[M4IF Technotes] RE: MPEG-4 Books

[Iain Richardson (ensigr)]

Dear Fernando
A fair reply to my rather one-sided comments .. I should have also mentioned the many things that I like about "The MPEG-4 Book" such as the "one-stop" coverage of all the MPEG-4 topics in one volume (a major achievement) and the fact that the chapter authors are all intimately acquainted with their subjects.
Best regards
Iain Richardson
Message: 10
Date: Thu, 05 Sep 2023 16:26:42 +0100
From: Fernando Pereira <fp   lx.it.pt>
To: "Iain Richardson (ensigr)" <i.g.richardson   rgu.ac.uk>,
   technotes   lists.m4if.org
Subject: Re: [M4IF Technotes] RE: MPEG-4 Books
 Dear Iain
"Iain Richardson (ensigr)" wrote:
> 
> Sorry for the delay in posting, I didn't read my messages yesterday...
> 
> I agree with Ben that "The MPEG-4 Book" is a useful resource; I have one or two minor criticisms, though. You really need to know the basics of video compression and the preceding MPEG standards to follow the sections on MPEG-4 Visual; if you are reasonably new to the subject then this book probably isn't enough on its own to get up to speed.

 Although the book has 16 chapters and 5 appendixes, the video chapter
is more than 1/8th of the book. In a book considering the complete
MPEG-4 standard there is no space to start on the basics of video
compression or audio compression of whatsoever. This is clear and
clearly acknowledged in the book. The purpose of the MPEG-4 book is not
the basics of video compression.
> I was disappointed that there is virtually no discussion of recent developments such as the forthcoming Part 10; given the publication date of the book I would have thought that a "preview" of Part 10 (AVC or H.264) could have been included. 

 Those that know about the stability of MPEG-4 Part 10 TODAY can easily
understand why was not possible to write about it some months ago ;-)
>Finally, there is quite a variation in style between the chapters and some rather poorly reproduced figures - disappointing for what is (to an academic !) not a cheap book. Perhaps it's inevitable in a multi-authored book.

 Here I can only say that although the book is multi-authored, I am
proud about its coherence (which took me many weeks of work). The small
inevitable variations are a price to pay for a book including topics
that although building a standard are very varied. I am looking forward
for a comparison with other books about the COMPLETE MPEG-4 standard.
 My sincere thanks for your opinions.
 Best regards
			Fernando Pereira