Apple Compressor 2 - Manual (Page 153)

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Creating MPEG-4 Output Files
Compressor provides the tools you need to create
exceptional MPEG-4 transcoded files.
MPEG-4 Part 2 (known as MPEG-4 video in QuickTime 6) plays an important role in the
evolution of standards for the Internet and wireless multimedia industries, where it has
been widely adopted.
Use MPEG-4 Part 2 anywhere you want to be compatible with MPEG-4 Part 2 devices or
players, such as the millions of 3G mobile phones and digital still cameras that capture
and play back MPEG-4 Part 2 video.
H.264, also known as MPEG-4 Part 10, is a newer technology than MPEG-4 Part 2,
providing up to four times the frame size of video encoded with the MPEG-4 Part 2
codec at a given data rate. But, just as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 are still used in the industry
today, MPEG-4 Part 2 will continue to be used.
Note: MPEG-4 Part 2 is both a QuickTime codec (MPEG-4 Video) and an output format.
This chapter discusses MPEG-4 Part 2 as an output format.
MPEG-4 Part 2 offers the following advantages:
 Standards compliance: Output is with MPEG-4 Part 2 devices and other standards-
based (ISMA) players, such as mobile phones.
 High-quality video: A versatile transcoder that can be set to a target data rate and—
using one-pass variable bit rate (VBR)—can maximize the highest quality output or
speed for the fastest possible transcode.
 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC): MPEG-4 audio accommodates a wide variety of source
audio, and brings true variable bit rate (VBR) audio transcoding to QuickTime. It uses
the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec, which provides more clarity than MP3 audio
at the same bit rate with smaller file sizes, or files of the same size at higher quality.