iPhone not recognizing mpeg4 files

toyvan,

The following analogy is not perfect, but hopefully gets the concept across. Or in other words, yes, I am aware there are imperfections in the analogy.

MPEG-4 is a standard for how a video file is wrapped. The encoding options have to do with how the data is actually written down in the file.

If MPEG-4 was a book, it might be a type of binding like paperback. The encoding options would be the language, and font the information in the book was written in. Some books would be written in "code" and not readable without the appropriate code key.

Which languages, fonts, and codes are readable by a recipient (device), is going to vary.

The iPhone supports MPEG-4 files that are encoded with the following "code" or "languages":
Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 768 Kbps, 320 by 240 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

That information is copied from this link:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Hope this helps,

Nathan C.

Sean,

The resolutions and bitrates supported by the AppleTV, iPod Video, and iPhone are different. For example, the AppleTV will play video back at much higher resolutions because it is designed to play on larger screens with higher resolutions.

The specs page for each product lists the supported video encodings that are supported.

For example for the iPhone it is:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html

Hope this helps,

Nathan C.

toyvan,

If you ended up with audio or video only, and not both, it usually indicates your source file was "muxed". Muxing or multiplexing is where the audio and video are combined into one stream, instead of distinct parts. Converting a muxed file is like asking a barber to cut braided hair.

This article and the ones linked to it contain more information:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302588

Hope this helps,

Nathan C.

For some reason the version of QT used on the iPhone has problems decoding a lot of H.264 encoded video files. I own an AppleTV and have ripped and encoded hundreds of gigs of my movies and TV shows using third-party applications and I find its often a crapshoot which will even sync to the iPhone, yet all will sync and play on the AppleTV. In my opinion this is a flaw in the iPhone software and needs to be fixed immediately as many of us refuse to keep two different encodings of the same video on our systems.

However, if you don't mind doubling the space used to store your videos you can always use the Advanced -> Convert Selection for iPod option to create a compatible iPod file.

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Thanks for the info. I just started converting video. The first H.264 one I did didn't work, so I tried 2 more tweaking bitrate and such and they still didn't play. After that I tried just doing mp4 and it worked on a small sample. I ran the whole video while I was gone so I'm anxious to see if it worked. I was ready to start yelling at the software source, but sounds like it's the phone. Disappointing a bit, but good to know.

I'm having the same problem and i'm getting a message saying that my video "cannot be played on this iphone"...it's an MPG4 file and i have about 4 other on my iphone already, so i don't know what the deal is?! i tried converting it for ipod like mentioned above, but know i all i have is audio and no video! what gives?

thanks 4 the info..what i really what to know is why won't iphone import MPEG4 files anymore when i had no problem with the other 3 videos on my phone that are also MPEG4? did it have something to do with the recent firmware update?

thanks for breaking it down nathan 😉..cheers!