ISO base media file format
| Developed by | ISO |
|---|---|
| Type of format | Media container |
| Container for | Audio, video, text, data |
| Extended from | QuickTime .mov |
| Extended to | MP4, 3GP, 3G2, .mj2, .dvb, .dcf, .m21 |
| Standard | ISO/IEC 14496-12, ISO/IEC 15444-12 |
ISO base media file format (ISO/IEC 14496-12 - MPEG-4 Part 12) defines a general structure for time-based multimedia files such as video and audio. The identical text is published as ISO/IEC 15444-12 (JPEG 2000, Part 12).
It is designed as a flexible, extensible format that facilitates interchange, management, editing and presentation of the media. The presentation may be local, or via a network or other stream delivery mechanism. The file format is designed to be independent of any particular network protocol while enabling support for them in general. It is used as the basis for other media file formats (e.g. container formats MP4 and 3GP).
ISO base media file format is directly based on Apple’s QuickTime container format. It was developed by MPEG (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11). The first MP4 file format specification was created on the basis of the QuickTime format specification published in 2001. The MP4 file format known as "version 1" was published in 2001 as ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001, as revision of the MPEG-4 Part 1: Systems. In 2003, the first version of MP4 file format was revised and replaced by MPEG-4 Part 14: MP4 file format (ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003), commonly known as MPEG-4 file format "version 2". The MP4 file format was generalized into the ISO Base Media File format (ISO/IEC 14496-12:2004 or ISO/IEC 15444-12:2004), which defines a general structure for time-based media files. It is used as the basis for other file formats in the family such as MP4, 3GP, Motion JPEG 2000).
The ISO base media file format is designed as extensible file format. List of all registered extensions for ISO Base Media File Format is published on the official registration authority website www.mp4ra.org. The registration authority for code-points (identifier values) in "MP4 Family" files is Apple Inc. and it is named in Annex D (informative) in MPEG-4 Part 12. Codec designers should register the codes they invent, but the registration is not mandatory and some of invented and used code-points are not registered. When someone is creating a new specification derived from the ISO base media file format, all the existing specifications should be used both as examples and a source of definitions and technology. If an existing specification already covers how a particular media type is stored in the file format (e.g. MPEG-4 audio or video in MP4), that definition should be used and a new one should not be invented.
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