Shanghai, China, 28 October 2002. At its 62^nd meeting, held from 21-25 October 2002, MPEG completed the final stage of its extensions to the MPEG-4 IPMP (Intellectual Property Management and Protection) technology. This important body of work, that saw a wide participation in its development, is important especially for those who wish to enable the complex consumption models demanded by today’s sophisticated consumers, while guaranteeing interoperability at a level of protected content.

MPEG is returning to its television roots and embarking on a long awaited technology exploration for the industry, that of 3D. In conjunction with its next meeting at the Awaji Yumebutai International Conference Center, in Awaji, Japan there will be a half day seminar sponsored jointly by the MPEG ad hoc on 3DAV, IMI (Intelligent Media Integration) of Nagoya University, and JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industry Association). This exciting program will feature an international list of invited speakers, an exhibition of the latest in 3D technology, and a panel discussion. For the latest information and registration, please see the event page of MPEG web page: http://mpeg.telecomitalialab.com/events.htm.

As it has done in the past, MPEG will focus its efforts on coding solutions for 3D media. This will be accomplished with a combination of extensions to existing standards and the addition of key features to enable 3D. One of those new features will provide the viewer with the ability to select his or her own viewpoint.

MPEG systems specifications have been a key fixture of every MPEG standard dating back to MPEG-1. MPEG Systems standards have always been able to serve more than just MPEG Audio and Video, but now MPEG’s file format known to the industry as just MP4 File Format has gained acceptance across many industries sectors which rely on storing and transporting primarily audio/video content between and among devices and storage technology. The latest adopter is the SD Association (http://www.sdcard.org/). Others include 3GPP (http://www.3gpp.org/) and MPEG’s sister organization JPEG (http://www.jpeg.org/).

MPEG Audio has also taken a major step forward with the promotion of the amendment to MPEG-4 Audio called Audio Bandwidth Extensions to its final balloting stage. This technology, which is already in use by the internet radio industry will also see a complimentary amendment to MPEG-2 AAC (Part 7 of MPEG-2) being used widely by both the digital TV and audio industry.

MPEG reminds industry of outstanding calls due back shortly. Detailed information on each of these calls is available in the documents whose numbers are provided below.

1. Call for Proposal on Font format representation and font compression technology(N5289)
   All parties that believe they possess relevant technologies for MPEG-4 Systems font format representation are invited to submit proposals for consideration by MPEG. These parties do not necessarily have to be MPEG members. A full list explaining what proponents will be expected to submit can be found below.
   
2. Call for Proposals on MPEG-4 Lossless Audio Coding (N5208)
   This modified call asks for technology that achieves lossless compression of audio materials and which is scalable across a very a broad range of music representations: from current-generation consumer compact disk (i.e. 44.kHz 16-bit) to very-high fidelity next-generation distribution mechanisms (i.e. 192 kHz 24-bit). In addition, the call requests technology that is hierarchical, comprising an MPEG-4 lossy coder and the new technology, so that the new technology has the potential to leverage on the MPEG-4 lossy coded representation in order to achieve greater lossless compression.
   
3. Call for Information and Interest on Lossless Audio Coding for Oversampled One-Bit Representations (N5209)
   However, one-bit audio is of value as an audio archiving format both for materials that are originated in a one-bit format and as a format to which analogue recordings can be transferred. This transfer avoids many of the considerations involved in the preservation of analogue sound recordings whereby they are kept in controlled environments in their original forms. However the digitization of analogue source materials and production masters demands the highest standards in digital conversion technologies. The high quality formats to which analogue recordings are transferred comprise both LPCM techniques (to which the lossless compression technologies currently being examined by MPEG can be applied) and over-sampled one-bit representations.
   
   WG 11 solicits expressions of willingness to submit lossless audio coding technology that can be used for high quality audio archiving systems and professional audio systems.
   
   Submissions of comments and expressions of interest made in response to this Call should be made available to WG 11 before the 64^th MPEG meeting planned to be held on 10-14 March 2003.
   
4. Preliminary Call for Proposals on Digital Item Processing: Digital Item Base Operations and Digital Item Method Language (N5226).
   This Call addresses technology for Digital Item Processing as part of the MPEG-21 multimedia framework. MPEG has identified several components within Digital Item Processing: Digital Item Methods (DIMs), Digital Item Method Engine (DIME), Digital Item Base Operations (DIBO) and Digital Item Method Language (DIML). These components are introduced in the overall Digital Item Processing Requirements document that is included in the archive file containing this Call.
   
   The current Call is a call for technology on 2 components of Digital Item Processing:

For the Outstanding Call for Proposals, see the Hot News section, http://mpeg.telecomitalialab.com/hot_news.htm