3GP & 3G2 Video Formats

3GP

Type of format: Media container
File format: 3GPP
File extension: .3gp
Video: MPEG-4, H.263
Audio: AAC, AMR

3gp is a video and audio container format, based on the ISO base media file format (defined in ISO/IEC 14496-12 - MPEG-4 Part 12), and extended from the MPEG 4-14 format, and was developed by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project). It is designed for transmitting multimedia files between GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) based 3G mobile phones, and over the internet. This file format was designed to reduce storage and bandwidth requirements.

It is used in IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service and PPS (Packet-switched Streaming Service).

3G2

Type of format: Media container
File format: 3GPP2
File extension: .3g2
Video: MPEG-4, H.263
Audio: AAC, AMR, QCELP

3gp is a video and audio container format similar to 3GP, and is often described as and updated version on 3GP. It was developed by 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2), and is designed for storage and transmission and storage of multimedia files on CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) based 3G mobile phones, and over the internet.

Like 3GP, 3G2 is used in transmission and storage of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem), MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service and PPS (Packet-switched Streaming Service) files.