MPEG-3 is the designation for a group of audio and video coding standards agreed upon by MPEG (Motion Pictures Coding Experts Group). MPEG-3 was designed to handle HDTV signals in the range of 20-40Mbps.
It was soon discovered that similar results could be obtained through slight modifications to the MPEG-2 standard. Shortly thereafter, work on MPEG-3 was discontinued.
MPEG-3 should not be confused with MPEG-1 Layer 3, commonly referred to as MP3.