Q:
Can you explain to me what an MP4 is? I've obviously heard of MP3, but now there's an MP4?! I'm so lost and confused. Please help!

A:
Yes, there is! I know, isn't it amazing how fast the world of technology develops? It seems like we get caught up on one thing and the next day, there's something new to learn about. I mean, we shouldn't complain, because all of the technology we're surrounded by is what keeps some of us going each day, but it definitely is a little hard to stay on top of everything that comes about.

But even though understanding everything gets a little difficult sometimes, it's not impossible. I promise that after today, you will fully understand one more computer term and you'll be able to check it off your "find out what this is" list! Okay, let's get right into it!

To start with a quick definition, MP4 files are compressed video files. Their main purpose is to make video files much smaller so that they are easier to work with and support. Video files used to be very big in size and they were very difficult to work with. But now, the same files are compressed with the same material and they go by the new name of MP4s.

MP4 files work very similarly to MP3 files in that they are compressed files that do not affect the quality of sound. (In case you're not sure, MP3s are music and audio files, so an MP4 is just taking that to the next level with videos). The term MP4 is also known as MPEG-4 AVC, which stands for advanced video coding. Now, if you're still not sure how the whole MP4 technology works, make sure you keep reading, because it's going to get even more interesting!

Since MP4s deal mostly with video files, they're a little more complex than the MP3 music and audio files. But they're still able to be compressed by using special coding procedures. For example, certain aspects of the files are minimized. Those are usually the temporal and spatial redundancies. The motion and intra estimations of the frequencies are usually transformed as well. And last, but not least, the file goes through a lot of compression and decompression, which is referred to as codec.

Now, I'm sure you're probably wondering buy cialis usa if there's such a thing as an MP4 player, right? Well, yes there is. It works just like any other media player. You can purchase the device at any regular electronics store and you then just hook it up to your computer or television. It really is that easy, even if it doesn't seem like it!

Of course, as with everything else, the MP4 technology has its ups and downs. Let's start with the advantages. MP4s are able to produce videos with a DVD quality at a rate of 1 Mbps or less with a broadband Internet connection. (That's blazing fast!) So, if you were to get an MP4 player, you could get your videos and watch them in a matter of seconds. MP4 players can also play older MP formats, including MP3 audio files.

As for the disadvantages, there will more than likely be several piracy issues within the MP4 technology. The MP3 format went through that as well. As you may already know, there are pirated versions of movies on the Internet that are ready for download at any time. So, with MP4s mainly dealing with videos, the piracy problems are sure to get out of hand as this technology becomes more and more popular. Just keep an eye out for that!

So, there it is. The MP4 technology explained for you in as simple of terms as I could come up with. I do hope you have a better understanding of it now and who knows, maybe you'll be the next person to start MP4ing around!

October 31st, 2008

Posted by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Did you know that Blu-ray discs can report back to studios when you play a disc? Yep. The BD-Live feature (which was initially touted as a way of delivering extra content to customers – as though Blu-ray didn’t offer enough space in the first place) is being used by studios to keep track of how often you play a disc.

Just got this in from the folks at SlySoft:

Actually, the intent of BD-Live is, for example, to download several megabytes of additional content such as “extras” or “audio comments”
over an on-line connection.

In any event, these are therefore really features that the customer would have expected to find on the costly Blu-ray disc. Surely there is no lack of space on this medium for these sorts of things.

Making things particularly less certain, it remains to be considered that quite a significant number of Players do not provide the user with the option to disable this feature – the Blu-ray content itself lively fires away and without so much as a by-your-leave. And so, many a film fan sits wondering in front of their television sets, oblivious to the reason why it is taking so bloody long for the film to finally begin.

The puzzled consumer is left to rightly pose the question as to what is the reason for this foolish act.

One can only presume that the primary motivation behind this farce is “getting closer” to the customer or, in other words, the studios would like to know exactly how often and when their disc buyers are looking at which film.

Peer van Heuen, the head of development at SlySoft:
“When we took a closer look at the first of these disk types we were absolutely dumbfounded. Sometimes the films actually contacted the manufacturer and did that with the user not knowing about it or even being in a position to even recognize that this connection was taking place. I assume that a significant percentage of these film buyers don’t know what to make of the little BD-Live logo on the package or even recognize it at all.

In other words: hardly anyone expects that a Blu-ray disc ‘makes a telephone call home’ while it’s being played. The circumstances and manner whereby unwitting consumers are maliciously and insidiously eavesdropped upon might get cialis 5mg tablets the attention of data and security and/or personal privacy experts in some countries sooner or later.”

In the current version of AnyDVD HD there is an opportunity to disable BD-Live and in this way the personal privacy of the spied-upon consumer is restored. On top of this, the other points in the change log are impressive and worthy to mention. New variations of “region locks” can now be removed from menus and new versions of BD+ are supported as well.

I don’t know about you, but as a consumer I’m getting tired of being spied on.

By Scott Dunn

To test these and other products, I converted a QuickTime movie to an MPEG-2 file in an attempt to reduce the file's size for easier uploading. I also tried to convert another video to the MPEG-4 format for uploading to my iPhone via iTunes.

#1: AVS VIDEO CONVERTER

The king of converters is simple but effective

Be aware that if you're using the trial version of the program, a watermark will appear on your output files. Other than that, the trial version is not restricted in any way.

#2: ANY VIDEO CONVERTER

Friendly video converter has a free version

Each conversion with the freeware version concludes with a message box telling you what you're missing in the Professional version (mostly more file formats). This is a small price to pay if the rest of the free version's features serve your needs.

#3: MEDIA CODER

The open-source solution is cool but complex

MediaCoder is best suited to advanced video users. Still, if the program's default settings and presets don't work with standard media players, what good are they? I had high hopes for this product, but given these results, I can't recommend it.

#4: DIGITAL MEDIA CONVERTER

This converter asks for more than it delivers

I wouldn't recommend any program that had such problems.