Introduction Quality pervades our life: we talk of quality of life and we choose things on the basis of declared or perceived quality. A standard is a product, and as such may also be judged, although not exclusively, in terms of its quality. MPEG standards are no exception and the quality of MPEG standards has been a feature has considered of paramount importance since its early days. Cosmesis is related to quality, but is a different beast. You can apply…
Introduction There are many definitions of standard. In the Webster’s you find a definition of standard as “Something that is established by authority, custom or general consent as a model or example to be followed”, an oldish definition that thinks that people must be directed to their good. In the Encyclopaedia Britannica you find “(A technical specification) that permits large production runs of component parts that are readily fitted to other parts without adjustment”, a definition driven by the idea…
Introduction In the week of the 13th of January, the Free University of Brussels has hosted the 129th MPEG meeting . Two days (11-12) were dedicated to some 15 ad hoc group meetings and 6 days (7-12)to meetings of JVET, the joint MPEG-SG 16 group tasked to develop the VVC standard. In this status report I will highlight some of the most relevant topics on which progress was made. The figure below captures the essence of the MPEG work plan…
MPEG will soon be 32. It has produced many important standards that have changed the industry and the lives of billions of people. What will MPEG be 5 years from now? MPEG is strong The MPEG scope is digital media: analysis, compression, transport and consumption of digital moving pictures and audio for broadcast, broadband, mobile and physical distribution. MPEG standards have an extremely wide range of customers belonging to all industries that need digital audio and video packaged for their…
Introduction It is not by chance that the MPEG Future Manifesto has the following action points at the top of its list (italics are mine) Support and expand the academic and research community which provides the life blood of MPEG standards; Enhance the value of intellectual property that make MPEG standards unique while facilitating their use. Why are these two action points so important? Because the main ingredients of the successful MPEG recipe have been so far Developing the best…
Introduction Purely based on logic, MPEG should not exist. In the 1980s the Galactic Empire of media standardisation was firmly in the hands of ITU (videocommunication and speech), IEC (audio and television) and ISO (photography and cinematography), not to mention its kingdoms and duchies - the tens of regional and national standards committees. How could this little Experts Group, not even recognised in the ISO hierarchy, become the reference standards group of the media industry (and more to come)? Like…
