Art has always been a prominent creative outlet for humanity. From cave arts to the Mona Lisa of the 20th century, and just after art comes music. Music is often said to be an expression so great that it can even make the plants move and it has an appreciation in all the cultures and stratum of society. Next comes the combination of two, the motion picture, created in the 18th century it is perhaps the most dominant form of media consumed.
MP3 vs MPEG
The main difference between MP3 and MPEG lies in their domain of utility, MP3 is solely focussed on the audio platform whereas MPEG has a much larger area of service as it covers all the multimedia formats.
MP3 is a music format that uses digital means to store music, it is based on the lossy audio-data compression algorithm. MPEG(Moving Picture Expert Group) is an organization that enabled data compressing in any multimedia format.
Comparison Table Between MP3 and MPEG
| Parameters of Comparison | MP3 | MPEG |
| What is it | The MP3 format compresses any audio file up to 10 or 20 times its original size without compromising on its quality to a maximum extent. | It is essentially a technical body that creates any kind of multimedia from digital audio and video formats.MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, etc are all types of the same. |
| How it works | It is based on the lossy compression algorithm which takes advantage of a few anatomical loops in the human ear. | They compress data as well, but not just audio but also video.MPEG works to achieve its high compression rate by first storing only the changes from one frame to another, instead of each entire frame. The video information is thereafter encoded using a method called Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) |
| Special Features | This format allows their user to choose a “bit rate” and get different MP3 files, with different sound qualities. | It can compress both video and audio files and even augmented reality(MPEG-MAR) and streaming multimedia data(MPEG-DASH). |
| Benefits | The users can store and share audio files without much fuss. | Especially in this age of streaming services, the MPEG format is extremely valued. |
| Ease of use | These files are easy to download from the internet with the click of a few buttons and play with ease. | They too can be downloaded or streamed via applications like VLC media player. |
What is MP3 Format?
The MP3 Format popularised during the 90s, just after the CD and VHS revolution, became the favored modem for sharing and storing audio files for an entire generation. Unlike VHS and cassette tapes which used to store audio files in an analog manner, in an electronic or magnetic way. The MP3 format does it digitally and is also able to compress the data according to the users’ need, by changing the bit-rate. From the first MP3 player released by SaeHan Information Systems to the Apple Music Players, the MP3-s were all the rage during the 90s through the 00s.
Gone were the days when owning a music system used to be just for the rich and affluent. With the MP3 revolution, these pocket-sized and easy to carry objects were for everyone, from university and school students to young office-goers, these were everywhere.
Even with all these advantages, there are some cons with regards to the format, the compression at times reduces the quality especially compared to the CD quality. Also, the issue of piracy was really rampant in this format especially before there were laws to prevent it.
What is MPEG?
This organization is responsible for the creation of all kinds of media content. The various types of MPEG format include MPEG-1 which can create a video resolution of 352 by 240 at 30 frames per second.
The next type is the MPEG-2 which offers a resolution of 720 by 480 and1280 by 720 at 60 frames per second, which is the standard for televisions and DVD players. MPEG-4 is the most widely used one and is used on the web, computer, and mobile devices. MPEG-MAR helps to create a mixed and augmented reality model, whereas MPEG-DASH is used by streaming services. Apple launched into the public masses via the iPod, which was primarily supported the MPEG format.
The compression can again act as a two-way sword here, wherein if the file is too much compressed then the quality is compromised and on the other hand if the file is too large, it takes too much storage area and takes more time to open as well.
Main Differences Between MP3 and MPEG
- The MP3 format deals with only audio files and is essentially a subsidiary of MPEG format. The MPEG format includes all kinds of multimedia.
- The MPEG format has only increased in popularity especially with MPEG-MAR and MPEG-DASH which is responsible for the streaming platforms.
- In terms of devices or applications, the application which can play MPEG format can also play MP3 while those applications which play MP3 can only play the MP3 format.
- One can easily convert a file from a MPEG file to MP3 but never the other way round.
- As the MPEG files are mostly more than just audio files, thus they require more storage space than simple MP3 files.
Conclusion
If it were not for these formats(.mpeg, .mp3) it would have been really difficult to share and store data. Not just the entertainment sector, standing in today’s time, the world especially major parts of the internet can exist only cause of these special formats.
The MPEG format is now the most widely used, the various forms that it supports ensures, it would never fall out of favor with the masses. However, the MP3 format is more about nostalgia to the older generation and mostly unknown to the newer generation, who are keener on “streaming” it.
References
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/1010358/
- https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/769875/
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/146144480606773