[oclug] Dumb question about MP3

[Spencer Cheng]

On Aug 18, 2006, at 10:51, Bill Strosberg wrote:

>
> MP3 is the third revision of a data standard set by the Motion  
> Pictures
> Expert Group - hence MP3.  It specifies the format for digital  
> encoding
> and decoding of audio data.
[..]

MP3 is MPEG-1 Layer 3. It is actually not the 3rd version :-) The 3rd  
version from MPEG perspective would be AAC++.

Canonical information (the standard documents) is available via ISO  
for a not-so-small fee.

Wikipedia has some material as others noted. Another good source on  
what MP3 and audio compression in general is here <http:// 
www.mpeg.org/MPEG/audio.html>

Note if you have picky ears, you should consider AAC. AAC provide  
better quality at the same bit rate.

Regards,
Spencer