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MPEG-4 Technology Strategy Analysis Sonja Kangas, Mihai Burlacu T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommunications Business II Telecommunications Software and Multimedia Laboratory Helsinki University of Technology. Organisations Behind MPEG 4 MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group)
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MPEG-4Technology Strategy Analysis Sonja Kangas, Mihai Burlacu T-109.551 Research Seminar on Telecommunications Business II Telecommunications Software and Multimedia Laboratory Helsinki University of Technology
Organisations Behind MPEG 4 MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 3GPP (The 3rd Generation Partnership Project) Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA) M4IF´s(MPEG-4 Industry Forum) Wireless Multimedia Forum's (WMF) + others
Backwards compatible with older MPEG1 and MPEG2 • Object Oriented Logic support • Deals with "media objects" ->generalization for the visual and audio content to handle both natural and synthetic objects • Coding/decoding of the media content must not be related to any transmission medium MPEG1 • released in 1992. standard for storable multimedia, mostly for CD-ROM systems. MPEG-1designed for compressing video, but sound compressing format (MP3) format became more popular. The typical transfer speed of MPEG-1 is VHS quality video (1,5 Mb/s). MPEG2 • released in 1994. Meant for Digital TV. Used to DVD and satelite digital broadcast. • Typical rates range from 1.5 Mb/s up to 24 Mb/s MPEG4 • released in 2000. Targeted for IP networks streaming applications. • Very wide bitrate ranges from few kb/s to tens of Mb/s
Transmission/Storage Medium • Transmission/Storage Medium independent of MPEG-4 spec. • It specifies the physical layer, digital storage requirements a.so.("raw data" • Upper network layer (like UDP/IP, ATM, MPEG2 Transport Stream) to handle the actual physical network properties Delivery Layer • Media object conveyed by multiple elementary streams. • Content of the streams: audio-visual object data, scene description information, control information in the form of object descriptors • The sync layer passes the elementary streams to delivery layer through the DMIF-application interface (DAI); • Defined a single, uniform interface to access multimedia from a multitude of delivery technologies ((DAI) used for bringing broadcast material and local files) • The DAI defines procedures for initializing an MPEG-4 session and obtaining access to the various elementary streams that are contained in it. Similar to ftp protocol • FlexMux is an optional tool • Quality of Service available to content provider. (DAI allows the user application to specify it for the necessary streams
Sync Layer • Synch Layer handles the synchronization of elementary streams and also provides the buffering. It is achieved through time stamping within elementary streams. • Synchronization Layer does not contain information for frame demarcation Multimedia Layer • Converts the multimedia elements into elementary streams. • Difference between synthetic objects and natural objects visible at this stage • Object descriptors : identify information type from elem streams and identify the group of streams related to a media object • Media object carried in own elementary streams. • The scene description information defines the spatial and temporal position of the media objects, their behavior over time • Scene composition described with a binary language for scene description called BIFS (Binary format for scenes). Describes an efficient binary representation of the scene graph. Similar to VRML. Difference: VRML textual, BIFS binary. BIFS defined for streaming mainly. Scene sending: send initial img followed by timestamp modifications to the scene • Upper elements make interactive applications easy to be implemented.
Static Texture Coding - done with Discrete Wavelet Transform • Usage of reversible variable length codes. AUDIO • "General Audio (GA)" coders. Input signal is first decomposed into a time/frequency (t/f) spectral representation by means of an analysis filterbank, which is then subsequently quantized and coded. • Bitrate scalability important feature • Synthetic sound support + old traditional sound compressions tool available
Business strategies: MPEG-4 next big thing? • Expectations (industry viewpoint): • Video to be MPEG-4’s main application area • Industry people both servers and consumers of MPEG-4 • MPEG-4 deployment started in 2002 • Eencoder/server/player solution seems to be good idea • Software encoders vs. hardware encoders • Priority: performance, availability and price • Wireless video does not lead the growth of MPEG-4 • Expectations (consumers): • What MPEG-4?
Video on mobile devices 1. The growth of data bandwidth in mobile networks 2. Improved video compression technologies 3. Improved camera and display technologies Video applications in wireless devices - video conference/telephony, MMS, video messanging, video streaming (advertisement, entertainment, education, communication...) + Media integration (multiple media): Interactive eLearning, interactive advertising, network games, media-on demand, MP3, HDTV, digital cable TV, personal video recording (PVR) etc.
An example: The mobile entertainment value web (possibilities for MPEG-4)
Areas of applicationWide: digital television, multimedia, video, audio, wireless... Key issues- new ways of using and accessing media - streaming and downloading video - interoperability - secure communication and pay-per-view - "mixing the best of Shockwave, Flash, VRML, and digital video into a single file format, server and player"
New business opportunities - business opportunities for established market players and newcomers to digital video and multimedia - MPEG-4 devices for home entertainment systems (set-top-boxes, DVD players, handheld devices...), wireless, other - Rich (multi)media across broadcast, broadband, wireless and wired networks - New ways of experiencing media! (compare to the content industry trends) - Different categories of excellence (web): hw/sw, real time/non-real time -- read by the same decoders
Problems in the paradise... + Apple: Internet Streaming Media Alliance and other consortiums for and against + MPEG-4 is very extensive standard -- much more than Real and Microsoft - The static nature of the standard is its weakness - Future development of MPEG-4 or another standard? - Competing video codecs: QuickTime, Real, Windows Media - IPR issues - patents and discoveries behing MPEG-4 (problems?)