From rkoenen intertrust.com Wed Sep 11 09:11:46 2002 From: rkoenen intertrust.com (Rob Koenen) Date: Wed Jul 23 13:58:39 2003 Subject: [M4IF News] MPEG-4 @ IBC Message-ID: <3C124172E7FDD511B510000347426D59013249F0@exchange.epr.com> Dear MPEG-4 watchers, M4IF will have a large presence at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, NL, from coming Friday through Tuesday. See http://www.m4if.org/exhibitions/IBC2002 Our home page, www.m4if.org, has a special section on IBC-related news, as well as many other announcements. You can also register your own releases and news there, IBC-related and other If you are going to IBC, please stop by at the booth. We have an excellent spot in Hall 7, Stand 620 -- right opposite from the Apple booth. M4IF has been growing rapidly since last July - on average, we have signed up more than one new member weekly in the last three months. See our home page for the new sign-ups -- and for how to sign up yourself. New members are coming from all corners of the world and industry, among which parties interested in the promotion of the upcoming MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding / ITU-T H.264. Best Regards, Rob Koenen President, MPEG-4 Industry Forum From rob.koenen m4if.org Thu Sep 12 02:20:39 2002 From: rob.koenen m4if.org (Rob Koenen) Date: Wed Jul 23 13:58:39 2003 Subject: [M4IF News] Call for H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC patents announced Message-ID: <000001c259e9$d95c6bc0$25fbfea9@epr.com> All, It has just come to my attention that MPEG LA is calling for essential MPEG-4 AVC/ H.264 patents, with the aim to come to a joint license soon. The announcement is linked on our website under Hot News. ( http://www.m4if.org ) The schedule is very aggressive. Submssions of patents by Oct 11th, first round of evaluations by Nov 11th. I hope that indeed for this standard, things will go much and much faster than they did for MPEG-4 part 1 and 2. Given all that was learnt in the past 3 years, this must be possible. Also, I hope that the parties concerned will take market feedback on the current license into account when determining the terms for the new license. Kind Regards, Rob Koenen ps: discussions on this and similar issues do not take place on this list, but on the Discuss list. See http://www.m4if.org/public/publiclistreg.php for details and on how to subscribe. From rkoenen intertrust.com Fri Sep 13 16:18:42 2002 From: rkoenen intertrust.com (Rob Koenen) Date: Wed Jul 23 13:58:39 2003 Subject: [M4IF News] M4IF and Member Companies Demonstrate Commercial MPEG-4 Technolo gy at IBC Message-ID: <3C124172E7FDD511B510000347426D5901324A77@exchange.epr.com> The Following Pres Release was released on the wire today. Best, Rob M4IF and Member Companies Demonstrate Commercial MPEG-4 Technology at IBC MPEG-4 Industry Forum Members coexhibit technology demos at major broadcasting event, IBC in Amsterdam 13-17th September 13 September 2023 - The MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF), which is hosting several leading MPEG-4 technology vendors at the International Broadcasting Convention, IBC2002 in Amsterdam this week, announces substantial advances in MPEG-4 technology and strong market adoption on a global basis. MPEG-4 is an open, international media standard for all digital multimedia platforms, including audio, video as well as interactive content and services from low bandwidths to high-definition quality. MPEG-4 is the newest representation standard in well over a decade of successive standards developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) of the International Standards organization (ISO) - the group that designed MPEG-2 (the digital television standard) and MPEG-1, which includes MP3 (MPEG-1, Layer III Audio). Since MPEG-4 is an ISO standard, digital media companies can count on the adoption of MPEG-4 throughout the consumer entertainment value chain, by chip designers, device manufactures, network operators, programming networks, content producers and network infrastructure vendors. The resulting free market competition on a level playing field has many times proven that open standards are the only viable route to constantly improving quality and engineering excellence. "MPEG-4 is now at the point where MPEG-2 was halfway the 90's, poised for global adoption throughout the digital media ecosystem," states Rob Koenen, President of M4IF. "With licensing issues resolved since July and dozens of companies - large and small - offering interoperable MPEG-4 systems, the technology is mature, and will shortly outpace all other digital media content formats. No single proprietary technology vendor can compete with the intellectual force and market adoption across industry segments that come from open, international standards like MPEG." MPEG-4 is designed to support the economical and industrial requirements of high-volume, consumer electronic device value chains that enable the mass distribution of video systems. MPEG-2 has already been adopted as the basis of DVD and digital broadcast networks worldwide. According to In-Stat/MDR, the popularity of MPEG compression gave rise to an MPEG video chip market with more than $1 billion in revenue in 2001, with annual unit shipments were over 100 million. "Integration of MPEG4 audio and video compression in dedicated chips gives much higher quality and lower cost compared to running proprietary software on general-purpose processors," commented Guy Lauvergeon, VP Multimedia in the Telecom, Peripheral and Automotive Groups of STMicroelectronics. "Standardized, dedicated chips have driven the unprecedented market success of MPEG2, in systems like set-top boxes and DVD players. We expect that the same will happen with MPEG4." In addition to superior audio and video compression, MPEG-4 provides a standardized framework for many other forms of media-including text, pictures, animation, 2D and 3D objects-which can be presented in interactive and personalized media experiences. "By analogy, MPEG-4 is to digital media as HTML is to text and pictures-an organizing framework that is limited only by the imagination of content creators and the innovation of technology providers," according to Elliot Broadwin, CEO of iVAST, a leading MPEG-4 platform provider. Over 30 MPEG-4 vendors will be onsite at IBC, including, at M4IF's own booth located at hall 7, booth# 620, Amphion Semiconductor (IE), Coding Technologies (DE), Dicas (DE), Equator (US), Fraunhofer (DE), iVAST (US) and Media Excel (US/TW). For a complete list of MPEG-4 companies at the show visit: http://www.m4if.org/exhibitions/IBC2002 About M4IF M4IF represents more than 100 companies from diverse industries evenly distributed across North America, Europe and Asia, addressing MPEG-4 adoption issues that go beyond the charter of ISO/IEC MPEG. Activities of the forum include a long running and established interoperability program, certification, several working groups, access to ISO/MPEG committee members, and an annual conference (WEMP-4). For more information visit: http://www.m4if.org. To join M4IF's information and discussion lists, subscribe at: http://www.m4if.org/public/publiclistreg.html More information Martin Jacklin, M4IF Media Relations, (Switzerland), +41 (79) 291 1882 (m) martin.jacklin@m4if.org From rob.koenen m4if.org Sat Sep 14 12:41:18 2002 From: rob.koenen m4if.org (Rob Koenen) Date: Wed Jul 23 13:58:39 2003 Subject: [M4IF News] ISMA And M4IF Announce Joint Interoperability Testing Program Message-ID: <000001c25bd2$e339a1e0$25fbfea9@epr.com> The following Press Advisory was sent to our press contacts database yesterday, and is being distributed in our Press Kit at IBC today. Best, Rob (If you are a member of the press and wish to be added to our database, please drop Martin Jacklin, CC-ed, a note.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.m4if.org/public/documents/vault/m4-out-20026.php ISMA And M4IF Announce Joint Interoperability Testing Program Internet Streaming Media Alliance and MPEG-4 Industry Forum make it possible for over 120 companies to test each others MPEG-4 streams and players.tions, provides basis for rollout in MPEG-4 major markets Amsterdam, 13th September 2002 - The Internet Streaming Media Alliance (ISMA) and the MPEG-4 Industry Forum (M4IF) are to engage in joint interoperability testing, starting with a joint interoperability-testing event of ISMA v1.0 -based products and services in October. Both organizations are dedicated to the promotion and/or development of products and technologies that adhere to industry standards, but this is the first time their combined membership, over 120 companies, will be able to exchange encoded content and interconnect streaming equipment in real-time, in one world-wide event. "To deliver on the promise of open MPEG-4 and IP standards [IETF], we must make sure that all elements in the ecosystem work together. The market expects seamless interoperability between different products, and these test will ensure products and services will meet these expectations" said Tim Schaaff, Board member of ISMA and M4IF. The ISMA v1.0 specification defines an end-to-end, implementation agreement for streaming ISO-compliant MPEG-4 video and audio over Internet Protocols (IP). ISMA's interoperability program has held over ten (10) "Plug Fests" where any one event generally involves around 20 to 30 of ISMA's member companies testing and refining their ISMA v1.0 implementation. M4IF's growing interoperability program, now in its 4th round, has over 30 participants who have exchanged MPEG-4 content for over a year. These events help member companies get interoperable products to market quicker, one of the many benefits of membership in ISMA and M4IF. About ISMA The Internet Streaming Media Alliance is a non-profit corporation founded by Apple (AAPL), Cisco Systems (CSCO), IBM (IBM), Kasenna, Inc., Philips (PHG) and Sun Microsystems (SUNW) to accelerate the market adoption of an international ubiquitous open implementation specification for streaming rich media over the Internet Protocol (IP) that encompasses scalability, ease of use and effectiveness. The ISMA is a diverse alliance with representatives from all points of the streaming workflow. In addition to the founders, the following companies are members of the ISMA: AOL Time Warner Inc., Analog Devices, Bitband, Dolby Laboratories, Envivio, France Telecom, Fraunhofer Institute, Hitachi, Inktomi, iVast, Nagravision, National Semiconductor, NeoMagic, Network Appliance, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd., On2 Technologies, Optibase, Panasonic AVC Laboratory Co., Serome Technology, Sharp Laboratories, SGI, Sigma Designs, Sony, SRI International/Sarnoff, Streaming21, Telecom Italia Lab, Thomson Multimedia and Volera. Additional information and a complete list of members can be accessed at www.isma.tv. 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 represents more than 100 companies from diverse industries evenly distributed across North America, Europe and Asia, addressing 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 an annual conference (WEMP-4). For more information visit: http://www.m4if.org More information Martin Jacklin, M4IF Media Relations, (Switzerland), +41 (79) 291 1882 (m) martin.jacklin@m4if.org