MP4 vs FLV, FLV vs MP4, difference between MP4 and FLV format

Compare MP4 with FLV video formats

File Extension	MP4	FLV
File Type	MPEG-4 Video File	Flash Video File
Description	The MPEG-4 video format uses separate compression for audio and video tracks. Video is compressed with MPEG-4 video encoding. Audio is compressed using AAC compression, the same type of audio compression used in .AAC files.	FLV is a Flash video file format, consists of a short header, interleaved audio, video, and metadata packets; audio and video data is stored in a similar format used by standard Flash (.SWF) files.
Developed by	Moving Picture Experts Group	Adobe Systems
Pros	1) Store both video and audio in good quality; 2) Can be played/edited on most players, devices and applications;	1) Best used for streaming videos on the Web; 2) Compatible with most browsers (mobile browsers not included);
Cons	There might be format incompatibility problem from time to time;	Require Flash Player plugin to play the FLV videos;
Help You Choose	For compatibility's sake, MP4 is a better choice compared to FLV.	For sharing video online like uploading to YouTube, FLV is to considered.
Programs that open MP4/FLV files	Apple QuickTime Player Microsoft Windows Media Player VideoLAN VLC media player	Adobe Flash Player 13 Adobe Flash Professional CC iOrgsoft FLV Converter