MPEG-4 Part 14

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"MP4" redirects here. For other uses, see MP4 (disambiguation).
MPEG-4 Part 14 (MP4) Relations between ISO Base Media File Format and MP4 File
Format.svg
MPEG-4 Part 14 extends over ISO Base Media File Format (MPEG-4 Part 12).[1]
Filename extension .mp4, .m4a, .m4p, .m4b, .m4r and .m4v[Note 1]
Type code mpg4
Developed by International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
Type of format Media container
Container for Audio, video and text
Extended from QuickTime File Format and MPEG-4 Part 12
Standard(s) ISO/IEC 14496-14

MPEG-4 Part 14 or MP4 (formally ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003) is a multimedia container

format standard specified as a part of MPEG-4. It is most commonly used to store
digital video and digital audio streams, especially those defined by MPEG, but can
also be used to store other data such as subtitles and still images. Like most
modern container formats, MPEG-4 Part 14 allows streaming over the Internet. A
separate hint track is used to include streaming information in the file. The only
official filename extension for MPEG-4 Part 14 files is .mp4.

Some devices advertised as "MP4 Players" 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.[2][3]
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History of MP4
o 1.1 .MP4 versus .M4A filename extensions
* 2 Data streams
* 3 Metadata
* 4 See also
* 5 References
* 6 External links

[edit] History of MP4

MPEG-4 Part 14 is an instance of more general ISO/IEC 14496-12:2004 (MPEG-4 Part

12: ISO base media file format) which is directly based upon QuickTime File Format.
[4][5][6][7][8] MPEG-4 Part 14 is essentially identical to the QuickTime file
format, but formally specifies support for Initial Object Descriptors (IOD) and
other MPEG features.[9] MPEG-4 Part 14 revises and completely replaces Clause 13 of
ISO/IEC 14496-1 (MPEG-4 Part 1: Systems), in which the file format for MPEG-4
content was previously specified.[10]

The MPEG-4 file format specification was created on the basis of the QuickTime
format specification published in 2001.[11] 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 (ISO/IEC 14496-1:1999).[12][13][14] In
2003, the first version of MP4 file format was revised and replaced by MPEG-4 Part
14: MP4 file format (ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003), commonly named as MPEG-4 file format
version 2.[15][16] 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
(for example MP4, 3GP, Motion JPEG 2000).[4][17][18]
MP4 file format versions Version Release date Standard Description
MP4 file format version 1 2001 ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001 MPEG-4 Part 1 (Systems),
First edition
MP4 file format version 2 2003 ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003 MPEG-4 Part 14 (MP4 file
format), Second edition

The MP4 file format defined some extensions over 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 (e.g. 3GP).[1] A list of all
registered extensions for ISO Base Media File Format is published on the official
registration authority website www.mp4ra.org. The registration authority for code-
points (identifier values) in "MP4 Family" files is Apple Computer Inc. and it is
named in Annex D (informative) in MPEG-4 Part 12.[17] Codec designers should
register the codes they invent, but the registration is not mandatory[19] and some
invented and used code-points are not registered.[20] 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 (e.g. MPEG-4 audio or video in MP4), that definition
should be used and a new one should not be invented.[17]
[edit] .MP4 versus .M4A filename extensions

M4A stands for MPEG 4 Audio and is a filename extension used to represent audio
files.

The existence of two different filename extensions for naming audio-only MP4 files
has been a source of confusion among users and multimedia playback software. Some
file managers, such as Windows Explorer, look up the media type and associated
applications of a file based on its filename extension. But since MPEG-4 Part 14 is
a container format, MPEG-4 files may contain any number of audio, video, and even
subtitle streams, making it impossible to determine the type of streams in an MPEG-
4 file based on its filename extension alone. In response, Apple Inc. started using
and popularizing the .m4a filename extension, which is used for MP4 containers with
audio data in the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) or its own Apple Lossless (ALE, ALAC)
formats. Software capable of audio/video playback should recognize files with
either .m4a or .mp4 filename extensions, as would be expected, as there are no file
format differences between the two. Most software capable of creating MPEG-4 audio
will allow the user to choose the filename extension of the created MPEG-4 files.

While the only official filename extension defined by the standard is .mp4, various
filename extensions are commonly used to indicate intended content:

* MPEG-4 files with audio and video generally use the standard .mp4 extension.
* Audio-only MPEG-4 files generally have a .m4a extension. This is especially
true of non-protected content.
o MPEG-4 files with audio streams encrypted by FairPlay Digital Rights
Management as were sold through the iTunes Store use the .m4p extension. iTunes
Plus tracks, that the iTunes Store currently sells, are unencrypted and use .m4a
accordingly.
o Audio book and podcast files, which also contain metadata including
chapter markers, images, and hyperlinks, can use the extension .m4a, but more
commonly use the .m4b extension. An .m4a audio file cannot "bookmark" (remember the
last listening spot), whereas .m4b extension files can.
o The Apple iPhone uses MPEG-4 audio for its ringtones but uses the .m4r
extension rather than the .m4a extension.
* Raw MPEG-4 Visual bitstreams are named .m4v but this extension is also
sometimes used for video in MP4 container format.[21]
* Mobile phones use 3GP, an implementation of MPEG-4 Part 12 (a.k.a MPEG-
4/JPEG2000 ISO Base Media file format), similar to MP4. It uses .3gp and .3g2
extensions. These files also store non-MPEG-4 data (H.263, AMR, TX3G).

[edit] Data streams

Question book-new.svg
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve
this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be
challenged and removed. (July 2011)

Almost any kind of data can be embedded in MPEG-4 Part 14 files through private
streams. The registered codecs for MPEG-4 Part 12-based files are published on the
website of MP4 Registration authority (mp4ra.org),[22] but most of them are not
widely supported by MP4 players. The widely-supported codecs and additional data
streams are:[citation needed]

* Video: MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264) and MPEG-4 Part 2

Other compression formats are less used: MPEG-2 and MPEG-1

* Audio: Advanced Audio Coding

Also MPEG-4 Part 3 audio objects, such as Audio Lossless Coding (ALS), Scalable
Lossless Coding (SLS), MP3, MPEG-1 Audio Layer II (MP2), MPEG-1 Audio Layer I
(MP1), CELP, HVXC (speech), TwinVQ, Text To Speech Interface (TTSI) and Structured
Audio Orchestra Language (SAOL)
Other compression formats are less used: Apple Lossless

* Subtitles: MPEG-4 Timed Text (also known as 3GPP Timed Text).

Nero Digital uses DVD Video subtitles in MP4 files

[edit] Metadata

MP4 files can contain metadata as defined by the format standard, and in addition,
can contain Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) metadata.[citation needed]
[edit] See also

* Container format (digital) definition and article

* Comparison of (audio/video) container formats
* List of multimedia (audio/video) codecs
o List of open source codecs
o Comparison of video codecs
o Comparison of audio codecs

[edit] References

1. ^ a b 3GPP2 (18 May 2007) (PDF). 3GPP2 C.S0050-B Version 1.0, 3GPP2 File
Formats for Multimedia Services. 3GPP2. p. 67, 68.
http://www.3gpp2.org/Public_html/specs/C.S0050-B_v1.0_070521.pdf. Retrieved 2009-
06-12.
2. ^ "MP3?MP4!?????MP3?MP4???!". Beareyes.
http://bj.beareyes.com.cn/2/lib/200510/26/20051026011.htm.
3. ^ "??MP4??:????????????MP4". ??IT?.
http://www.cps365.com/news/200608/06/0712_0000021657.shtml.
4. ^ a b mp4ra.org - MP4 Registration authority. "References, MPEG-4
Registration authority". http://www.mp4ra.org/specs.html. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
5. ^ ISO (2006-04). ISO Base Media File Format white paper - Proposal.
archive.org. Archived from the original on 2008-07-14.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080714101745/http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/technolo
gies/mp04-ff/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-26.
 6. ^ ISO (2005-10). MPEG-4 File Formats white paper - Proposal. archive.org.
Archived from the original on 2008-01-15.
http://web.archive.org/web/20080115035235/http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/technolo
gies/mp04-ff/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-26.
7. ^ ISO (2009-10). ISO Base Media File Format white paper - Proposal.
chiariglione.org. http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/technologies/mpeg-4/mp04-
ff/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-26.
8. ^ Apple Computer. "MPEG-4 Fact Sheet".
http://images.apple.com/quicktime/pdf/MPEG4_v3.pdf.
9. ^ RE: QT vs MPEG-4
10. ^ International Organization for Standardization (2003). "MPEG-4 Part 14: MP4
file format; ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003".
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?
csnumber=38538. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
11. ^ Apple Inc. (2001). "Classic Version of the QuickTime File Format
Specification". http://developer.apple.com/standards/classicquicktime.html.
Retrieved 2009-06-14.
12. ^ Library of Congress (2001). "MPEG-4 File Format, Version 1".
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000037.shtml. Retrieved 2009-06-
14.
13. ^ Network Working Group (2006). "MIME Type Registration for MPEG-4".
http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4337#page-4. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
14. ^ International Organization for Standardization (2001). "MPEG-4 Part 1:
Systems; ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001".
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?
csnumber=34903. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
15. ^ Library of Congress (2003). "MPEG-4 File Format, Version 2".
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000155.shtml. Retrieved 2009-06-
14.
16. ^ "MPEG-4 Systems General Issues". chiariglione.org. 2001-07.
http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/faq/mp4-sys/sys-faq-sys4gen.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-11.

17. ^ a b c ISO (2008) (PDF). ISO/IEC 14496-12:2008, Information technology --

Coding of audio-visual objects -- Part 12: ISO base media file format.
International Organization for Standardization. p. 88, 94.
http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/c051533_ISO_IEC_14496-
12_2008.zip. Retrieved 2009-05-30.
18. ^ International Organization for Standardization (2004). "MPEG-4 Part 12: ISO
base media file format; ISO/IEC 14496-12:2004".
http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?
csnumber=38539. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
19. ^ Steven Greenberg (2009). "Registration of ftyp's".
http://www.ftyps.com/mp4reg.html. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
20. ^ Steven Greenberg (2009). "Complete List of all known MP4 / QuickTime 'ftyp'
designations". http://www.ftyps.com/. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
21. ^ Doom9's Forum, MP4 FAQ, Retrieved on 2009-07-15
22. ^ mp4ra.org - MP4 Registration authority, Registered Types - Codecs - ISO
Code Points, Retrieved on 2009-07-14.

[edit] External links

* The MP4 registration authority

* RFC 4337 - MIME Type Registration for MPEG-4

[show]v � d � eMultimedia compression and container formats

Video
ISO/IEC

MJPEG � Motion JPEG 2000 � MPEG-1 � MPEG-2 (Part 2) � MPEG-4 (Part 2/ASP � Part
10/AVC) � HEVC
ITU-T

H.120 � H.261 � H.262 � H.263 � H.264 � HEVC

Others

AVS � Bink � CineForm � Cinepak � Dirac � DV � Indeo � Microsoft Video 1 � OMS

Video � Pixlet � Prores � RealVideo � RTVideo � SheerVideo � Smacker � Sorenson
Video, Spark � Theora � VC-1 � VC-2 � VC-3 � VP3 � VP6 � VP7 � VP8 � WMV
Audio
ISO/IEC

MPEG-1 Layer III (MP3) � MPEG-1 Layer II (Multichannel) � MPEG-1 Layer I � AAC �
HE-AAC � MPEG Surround � MPEG-4 ALS � MPEG-4 SLS � MPEG-4 DST � MPEG-4 HVXC � MPEG-
4 CELP � USAC
ITU-T

G.711 � G.718 � G.719 � G.722 � G.722.1 � G.722.2 � G.723 � G.723.1 � G.726 � G.728
� G.729 � G.729.1
Others

AC-3 � AMR � AMR-WB � AMR-WB+ � Apple Lossless � Asao � ATRAC � CELT � DRA � DTS �
EVRC � EVRC-B � FLAC � GSM-HR � GSM-FR � GSM-EFR � iLBC � iSAC � Monkey's Audio �
TTA (True Audio) � MT9 � A-law � �-law � Musepack � OptimFROG � Opus � OSQ � QCELP
� RealAudio � RTAudio � SD2 � SHN � SILK � Siren � SMV � Speex � SVOPC � TwinVQ �
VMR-WB � Vorbis � WavPack � WMA
Image
ISO/IEC/ITU-T

JPEG � JPEG 2000 � JPEG XR � Lossless JPEG � JBIG � JBIG2 � PNG � TIFF/EP � TIFF/IT
Others

APNG � BMP � DjVu � EXR � GIF � ICER � ILBM � MNG � PCX � PGF � TGA � QTVR � TIFF �
WBMP � WebP
Containers
ISO/IEC

MPEG-PS � MPEG-TS � ISO base media file format � MPEG-4 Part 14 � Motion JPEG 2000
� MPEG-21 Part 9
ITU-T

H.222.0 � T.802
Others

3GP and 3G2 � AMV � ASF � AIFF � AVI � AU � Bink � DivX Media Format � DPX � EVO �
Flash Video � GXF � M2TS � Matroska � MXF � Ogg � QuickTime File Format � RealMedia
� REDCODE RAW � RIFF � Smacker � MOD and TOD � VOB � WAV � WebM
See Compression methods for methods and Compression software implementations for
codecs
[show]v � d � eMPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)
MPEG-1 � 2 � 3 � 4 � 7 � 21 � A � B � C � D � E � V � M � U
MPEG-1 Parts
Part 3: Audio (Layer I � Layer II � Layer III)
MPEG-2 Parts
Part 1: Systems (Transport stream � Program stream) � Part 2: Video (H.262) � Part
3: Audio (Layer I � Layer II � Layer III � MPEG Multichannel) � Part 6: DSM CC �
Part 7: Advanced audio coding
MPEG-4 Parts
Part 2: Video � Part 3: Audio � Part 6: DMIF � Part 10: Advanced Video Coding
(H.264) � Part 11: Scene description � Part 12: ISO base media file format � Part
14: MP4 file format � Part 17: Streaming text format � Part 20: LASeR
MPEG-7 Parts
Part 2: Description definition language
MPEG-21 Parts
Parts 2, 3 and 9: Digital Item � Part 5: Rights Expression Language
MPEG-D Parts
Part 1: MPEG Surround � Part 3: Unified Speech and Audio Coding
[show]v � d � eISO standards
Lists: List of ISO standards � List of ISO romanizations � List of IEC standards
Categories: Category:ISO standards � Category:OSI protocols
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11801 � 11898 � 11940 � 11941 � 11941 (TR) � 11992 � 12006 � 12182:1998 � 12207 �
12234-2 � 13211 (-1, -2) � 13216 � 13250 � 13399 � 13406-2 � 13407 � 13450 � 13485
� 13490 � 13567 � 13568 � 13584 � 13616 � 14000 � 14031 � 14396 � 14443 � 14496-10
� 14496-14 � 14644 (-1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, -7, -8, -9) � 14649 � 14651 � 14698 �
14698-2 � 14750 � 14882 � 14971 � 15022 � 15189 � 15288 � 15291 � 15292 � 15408 �
15444 � 15445 � 15438 � 15504 � 15511 � 15686 � 15693 � 15706 � 15706-2 � 15707 �
15897 � 15919 � 15924 � 15926 � 15926 WIP � 15930 � 16023 � 16262 � 16750 � 17024 �
17025 � 17369 � 17799 � 18000 � 18004 � 18014 � 18245 � 18629 � 18916 � 19005 �
19011 � 19092-1 � 19092-2 � 19114 � 19115 � 19125 � 19136 � 19439 � 19501:2005 �
19752 � 19757 � 19770 � 19775-1 � 19794-5
20000+
20000 � 20022 � 21000 � 21047 � 21827:2002 � 22000 � 23270 � 23360 � 24613 � 24707
� 25178 � 26000 � 26300 � 26324 � 27000 series � 27000 � 27001 � 27002 � 27003 �
27004 � 27005 � 27006 � 27007 � 27729 � 27799 � 28000 � 29110 � 29199-2 � 29500 �
31000 � 32000 � 38500 � 42010 � 80000
See also: All articles beginning with "ISO"
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4_Part_14&oldid=460860604"
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