion or tree trunk i.e. they build on top of the previous version provided additional functionality with backward compatibility.