[M4IF News] M4IF Press Release concerning MPEG-4 AAC Licensing

[Rob Koenen]

M4IF members and watchers,
the following was released earlier today on the wire.
M4IF Welcomes MPEG-4 AAC Licensing announcement
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License is major step towards widespread adoption of MPEG-4 AAC
San Ramon, 28 March 2024 - The MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF) today welcomed
the licensing program for MPEG-4 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) patents, that
was announced by Dolby Labs on 26 March. The license terms outlined in this
program will support broad adoption of ISO/IEC's MPEG-4 AAC in both
audiovisual and audio-only applications. MPEG-4 AAC is the best generic
audio codec available in the market today. Its consistently excellent
performance across all types of audio content makes it preferable to the
various proprietary alternatives.
MPEG-4 AAC provides coding that is roughly 35-40% more efficient than MPEG-1
Layer III (MP3), which is important when available bandwidth needs to be
shared between audio and video bits. "We expect that the terms of the
license will allow MPEG-4 AAC to be adopted across markets", said Rob
Koenen, President of M4IF. "It is very good to see that the entry barrier
for Internet usage is kept very low, as we expect this environment to set
the next trend in audio coding." 
M4IF hopes that this encouraging step will lead to a program that will
include essential patents from more patent owners, offering the market easy
access to as many licenses needed to implement complete MPEG-4 Profiles as
possible. Being able to implement complete Profiles is essential in ensuring
interoperability among encoders and decoders from different vendors.
Another MPEG-4 licensing program, for MPEG-4 Visual Profiles, was announced
in January by MPEG LA. While that announcement has sparked much debate, M4IF
remains confident that these licensors will adapt the program to make it
suit the needs of all MPEG-4 markets. "While the Visual licensing terms are
viable in some markets, such as packaged-media content distribution, there
is serious concern about the effect on MPEG-4 adoption in other areas, such
as Internet streaming or broadcast", said Koenen. "We expect these concerns
to be addressed by licensors, which of course benefit from MPEG-4's
widespread acceptance."
M4IF recently announced an open discussion forum for all issues that affect
the uptake of MPEG-4, licensing being the first discussion topic. The open
discussion list is at discuss   lists.m4if.org. Anyone can subscribe at
http://www.m4if.org/public/publiclistreg.php. 
About MPEG-4 
MPEG-4 is the interactive coding standard for all digital multimedia
platforms. Developed by the "Moving Picture Experts Group" that designed
MPEG-2 (the digital television standard), MPEG-1 and MP3. Being object-based
and extending beyond video and audio, MPEG-4 supports rich, interactive,
standards-based multimedia from low bandwidths to transparent quality. 
About M4IF 
M4IF consists of more than 100 companies from diverse industries evenly
distributed across North America, Europe and Asia, addressing all MPEG-4
adoption issues that go beyond the charter of ISO/IEC MPEG.
Activities of the forum include an interoperability program, certification,
several working groups, access to ISO/MPEG committee members, and the 3rd
annual Workshop and Exhibition on MPEG-4 from 25-27 June in San Jose, US.
More information: http://www.m4if.org 
Press Contact:
Rob Koenen, President M4IF
+1 408 823 7512
rob.koenen   m4if.org