MP4 File Format | What is MP4 Video Format

What is an MP4 File?

MP4, or formally known as MPEG-4 Part 14, is an international standard for audio and video encoding. MPEG-4 Part 14 was published in 2003 and is the most recent version of the standard. The standard describes how data is stored within the container but not how it's encoded. MP4 is considered a digital multimedia container format, meaning it's a file that contains a large amount of compressed data.

Due to its high compression rate, MP4 video files can be much smaller than other formats. The reduction in file size does not immediately affect its quality, which is almost entirely preserved. Thus, MP4 becomes a portable and web-friendly video format.

Here is a table outlining some characteristics of the MP4 format:

In summary, MP4 is a versatile and widely used digital multimedia content storage and sharing format.

More about MP4 File Extension

The official and most common file extension for MP4 is .mp4. However, due to its ability to store various multimedia file types, it can have multiple extensions, such as:

1. .mp4: A common file for containing both audio and video in the MPEG-4 format.
2. .m4a: An MPEG-4 file container that only contains audio, often seen with Apple products like the iPod.
3. .m4r: A ringtone format for MPEG-4 audio on Apple devices.
4. .m4b: An MPEG-4 audio container format used for podcasts and audiobooks.
5. .m4v: Refers to an MPEG-4 visual bitstream, or the video stream within an MP4 file.
6. .m4p: A protected MPEG-4 audio format, similar to Apple's DRM protection.

How to Convert Video to MP4

It's not hard to find MP4 files everywhere, as MP4 is one of the most popular video formats. That's why video conversion is so common, ensuring .mp4 video playback on almost any phone, computer, or other mobile device.

Thus, converting our movies to MP4 is a relatively safe bet for most current devices. But then the question arises: which of the many online tools, for example, is the best choice to convert my iPhone videos to MP4 format for Mac or PC?

Please watch this video first, which will provide more details before you convert your videos to MP4 format.

00:32 - Download and launch VideoProc Converter, then click on "Video" 00:48 - Import one or multiple video files that you want to convert to MP4 00:54 - Select MP4 as the output format 01:40 - Click "Run" to start the conversion process

How to Convert Video to MP4/MP3 with VLC Media Player

If you don't have it, consider downloading the VLC Media Player from its official website here. Afterwards, you can follow these simple steps to convert your video into an MP4:

Step 1: Open the VLC media player on your computer. Click "Media" in the top-left corner to go to Convert/Save.

Step 2: Click the "Add" button to select the movie you want to convert, then click "Convert/Save" at the bottom of the window. You can add several files at once.

Step 3. Choose the format you want to convert it to, like MP4 or MP3, and then click “Start.” When it's done, you can find the converted file on your computer.

While VLC Media Player offers users many conveniences when dealing with audio files, it also has its downsides. For instance, a user on the VideoLAN forums reported that every time they convert a video to a different format, they end up with an MP4 file with no sound on Mac. Other users might encounter similar issues.

How to Repair and Recover MP4 Files

Software issues often tend to be the reason behind an MP4 not playing or MP4 sound problem. If any codec on your device is incompatible with the media file, you may encounter such issues. However, most users are not familiar with codecs, and hence, they might find it difficult to identify this issue initially.

There can be several reasons due to which MP4 files get corrupted.

• Sudden shutdown of camera or microphone.
• Unstable network connection.
• Abnormal system shutdown.
• Data read or write errors.
• Malware and virus attacks.
• Interrupted or incomplete data transfer or download.

How to Recover Lost MP4 Files

If you can't find the deleted MP4 video on your computer, how do you go about recovering it? In this case, you'll need to use professional file recovery software – I recommend the Data Recovery Wizard tool. This software can recover deleted MP4 videos with their original file names and storage locations. Additionally, this program is compatible with RAID, dynamic disks, and EXT2/EXT3 file systems.

With these steps, you can restore permanently deleted MP4 videos:

• Download the tool: Data Recovery Wizard. • Select the location where your lost video files were and click "Scan." • After scanning, locate the lost video by searching for MP4 type. • Select the desired MP4 video and click "Recover" to retrieve the lost footage.

How to Repair a Corrupted MP4 File

When you can't play MP4 videos on your PC, you should take it as a red flag; apart from software issues, video file corruption could be the reason. When PC users (both Mac and Windows) come across a corrupted video, they usually delete the damaged video file and restart their device.

Fortunately, damaged video files can be easily fixed using a tool like Data Recovery Wizard. The program is very user-friendly and lets you fight video data corruption in various scenarios. MP4 files can become repairably corrupted when being edited, recorded, transferred, or converted on a Mac.

If the methods above helped you in the recovery and repair of corrupted MP4 video files, do share on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc!

Last Words

Almost all video players can play MP4 files because it's a standardized video file format. Simply double-click on the video file to start playing it in your operating system's default media player. MP4 is also natively supported for playback on both Android and iPhone – just tap the file to begin playback. Video software often crashes when importing MP4 files. In this case, using a tool like Data Recovery Wizard is your best bet.