Source:
Convenor of MPEG
Status:
Approved by WG11
Subject:
MPEG Press Release
Date:
October 2005
ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11 N7525
October 2005 – Nice, FR
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Source: |
Convenor of MPEG |
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Status: |
Approved by WG11 |
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Subject: |
MPEG Press Release |
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Date: |
October 2005 |
Nice, France October 31, 2005 – The 74th MPEG meeting was held in Nice France from 17-21 October 20005 and hosted by France Telecom.
LASeR or Lightweight Application Scene Representation (ISO/IEC 14496-20) was completed in Nice this week. LASeR is designed for representing and delivering rich-media services to resource-constrained devices such as mobile phones. The standard defines two formats: LASeR , a binary format for encoding 2D scenes, including vector graphics, and timed modifications of the scene; and SAF, Simple Aggregation Format, a binary format for aggregating in a single stream LASeR content with audio/video streams. This small footprint technology is efficient yet rich enough to provide most applications with the necessary tools to manage scenes. It is also compatible with other industry standards, namely SVGT 1.1, SMIL and MPEG BiM (see below). At the same time the first Amendment has reached the balloting stage covering further enhancements like support for SVGT 1.2 and µDOM, improved media stream handling for broadcast and an improved extension mechanism.
MPEG also completed its work on IPMP (Intellectual Property Management and Protection) Components (ISO/IEC 21000-4). IPMP Components specifies how to include IPMP information and protected parts of Digital Items in a DIDL (Digital Item Declaration Language) document. It is the means by which parts of an MPEG-21 Digital Item can be protected. This is essential in certain applications when, for example, usage rights are conveyed as part of a Digital Item associated with a movie and its associated content like the movie trailer. IPMP Components does not specify the protection measures such as encryption keys but provides the means to use or obtain them. IPMP Components is fully compatible with the MPEG DI standard for unprotected Digital Items.
Binary MPEG XML (BiM) is also completed: ISO/IEC 23001-1 gathers the set of tools defined by MPEG for efficiently binarising XML expressions. It also provides a streaming component to be used for large XML documents e.g. for a broadcast carousel. This is an important aspect of the technology when metering or controlling bandwidth utilization is essential to maintaining audio-video quality and the user experience.
In other MPEG News
MPEG Surround has reached the balloting stage. This exciting new technology allows for coding multi-channel audio at a very low bit rates based on a transmitted compressed stereo signal and a small amount of side information. This enables a service provider to extend a stereo service to
multi-channel without compromising the quality obtained with legacy stereo receivers.
In Nice, the MPEG Committee hosted its second Video seminar covering a range of topics on future opportunities for developments in video technology and applications. MPEG's close relationship with developments in industry has enabled the committee to develop the open standards which facilitate the implementation of advances in technology and their widespread adoption. While the results of such seminars may not be immediately felt it is a clear indication that there remains significant opportunity in video coding. The current video coding standard, AVC, is the industry leading technology and has been adopted for mobile terminals in digital terrestrial broadcasting. MPEG is now working on specifications for the wide-gamut color imaging used in new displays and distributed video coding.
The subgroup known as SNHC (Synthetic Natural Hybrid Coding) for many years that has brought such technologies as Animation Framework Extension to the mainstream has changed its name to “3D Graphics Compression”. This new name is a far better reflection of its current activities.
Communicating the large and sometimes complex array of technology that the MPEG Committee has developed is not a simple task. The experts past and present have begun to contribute a series of brief white-papers that explain each of these individually. The repository is growing week-by-week so if something you are interested is not there yet it will be shortly but do not hesitate to request it as well. You can start your MPEG adventure at: http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/mpeg-tech.htm
Further information
Future MPEG meetings are as follows:
- Bangkok, Thailand 16-20 January 2006
- Montreux, Switzerland 3-7 April 2006
- Klagenfurt, Austria 17-21 July 2006
- Hangzhou, China 23-27 October 2006
For further information about MPEG, please contact:
Dr. Leonardo Chiariglione, (Convenor of MPEG, Italy)
Via Borgionera, 103
10040 Villar Dora (TO), Italy
Tel +39 011 935 04 61
Email: mailto:leonardo@chiariglione.org
or
Peter Schirling
IBM Research – Digital Media Standards
River Road, MS 862H
Essex Junction, VT 05452, US
Tel +1 802 769 6123 Fax: +1 802 769 7362
Email:
schirlin@us.ibm.com
This press release and other MPEG-related information can be found on the MPEG homepage:
http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg
The text and details related to the Calls mentioned above (together with other current Calls) are in the Hot News section, http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/hot_news.htm. These documents include information on how to respond the Calls.
The MPEG homepage also has links to other MPEG pages, which are maintained by some of the subgroups. It also contains links to public documents that are freely available for download to non-MPEG members.
Journalists that wish to receive MPEG Press Releases by email can contact Peter Schirling.