# The complete mpeg-4 guide



## gxsaurav (Feb 28, 2005)

Many of us are already familiar with 3gp files & mpeg-4 files, basically they are both same, however, mpeg4 is just a name & the real name of the codec is Mpeg4 Part 2 or H.263, which is made for Low bit rate usage for mobile phones, internet streaming etc, a Highest quality mpeg4 canâ€™t be regarded as a alternative to DVD quality as it is not made for such purpose, but on the same code base of mpeg4, DivX is made which gives good quality although not as good as mpeg-2 but still good enough for backing DVDâ€™s & a lot better then mpeg-1

Usually one mpeg-4 part 2 encoder is already there in Windows XP, knows as Microsoft MPEG-4 Encoder, v1 & v2, as usual v2 is better to use, however it is not the most compatible

To play mpeg-4 files & also 3gp files Apple QuickTime player which is free is the best option, & if U have a cell phone & want to convert your Videos to mpeg-4 U can do that too with QuickTime Pro or some other 3GP converters like Xilsoft 3gp converter or Nokia PC Suite

One thing to remember, that despite the fact that 3GP & mpeg-4 are almost the same & compatible, the main difference is that 3gp is more like mpeg-4 for Mobile phone, & MMS, because of which the max resolution a 3GP file can have is 176X144, or 128X96, much low compared to your usual VCD encoded at 320X288 or DVD, but since they are made for cell phones with small screens it doesnâ€™t effect the quality there, the higher the bit rate the better the quality, although 3gp can go for a max bit rate 192 kbps for Video but at 176X144 it is the best quality

The good thing about mpeg-4 files is that they are made of 2 parts, the Audio part & the Video part; they can both be given separate file extensions, .m4a for Audio part & .m4v for video, or better simple, .mp4, which is the most compatible

Since mpeg-4 was made for low bit rate usage, instead of mp3, a low bit rate mpeg4 AAC file is recommended in a mobile phone for Music purpose, as the speaker of a mobile phone isnâ€™t as power full as compared to a computer, U wonâ€™t need the extra quality, because of which even a 64 kbps encoded mp4 sounds better then a 160 kbps mp3 on a mobile

Now we have the new H.264 Codec also knows as mpeg-4 part 10, on the horizon with support from a lot of companies including but not limited to Apple, Sony, Toshiba, and IBM etc, H.264 is made for the place where H.263 doesnâ€™t fit, which  is the High bit rate High resolution, because of which the H.264/AVC is selected for the upcoming HD-DVD format, which is again backed by many companies, rite now the H.264 decoder & encoder are not officially available & they are completely un optimized for any CPU or GPU as they are still under development, Apple has stated that they will be supporting it with QuickTime 7, but Nero, their Nero Digital codec is already capable of decoding H.264, which is the best U can get rite now, but not forever, soon the H.264 specification will be released & by August 2005 we will be having official support for H.264 in many Media Players, & with Nero Showtime installed U can even watch it in Windows Media Player. Apple has stated that their upcoming operating system code name Tiger will support H.264 in the OS itself, in other words the Video chat or conferencing will be using H.264 for streaming over broadband internet.

U can see a comparison of mpeg-4 part to with mpeg-4 part 10 here, U will see that it takes a lot of time to encode files in H.264, & lot of CPU resources, & the minimum requirement for playback of H.264 content is still not officially declared

Envivio 4 Caster is a non real time h.264 encoder, which can be found here with specs for the resolution & CPU requirement, as U can see HD content encoding is really CPU Intensive

Another one is Mainconcept mpeg-4 part 10 encoder preview 2 which can be found here

For DV/DVD video conversion, Mainconcept AVC one click compressor is available from here

Apple Quicktime 7 sneak preview can be found here

Info about H.264 from Apple

Apple H.264 FAQs
One thing that many of us forget & try to convert VCD to DivX is that VCD are already low quality, u cannot get more quality even if U completely uncompress it to an AVI file, so no use of converting mpeg1/VCD files to DivX, stick with what U have


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## saketb (Apr 23, 2005)

Hi,
Nice information, thanks.


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## SWEET SNEHA (Jun 11, 2005)

How can we convert an .mpg file to .3pg file


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## SWEET SNEHA (Jun 11, 2005)

^^^I mean some freeware


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## AMITAGARWAL02 (Jun 12, 2005)

Why u want to convert mpg file to .3pg file

It will be of bad quality because of the bitrates i think so , not much sure


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## maverickrohan (Jun 12, 2005)

Some Interesting Reading:

On2's Case Against H.264

::::  On2 VP7 Codec  ::::

*!!!   VP7 Rocks   !!!*


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## gxsaurav (Jun 12, 2005)

Apple has launched a preview version of quicktime 7 with support for HD or H.264 playback, although still buggy, but it will do

If U have nero 6 full pack 80 MB, then U get nero showtime with it, which will also install Nero Decoders for H.264 AVC for playback in Windows media player

VP7 isn't any good, if it was then it would have been more popular then XVID or AVD or DivX, Y don't I see VP7 beating Divx 5 or H.264 anywhere


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## maverickrohan (Jun 13, 2005)

Hey u CANNOT ALWAYS JUDGE ANYTHING JUST BY SEEING ITS POPULARITY CHART..........

For instance................

MP3 Pro, WMA, OGG Vorbis, ATRAC, AAC, Monkeys Audio n many more Audio Codecs r way better than MP3 but still..................

MP3 is more popular......

DivX n XviD are the MP3s of the video world..........

Get It!!!

If u reall wanna know if something is better than another thing ............... THE BEST WAY TO FIND OUT IS..................TRY IT YOURSELF...........

Do a simple codec test on ur very own PC:

Take a Music Video for example, or a whole movie if u please..........n then Encode it using various Bitrates n Resolutions............

N then compare the results ur self judging by the quality of the video...............

I have fit in 3 to 4 hour movies on to 700MB Cds using VP62 @ VCD resolution(384x288) at really good quality....................Try doing the same with DivX or XviD..................n then tell me what u think about it..........Oh yeah n H264 is good but VP7 still beats it at lower bitrates................n H264 is still being developed...so v gotta wait.......

Nywaz i dont wanna make this into a VP7 vs H264 war.........

Tomorrow if i find out that H264 gives better results then Vp7, I wont hesitate in saying H264 is better.......

But id suggest U carry out ur own tests n find out......N if u need ny help in the Codec settings u can ask me.........


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## gxsaurav (Jun 13, 2005)

Hmm, Ok, I will try various codecs, I usually encode DVD ripped at 720X480 (!6:9 native resolution) at 1024 kbps bitrate, which gives me about the same quality with mp3 audio at 128 kbps, or AVC at 720X480 at 640 kbps bitrate for video & 96 kbps MP4 audio, what settings U prefer for VP7,lets see how good is it

One more thing I would like to lcerify to all the readers, VP7 requirs the Media Player also made by on2, it won't play in any other media player, U will need TrueCast Player, anothe rdownload, so it's not like it is an open codec, insted a closed codec like real player, in which case the real media files can be played with real player only, one of the reason because of which it isn't that popular


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