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Choose the tracks you want, optionally check a sample, then create the MP4.
M4V is essentially MP4 with an Apple label, and often with Apple’s DRM attached. Unprotected M4V files usually convert almost instantly, because the streams inside are already what an MP4 needs. This tool scans the tracks, takes the lossless path whenever it can, and lets you check a sample before writing the file.
An M4V typically holds H.264 video and AAC audio — exactly what MP4 expects. That means the conversion is generally a remux: the streams are copied into a new container untouched, so the result is bit-for-bit identical in picture and sound and completes in a fraction of the time a re-encode would take. Re-encoding is only needed when the file contains something unusual, or when you deliberately want to change resolution, frame rate or quality along the way.
M4V files purchased from the iTunes Store carry FairPlay protection, and that cannot be converted. The file is encrypted, so the video streams are not readable without the keys, and no conversion tool can or should work around that — it is both technically prevented and a legal matter. A file that refuses to convert with an error about protection is almost certainly a purchase. Home videos, exports from Apple software and other unprotected M4V files are unaffected and convert normally.
Very little technically — M4V is Apple’s variant of the MP4 container, usually with the same H.264 and AAC streams inside. The meaningful difference is that some M4V files carry Apple DRM.
It is almost certainly DRM-protected, typically an iTunes Store purchase. Protected files are encrypted and cannot be converted.
Normally not at all. When the streams are already MP4-compatible they are copied without re-encoding, so the picture and sound are identical to the source.
Because nothing is being re-encoded — the existing streams are repackaged into a new container. That is why a large file can finish in seconds.
Rarely, given the lossless path, but it is quick reassurance that the right audio track came through on a file with more than one.
