Research, standards and thoughts for the digital world

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MPAI MPEG ISO

Standards and business models

Introduction Some could think that the title is an oxymoron. Indeed standards, certainly international ones, are published by not-for-profit organisations. How could they have a business model? The answer is that around a standard there are quite a few entities, some of which are far from being not-for-profit. Therefore, this article intends to analyse how business models can influence standards. The actors of standardisation Let’s first have a look at the actors of standardisation. The first actor is the organisation…

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On the convergence of Video and 3D Graphics

Table of contents Introduction Computer-generated scenes and video are worlds apart Point cloud compression 3DoF+compression Commonalities and differences of PCC and 3DoF+ How can we achieve further convergence? Conclusions Introduction For a few years now, MPEG has explored the issue of to efficiently represent (i.e. compress) data from a range of technologies offering users dynamic immersive visual experiences. Here the word “dynamic” captures the fact that the user can have an experience where objects move in the scene as opposed…

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Developing standards while preparing for the future

Introduction In Einige Gespenster gehen um in der Welt - die Gespenster der Zauberlehrlinge I described the case of an apprentice who operates in an environment that practices some mysterious arts (that in the past could have been called sorcery). Soon the apprentice wakes up at the importance of what he is learning/doing and thinks he has learned enough to go his own way. The reality is that the apprentice has not learnt yet the art not because he has…

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No one is perfect, but some are more accomplished than others

In quite a few of my articles on this blog I have described how well MPEG has managed to create generic standards for the media industry, how many new standards keep on being produced to support the expansion of the media business and how much the expansion has brought benefits to that industry. The first part of the title, however, reminds us that MPEG is an organisation created by humans and populated by humans. As MPEG is not and cannot…

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Einige Gespenster gehen um in der Welt – die Gespenster der Zauberlehrlinge

Introduction The title of this article is inspired by two masterpieces of German philosophy and literature. The first is Karl Marx’s “The Manifesto of the Communist Party” with the metaphor of the spectre (of communism) going around in Europe while the powers of conservation try to stop it. The second is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s “The Sorcerer's Apprentice”, the story of an apprentice who thinks he can enchant a broom and get it to do some work for him, because…

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Does success breed success?

Introduction Most readers will answer yes to the question asked in the title. Indeed, very often we see that success of a human organisation breeds success. Until, I mean, the machine that looked like it could produce results forever “seizes”. But don’t look elsewhere for the causes of failure: it's not the machine, the causes are humans inside and/or outside. In an age when things move fast and change, MPEG has been in operation for three decades. Its standards have…

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