• Modern iPods can handle just about any file.musique image by Christophe Schmid from Fotolia.com
  
  Upon its original release, the iPod was just a music player. As the platform has grown, iPods have become full-fledged media centers. Not only can they play music in a range of different formats, but they can also display photos and even play videos and movies. Although they are sold, in part, as tools to access the iTunes store, they can also handle formats well above and beyond those sold by Apple.
  
  

Music Files

• It is common knowledge that the Apple iPod supports MP3 files. In fact, it has robust support for the format with the ability to play back files encoded at bitrates ranging from 32 all of the way up to 320 kilobits per second in addition to files with space-saving VBR, or variable bitrate, encoding. iPods also support Apple's preferred AAC format in both unprotected M4A and protected M4P formats, as well as the Macintosh standard AIFF format. For users who want the highest possible sound quality, iPods can play lossless music in both Apple's lossless format as well as the WAV format. It also supports a range of standard sample rates from 8 to the CD-standard 44.1 kilohertz.
  
  

Photo Images

• iPods that support photos can handle a range of formats that go beyond the ubiquitous JPG file. BMP, GIF, PNG, SGI and TIFF files will also work as will the Adobe Photoshop PSD format. Support for additional image formats depend on which operating system runs the iTunes program with which the iPod synchronizes. Macintosh computers add support for the JPG 2000 format as well as the Macintosh PICT format.
  
  

Video Files

• Video capabilities vary between iPods, although all iPods with video capability support both MPEG4 and H.264 video files with .MOV, .M4V or .MP4 file extensions. H.264 videos can have resolutions of 320x240 at 30 frames per second with a video bitrate of 768 kilobits per second or less. MPEG4 files can be as large as 480x480 with a 2.5 megabit per second data rate. Both formats also support embedded audio in AAC-LC format with a bitrate of up to 160 kbps and a sample rate of 48 kilohertz. In addition to this, video content sold in the iTunes store will work with video-capable iPods.