MOV VS MP4 – which is better
In the list of the most popular video formats today, you can easily find MOV and MP4. Both are lossy compression, MP4 and MOV are widespread.
However, which one is better? What is the best format to transmit content?
Before clarifying this, it should be noted the difference between MOV and MP4.
This is what you should know, MOV vs MP4.
MOV vs MP4
Part 1. Definition of MOV and MP4
What is MOV?
.mov as a QuickTime File Format (QTFF) file extension, which is the file format originally used by the QuickTime platform. It is a multimedia container that contains one or more audio, video and text tracks. The MOV file is compatible with different versions of Mac and Windows operating systems, as well as Apple iOS devices.
What is MP4?
MPEG-4 Part 14 or MP4 is a most commonly used digital media container format for storing video, audio, subtitles, and images. Like other container formats, MP4 can be used to stream over the Internet. Although some portable players advertise themselves as MP4 players, they do not necessarily play MPEG-4 Part 14 files.
Part 2. Difference between MP4 and MOV
As you can see, there are some similar features between MP4 and MOV, but there are some important differences.
MOV VS MP4: Compatible
In terms of compatibility, MP4 is best used on all operating systems and media players except iOS devices and Mac computers.
The MOV format is often used in professional environments like QuickTime (even for Windows).
Also, if you want to stream or edit videos, MP4 is the best choice.
MOV VS MP4: Quality
Although both are lossy formats, MOV is of better quality because MP4 gets more compression with a smaller file size, while MOV retains high quality with a larger file size by choosing the same codec.
MOV VS MP4: detailed comparison list
Here you can check the difference between the two from the table below.
MP4 QTFF Differences
File extension .mp4 .mov, .qt
The apple MPEG developer
License Patent Encumbered Decency
Variable bit rate audio yes yes
Variable frame rate yes yes
Metadata tags yes yes
Interactive menus yes yes
Transmission yes yes
3D support Only at the video format level Non-standard
Hardware players yes yes
Support for video encoding formats DV, M-JPEG, MJ2, MPEG-1 Video, MPEG-2 Video, MPEG-4 Visual, Microsoft MPEG4 V2, VC-1, Sorenson, H.263, RV60, RealVideo, Cinepak, Indeo, Theora, MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-H, HEVC, Dirac, VP8, VP9, AVI, MVC, HuffYUV, YCbCr SheerVideo DV 25, DV, M-JPEG, MPEG-1 Video, MPEG-2 Video, MPEG-4 Visual, VC-1, Sorenson Versions 1 and 3, H.263, Cinepak, MPEG-4 AVC, MPEG-H HEVC, Dirac Custom, YCbCr, DVC Pro 50, Photo JPEG, Graphics, QuickTime Animation, Apple ProRes
Support for audio encoding formats AMR, MP1, MP2, MP3, AAC, AC-3, E-AC-3, DTS, Opus, ALAC, MLP, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD, ALS, SLS, LPCM, DV Audio , Vorbis Private, FLAC Non-standard QCELP, AACAC-3, E-AC-3, QDesign Music 1 and 2, ALAC, DTS-HD, LPCM, μ-law PCM, A-law PCM, Microsoft ADPCM, DV Audio, MP3 MPEG-1 Audio, MPEG-1 Audio, MACE 3:
