Difference between .mpg and .mp4?

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Level 1

7 points

Difference between .mpg and .mp4?

Hi, everyone!

Although this is not directly related to Compressor, my doubt arrived when using it.
Thing is I am using Compressor1 and FCP 4.5 (not enough money to upgrade right now, unfortunately...).
I tweaked the Compressor presets until I was happy with the result and created my own preset.
I was under the impression that a .mpg file was the same as a .mp4
Apparently not.
Now I have uploaded some files to a website, and half of the users (mainly Windoz users) tell me they cannot see the videos.
If I wanted to create a standard file ending in .mpg, what option should I choose in Compressor?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Andre'

PowerMac G5 1.6 Mac OS X (10.3.2)

Posted on May 24, 2006 11:32 AM

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Answer 1

hanumang

Level 6

9,250 points

May 24, 2006 12:25 PM in response to Toscano

.mpg are MPEG-1 codec files. .mp4 are MPEG-4 codec files.

The major issue is that unless Windows users have QuickTime (or iTunes), they usually can't play .mp4 files. There are other ways to play .mp4 files (Real Player, for instance) on Windows systems, but that requires users to be able to understand how to link a file type with a program (never mind that they need the program).

Another issue is that .mp4 files aren't usually understood by web browsers. So if you're send folks a link and they attempt to simply play it off the server (and within the web browser), it won't work.

Out of your two choices, .mpg is the way to go, though quality leaves a lot to be desired.

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