MPEG-1 Audio Layer II - Applications of MP2

Applications of MP2

Part of the DAB digital radio and DVB digital television standards.

Used internally within the radio industry, for example in NPR's PRSS Content Depot programming distribution system. The Content Depot distributes MPEG-1 L2 audio in a Broadcast Wave File wrapper. MPEG2 with .wav headers is specified in the .wav standards. As a result Windows Media Player will directly play Content Depot files however less intelligent .wav players often do not.

All DVD-Video players in PAL countries contain stereo MP2 decoders, making MP2 a possible competitor to Dolby Digital in these markets. DVD-Video players in NTSC countries are not required to decode MP2 audio, although most do. While some DVD recorders store audio in MP2 and many consumer-authored DVDs use the format, commercial DVDs with MP2 soundtracks are rare.

MPEG-1 layer 2 is the standard audio format used in the Video CD and Super Video CD formats (VCD and SVCD also support variable bit rate and MPEG Multichannel as added by MPEG-2).

MPEG 1 layer 2 is the standard audio format used in the MHP standard for set-top boxes.

MPEG 1 layer 2 is the audio format used in HDV camcorders.

MP2 files are compatible with some Portable audio players, but MP3 and other formats are preferred because of higher fidelity.