The Media Transfer Protocol is a set of extensions to the Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) and FotoNation’s PTP/IP (extensions for wireless PTP) devised by Microsoft, to allow the protocol to be used for devices other than digital cameras, for example digital audio players and MP3 players. It supports synchronization of a device to a host computer using mechanisms similar to Apple’s iSync. The MTP is closely related to Windows Media Player.

One of the more important Microsoft’s allies in popularizing this protocol is Creative Technology who implemented it first in their Creative Mediacenter Zen portable video player and later in their Creative Zen audio-only devices, also through firmware upgrades to older devices.

The Microsoft certification mark PlaysForSure is commonly used to distinguish MTP compliant devices. However this certification is also given to other devices utilizing the USB mass storage device class.