So what is an MP3 file?

If you have ever listened to music on your computer or on your iPod on one, then you certainly have an MP3 file is used.
Most people have no idea what is an MP3 file.
Generally, an MP3 format for compressing audio files suitable for use on a computer or personal audio device.

What is an MP3?

An MP3 file is (actually, it's real name MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3) is a digital audio format that is "lossy" (ie the more the filecompressed, the more deteriorated the quality of the file file) from the original.

The file format was originally designed so that compresses audio could significantly reduce the size of the file, while trying to be as faithful as possible to improve the quality of the sound. This compression is achieved by psychoacoustic (the study of subjective human perception of sounds) methods to the parts of the audio spectrum that are not audible to the human ear is removed, saving only the parts ofthe audio spectrum that we can hear.

An MP3 can be compressed and stored in a variety of ways, allowing for the size of flexibility and quality of data. This is one of the main reasons for the popularity of the file format.

A very brief history of the MP3 file format

MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, first the lives of a "Digital Audio Broadcast", funded by the European Union.

By 1991, two competing proposals, where around these "contain Musicam" and"ASPEC".
The most of every available format, where the "combined" into what we now known as MPEG format.

The algorithm (file format) was approved in 1991 as MPEG-1, still the international standard ISO / IEC 11172-3 in 1993.
1994-1995 appeared the MPEG-2. Further work on MPEG audio format was completed in 1994.
For a more detailed description of the history of the MP3 file format (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3)

TheMPEG -1 / 2 file format is currently being patented by Thomson Consumer Electronics, who has been actively enforcing these patents controlled.
The Fraunhofer Institute began notifying several groups of developers in 1998 states that a license was required in order to spread "and / or sell decoders and / or encoders".

This license and patent issues have led many developers to focus more and more on creating and popularizing alternative audio formats like WMA and OggVorbis. Microsoft has released his self out of the MP3 file format, spacing, and uses its own Windows Media formats to avoid these problems, licensing

Some of the main reasons why the MP3 is still popular:

- The term MP3 is a de facto name for the storage of audio files to digital devices

- The alternative file formats do not offer features that are significantly better than the MP3 format

- The mass of existing material already in this format, and

--The wide range of devices to read and write this format can

This article is only a very general introduction to the history of MP3's, yet it can dive too deeply into the functioning of the Code.
For more information about this file format, you will find the following websites:
Fraunhofer IIS - http://www.iis.fraunhofer.de/amm/techinf/layer3/
MP3 patents - http://www.mp3licensing.com/patents/index.html

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