What is MPEG-4?
MPEG-4 is a new multimedia standard for coding and composing audio, video, graphics, text, etc., into a presentation scene with user interactivity. MPEG-4 coding treats a scene as a collection of media objects, each of which is individually coded and can be dynamically updated. MPEG-4 is an ISO/IEC standard developed by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group). MPEG-4 builds on the earlier MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 standards published by MPEG. MPEG-4 is a standard for composing rich media in a graphical scene. Various rich media including audio, video, images, text, graphics can be placed in 2- or 3-dimensional scenes with which the user can interact. See the MPEG Web site for further information.
MPEG-4 is an ISO/IEC standard developed by MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group), the committee that also developed the Emmy Award winning standards known as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. These standards made interactive video on CD-ROM and Digital Television possible. MPEG-4 is the result of another international effort involving hundreds of researchers and engineers from all over the world. MPEG-4, whose formal ISO/IEC designation is ISO/IEC 14496, was finalized in October 1998 and became an International Standard in the first months of 1999. The fully backward compatible extensions under the title of MPEG-4 Version 2 were frozen at the end of 1999, to acquire the formal International Standard Status early in 2000. Some work, on extensions in specific domains, is still in progress. MPEG-4 builds on the proven success of three fields: • Digital television; • Interactive graphics applications (synthetic content); • Interactive multimedia (World Wide Web, distribution of and access to content) MPEG-
