Moving Picture Experts Group
The Moving Picture Experts Group is a working group of authorities that was formed by ISO and IEC to set standards for audio and video compression and transmission. MPEG is officially a collection of ISO Working Groups and Advisory Groups under ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29 – Coding of audio, picture, multimedia and hypermedia information.
History
MPEG was established in 1988 by the initiative of Hiroshi Yasuda and Leonardo Chiariglione, group Chair from its inception. The first MPEG meeting was in May 1988 in Ottawa, Canada.As of late 2005, MPEG has grown to include approximately 350 members per meeting from various industries, universities, and research institutions.
On June 6, 2020, the MPEG website – hosted by Chiariglione – was updated to inform readers that he retired as convenor, and that the MPEG group "was closed". Chiariglione, in his own blog, explained his reasons for deciding to step down. The decision followed a restructuring process within SC 29, in which "some of the subgroups of WG 11 will become distinct MPEG working groups and advisory groups " in July 2020. In the interim, Prof. Jörn Ostermann has been appointed as Acting Convenor of SC 29/WG 11.
Cooperation with other groups
Joint Video Team
Joint Video Team is joint project between ITU-T SG16/Q.6 – VCEG and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11 – MPEG for the development of new video coding recommendation and international standard. It was formed in 2001 and its main result has been H.264/MPEG-4 AVC.Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding
Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding is a group of video coding experts from ITU-T Study Group 16 and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11. It was created in 2010 to develop High Efficiency Video Coding, a new generation video coding standard that further reduces the data rate required for high quality video coding, as compared to the current ITU-T H.264 / ISO/IEC 14496-10 standard. JCT-VC is co-chaired by Jens-Rainer Ohm and Gary Sullivan.Joint Video Exploration Team
Joint Video Exploration Team is a joint group of video coding experts from ITU-T Study Group 16 and ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 29/WG 11 created in 2017 after an exploration phase in 2015. It seeks to develop Versatile Video Coding. Like JCT-VC, JVET is co-chaired by Jens-Rainer Ohm and Gary Sullivan.Standards
The MPEG standards consist of different Parts. Each part covers a certain aspect of the whole specification. The standards also specify Profiles and Levels. Profiles are intended to define a set of tools that are available, and Levels define the range of appropriate values for the properties associated with them. Some of the approved MPEG standards were revised by later amendments and/or new editions.MPEG has standardized the following compression formats and ancillary standards. All of the MPEG formats listed below use discrete cosine transform based lossy video compression algorithms.
- MPEG-1 : Coding of moving pictures and associated audio for digital storage media at up to about 1.5 Mbit/s. This initial version is known as a lossy fileformat and is the first MPEG compression standard for audio and video. It is commonly limited to about 1.5 Mbit/s although the specification is capable of much higher bit rates. It was basically designed to allow moving pictures and sound to be encoded into the bitrate of a Compact Disc. It is used on Video CD and can be used for low-quality video on DVD Video. It was used in digital satellite/cable TV services before MPEG-2 became widespread. To meet the low bit requirement, MPEG-1 downsamples the images, as well as uses picture rates of only 24–30 Hz, resulting in a moderate quality. It includes the popular MPEG-1 Audio Layer III audio compression format.
- MPEG-2 : Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information. Transport, video and audio standards for broadcast-quality television. MPEG-2 standard was considerably broader in scope and of wider appeal – supporting interlacing and high definition. MPEG-2 is considered important because it has been chosen as the compression scheme for over-the-air digital television ATSC, DVB and ISDB, digital satellite TV services like Dish Network, digital cable television signals, SVCD and DVD Video. It is also used on Blu-ray Discs, but these normally use MPEG-4 Part 10 or SMPTE VC-1 for high-definition content.
- MPEG-3: MPEG-3 dealt with standardizing scalable and multi-resolution compression and was intended for HDTV compression but was found to be redundant and was merged with MPEG-2; as a result there is no MPEG-3 standard. MPEG-3 is not to be confused with MP3, which is MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III.
- MPEG-4 : Coding of audio-visual objects. MPEG-4 provides a framework for more advanced compression algorithms potentially resulting in higher compression ratios compared to MPEG-2 at the cost of higher computational requirements. MPEG-4 supports Intellectual Property Management and Protection, which provides the facility to use proprietary technologies to manage and protect content like digital rights management. It also supports MPEG-J, a fully programmatic solution for creation of custom interactive multimedia applications and many other features. Several new higher-efficiency video standards are included, notably:
- *MPEG-4 Part 2 and
- * MPEG-4 AVC. MPEG-4 AVC may be used on HD DVD and Blu-ray Discs, along with VC-1 and MPEG-2.
In addition, the following standards, while not sequential advances to the video encoding standard as with MPEG-1 through MPEG-4, are referred to by similar notation:
- MPEG-7 : Multimedia content description interface.
- MPEG-21 : Multimedia framework . MPEG describes this standard as a multimedia framework and provides for intellectual property management and protection.
- MPEG-A : Multimedia application format .
- MPEG-B : MPEG systems technologies.
- MPEG-C : MPEG video technologies.
- MPEG-D : MPEG audio technologies.
- MPEG-E : Multimedia Middleware.
- MPEG-G : Genomic Information Representation. Part 1 – Transport and Storage of Genomic Information; Part 2 – Coding of Genomic Information; Part 3 – APIs; Part 4 – Reference Software; Part 5 – Conformance; Part 6 – Genomic Annotations
- Supplemental media technologies. Part 1: Media streaming application format protocols will be revised in MPEG-M; Part 4 – MPEG extensible middleware protocols.
- MPEG-V : Media context and control.
- MPEG-M : MPEG eXtensible Middleware .
- MPEG-U : Rich media user interfaces.
- MPEG-H : High Efficiency Coding and Media Delivery in Heterogeneous Environments. Part 1 – MPEG media transport; Part 2 – High Efficiency Video Coding; Part 3 – 3D Audio.
- MPEG-DASH : Information technology – Dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP . Part 1 – Media presentation description and segment formats
- MPEG-I : Coded Representation of Immersive Media. Part 3 - Versatile Video Coding, Part-2 OMAF.
| Acronym for a group of standards | Title | ISO/IEC standards | First public release date | Description |
| MPEG-1 | Coding of moving pictures and associated audio for digital storage media. Commonly limited to about 1.5 Mbit/s although specification is capable of much higher bit rates | ISO/IEC 11172 | 1993 | |
| MPEG-2 | Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information | ISO/IEC 13818 | 1995 | |
| MPEG-3 | abandoned, incorporated into MPEG-2 | |||
| MPEG-4 | Coding of audio-visual objects | ISO/IEC 14496 | 1999 | |
| MPEG-7 | Multimedia content description interface | ISO/IEC 15938 | 2002 | |
| MPEG-21 | Multimedia framework | ISO/IEC 21000 | 2001 | |
| MPEG-A | Multimedia application format | ISO/IEC 23000 | 2007 | |
| MPEG-B | MPEG systems technologies | ISO/IEC 23001 | 2006 | |
| MPEG-C | MPEG video technologies | ISO/IEC 23002 | 2006 | |
| MPEG-D | MPEG audio technologies | ISO/IEC 23003 | 2007 | |
| MPEG-E | Multimedia Middleware | ISO/IEC 23004 | 2007 | |
| MPEG-G | Genomic Information Representation | ISO/IEC 23092 | 2019 | |
| Supplemental media technologies | ISO/IEC 29116 | 2008 | will be revised in MPEG-M Part 4 – MPEG extensible middleware protocols | |
| MPEG-V | Media context and control | ISO/IEC 23005 | 2011 | |
| MPEG-M | MPEG extensible middleware | ISO/IEC 23006 | 2010 | |
| MPEG-U | Rich media user interfaces | ISO/IEC 23007 | 2010 | |
| MPEG-H | High Efficiency Coding and Media Delivery in Heterogeneous Environments | ISO/IEC 23008 | 2013 | |
| MPEG-DASH | Information technology – DASH | ISO/IEC 23009 | 2012 | |
| MPEG-I | Coded Representation of Immersive Media | ISO/IEC 23090 | TBD |
Standardization process
A standard published by ISO/IEC is the last stage of a long process that starts with the proposal of new work within a committee. Here are some abbreviations used for marking a standard with its status:- PWI – Preliminary Work Item
- NP or NWIP – New Proposal / New Work Item Proposal
- AWI – Approved new Work Item
- WD – Working Draft
- CD – Committee Draft
- FCD – Final Committee Draft
- DIS – Draft International Standard
- FDIS – Final Draft International Standard
- PRF – Proof of a new International Standard
- IS – International Standard
- CD Amd / PDAmd – Committee Draft Amendment / Proposed Draft Amendment
- FPDAmd / DAM – Final Proposed Draft Amendment / Draft Amendment
- FDAM – Final Draft Amendment
- Amd – Amendment
- TR – Technical Report
- TS – Technical Specification
- IWA – International Workshop Agreement
- Cor – Technical Corrigendum
ISO/IEC Directives allow also the so-called "Fast-track procedure". In this procedure a document is submitted directly for approval as a draft International Standard to the ISO member bodies or as a final draft International Standard if the document was developed by an international standardizing body recognized by the ISO Council.