8 May 2020

Difference between MP4 and MP3

MP4 is a newer file format and supports video encoding, compared with MP3, which is older and it is only for audio files. MP4 is a multimedia container and can technically support not just audio and video but is support text and images. Here this article gives information about the difference between MP4 and MP3 to better understand this topic.

Definition of MP3:

MP3 is a short form for a  MPEG -1 audio layer of 3. It was developed to give us a way to store audio information in digital form, but with a smaller file size than the format used by CDs at the time. MP3 does this using a psychological track: They start by taking an original, uncompressed digital audio file, and then they selectively remove a chunk of data in a way that the human ear is unlikely to notice.

Related terms: AIFF Vs FLAC

Definition of MP4:

MP4 is a short form for MPEG - 4 part of layer 14. Unlike the MP3, which is exclusively used for audio an MP4 is a container file that can be used to store audio, video, or other data like subtitles.

Related terms: MP3 vs WAV

The main key difference between MP4 and MP3 are listed below:

  • MP4 is a digital multimedia container format, while MP3 is an audio coding format.
  • MP4 used extension.mp4, MP3 used extension .mp3.
  • MP4 can handle a number of media, such as audio, image, video, etc, while MP3 can handle only one type of media, which is an audio file.
  • MP4 is extended from Apple quick time .mov and MPEG-4 part 12, while MP3 is extended from MP2.
  • MP4 is a compressing technology with decreasing the quality of audio and video. While the MP3 is also a compressing technology but without decreasing the quality.
  • MP4 devices which are made for MP4 are both audio and video file players, While the MP3 device which is made for MP3, is simply audio file players.
  • MP4 is new and released in 2003, while MP3 is released in 1994.
  • MP4 standard ISO/IEC 14496-14, while the MP3 ISO/IEC 11172-3, ISO/IEC 13818-3.
  • MIME-type of MP4 is video/mp4, audio/mp4, and application/mp4, while the MIME-type of MP3 is audio/MPEG.