File Extension 3GP

File Extension 3GP

File Extension 3GP is used primarily on mobile devices to store video and audio information. 3GP was defined by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). This format is based on MP4 (MPEG-4) format but it is was specifically optimized to deliver content to mobile devices (by lowering bandwidth and storage requirements).

If you're interested in deep technical details of the 3GP format you can visit 3GPP.org site. Detailed specification of 3GP format in ZIP/DOC format is avaible at this location.

But in simple terms 3GP is just an archive or collection of different media items. In some ways it is very similar to an ISO file format which is used to store images of an optical disks. For example in a single 3GP file it is possible to store several images and an audio file.

Even more: 3GP allows you to store a script of its content presentation. Using this you can play stored 3GP audio stream along while showing each picture from 3GP image stream for 5 seconds.

Overall file extension 3GP is very useful when you want to send some audio/video to mobile device like cell phone.

Q. Will renaming 3GP to MP4 help?

No. Even though 3GP file standard is based on MP4 they are still different. So just changing extension won't help. You need to get software which will be capable of playing 3GP file.

Similar file extensions

File extensions below are in similar category to 3GP. Some of them are media content containers and other are file content containers.

• File Extension MP4 - MPEG-4 video and audio format
• File Extension FLV - Flash Video format
• File Extension ODT - OGG free, open standard audio and video container
• File Extension MOV - QuickTime movie format
• File Extension ISO - Optical disk storage format from International Standards Organization

For more details on different container file extensions please see our articles on File Container Formats and Media Container Formats.

Get more information about File Extension 3GP.

If you are not able to open file with certain file extension make sure to check if extension for the file is correct. It is possible that information in the file doesn't match file extension.