MP4 MPEG-4 media file

AI-powered detection and analysis of MPEG-4 media file files.

📂 Video

🏷️ .mp4

🎯 video/mp4

🔍

Instant MP4 File Detection

Use our advanced AI-powered tool to instantly detect and analyze MPEG-4 media file files with precision and speed.

File Information

File Description

MPEG-4 media file

MPEG-4 Video File

What is an MP4 file?

An MP4 file stores a video in the widely used MPEG-4 Part 14 (MP4) multimedia container format. It typically contains video and audio data (and related metadata) but may also store subtitles and still images. Since MP4 is a standard format, you can open MP4 files with most media players, including Microsoft Media Player and Apple QuickTime Player.

More Information

In the late 1990s, the ISO and IEC organizations commissioned the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) to develop an international standard for audio and video coding formats. This initiative resulted in the formation of the MP4 format, which MPEG released in 2001 and subsequently updated in 2003 with version 2 of the format.

Since its release, MP4 has become one of the most common formats for storing and sharing video. The format's popularity is partially due to its ability to save videos at smaller file sizes than most other formats without much loss in quality. This advantage made MP4 an excellent option for exporting videos and sharing them online.

MP4 Format

The MP4 format is an extension of the QuickTime File Format (QTFF), used in .MOV and .QT video files. It is a container format that supports different data streams, including video, audio, subtitles, and metadata, with each stream encoded by different codecs:

Video Data

May be encoded using various codecs, such as MPEG-4 Part 10 (H.264/AVC)
MPEG-H Part 2 (H.265/HEVC)
MPEG-4 Part 2

Audio Data

Primarily compressed with AAC compression
Same audio compression used by .AAC files

Subtitle Data

Typically saved in the MPEG-4 Streaming text format
Also known as MPEG-4 Part 17 and MPEG-4 Timed Text (MP4TT)

Metadata

May be formatted using various standards
Including the Extensible Metadata Platform (XMP) format

Furthermore, the MP4 container supports both lossless and lossy codecs. For example, MP4 supports the lossless MPEG-4 SLS and lossy AAC audio codecs.

However, MP4 only supports lossy video codecs, which compress video data at varying levels. For example, the popular H.264 video codec featured in many MP4 files uses lossy compression to significantly reduce video data stream sizes, which is helpful when sharing MP4 files online (e.g., uploading videos to YouTube and Vimeo).

Note: MP4 files that store only audio data typically use the .m4a extension (.M4A files).

How to open an MP4 file

You can open and play an MP4 file with most media players:

Windows

Microsoft Movies & TV (bundled)
Microsoft Media Player (bundled)
VLC Media Player (free)

Mac

Apple QuickTime Player (bundled)
VLC Media Player (free)

Cross-platform

VLC Media Player
Web browsers (Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox)

Mobile

iOS: Default video player or VLC for iOS
Android: Default video player or VLC for Android

How to edit an MP4 file

Many video editors allow you to import and edit MP4 videos:

Professional Tools

Adobe Premiere Pro (Windows, Mac) - Industry-standard video editing
Apple Final Cut Pro (Mac) - Professional video editing for Mac users
Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve (Cross-platform) - Professional color correction and editing