What is an mp3? |
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By: Quinn Spicker Posted: 2006-08-18 19:25:07 |
| The mp3 is to music what the JPEG is to images. It is a type audio file which is compressed so it takes up less space. Mp3 is short for MPEG-1, Layer 3, where the MPEG part is a video format, and Layer 3 is the sound of that video.CompressionWhen a sound is compressed into mp3 format, the sound file can become up to 90% smaller! This is possible because during the compression process all useless information is thrown away. For example, if you are recording the sound of a fly buzzing, then someone starts up a chainsaw, the sound of the fly buzzing is now “useless”. It is thrown away during compression because it can no longer be heard anyway, and it will not be missed by the human ear. You should not be able to hear the difference between an mp3 and a compact disc (CD), despite the fact that the latter’s file size can be over five times as large as the former’s.HistoryThe mp3 was created by a group of four Europeans as part of the MPEG, which stands for Motion Pictures Experts Group. The names of these four men are Leon Van de Kerkhof, Gerhard Stoll, Yves-Francois Dehery, and Karlheinz Brandenburg. The mp3, its file extension being .mp3 (originally .bit), was finished in 1992. Many improvements have been made since then.UsesThe general public uses the mp3 in three main ways:1. It is the favorite of people who share music over the internet. This is because of its small size which allows for quick downloading and uploading.2. It is also used by many legal mp3 download sites.3. Lastly, the mp3 file format can simply be used to free up space on your computer!I hope you now understand a little more about the mp3, how it works, its history, and its uses! |
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