Why Use MP4?

MPEG-4 Part 14 or MP4 is a digital multimedia format which acts like a wrapper for video and audio files. One huge benefit of MP4 is that the format allows for using different video codecs, such as h.264, which allow for better compression while still providing high quality video/audio but smaller file sizes. Smaller file sizes in turn allow better results when streaming content over the Internet.

MP4 – it does the trick for all occasions.

Aside from file size, why use .mp4 as the wrapper of choice for video files on the web? The answer is simple. MP4 files do not require proprietary software to be played by an end user. Video files that use the MP4 wrapper can be played cross platform and can viewed using any number of popular video players. Another benefit of MP4 files is their ability to play on mobile devices without relying on proprietary video players. Additionally, mainstream media players such as Windows Media Player and Quicktime can play the files natively and they do not require any plugin downloads.

For web designers, using MP4 allows the use of simple code to add HTML5 players to integrate into any website. Some may ask, what about HTML4? The answer is, the future. Again we point to modern browsers that support the progressive development of HMTL5 while still providing support for older standards. By using the <video> tag a basic player can be added to a page without using old standards which call for object ids and allow for the MP4 file to be play natively in modern browsers.  Below is an example of the code needed to add video to a web page.

<video width="400" controls>

  <source src="your_video_file.mp4" type="video/mp4">

  Your browser does not support HTML5 video.

</video>

So, why use MP4? Again, the answer is simple. The file format allows for greater viewer access across PC platforms, modern browsers (Internet Explorer 9+, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, and Safari) and mobile devices while making it easier for designers to complete sophisticated web sites and interfaces.