
What is MP4?

MP4 is a most commonly used media file storage format for storing videos.
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MP4 is versatile and works on a variety of devices. Technically, MP4 is a digital container file that contains compressed video data and other related data needed to play the video, but MP4 is just a wrapper around the video, not the video itself.
MP4 files are generally more compressed than other types of video files, and therefore smaller. Video content within MP4 files is encoded using MPEG-4, a common encoding standard.
What is MOV?
MOV is another digital container file for video and other multimedia. Apple developed MOV for use by Apple QuickTime Player. Just like MP4 files, MOV videos are encoded using the MPEG-4 codec.
What is a digital container file?
A digital container file (not to be confused with container computing) is a wrapper for data and metadata that go together. Think of it like a filing cabinet, with different digital container formats (such as MOV or MP4) representing different sized filing cabinets that organize files in different ways.
For example, a typical MP4 file contains a video track, an audio track, and metadata about both. “Metadata” is information about data that helps a computer find the correct data, much like a library card catalog provides information about a book, but not the book itself. It can also contain images and subtitles.
What is the difference between MOV and MP4?
The main difference between the two container formats is that MOV is used in Apple’s proprietary QuickTime file format, while MP4 is an international standard. Most streaming platforms recommend using MP4 files instead of MOV because MP4 files are compatible with more streaming protocols.
MP4s are generally more compressed and smaller, while MOV files are generally higher quality and larger. MOV files are designed for QuickTime and therefore more suitable for video editing on Mac.
What online platforms support MOV and MP4?
Most platforms for uploading video files for online distribution support both formats, but may recommend converting to MP4 before uploading. YouTube and Vimeo accept MOV and MP4 files, as well as other file formats. Wistia accepts MOV files, but recommends MP4 files.








