MPEG-4

MPEG-4, Moving Pictures Experts Group, is a series of standards designed to reduce the storage requirements of digital video. MPEG-4 provides the standardized technological elements for the integration of interactive graphics applications and interactive multimedia.

MPED-4 is a graphics and video compression algorithm standard that is based on MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and Apple QuickTime technology. Is the latest compression standard developed by MPEG, the same group that brought us MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. MPEG-4 brings higher levels of interaction with content, controlled by the content developers.

MPEG-4 is a group of audio and video coding standards and related technology. The primary uses for the MPEG-4 standard are web (streaming media) and CD distribution, conversational (videophone), and broadcast television.

MPEG-4 (MP4) was defined using the standards for encoding video in a digital compressed format as specified by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). A set of audio and video perceptual coding formats, formally designated as ISO/IEC-14496, first published in 1998. MPEG-4 encompasses many of the features introduced in MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 and adds features useful for streaming media and broadcast, among others.

It is aimed at low bit-rate storage that will be useful for animated video sequences, other computer-generated imagery and games, whilst also having some compatibility with H.263.

MPEG-4 defines how multimedia streams - video, audio, text, data - are transmitted as individual objects. MPEG-4 is a compression/decompression technology that aims to achieve interactivity, efficiency and stability in narrow-band transmissions. (*)

photo: Portable MPEG - 4 Media Player, taken from lakewoodconferences