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The Comprehensive Understanding of MP4 VS MPG: Choose the One You Need

Author by Vita

Updated on June 09, 2023

Today we walk through the all-round information of MP4 VS MPG to show you the difference between MPG and MP4. If you’re hesitating between them to create or stream your videos, this article may help you make a final decision.

Try to convert between MP4 and MPG, or other file formats? This free video converter will be your best solution:

MP4 and MPG are both digital multimedia container formats that is primarily used to store video and audio data of media files. Due to the different characteristics of MP4 and MPG, they would be superior to the other one under specific circumstances. You can make a reference to MP4 vs MPG as the following shows.

MPG VS MP4: Six Main Aspects You Can Refer to

MPG Versus MP4MPG Versus MP4

1. MP4 and MPG: The Definition of the Two Formats

As mentioned just now, MP4 and MPG are two video container formats functioning as a package that stores multiple media files. Here are the basic definition and origins of them:

MP4, also known as MPEG-4 Part 14, was originally created in 2001 based on the QuickTime File Format MOV. But it was re-released in 2003 as the MPEG-4 Part 14 version that we see today. MP4 is the most common video file format featuring multiple-functionality and high compression. It can not only save videos, but also audio, subtitles and images.

MPG and MPEG actually are the same thing. The MPEG was abbreviated to MPG because some older Windows versions required a three-letter file extension. So the comparison of MP4 and MPG is also MP4 VS MPEG. MPG is developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group, the same team who later brought MP4 to the public. MPG is commonly used for storing videos, audio, as well as metadata information.

Difference Between MPEG and MP4Difference Between MPEG and MP4

2. MP4 and MPG: Respectively Supported Video Codecs

MP4 and MPG can adopt different video compression standards (video coding formats), which is the crucial point that distinguishes them from each other.

MP4 supported video codecs: H.265/HEVC, H.264/AVC, M-JPEG, MJ2, MPEG-1 Video, MPEG-2 Video, MPEG-4 Visual, Microsoft MPEG4 V2, VC-1, Sorenson, H.263, Cinepak, Theora, Dirac, VP8, VP9, AV1, MVC.

MPG supported video codecs: It usually uses either MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 file compression.

MPEG or MP4MPEG or MP4

3. MP4 VS MPG: Which One is Bigger in Size?

There are many factors that work together to decide how a video looks like but bitrate is the decisive cause to file size and quality. Higher the bitrate, bigger the file size. If you change video bit rate of a video file to lower value without altering other settings, coming with smaller file size, the video quality will also be downscaled.

Meanwhile, when we compare video formats based on file size and quality, the video encoding methods should be seriously considered because they greatly affect video quality and file size in different aspects, especially the bit rate.

Modern video codecs like H.264 and H.265 can implement better compression ratio at the same quality than MPEG-1 does, which means that at the same level of quality, videos in MP4 H.265 has a much smaller size than videos in MPG using MPEG-1or MPEG-2 standard.

 MP4 HD and MPG SD MP4 HD and MPG SD

4. MPG VS MP4: Is MP4 Better than MPG on Video Quality?

Yes.

Consequently, at the same level of bit rate, MP4 adopting a modern video compression standard can obtain better video quality.

From the size and quality ratio of MP4 VS MPG, due to the fact that MP4 has support for more advanced video codecs while MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 are relatively old types, MP4 indisputably wins the day.

Play MP4 or MPG on Different DevicesPlay MP4 or MPG on Different Devices

5. MP4 Versus MPG: Which One Has Better Compatibility?

MP4

In practice, MP4 is a ubiquitous video file format and it is commonly used for streaming videos on the Internet. Meanwhile, most media players and portable devices add support for it and even use it as the default playback format option.

By comparison, although MPG can be recognized by major media players, there still are some platforms that don't use the .mpg extension.

Choose the Fitting FormatChoose the Fitting Format

6. MP4 or MPG: When to Choose Them?

MP4: It’s a perfect option in most cases, such as playing videos, compressing vide file size, uploading videos to YouTube, etc.

MPG: If you’re going to burn a DVD or VCD, use MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 as they are good practice on Video CD, SVCD, DVD, and other optical discs.

Additional Method: How to Convert between MP4 and MPG?

When choosing the video format, we would unavoidably deal with video format conversion tasks. For example, you download a full-length movie from the Internet and want to reduce the video file size; you try to upload a video to YouTube while the file format isn’t allowed by this website, etc. Likewise, you may get some MPG files from old VCD disc and want to convert MPG to MP4 for sharing or need to convert MP4 to MPG for DVD burning. A good video converter will be a great help in such cases. We strongly recommend that you try Free HD Video Converter Factory that can handily handle all common video conversions on the fly. Here is how to use it to perform the MPG MP4 conversion. Free download it on your PC and follow.

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Before start, please free downloadfree download and install the software on your Windows desktop.

Step 1. Import Target Files

Launch Free HD Video Converter Factory, select “Converter” on the main window. Then, click “+Add Files” on the new Video Converter window, select and import the videos you want to convert.

Step 2. Choose an Output Format

Hit the format icon on the right side, which will direct you to the output format menu. You can choose MP4 or MPG under the Video section. As the image shows you, the software offers a line of formats and presets for devices. Select the fitting one.

You can also change the video codec, frame rate, resolution, aspect ratio, etc. in the Parameter settings window.

Step 3. Initialize the Process

Hit the triangle icon and select a destination for saving the exported files. Then, click “Run”.

Three steps to convert video format

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In Summary

We can come across different types of video formats when we play, edit, and download video files. Knowing the unique characteristics and similarities among them is a good way to make a decision on what format to use for creating, sharing, streaming videos, etc. Hopefully, this post on MP4 VS MPG will help you obtain a clear understanding of the two formats. If you just need a video converting program to change the video format, you can download the Free HD Video Converter Factory here.

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